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.
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.
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?
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.
South Korean Investor Puts In US$5 Billion Bid To Redevelop Saigon's Ba Son Shipyard
The sprawling Ba Son Shipyard that occupies a large swath of prime real estate along the banks of the Saigon River may soon be redeveloped into a mixed-use complex.
Google Translate Asks Vietnamese To Help Improve Its Accuracy
If you’ve ever needed to use Google Translate to Vietnamese, you know that it’s not always the most accurate. While it can be said that this is an issue for many of the languages available in the serv...
Uproar As Province Lets Developer Fill In Vietnam’s Largest River
The Dong Nai River is the main water source for 20 million people in Southern Vietnam. It’s no surprise then that experts have “slammed” local authorities for giving a property developer the go-ahead ...
[Infographic] How Vietnam’s New Broadcast Tower Stacks Up Against The World’s Tallest
Vietnam Television Station (VTV), the State Capital and Investment Corporation and BRG Corporation have officially announced their cooperation on the construction of the world’s tallest broadcasting t...
Chinese Company Proposes Rail Link Between Saigon and Phnom Penh
In yet another plan that would change the face of rail in Vietnam, a Chinese firm has proposed the construction of a new international railway line that would span the Mekong Delta.
15 Projects That Will Change Saigon Forever: Part 2
The area between Bến Thành Market and the Saigon Opera House is undeniably the epicenter of changes to the city’s urban fabric with the construction of pedestrian promenades, subway stations, a new ad...
Vietnam to Get High Speed Trains That Can Reach 350kph
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved plans for a massive overhaul of Vietnam’s rail network over the next 35 years.
Medical Musings: Beware Of Fake Alcohol In Vietnam
Vietnam drinks a lot of alcohol. In fact, it tops the list in Southeast Asia at nearly 3 billion liters yearly. While beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice for many, spirits are also a popular opti...
The 10 Tallest Buildings In Vietnam
After hearing that Hanoi is planning to build the world’s largest broadcast tower, it got us wondering – what are the tallest buildings in Vietnam?
Launching Event: “Hà Nội: CAPITAL City” & TP. Hồ Chí Minh: MEGA City" Photo Books
Following the successful release of their photo book which chronicled urban development in Ho Chi Minh City last year, Michael Waibel and Henning Hilbert are back with a similar en...
Lotte, Japanese Firms Partner up on $2bn Eco Smart City in D2
Perhaps the development of Thu Thiem is finally underway with the announcement that South Korean multinational Lotte will team up with two Japanese developers on a US$2 billion mega project in the pen...
Fake Fanpages Of Vietnamese Politicians Flood Facebook
As some Vietnamese politicians embrace Facebook, others have been a bit slower to adopt it. However, many in the latter group are already represented on the social network with fake Fanpages.
World’s Tallest Broadcasting Tower To Be Built In Hanoi
Plans are in the works for what will be by far the tallest structure in Vietnam.
Microsoft To Move 2 Nokia Factories From China To Vietnam For Lower Labor Costs
It looks like Vietnam’s master plan to lure global tech companies is panning out with the announcement last week that Microsoft is closing two of its handset plants in China and moving operations to V...
15 Projects That Will Change Saigon Forever: Part 1
The area between Bến Thành Market and the Saigon Opera House is undeniably the epicenter of changes to the city’s urban fabric with the construction of pedestrian promenades, subway stations, a n...
Inside Nhà Bè District's "B House"
This small but impressive home in Saigon's Nhà Bè District was built on a premise of “open but introverted space.” The structure, designed by i.House Architecture and Construction, feat...
US$100 Million Budgeted To Return A Saigon Canal To Its Former Glory
Hàng Bàng Canal, formerly known as Canal Bonard, will soon receive a massive US$100 million renovation in a bid to return the narrow brackish creek into a clean, manicured waterway.
Medical Musings: Dengue Fever
Dengue fever is the most common mosquito-transmitted viral illness in the world. It is seen in Vietnam and over 120 other sub-tropical and tropical countries, wherever the Aedes aegypti mosquito is fo...
Google.vn Hacked By "Lizard Squad"
This afternoon, users attempting to connect to the Google.vn homepage were greeted by text, a photo and video courtesy of what appears to be a small collective of American hackers.
[Photos] Da Nang House Inspired by Termite Mounds and Champa Architecture
The Termitary House, recently completed by Tropical Space Architects in Da Nang's Thanh Khe District, gets its inspiration from both intricate termite mounds and the baked-brick towers of the Cha...
