in Development

Hanoi Breaks Ground on Sports Complex With World's 2nd-Largest Stadium

Hanoi is currently building the country’s largest sports complex that’s hoped to become Vietnam’s go-to location to host international events and tournaments.

in Development

Saigon Approves Plan to Extend Metro Line 1 to Long Thành International Airport

Plans for eventual metro access to the Long Thành International Airport are taking shape.

Paul Christiansen

in Natural Selection

A Brief History of Ngựa, a Non-Native Animal Vietnam Has Made Its Own

Are horses a Vietnamese animal?

in Architecture

In Đồng Nai, a Rustic Abode Emerges Under the Canopies of Cashew Trees

A clear directive was issued before construction of the home: all 26 cashew trees occupying the 100-square-meter plot must be preserved.

in Society

Meet Tâm, a Crossing ‘Guardian’ Protecting Saigon Traffic and Trains From Each Other

In a small kiosk overlooking the crowded Nguyễn Trọng Tuyển Street in Phú Nhuận, Nguyễn Thị Tâm routinely checks the clock and reviews the day’s train schedule meticulously. She’s repeated these tasks countless times, a crucial component of a job that she’s done for two decades as a train crossing attendant.

in Environment

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.

in Sports

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 ...

in Development

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).

Back Society

in Natural Selection

Đuông Dừa, the Mekong Delta's Unique Squishy Snack and Enemy of Coconut Trees

Towards the deep end of our home, several coconut trees’ fronds started browning and falling off, straight from the bud. For the last few weeks, tiny holes have gradually appeared on the coconut trunk...

in Education

How Thoughtful Design Boosts Educational Outcomes: Australian International School Undergoes Multi-Million-Dollar Renovations

According to a 2018 study by the University of Salford in Manchester, carefully considered classroom environments can improve students’ academic progress by up to 16%. Researchers and educators alike ...

Oliver Newman

in Society

Chạm Vào Xanh, the Social Enterprise Normalizing Joy for People With Disabilities

Hồng’s parents took her out of school in Grade 5. They weren’t facing financial issues, her grades weren’t bad and she had no behavioral setbacks. It was just because she has cerebral palsy.

in Environment

WWF Works to Preserve the Elements of the Mekong Delta through Sustainable Products

Over the past few months, WWF has been running a multi-faceted campaign to spotlight the importance of sustainable ingredients from the Mekong Delta.

in Architecture

Đàng Trong Cafe Marries Gò Công's Nhà 3 Gian Design With Modern Cafe

Major metropolises like Saigon and Hanoi might boast the most concentrated distributions of coffee shops in Vietnam, but a new crop of fresh faces in other up-and-coming towns have emerged in the scen...

Paul Christiansen

in Natural Selection

A Folk Symbol and Cash Animal, King Cobras Just Really Want to Be Left Alone

The king cobra, or rắn hổ mang chúa in Vietnamese, has great personal branding. For proof, one need look no further than the recent flower display on Nguyễn Huệ celebrating the Year of the Snake: th...

in Environment

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...

in Education

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 ...

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 ...

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.

in Environment

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...

in Natural Selection

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...

in Environment

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,”...

in Education

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...

in Society

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...