Learning to Coexist in Peace Is the First Step to Protect Vietnam's Last Remaining Elephants
A trail of enormous footprints, criss-crossing slabs of cracked concrete, lead to a battered ranger station in Vietnam’s Pù Mát National Park. Park staff say the wild Asian elephant that left the tracks is as friendly as it is lonely.
A Glimpse Into the Epic Underground Shows of Vietnam Pro Wrestling
Back in 2018, Saigon witnessed the birth of Vietnam Pro Wrestling (VPW), the first and only Pro Wrestlers in the whole of ...
HCMC Approves VinSpeed, VinGroup's Railway Arm, to Build Metro Line to Cần Giờ
A roughly 50-kilometer-long urban railway route will run from September 23 Park in downtown Saigon to VinGroup's Green Paradise project in Cần Giờ, beginning in 2028 at an estimated cost of VND102.43 trillion (nearly US$3.9 billion).
Diving (Literally) Into Hoàng Hoa Thám's Mountains of Secondhand Clothes
In a hẻm, clothing sprawled out on platforms lined with the plastic sacks the clothing came in, overspilling onto the ta...
Paul Christiansen in Natural Selection
Đà Lạt’s Indigenous Pine Trees, Tropical Miracles Threatened by Urbanization
“The shimmering pine trees stand in silence / Branches and leaves seem to have sunk silently. / How can one distinguish between reality and fantasy!”
Saigon Unveils Plan to Build 2 Pedestrian Bridges Over Tôn Đức Thắng Street
Tourists will soon lose one of their favorite “crossing Saigon streets is so crazy!” filming locations when two new pedestrian bridges connecting to Bạch Đằng Wharf are completed.
Inside Quảng Nam's School for Children From Ethnic Minorities, Designed by VTN Architects
Can a school protect against harsh climate conditions and foster productive academic and social activities in a sustainable and affordable way, while paying attention to the aesthetic values of the region?
Uyên Đỗ in Society
On Finding Packaged Existential Relief at Saigon's Convenience Stores
When running away from life’s many grievances, I often find myself at the convenience store.
How You Can Think and Live Sustainably
Frequently touted as environmentally friendly options that help preserve the planet, cotton tote bags require so much energy and freshwater to produce that you must use one at least 7,000 times to mak...
Examining the Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Benifits of La Petite Ecole’s Plurilingual Education
What is a plurilingual education? Simply stated, it is one that teaches academic content in two or more languages rather than just teaching the languages as subjects in and of themselves. The ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 flutter...
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 ev...
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 accessed here.
How a Startup's Drive to Expand Charging Stations May Shape the Future of EV's in Vietnam
A thick haze often hangs above Saigon, obscuring the skyline. Some people can feel a heaviness in their lungs while their eyes and throats throb. After a day spent atop a motorbike idling in traffic, ...
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 classro...
Hoa Sữa, Poetic Icon of Autumn in Hanoi or Nasal Health Enemy No. 1?
It was early in the day. I opened my window to let in the very first rays of the morning sun, just to catch a waft of that distinctive floral aroma lingering in the cold air. This year, autumn came ea...
Plastic Waste Is Choking the Mekong River and Every Nation on Its Path
On Son Island in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Le Trung Tin scatters fish feed into his ponds, where dozens of snakehead fish leap through the surface in synchronised bursts. “I taught them how to do that,”...
Viet Nam Tinh Hoa Emerges: A New Identity, The Same Excellence
“Our new branding is a more authentic reflection of who we are: rooted in Vietnam, yet drawing strength from NLCS (North London Collegiate School). While it may have been easier to remain as NLCS, our...
The Childhood of Côn Đảo's Baby Turtles Caught on Film
In July, I visited Côn Đảo National Park as part of a group of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) sea turtle volunteers to see first-hand conservation efforts aimed at the loca...
WWF-Viet Nam’s “Elements of the Mekong Delta” Networking Dinner Shines a Light on Climate-Resilient Products
As part of a project aimed at empowering communities in the Mekong Delta that are facing serious threats from climate change, WWF-Viet Nam assists local households in raising plants that are more resi...
Ward off Your Monday Blues by Joining Me on Beginners' Skateboard Night
Usually in life, niche topics are commonly associated with unpleasant stigmas and misunderstandings — skateboarding in Vietnam is no exception. Once, I admittedly was influenced by such one-sided assu...
Pure Passion Turns Dark: The Unexpected Dangers of the Wild Turtle Trade
Seeking a companion during quarantine, Khánh*, a 25-year-old Hanoian, bought a baby turtle through a Facebook group.
Khôi Phạm in Natural Selection
A Case for the Sweet-and-Sour Tamarind as Saigon's Official Municipal Tree
What is the municipal tree of Saigon? In popular culture, Hanoi is perhaps intricately linked with the paralyzing but often romanticized aroma of hoa sữa, while just over a hundred kilometers to the e...
Uyên Đỗ in Environment
Requiem for a Bàng Tree That Was Cut Down in Front of My Home
Curiosity drove me downstairs into the downpour. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the municipal workers — clad in orange-and-green uniforms, their clothes soaked — gathering around a crane. Thei...
How the Ghosts of iPhones Past Haunt Vietnam's Low-Income Communities
The current e-waste crisis in Vietnam is one example of global environmental apartheid.
