Reunification Palace

Visiting the Reunification Palace and the Ho Chi Minh City Museum has been an enlightening experience. Ho Chi Minh City's take on the Vietnam war is a refreshing change from that of Hanoi. Coming from the capital city of the defeated faction in the civil war, it is also a more informative and interesting perspective.


I think it's fair to say that Vietnam's history is unique. Throughout its history, it has always faced the threat of invasion by foreign powers: the imperial Chinese dynasties of Qin, Han and Ming; the Mongolians under Kublai; as well as the French and American imperialists. And they have always fought back for their freedom and sovereignty. Although they have not always prevailed, this nationalistic fervour seems to have bridled under the surface like embers waiting for the right conditions to fan into a blazing fire of vengeance.


And this is why I don't understand the Vietnamese. After having gone through such a turbulent past, you'd have expected it to show in their behaviour whether in their ferocity in handling business, or their suspiciousness towards foreigners, or even a certain roughness in their speech. But instead, you find the opposite in the Vietnamese. If anything, they appear to have a blase attitude towards everything.


I spoke to Kiet about this and he thinks it's because the Vietnamese knows there's nothing that can be done but to try their best to keep on surviving. There's nothing they can do about the war, but there's certainly something they can do to save themselves. And that's how they persevere.


Forgive me but I don't think this is true. Being fatalistic does not cause a people to unite and build Ho Chi Minh's Trail, or even dig the Cu Chi Tunnels or win the Vietnam war. Being fatalistic only lets you survive for a little while longer.


After two weeks in Vietnam, her people still intrigue me.