in Environment

As Infrastructure Lags Behind, Saigon's Poorest Hardest Hit by Worsening Flooding

In April 2023, in the first downpour of southern Vietnam’s rainy season, the narrow rented room where Mã Thị Diệp and her children were staying in Hồ Chí Minh City was inundated by knee-high water.

Khôi Phạm

in Environment

What I Talk About When I Talk About Vietnam's Penguin Trashcans

Compared to the average Vietnamese, I might be thinking about trashcans a smidgen too much — not just any trashcan, but the infamous penguin-shaped trashcans that are ubiquitous at every corner of our public spaces.

Linh Phạm

in Parks & Rec

House Dance Hanoi Teaches You How to Free the Body

I stood on the top floor of a building on Khâm Thiên Street, feeling grateful for the cold air. I came out here to take a break from the other side of the floor, which was divided into three rooms — three dance studios.

in Environment

Inside Saigon's Grassroots Carton and Aluminum Recycling Plants

With plastics claiming many of the headlines worldwide and constituting a major issue in Vietnam, scant attention is being paid to other recyclable materials, namely cardboard and aluminum.

in Ẽplain

How Táo Xanh Forum Created a Safe Space for Gay Vietnamese Before Social Media

Before Vietnamese could hop on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to share our hot takes of the week, there was an era of past cybersphere when online forums were the crucial online space to connect local netizens.

Paul Christiansen

in Environment

As Climate Change Threatens, Flood Waters Usher In Sustainable Opportunities for Communities in the Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta is developing faster than Google Maps can keep up with. A stretch of road that was too narrow to accommodate cars and required a transition to motorbikes just six months ago was under construction during our August visit. Gargantuan machines for laying pulverized gravel inched aside to let our 7-seater pass so we could reach the home of Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy to check in on her small fish drying home business.

Khôi Phạm

in Natural Selection

10 Species of Lesser-Known Fruits to Get to Know Vietnam's Biodiversity

In the Vietnamese language, the word “cỏ” — meaning “grass” in the literal sense — is often used to signify that something is locally grown, no frills, and charmingly rustic; grassroots, if you will. Chó cỏ is the general term for the adorable mutts, usually mixes between Vietnam’s native dog species, born without the prestige of named breeds, while gym cỏ and net cỏ denote the casual gyms and internet cafes in one’s neighborhood. In the same vein of logic, may I put forth a new name for a special genre of Vietnamese fruits: trái cỏ?

in Architecture

How Vietnamese Architecture Adopted Modernism and Made It Our Own

Ask a person on the street what Vietnam’s distinctive style of architecture is, and the answer you get might be traditional architecture, like the historic curves of northern Vietnam’s village temples or the ornate regality of Nguyễn-Dynasty palaces. This time-honored style is widely accepted as the hallmark of Vietnam’s cultural wealth. What’s more fascinating but lesser-known is how this cultural vestige — which distinguished our architecture from that of China and Japan — has also managed to evolve in the new age, finding ways to exist right in the middle of our modern lifetime.

Back Society

in Environment

1,300 Pine Trees in National Park Damaged in Illegal Resin Theft

Resin rapscallions pilfered from hundreds of pine trees in Tam Dao National Park.

Paul Christiansen

in Environment

An Ode to Water Hyacinth, Vietnam's Invasive, Beautiful Aquatic Plant

Knotted gnarls of lush stems, leaves, vines; a verdant scrimmage of tangled plant matter kept afloat by buoyant bladders accented by pleats of pink petals that resemble the skirts of ballerinas trappe...

in Sports

Vietnam’s Female Football Team Ranks 32nd of 155 in FIFA World Rankings

The national women's football team is currently the highest-ranked team in Southeast Asia.

in Architecture

[Photos] An Open, Airy Home in Da Nang to Ward off Past Claustrophobia

Architects in Da Nang transformed a standard 100-square-meter plot of land into a simple, cozy home for a young couple.

in Education

Renaissance Student’s Efforts to Save the Rhinos

A hacked, bloody stump where a majestic rhino horn once grew flashed on the screen, bringing audible gasps from the auditorium of Renaissance students. While unsettling, such graphic imagery accurate...

in Sports

Vietnam Finishes 30th SEA Games With 98 Gold Medals, Best Since 2003

Vietnam had its best Southeast Asia Games showing since 2003, when the tournament was held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

in Sports

[Photos] A Historic Night of Bão to Celebrate a Historic Gold Medal 60 Years in the Making

Vietnam’s U-22 men’s football team just won their first-ever SEA Games gold medal. 

in Development

Plan for Tan Son Nhat Airport 3rd Terminal Submitted for Approval

The total budget of the project is US$478 million.

in Environment

PM Releases Highly Ambitious Plan to Reduce Coastal Plastic Waste

A highly ambitious new plan aims to dramatically cut down on plastic waste in tourist areas and coastal environments.

in Development

Hyatt Announces 69-Story Skyscraper in D7 Housing 2 Hotels

At 69 floors, the proposed Park Hyatt hotel tower will be one floor higher than Bitexco; but will it look like a shampoo bottle too?

in Sports

Vietnam Women's Football Team Beats Thailand to Clinch Gold Medal at SEA Games

Vietnam may want to start considering some đi bão gender equality.

in Sports

SEA Games: Female Football Team Through to Final, Male Football Team Makes Semi-Finals

Vietnam is one step closer to breaking out in đi bão bedlam.

in Sports

Quang Hai Might Have to Say Goodbye to SEA Games Due to Injury

Hai is currently the U-22 team’s midfielder and captain.

in Architecture

[Photos] A Dreamy Da Nang House to Nurture Future Generations in Nature

Named after Chi and Vi, the daughters of the owners of the house, Chivihouse is the brainchild of the architects at Hinz Studio, based in Saigon and Da Nang.

in Development

Saigon Announces Plan for 150-Hectare Multi-Purpose Park in D12

The park will be located in Thanh Xuan and Thoi An wards.

in Health

New Draft of Medical Treatment Law to Require Foreign Doctors to Speak Vietnamese

Foreign medical professionals working in Vietnam might be required to learn Vietnamese in the future.

in Sports

2 Fans Fly to the Philippines With 60kg of Food for Vietnam's Female Football Team

Wholesome.

in Society

An Evening With the Grass-Roots Volunteer Group Helping Saigon's Homeless

The group meets at the Saigon Central Post Office in District 1 at 10:30pm. Although it is late in the evening, there are still tourists loitering around the building, one of the city's primary attrac...

in Environment

Saigon to Build Broad Environment Survey System Measuring Air, Water, Land Data

The project costs VND495 billion (US$21.3 million).

in Development

Proposed Hai Phong–China Train Route Raises Concerns Over Hefty Price Tag

From Hai Phong, the 390-kilometer line would run through Hanoi and Lao Cai before reaching China’s Hekou County.