When applying for study abroad programs, I really wanted to have a “once in a lifetime” experience. This aspiration is what drew me to Southeast Asia and, subsequently, my program with CET. Aside from living with local roommates and taking fairly high-quality Vietnamese lessons, CET’s program was so desirable because they arranged intern opportunities.
During our first week in Vietnam, we met with different representatives from several organizations that would all introduce us to different subcultures within Ho Chi Minh City. After hearing from them all, myself and another student, Erica, decided to intern under a woman named Trang who operates The Maker Concept cafe and boutique. Despite the market of The Maker Concept, the goal of our internship is not to sell clothes or make lattes, but rather we have been tasked with documenting development within Ho Chi Minh City.
In an earlier blog post, I mentioned The Maker and it’s location inside a converted apartment building. Well, that building has been the sight of a very public government ordeal. For background, the building is located at 42 Nguyen Hue—on the very popular walking street. That area is incredibly valuable and 42 Nguyen Hue sits next to the only 6-star hotel in the city—“The Times Square”. In turn, due to it’s desirability, the government has been working towards and recently passed an ordinance directed at 42 Nguyen Hue and has, effectively, banned independent businesses from occupying apartment buildings, but other buildings are not facing as much government scrutiny and, seemingly, the only building that will really be subjected to the law is 42 Nguyen Hue. In the long run, the building and its property will be sold to independent developers to do what they’d like with it. This has now left The Maker Concept with a short deadline and they have now opened a second shop elsewhere in the city to smooth the transition.
My boss, Trang, now wants there to be a record of certain areas of the city as it is now. She has taken me, and Erica, around the area surrounding 42 Nguyen Hue to show us the elaborate buildings that house cafes, restaurants, apartments, and boutiques. Basically, the other buildings that will be targeted in coming years as the city develops. As such, Erica and I have gone around taking photographs and talking with our professors and program coordinators about what the city has become and how they see it changing. Ho Chi Minh City has rapidly developed in the past few years and is continuing on a very steep uphill trend.
This pattern is further emphasized in my development studies course. Currently, we are reading about and discussing districts within the city that have been “raised from the wastelands.” Otherwise known as “gentrified.” These areas have began housing expats and Vietnamese alike that have respectable incomes and want a certain quality of life. I have not seen it first hand, but I’ve been told that they are the Orange County of Ho Chi Minh City.
The material in my course and internship have definitely shown me how interesting of a time it is in the city. We are currently in a time of massive transformation and are very fortunate to be tasked with trying to best document this transition so that it may serve as a record of our time in the city and what Saigon was at this point in history.