HO CHI MINH.....the foot trails that make me sleep less

Since I was in Lower Secondary School (1973-75), I used to draw Ho Chi Minh’s face on my history note book. My liking of him is just there without any reasoning, sort of a natural and instinctive liking…..not due to Vietnam and Vietcong historic war. It was just there, at that very young age (13-15 years old). In fact in those days, the American combat movie, named Combat featuring heroic Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) had pre-occupied my brain of the American good image against the communist expansion in South East Asia.

(2) Last Dec., 2008 I decided to take my family to tour Vietnam. I was again not so sure why did I made Vietnam as my chosen destination. Ticket booking, was only done a week before I left. And the worst, till the last day before leaving, in fact I have no confident and felt some jittering feeling of flying off. Even on my way to the airport, I have such a feeling that I’m leaving and wouldn’t come back…a feeling that I never have in my whole life. Scared to death! Pretending everything will be great, I just quietly buried my uncertainty and worry feeling from my kids and friends, we took off straight from LCCT to Hanoi.

(3) I love to travel the cowboy way. No specific arrangement, no hotel booking, no fix schedule, not even any transportation arrangement. My kids (age 14 and 16 years old) have to learn the hard life way, the uncertainty of life.

(4) The first day in Hanoi, we spent most of our time trailing this Uncle Ho (as Ho Chi Minh was know during his struggled days) history. The museum, the home, the books, the memorial, all sorts…and photo displays of the Vietcong’s Arm Struggle not only against the American, but the France and some sketches of Vietnam early uprising against the much earlier 1,000 years Chinese conquest.

(5) Everywhere, Uncle Ho was portrayed as skinny, bare footed, khaki dressed,….but he always had touching feeling with the women and kids….his mothers and future people…as his hidden winning slogan, I believe.

(7) The second till the 14th days, we travelled to the country side, north to south…Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Vietnam is a paddy country, buffaloes country, a real peasants State. We rode the train and the buses. Along the way we could see the real contrast, northern poor, much affluent south. But one thing, poverty can’t really be seen. All seem to be well kept. Not even in town. Named it, either in Hanoi (surely not), Danang, even in Ho Chi Minh…we could see no baggers. Not as well the famous Saigon Nite Life (might be I didn’t hit the correct places), can’t see all those western spoilt values…the popular Jakarta’s, Manila’s, Bangkok’s and even some of those naughty and ugly Kuala Lumpur scenes seem to be well absent!

(8) At late nite, I strolled in the darks alleys of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh….all seem peaceful. The people just busy cleaning up the streets or having all sort of seafood and Vietnam beer squatting along the five foot paths….I did joint some session….seafood with soft drink…and trying to pick some insight into this new and historical Vietnam…but couldn’t get much…communication mostly in sign language…their English are too poor…

(9) While strolling the street, dropping to artist shops was my favorite. Old and new paintings…..hanging on the wall did portrayed some interesting old messages of Uncle Ho. Struggle, people, people…Vietnam our State!

(10) I can’t find good bookstore that sell books on Vietnam and Uncle Ho written by the locals. Most books are historical stories of American success! There was no real bookstore. There are lots of street books vendors….browsing from one to the others…can’t find real good books..and keep telling the sale persons that I don’t like foreign written Vietnam books….and to my delight, a middle age Vietnamese gave me a help to explain….while holding his nose, and flapping his fingers, signaling sort of BIG NOSE….and pointing to the books…and shakes his head…..yeeh I got his point…no (don’t) want book written by big nose man! Excellent Vietnam! Viva Vietnam!

(11) During our stay, two football matches did took place. The first was, Singapore vs Vietnam. Vietnam won. Then on the Christmas Eve, Thai vs Vietnam, and again Vietnam won…..the five stars red flags and ten of thousand of brooming motorbikes carrying all walk of lives….went crazy on the streets…everywhere, the Vietnamese really celebrate their victory over Singapore and Thailand. They are crazy football fans. Some even climbed up the street lighting posts and fly the five stars red flags….really went crazy and noisy….importantly only very small got high with drinks….and some seem those tourists…whom to me, were those who seem to be indifferent of what their country had done to these places sometimes ago….bombing and killing indiscriminately

(12) I enquired some on the street about all that crazy celebration…..yeehhh, we love to beat and really celebrate our victory especially for Thailand, Philippines and Singapore…sometimes Malaysia….why…yeehhh, these countries don’t like us when we were at war with the colonial USA……sort of friendly revenge! We love beating them at the football war!

(14) Slowly…I begin to realize of my natural liking to Uncle Ho….he is not a communist. He is just a nationalist. He wants a free Vietnam. He wants the Vietnamese to determine their own course. In his eyes, Vietnam has been raped and robe by all sort of foreigners…east and west. While her resources had depleted, her people greatly on the verge of serious poverty and disparity. He sees his people being treated as slave!

(15) He disciplined his followers well. He makes them totally loyal to the State. He want them to stand on their own….he used his local resources for his people own survival….he used communism as the tool for liberation…and American as usual…seeing his interest at stake, drummed up the ‘domino theory’ that make the regional politic against the Vietnamese…a usual deception strategy of America…

(16) Unfortunately Ho Chi Minh passed away (1969) before he could see the total liberation and unification of the Vietnamese (1972)….but even if he has chance to do so, he might be frustrated…the strong Vietnamese Nationalism that he had built was lack of nationalism socio-economic fulfilling strategies….and I could envision once again McDonald and Coca Cola….will colonize Vietnam in a more diplomatic and in-depth manner…

(17) Now I understand, my accidental since kid days Idolizing of Uncle Ho….is for me to realize that Nationalism without the people social improvement will never last….a need to relook at the social wellbeing of the people….

(18) Ho Chi Minh…thanks for inspiring me…I begin to sleep less