in Society

Insights and Polished History Lessons Await in Hanoi's Massive, Brutalist Military Museum

When I pitched a review of Hà Nội’s massive new Vietnam Military History Museum to the Saigoneer editorial staff, I expected to find the museum somewhat boring. After all, although I am a historian, I am not really that interested in military stuff, and I’d been to the original location on Điện Biên Phủ Street several times — how could this new museum improve on the old one? What could this new museum say that the old one didn’t? What could I learn here that I haven’t already learned at Saigon’s War Remnants Museum and Hồ Chí Minh Campaign Museum, at Điện Biên Phủ’s war museum, at Hải Phòng’s naval museum, and at the countless other shrines to Vietnamese martial prowess across the country? Quite a lot, it turns out.

Paul Christiansen

in Sports

Adding Billiards to Saigon's Pantheon of Pastimes

The clink of cue sticks on eight-ball muffling the clank of whisky glass ice cubes and the slap of cards as boozehounds hide their addictions in the shadows of sport and hobby? Dense plumes of Bastos smoke obscuring illicit activities and immoral affairs? Are Saigon's pool halls the seedy dens of patriarchal indulgence their reputation and pop culture representations suggest?

in Environment

Solar Power: Where Economics and Environmentalism Meet

When seeing a reflective row of solar panels situated on a roof in Vietnam, it’s easy to assume that the home, office, or factory belonged to someone who had decided to pay a little more for the sake of the common good. One might think that while solar energy has become more affordable and convenient as technologies continue to improve, it still requires consumers to make a conscious decision to spend extra for electricity because it is better for the environment. This, however, is wrong.

Khôi Phạm

in Society

In Vietnam, ‘Golden Babies’ Are Choking Public Services, Parents and One Another

The year is 2013. Linh lies awake in the attic bedroom of her cozy childhood home in Saigon. Tomorrow is her first day at primary school, and sleep doesn’t come easily with the all butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She’s worried, but mom assured her that she would be okay, because she is special.

Paul Christiansen

in Environment

The Role of Sand Batteries in Responding to the Climate Change Crisis

How does a sand battery work? 

Khôi Phạm

in Development

With the HCMC Metro Here, It's Time to Cultivate Saigon's Very Own Metro Culture

One of my least favorite genres of comments on Saigoneer’s social media posts is jokes involving the laggard opening of the HCMC Metro and some random, outrageous year far into the next decades, or even centuries.

Thi Nguyễn

in Tech

Typing Vietnamese, Part 2: The Vietnamese Diaspora, Unicode and the Ubiquity of Unikey

This is part 2 of our two-part series on the history of Vietnamese-centric typing technologies. Part 1 can be  acces...

Thi Nguyễn

in Tech

Typing Vietnamese, Part 1: Language, Identity and Technology at a Crossroad

My first exposure to the computer traces back to my primary school years when computer classes were conducted once a week. In order to study computers, students had to migrate from their usual classrooms to a multimedia lab — an air-conditioned room filled with computers. Computer classes were generally more popular among us than most subjects thanks to that satisfying cool breeze and the delight of operating something one wasn't privileged with at home.

Back Society

in Tech

Microsoft To Move 2 Nokia Factories From China To Vietnam For Lower Labor Costs

It looks like Vietnam’s master plan to lure global tech companies is panning out with the announcement last week that Microsoft is closing two of its handset plants in China and moving operations to V...

in Development

15 Projects That Will Change Saigon Forever: Part 1

The area between Bến Thành Market and the Saigon Opera House is undeniably the epicenter of changes to the city’s urban fabric with the construction of pedestrian promenades, subway stations, a n...

in Development

Inside Nhà Bè District's "B House"

This small but impressive home in Saigon's Nhà Bè District was built on a premise of “open but introverted space.” The structure, designed by i.House Architecture and Construction, feat...

in Development

US$100 Million Budgeted To Return A Saigon Canal To Its Former Glory

Hàng Bàng Canal, formerly known as Canal Bonard, will soon receive a massive US$100 million renovation in a bid to return the narrow brackish creek into a clean, manicured waterway.

in Health

Medical Musings: Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is the most common mosquito-transmitted viral illness in the world. It is seen in Vietnam and over 120 other sub-tropical and tropical countries, wherever the Aedes aegypti mosquito is fo...

in Tech

Google.vn Hacked By "Lizard Squad"

This afternoon, users attempting to connect to the Google.vn homepage were greeted by text, a photo and video courtesy of what appears to be a small collective of American hackers.

in Architecture

[Photos] Da Nang House Inspired by Termite Mounds and Champa Architecture

The Termitary House, recently completed by Tropical Space Architects in Da Nang's Thanh Khe District, gets its inspiration from both intricate termite mounds and the baked-brick towers of the Cha...

in Tech

New Website Uses Travelers To Deliver Items To Those Aboard

A new website, Bringers.co, offers to make deliverymen (and women) out of people traveling abroad.

in Development

Future Saigon: Saigon Green Energy Tower

Another ambitious project for Saigon’s Võ Văn Kiệt Street is in the works with plans for a 53-story (for reference, the Bitexco Tower is 68 stories) mega project.

in Environment

2 Bicyclists Set To Ride From Saigon To Paris To Raise Awareness Of Climate Change

On Thursday February 12, Simon Nelson and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will set off on a bicycle ride from Saigon to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) in order t...

in Architecture

Vietnamese School Wins Top Award At International Architecture Competition

Vo Trong Nghia had added to its list of international accolades, taking home top honors for its Farming Kindergarten in the recent Archdaily “Building of the Year” awards.

in Tech

[Video] Alibaba Tests Drone Delivery Service In China

Chinese online retail giant, Alibaba, has taken a page out of Amazon’s playbook, launching a three-day drone delivery pilot program.

in Tech

Vietnam Hopes To Launch 4G LTE This Year

As public WIFI spreads across Vietnam’s streets, cities and transportation networks, plans are in the works to upgrade the country’s mobile internet to 4G LTE status.

in Environment

22 Photos That Reveal How Bad Pollution Has Become In China

While pollution is becoming a serious problem in Vietnam with reports of cancer villages and toxic canals popping up the press recently, we live in a natural utopia compared with the residents of Chin...

in Tech

Vietnam’s First Nuclear Power Plant Faces Another Setback

Due to slowing economic growth and safety concerns, the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear reactor has been delayed yet again. 

in Development

Saigon Ranked 6th Most Dynamic City In Recent Report

Saigon ranked 6th in a report released last month that graded 120 cities across the world based on real estate and socioeconomic factors.

in Development

Construction Has Begun On The US$200m Thu Thiem Bridge 2

At a ceremony yesterday afternoon, authorities formally kicked-off construction of the Thủ Thiêm 2 Bridge which will stretch across the Saigon River from Tôn Đức Thắng Street to the Thủ Thiêm peninsul...

in Development

4 Vietnamese Projects Finalists for ArchDaily’s Building of the Year Awards

Four buildings from Vietnamese "starchitecture" firm, Vo Trong Nghia, have been named finalists for Archdaily’s “Building of the Year” Awards.

in Development

Most Machinery Used In Vietnamese Businesses Dates Back To The 1960s-70s

Although Vietnam has been attracting plenty of high-tech industry recently, with companies like Samsung and Intel building large factories in the country, most local enterprises are sma...

in Development

New Restaurant Brings Hanoi’s Street Life And Trees Indoors

Hanoi’s Cheering Beer Club/Restaurant, designed by H&P Architects, aims to blur the boundary between inside and out by creating a dialogue between contemporary architecture and the surrounding env...