Video 02: Saigon Day One Montage

The Wet Marionettes of Saigon

By John Shebat de Silva

‘In Search of Saigon’ is in Day One. By now every traveler has had a taste of pho and ‘legally’ jaywalked across notorious traffic conditions countless times. There was no doubt that we were all now in Ho Chi Minh City. However, as we reached our next destination some began to realise something rather familiar; the presence of a somewhat Chinese influence in the overall environment at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre. There were Chinese-esque lanterns hung above us and the traditional outfits donned by the front of house attendants looked the part too.

The team was set to witness this 50-minute cultural spectacle. The hall of the theatre was reasonably comfortable; air-conditioned and cushioned seats. The audience comprised largely of foreign tourists and some locals. The welcoming speech soon came on and explained in both Vietnamese and English that the origins of this cultural performance dates back eleven centuries. Lonely Planet claims that the art comes from the North and made its way to Saigon as tourism began to boom.

As the curtain drew open, the audience’s loud chatter was slowly replaced by the growing sound of classical instruments. The backdrop was also a familiar Chinese-influenced structure and large portions of the stage was in fact water. The first puppet soon made its appearance, wading through the murky water as it introduced itself as the narrator. Although the dialogue was entirely in Vietnamese, it doesn’t take much to understand that a lot of the spoken materials were humourous in nature and its delivery was often slapstick.

The purpose of the narrator however, does not present the story in any form of chronology. The entire performance consists of acts which primarily highlighted the traditions and cultural lives of the Vietnamese people. From ferocious yet graceful dragons ‘dancing’ on the water, to an elegant pair of phoenixes courting, the show reflected the many beliefs and practices of Vietnamese folks. The phoenix dance segment had audiences in awe when the legendary creature produced an egg which subsequently ‘hatched’ into a baby phoenix.

Segments of the performance such as the riding of buffalos, catching of frogs, rearing of ducks, and catching of foxes emphasised the role of agriculture in the traditional Vietnamese community. One segment which was particularly festive was the one where a man returns triumphantly to his native land after winning a national exam or competition.

Vietnamese legends and folklores were not left out. One segment was about King Le Loi and the turtle. Legend has it that King Le Loi who was at one point facing the threat of invasion by his enemies, was aided by the ‘God of the Sea’. The King was given a sword to ward off his enemies and when he had succeeded, a turtle was sent to claim the sword back.

The team’s Vietnamese student guides later explained the significance of the appearance of several animals in the performance. In Vietnam, each of the following animals represents a different attribute; the dragon symbolises power, the phoenix – grace, turtles means wisdom that comes with age, and the lion was a symbol of bravery.

Finally, the performance climaxed with a minor pyrotechnique display. The entire show was not only an excellent display of culture but also the talent and dedication of the ensemble comprising of musicians and puppeteers. 

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John de Silva is a 24 year-old Monashian majoring in International Studies. Though born in Kuala Lumpur, he likes to think of himself more as a ‘Penang-kia’ as he has spent most of his life on the island state up north.

Diary Entry Day 1: Stepping into Saigon

by Cyren Wong
photos by Lim Fei Xiang

We arrived at Saigon on the 9th of July at about 10.30 AM due to a slight delay in the flight. 

After an early morning of waking up to bypass the much dreaded roadblocks due to the Bersih rally, we were dead tired and for the better part were unable to cope with the searing heat nor the scores of unfettered Vietnamese masses that we had to fight through to meet the coordinator of our student guide and the receptionist from the hotel which we would be staying at.

 The taxi ride was eventful to say the least, especially for one who is unfamiliar with Vietnamese traffic! Indeed, coming from someone who has driven in Kuala Lumpur through multiple rush-hours I can
honestly say that I have not feared for my life more than 6 times in a car until I sat in the Vietnamese taxis.

However, it wasn't long until our taxi came to an unceremonious stop and the next step of our journey began, dodging through the quaint and cramped back alleys of Saigon to get to our hotel. Though its location was very confronting at first, Mai Vy hotel turned out to be an extremely delightful place. Narrow and built up to five stories high, Mai Vy hotel boasts a small set of stylish rooms, three per floor, which would become our dwelling for the next ten days. Although we only had a few minutes to prepare and freshen up, many of the travellers naturally took their own liberties in taking much needed afternoon showers which gave some of the early birds an opportunity to chat and get to know some of our student guides personally. 

The official ice-breaker session was coordinated by Dr. Yeoh, which took shape in a very typical ‘get-to-know-you game’ whereby travellers were asked to state their names and interests while subsequent travellers to do so would have to recite also the names of the travellers which had introduced themselves prior to that! The resulting statements were of course quite hilarious with some of the funnier ones being "Sabrina, who likes to bully Abeer", "Andy who latino dances," and "Nadia, who is clumsy!", a fact which was proven later in the day when an inadvertently knocked over table was immediately blamed on her, causing a minor emotional outburst on her part at the Pho 24 restaurant where we were treated to Pho (pronounced Fur) noodles, a famous Vietnamese dish that is served with beef or chicken slices.

After a satisfactory lunch, we headed off to the war remnant museum where everyone had a fairly light-hearted moment photographing with the various planes, helicopters and war vehicles that were on display at the museum's entrance. The remainder of the tour however took a more depressing note. Not only did we walk through the "tiger cages" used to detain political prisoners, we were also confronted with graphic images of victims of torture. But the most heart-wrenching exhibit was undoubtedly the room which showed the horrible effects of Agent Orange. As a matter of fact, the display - which consisted of two mutated babies cured in preservative liquids - was so graphic in nature that even our hearty videographer Sabrina turned off her camera. The visit to the museum was decidedly eye-opening and affecting. I can say for sure that despite what we may have already known about the Vietnam War, we left with a deeper and completely different perspective on its history.

The next part of our journey was fortunately a lot more cheery! The water puppet show, which depicted various scenes from Vietnamese culture and folklore, significantly brightened the mood. This was followed by the remaining part of the day's tour, consisting of a leisurely stroll around Ho Chi Min city - where we stopped by the Notre Dame cathedral, the Reunification Palace and finally dinner at a food court at Parksons, located in a very high-end-like part of the city - with Chanel, Ferragamo and Cartier just down the street from where we were.

All in all, we got back to the hotel the way we came - grimy, dirty, tired... Though the significance being that we probably have a greater handle of Vietnamese traffic than we did earlier that morning.

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Cyren Wong, an Honours student, is just your everyday-average-feminist-naturespiritual-environmentalist-and-amateur-lepidopterist trying to rediscover his roots with Mother Earth.