Saigon
At Tết, many people are interested in asking, “Where are you going for fun during Tết?”
Every year, I answer: ‘Always in Saigon for Tết.’
Because that is when Saigon is most different from the rest of the year: quiet, settled, with only Saigonese remaining, uncrowded, and peaceful too.
That is another face of Saigon.
But that face will be difficult to see during the nearly 360 remaining days of the year.
That is when Saigon is at its most “livable,” so why go far away?
Saigon's charm is not only the kindness in roadside boxes of free bánh mì or containers of free iced tea filled with Saigon's humanity, for the lottery-ticket seller, the cyclo driver, the female worker, and poor laborers…
Its charm is Saigon's “acceptance.” Acceptance of seeming opposites and contradictions: the most chaotic place is also where kindness is most unspoiled.
People often criticize Saigon's ‘specialty’ of street snatching, but those snatchers may not be from Saigon at all; they may come from the same region as the person criticizing it.
But Saigon does not complain. Even though all the ‘profit’ it generates is taken away to support other places, this land still welcomes everyone, all kinds of people from everywhere, as long as a flame burns in their hearts to seek opportunities and challenge themselves for a better life. Saigon welcomes them all; Saigon embraces them all. This gentle land still generously ‘holds’ so many ‘children’ far from home and regards them as its own. People may live in Hanoi for 10 years without daring to call themselves Hanoians, while anyone who has lived in Saigon for 1 year can already call themselves a ‘Saigonese.’
America is also called “Hợp chủng quốc Hoa Kỳ” (United States of America). The Vietnamese term “hợp chủng quốc” itself suggests great inclusiveness: all kinds of people, cultures, and ethnicities are welcomed, as long as they share the “American dream.” All are one. America becomes the leading nation.
Rivers must flow into the sea, with currents exchanging, connecting, sharing, and learning. If they cling to themselves, neither receiving nor giving, like stagnant pond water without movement, connection, or sharing, they eventually become dirty water that brings value to no one.
In Saigon, you can enjoy food from all of Vietnam. You can also enjoy many dishes from around the world. A whole big world into a small city.
So when Richard Branson visited Vietnam, he took a photo of Saigon before him and posted it on Twitter, saying Vietnam was one of the world’s most dynamic startup environments.
That is Saigon's charm. Each year Saigon asks for only a few days to “rest.” It is already the 5th day of Tết; the “melting-pot city” will become crowded again.
So, anyone who comes to Saigon to ‘seek opportunities’ with an ‘entrepreneurial spirit’—leaving aside those who take the wrongful path of robbery—anyone who comes here to study, work, and mature on this land, whether you later stay or return to contribute to your hometown, please cherish this land. It will continue to ‘embrace’ many more of your fellow countrymen, people from every walk of life. Do not wear Saigon out too much; many others still need it. Protect and improve the place where you live.
