Vietnam Trip Part IV

For our Choral Exchange, we visited the Le Hong Phong High School (premier school in HCMC), the Singapore International School (SIS) and the British International School. Coincidentally, on the day we visited the SIS, they were preparing for their Racial Harmony Day.

At the BIS, one lady was so impressed with our performance that she invited us to her house for dinner. Not once but twice. We were treated to good food and we had a good time.

The students of LHP were very warm and friendly, and we sang songs and had a quiz in a café.

On our last night, we had a farewell ceremony at the Son Ky orphanage. We took turn to share our songs and farewell speeches. We were also treated to a great feast of Vietnam food! As a gesture of appreciation, we donated some of our money to the orphanage and it amounted to around 10 million dong (around S$1000)! (We also donated story books and board games to the orphanage)

Throughout the trip, we constantly had to replenish our water supplies. It was the most crucial item on our list. Though I came down with fever and a sore throat, this was still a memorable trip for me. I hope there will be more choral exchanges and overseas CIP in the future. Glad to say, I did not feel homesick at all.

Vietnam Part III

Apart from the CIP and choral exchange, we had time to visit some of the prominent attractions in HCMC.

The first attraction is a museum which showcased some antiques and paintings. It was also where we saw the water puppetry. This museum also showcased many weapons and they were very beautiful! We also went to a cathedral and the oldest post office in Vietnam. We visited the Ben Thanh Market which is one of the busiest spots in HCMC. Everything for daily use, from living fish and fresh fruit to souvenirs and electronic appliances, can be found here.

The Cu Chi Tunnels is one of the most famous historical vestiges of Vietnam's national liberation war. The network consists of over 200 km of tunnels connected with one another like a cobweb. Here, we saw how the Viet Cong lived during the Vietnam War. We tried crawling through the tunnel but it was very tough as the tunnel was very narrow. You practically had to crawl in it. It was also dark and scary. But our guide moved so fast that he was soon out of sight! However, most of us managed to endure a 100 m long track.

Along the way, we stopped by at the beach, and we had lots of fun, playing and splashing with the Son Ky boys. After that, some of us went hiking up a hill. We had an extraordinary, terrific and breathtaking view of our surroundings. No regrets climbing up the hill, even though most of us got sun-burn.

Vietnam Trip Part II

Besides the visit to the orphanage and the schools, we had a chance to experience life in HCMC.

On the second day, we had to walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch. This was when I had my first taste of crossing Vietnam roads. There were no traffic lights nor zebra-crossings or whatsoever. There were very few cars but many motorcycles. The roads were very dusty too. In order to cross the road, you had to be brave and just walk across to the other side of the road’. What you need to do was to raise your hand, look in all directions for oncoming vehicles, and the motorists would execute their marvelous driving skills, turning and twisting their vehicles to avoid you. It was really crazy! (I soon found out that traffic lights did exist in Vietnam, but only in very big and important and busy districts.)

The only drinks offered in most restaurants (or at least the two I have been to) were Coke and 7-UP. They did not use the ice cubes like in Singapore, but they just drop one whole block into your glass!

On another occasion, we had to cross 5 roads. It was around 20 metres from one side to the other. We kept close to each other and bravely made our way across. We certainly looked like a flock of frightened sheep trying to make our way through, swarmed by all the vehicles. It was scary but trilling! Our only regret was that we could not capture it on film.

Vietnam Trip Part I

I could not contain my excitement when my teachers announced that we will be going to Vietnam! It was not only an overseas CIP trip but a choral exchange as well. Yes, the HC Choir under the guidance of our conductor, Mr. Yong Chee Foon and teachers in charge Miss Siew Yee Peng and Mr. Vincent Tan would be heading for Ho Chi Min city (HCMC) during the Term 2 Sabbatical week.

It was a one week trip and it would be first overseas trip with my school mates and teacher and the first without my family. Hence I had to ensure my parents that I can take good care of myself.

We departed Changi Airport on a budget airline flight and arrived in HCMC on a Saturday afternoon. As the plane neared the airport, the Captain of the flight announced that the temperature in Vietnam for that afternoon was 35°C! The weather in HCMC was certainly hotter and drier than Singapore. Hence the first item on our shopping list is mineral water! Cartons of them!

HCM airport was quite bare and empty, and the staffs were not very friendly. We went to the money changer to exchange our Singapore currency for Vietnam dong as the rate was better than in Singapore. The director of the ‘Son Ky’ Orphanage, Mr. Mahn, together with five of his boys were at the airport to receive us. They were very friendly and made us feel welcomed.

We settled down in our hotel which was a stone throw from the orphanage. The hotel seemed like a nice place at first glance. But it was not to be. I saw a rat in my room and the air-conditioning was not working. Others had a few cockroaches in their rooms, and some of their showers were not working. Two blackouts occurred during our stay; one on the first night and the other on the last night. What a welcome and farewell gesture!

On the first night, we walked to the orphanage, which was less than a minute’s walk. We had ‘Phó’ (beef ball noodles) for dinner. It was delicious. The boys from the orphanage welcomed us with Vietnamese songs and a performance?. We were touched by their hospitality.

LA E-learning Assignment 2 (Task 2)

Task 2 (Children in the Darkness)


Analysis of Children in the Darkness:

This poem has a very simple layout, with four lines in each stanza, and a total of five stanzas. Also, the last word of every second line of each stanza rhymes with the last word of each stanza. For example, “light” rhymes with “fight”.

This poem talks about how children were treated during the Vietnam War.

In the first stanza, the poet is telling us that there many children during the Vietnam War were taught to fight at a very young age, and that they do not get to experience the joys of childhood.

In the second stanza, “Chalk and blackboards will not be” means that the children were not educated and were not taught how to read or write. The poet then reveals the truth about their life – they cannot escape from the reality of their life, which was to fight for their country. They will also not be freed from their duty until their country wins. This can be seen from lines 6 – 8;

“To this door there is no key”
“From this life they cannot flee”
“And these children are not free”

The next stanza talks about the different things that the poet wished to do for these children. He wished that they could have a chance to be educated, or be spared from the reality of their life, or even simply giving them some hope about their future. This can be seen from “Could we simply light a candle / Could we give them half a chance”.

The next stanza warns us that if we do not take action, the children will suffer greatly. The poet also states the consequences if the children were not saved, which is that they will be consumed by the horrors and reality of the war. This can be seen from “Or will a war consume the”.

The last stanza summarizes the reality of the children’s lives: they are trapped in the darkness (reality of their life) and do not have a way to escape from it. Also, there is virtually no hope or encouragement in their lives (“Into which there shines no light”).

LA E-learning Assignment 2 (Task 1)

Task 1 (Children in the darkness)


Background information of Bechtold and the poem

This poem was written in the year 2009, during Christmas, when Henry M Bechtold was in his hotel room during his stay at Saigon. He often goes there because “his soul lives in Vietnam”.

The poet was trying to write a poem about girls who work in the park and how badly men treat them. He was angry but unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. Bechtold looked at the TV and the news was on.

He did not know what the news reader was saying but in the background was a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out. The words just “came to him and he typed as fast as he could to get it all down”.

In this poem, the poet talk about children that were involved in the war and that they were being robbed of their childhood and forced to be engaged with war. In the past twenty years, there has been estimated that there are over millions of children that has been used in the war or dragged into with their parents.

The children were usually used as nurses, spies. They were in charge of guarding
resources, general camps, drum boys, and worst of all, infantry soldiers who were put at the front line to test out for enemy mines.

2 million children have died, 5 million disabled, 12 million homeless, 1 million were made orphans and 10 million were shell-shocked.

The children were treated as lower classes of soldiers or recruits in the war as in the context to the poem, Children in the Darkness. They are given high risks task as they are of low value.


Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/31962195/Children-in-the-Darkness

LA E-learning (Task 2)

Task 2 (Rainbow death)

Analysis of Rainbow Death:

This poem has a simple layout, only with two stanzas and five lines for the first one, six lines for the second one. There is also rhyming in it, at the last word of every two lines. For example, “foresee” rhymes with “potpourri”.

This poem talks about the chemicals (Agent Orange) the Americans used against the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War.

The point of view in this poem is a soldier who had fought in the war, and the situation is set in the Vietnam War. The persona is against the leaders of the war for using the deadly chemicals on the enemy. This can be seen immediately from the first sentence “America did not foresee”. The “green, pink, purple and other colors” refer to the colors of the chemicals used, which signals death “death potpourri”.

America did not foresee the consequences and now the deadly effects of the chemical affects the innocent people uninvolved in war and the unborn babies of the women affected by the chemical. The next two lines supported this, showing that the Americans did not care about the illnesses of the people affected and disregarding the premature deaths of the unborn.

However, America continues to deceive the public, distorting the truth about the use of these chemicals and giving them the wrong information:

“All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray”

The next line “Generations untold WILL pay” means that the next generations of the affected people will suffer from the effects of the chemical. Wilson ends off the poem with the main message of the whole poem: he condemns the use of these chemicals.

“Execrable effects of agent orange spray!”

I think that this is a great poem, as it clearly explains the point of view of the persona. I personally think that the use of these chemicals is wrong and inhuman. Thousands of people and their next generations were affected, and many were born deformed or retarded. Also, the American government tried to cover this up and gave the excuse that it was simply trying to stop Communism from spreading. I think that the least the government should do is to tell the truth and ask public’s opinions.

In all, I agree with the persona and condemn the fact that the government purposely led the public astray by lying and spreading deceit.