About Us

 

It’s July again! Time to take out my walking shoes, trusty backpack and explore Southeast Asian cities with an adventurous and curious cohort of students. Outside of these annual trips, I teach Media and Cultural Studies, as well as research and publish on cities, religion, media and civil society.

Hello I'm Bats, and like the creature of the night, I am, nocturnal. Slaving away on my thesis as an Honors student at Monash Malaysia sums up my life at the moment. In my spare time I sleep, oh how I love to sleep. I'm an Indian/Sri Lankan residing in Jakarta. Confused? Don't worry, I am too. As the chaperone of the In Search of Saigon trip, I have been assigned the awesome task of looking after the other travellers’ well-being, while simultaneously working as Dr. Yeoh's P.A. Oh joy! However, I'm also on this trip because I look forward to drinking Vietnamese coffee in Vietnam, while chowing down on good Vietnamese food. Oh yeah.

My waist can probably fit into your hands. I would consider Rajnikanth a God if I wasn’t in a monotheistic religion. I think Sabrina Kamaruddin is a big fat liar- if you don’t believe me, just wait until her bra catches fire! I have never even watched Good Morning Vietnam, but I studied about the Vietnam War in high school. I am Indian by birth, Malaysian by choice, a Research student, anti-establishmentarianism believer and capable of reciting the alphabet backwards. One of these statements is a lie.

What is not a lie however, is my impending excitement and uncontained joy at being able to go around shaking hands with everyone, saying in my most controlled voice, ‘This is your Editor-in-Chief speaking. It is now safe to stop worrying about orgotten commas and misplaced spelling misteaks’. Yes, misteaks. Yes, misplaced.
 
And kindly remember, those with bad grammar will be shooted.

 

  

The name Lim Sheng Feixiang is too long, so, you will call me Fei. 22. In pursuit of a double degree in Marketing and Communications at Monash Malaysia. I enjoy a good photograph which will be my tool in telling the stories of Vietnam. I love a good night out and a long morning in. I Crossfit, do you?

 

By a shizload of fortune, I was called Sabrina. By misfortune however, I ceased to be known as that, and was bestowed upon an array of stubborn silly names. I became a Bachelor of Communications student by fate and epiphany: the death of a friend made me realize that the world is too much of an unhappy place to be doing Engineering or Medicine when you don't want to. Such is the unreality of life, but I like to have my left foot in a fantasy world that I created in the image of the Earth. This is my second Study Trip and despite Pathfinder Dr. Yeoh's advice, I will still attempt to ride an illegal motorcycle in Saigon, given that the Editor-in-Chief either 1) never rides with me; 2) cuts down on those Baklavas and loses some bloody weight.

Andrea Tee, 22, is a communications and writing major in her final year. Spurred by her love for travel (and, more importantly, of food), she has embarked on this journey with the full intent of learning, seeing, writing a lot and eating even more. She hopes by the end of the trip to have developed many new friendships and buns of steel from all the walking the team is expected to do.

When not writing inanely in the third person, Andrea enjoys reading, watching Quentin Tarantino movies and curling up in a ball crying tears of blood because both Snooki AND Justin Beiber have published bestselling books.

Hi, my name is Cyren, an Honours year Arts student currently pursuing a thesis in Asian Mythology and Folklore. Among some of my interests are sketching, nature and the performing arts. I do musical theater publicly and in the privacy of my own room, an impersonation of Disney's Aladdin from time to time. My pet peeve are insects and I find them most fascinating. One of my random hobbies is breeding butterflies because I enjoy watching the transformation of a small, insignificant and often repulsed worm into one of nature's most recognised and loved of all children.

 

 

Helleu humans and fellow aliens! I'm Farah Zulkefly. I'm a second year Arts student majoring in Journalism and Communications. This is my second trip to Saigon, having previously been there on holiday. This time around I'd like to take a closer look at Vietnamese architecture and why a lot of their houses are the way they are: tall and narrow, with double doors leading to a balcony on every floor. I am an omnivorous creature with my head almost permanently in the gutter, out of which I must always remember to fish myself. I am an advocate of sex and sexuality education and not using culture as an excuse to deem things taboo, thus creating social epidemics. I'm an avid scuba diver, constantly looking out for the next opportunity to submerge myself in some ocean. I love: elephants, books, science, traveling, archery, cars, architecture, interiors, flowers, the piano, and men in well-cut suits who are reasonably good looking. I'm a drama queen, in the most agreeable sense. None of that diva nonsense. Hell to the no! This is the part where I snap my fingers three times and give you the nuh-uh!

I simply must jump unto the about-me bandwagon lest I feel like a social outcast. Having established my esteemed sarcasm, I would like to assure you that I am also inquisitive, witty, helpful and compassionate. I have great enthusiasm for culture and history and look forward to becoming more well informed of Saigon's social circumstances and having meaningful conversations with the people and clients of the NGOs there. I am determined to leave Saigon with my jar not full, but spilling.

 

The name's Francesca. For short, Fran. Then you can tell people you have a friend name Fran. :) Like the name, Fran's a good friend. She cares about people, animals, even insects yo! She's an all rounder. Francesca's not the ordinary girl you see walking along pavements, but nonetheless proud of who she is. Currently pursuing her third year in the Bachelor of Arts with a communications major, she is glad to have made it for this study trip with the rest of her peers. She will be exploring and adventuring the beautiful sceneries and the not so beautiful sceneries of Saigon. She will also be looking forward to find inspiration. Being an outdoor person, Fran loves walking. Hence, she will mostly use her feet throughout the journey. Photography isn't her best, but nonetheless, she will try to provide amazing raw images of Saigon.

Writing in haiku

Makes you look more creative

Rhyming optional

Student at Monash

Learning the liberal arts

Mother disapproves

Going to Vietnam

People, food, sights, sounds and beer

Pho-king fantastic!

Work to be done here

Learn of culture and people

Broaden horizons

My role to be played
 In this adventure la grande
Videographing

He’s got the hair the aunties want, He’s got all the CDs by Celine Dion, and he’s got a resume so thick most employers wouldn’t know whether to read or not.

John De Silva also considers himself a Jack (or rather, John) of all trades and is hopeful he would one day be a master of at least one....Academic Over-Achiever, Academic Under-Achiever, Amateur 'Voice-Over Guy', Amateur Basketball Player, Amateur Director, Amateur Food Photographer, Amateur Playwright, Animal Rights 'Defender', Barista, Cinema Box Office Attendant, Cinema Concession Stand Staff, Newsletter Editor, Hospital Customer Service Rep, Journalist, Law Student, Master of Ceremonies, Producer, Public Speaker, Radio Show Host for a Day, School Choir Vice President, School Prefect, Scout Assistant Patrol Leader, Theatre Supervisor...and that’s just the man being humbly boastful!

The recently-turned-avid traveller is on the Saigon team all thanks to Fortuna!

Hellos! I'm Lochna, your average person, barring that I love singing crazy random songs at inappropriate hours of the day, I write tons of poems that are mostly ‘morbid’ according to my mother, and I love classical music and traditional dance forms. I also love reading classics, romantic poetry and listening to Greenday and All American Rejects. A heavy advocate for individualism, I'm building a future for myself beginning with an Arts degree in International Studies and Writing. I hope the experiences that I leave Ho Chi Minh with will give me a deeper understanding that will help me create a better future not only for myself but for the people of this world. 

Hi all, my name is Mumbi Munene, I am from Kenya and I am studying in Malaysia as an exchange student from the Monash South Africa campus. I am pursuing a B.A degree, majoring in International Studies and Economics. I love travelling and meeting new people and therefore look forward to experiencing the wonders of Saigon, while interacting with all the other students going on the trip.

Nadia Namwoo Kim is currently a student of Monash Malaysia, majoring in International Studies. It is stated in my passport that I am a Korean, yet there are a lot of stories that a passport would not be able to fully tell. I am not just your average Korean- I cannot eat spicy food, I am not a big fan of Kimchi. I have been living in Malaysia from the time I was in high school. I speak passable levels of Malay and Mandarin. Of course, I also speak English along with my mother tongue, Korean. I write a blog about Africa in an attempt to educate and widen people's perceptions on Africa. In 2010, I lived in South Africa for 7 months. To me, home is wherever I go. However, thanks to a recent retake courtesy of my lecturer, I now believe that while home is wherever I choose it to be, I will still be a foreigner wherever I am. 

I mostly prefer to travel without a purpose, but I decided to go for Saigon because it is travel with a twist- academia! 

Christyna Fong here with 21 years of non-consequential experiences. I'm hoping this trip will change that and give me a new perspective of the world I'm living in. With an eagerness and enthusiasm of a Border collie pup, I am looking forward to absorbing the different sights, sounds and smells of ADVENTURE! Currently taking a degree in Arts (no, not the painting kind; the other pretentious one. Yes, Liberal Arts!) majoring in Writing and Communications, I feel like the trip will tear apart the walls of my teeny tiny boundaries.

 

 

I like to colour co-ordinate my outfits to my handbags, and I work many jobs at once. I am on the Photography team for this year’s Saigon trip and I am an excellent student in class, never scoring less than a HD for any unit. I love anyone in my life called Abeer and I have the utmost love for dogs. I can do a mean Elvis impersonation, which I plan on unleashing during the Saigon trip’s Cultural Night.

Hola everyone! I’m Wui Jia. You can also call me Jia Jia. I'm studying tithing practices in the Christian churches of Malaysia as part of my Honours thesis. I decided to go on this trip because I've enjoyed past study trips and I know this one will be amazing too. I hope to learn empathy as I experience a new culture and become acquainted with the unfamiliar. I find lively and talkative people rather interesting (I’m a woman of few words myself) and I’m looking forward to getting to know all fellow travellers in a meaningful manner.  I am also looking forward to working on an article on the Catholic faith and how it is practiced over there in Saigon.

Most know me as Audrey (cue the well-known lingerie brand), middle name somehow has to be Victoria (a world-famous lingerie brand) and hopefully someone will come up with Samuel boxers just to complete the whole underwear-themed series of names I have. I'm 27 and still very lost in life. For now, International Studies and Writing at Monash Malaysia takes up some of my time; sleeping occupies most of it. A study trip is something I have never been on so, in, I'm off in Search of Saigon! It would also be a challenge to pack a ukulele for a trip in which packing light comes highly recommended. I sleep-talk, sleep-walk, sleep-eat and go on sleep-adventures...so if you see me about with a zombie-like appearance, please, kindly guide me back to bed or I might become Boxerman; my sleep persona with my bright boxers flashing and a blanket for a cape!

Our Student Guides

Mild mannered, soft spoken and an early sleeper, Two is a 21 year old student at the Vietnam National University, studying International Relations under the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. She loves to involve herself in volunteer activities and is currently the leader of the volunteer club at her university. Her spare time is dedicated to playing her guitar and listening to rock music. Miley Cyrus is her favorite singer. She desires a cosmopolitan lifestyle that will allow her to travel to numerous countries around the globe.

 

 

A 20 year old who loves all types of animals except cats. She dreams about opening a zoo with all kinds of dogs, 20 horses, white tigers, lions and BIG snakes like anacondas. She loves swimming, traveling, cooking and boys. She is studying International Relations at the Vietnam National University of Humanities and Social Sciences. A good singer and actor, she often stars in school productions. Nothing beats her mother’s cooking and Vi is particularly a die-hard fan of Pepsi, but is currently trying to cut back on it because friends think she needs to go on a diet.

  

Vo Nat Thang is a student at the Foreign Trade University (Ho Chi Minh City Campus) in Vietnam. The 20 year-old is pursuing a degree in International Business Administration. This considerably shy young gentleman enjoys keeping things simple. He is fond of music, sports,and simply hanging out with his buddies. Thang’s friends sometimes identify him as the ‘handsome rabbit’, ‘bear’, or ‘goat’...ask the man himself if you want to know why. The Harry Potter fan (book series, not film) is keen on observing the different cultures, behaviours, and personalities displayed by the diverse ensemble from Monash.

Call him Thanh, or if you know him well enough, ‘Pumbaa’ (yes, the warthog from the Lion King). An undergraduate of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities HCMC, the 21 year-old is taking on a Degree in English. Thanh is known as the ‘crazy one’ amongst his friends, enjoys travelling out of Vietnam, and absolutely adores big dogs...and the bigger they are, the better! One of the craziest things Thanh has done was the time when he mistakenly answered his Italian paper in Spanish,and his Spanish paper in Italian. For ‘In Search of Saigon’, he is looking forward to making new friends and learning new cultures, on top of creating opportunities for his further international travels.

Honey is a the name of am exceptionally sweet student guide who loves travelling and has just returned to Vietnam from a one year exchange programme in Seoul, Korea where she spent her time learning the Korean language and volunteering. Music, particularly Korean Pop, is her favorite but she also enjoys rock and rap. 24 year old ‘Honey’ studies International Relations at the Vietnam National University of Humanities and Social Sciences. She is sometimes unexpectedly funny and crazy.

A prominent student of the Vietnam National University, Anh is a 22 year old male who loves food- so much so he eats 5 times a day. Currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in International Relations, Anh’s hobbies include reading books, doing volunteer work and having a great night out with friends. Anh also cannot sleep before 1am and is referred to as ‘the dancing guy’ in his university thanks to active participation (and successful runs) in Latin ballroom dancing.