BY LOCALS, FOR LOCALS
5/2018
#iAMHCMC
#iAMHCMC
By Locals, For Locals
REAL ESTATE FEATURES 4. Tall Towers: Ho Chi Minh City’s Race to the Clouds 8. The Supply & Demand of Housing in Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City 10. The Truth About Missclassifying Real Estate Loans 12. Co-Working Spaces: More Than Just An Office In A Café 14. Vinhomes IPO On Course To Be Biggest Ever 16. The Rebirth of Thuan Kieu Plaza into the Garden Mall 18. Saigon’s Ready-made Neighbourhoods 20. Real Estate is a Top FDI Destination
HEALTH FEATURE
Hi, You may have seen my name before in #iAMHCMC, but in case we haven’t been properly introduced already, I’m your new Content Manager. A little about myself: I’m an old-school journalist who grew up as a freelance writer for untold numbers of US newspapers and magazines. A once-wandering former English major, I worked as a bartender until I got my legs under me as a journalist. I’ve talked to rappers, chatted with elected officials, grilled executives who make many times my salary. One of the things that I’ve always found attractive about my work is the access, that I get to ask anyone anything. As your Content Manager, I’d like to build #iAMHCMC’s news gathering abilities. Our reporting is strong, but let’s see how much better it could be. Our writing is some of the best of any magazine in the city. It’s my opinion that I’m leading a group of some of the best reporters who’ve written for this magazine. I’m excited to work with them and see what we can do for you. But this is a team project and we can’t do it without you. We value your readership, but we’d love it too if you would find time to leave us a comment or even a news tip at my personal email address srwriter@innovo.vn. While it’s our published work, our writers’ names on the bylines, we couldn’t do it without the same support you’ve given us for the 10 years Innovo has been active in Ho Chi Minh City. Our warmest regards, dear reader. I’m excited to see what more we can do with you still.
22. Water Filtration: Mere Fuss or A Must Have?
TRAVEL FEATURE
Jesús López-Gómez Content Manager
26. An Authentic Travel Experience Through Homestays
BUSINESS FEATURE 28. VN Sues US For Catfish Restriction
SOCIETY FEATURE 30. Westerners Afflicted with “Asian Fever”?
FROM OUR PARTNERS 7. A Cozy Home Away From Home in D3 23. Moving Is More Than Just Moving 24. East West Brewing Co. Prefers to Show, Not Tell Its Beer-Making Process 33. 9Stays Offers Personal Unique Travel 34. Australian International School Artists Meditate on Identity in Final Show
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REAL ESTATE (nhiều tác giả)
Thanh Niên Publishing House 64 Ba Trieu - Hanoi - Vietnam | Tel: (+84 0 24) 3 943 40 44 - 62 63 1719 Publishing Liability: Director - Editor in Chief: Nguyen Xuan Truong | Editor: Ta Quang Huy License Info: Publishing Registration Plan No.: 13-2018/CXBIPH/23-210/TN Publishing Permit No.: 190/QĐ-TN | Issued on 12 April 2018 | ISBN: 978-604-64-9471-3 5,000 copies printed at HCMC Nhan Dan Newspaper Printing Co., Ltd (D20/532P, Hamlet 4, Binh Chanh District, HCMC) No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing from the publisher.
2 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
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This Month in #iAMHCMC “I never have to leave the complex if I don’t feel like dealing with the outside traffic and chaos. In a way,I’ve become more of a ‘Vinhomian’ than anything else.”
[Misclassifying real estate loans as consumer loans] is unlikely to topple the financial system but it does pose serious risks for the consumer.
A resident of Vinhomes Central Park reflecting on the community atmosphere in the complex
The complex features a tropical garden with 200 bird sculptures which, reflects the hopeful Vietnamese idiom, Dat lanh chim dau, or in English “Where there is good land, the birds will come and settle.” City Pass Guide writer Molly Headley-Benkaci on the transformation of Thuan Kieu Plaza into the Garden Mall
Viet Anh Nguyen, co-founder of FINGO, a start-up company in Vietnam that helps connect consumers to the right type of loans for their needs “Vingroup’s stock has ‘taken over Vinamilk’s crown as the largest market cap [belonging to any] company in Vietnam.” A representative from Vingroup reflecting on the company’s success
“It’s a huge matter. The exhibition is a culmination of the work they’ve done in that two-year period.”
“91 percent of co-working space members are millennials, under the age of 35.” CBRE Vietnam reporting on the future of co-working spaces in Vietnam
“It’s not just about drinking. You take in more water in a shower and bath. The largest surface for (liquid) exchange is your skin.”
Australia International School art teacher Nigel Hall on the senior art show
Aron Szabo, a water quality specialist with water filtration vendor BWT
“Ho Chi Minh City has been ranked third out of 50 cities worldwide for property rental growth and fifth in terms of investment prospects.”
“Demand for housing is really high, but many still struggle to afford a new home.”
Savills real estate consulting firm reporting on the increase of FDI (foreign direct investment) in Vietnam
City Pass Guide writer, Tran Thi Minh Hieu on the housing dilemma in Hanoi
“For me to be attracted to an Asian, they only need to be objectively a six out of 10 [a “10” being assigned to a perfect mate], whereas if they were African or European they’d need to be an eight out of 10.” Expat Tom Harlow speaking about his attraction to Asian women 3
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Jesús López-Gómez
Tall Towers:
Ho Chi Minh City’s Race to the Clouds
Saigon’s skyline is defined by a few standout tall towers concentrated in District 1. Peering over Ho Tung Mau street is the city’s third tallest tower, the 40-storey Saigon Times Square. Nearby at the half moon of road around the Tran Hung Dao warrior statue is the Vietcombank Tower Saigon, the second tallest tower in the city and the seventh tallest tower in the nation. At 258 metres, Bitexco Financial Tower comes in first in Saigon. It is about 100 metres taller than third place and about 50 metres taller than Vietcombank Tower Saigon. Though, all that may soon change. Even accounting for all the planned towers in Ho Chi Minh City, Bitexco Financial Tower will still remain among the tallest structures in the city, but the incoming Ben Thanh Towers at 235 metres and the 195 metre-high Saigon One Tower are formidable competitors. The city’s iconic lotus-shaped tower will be dethroned for tallest tower by the 461-metre Landmark 81 later this year. 4 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Not only will it be the tallest tower in Vietnam, but the tallest in Asia by a substantial amount: the development that currently holds that title is Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers, which will be 86 metres shorter than Landmark 81. But when will these towers be finished? What exactly will the skyline look like when it’s done? Let’s dive deep into Saigon’s towers and gaze into the future.
Ben Thanh Twin Towers The Ben Thanh Twin Towers project—not to be confused with the Ben Thanh Tower Condo, which has the Air 360 Sky Lounge at the top— will one day be two daring spires designed like a pair of postmodern sculptures overlooking the roundabout in front of Ben Thanh Market. For now, however, it’s a walled off plot of halflaid foundation and dirt. Bitexco Group began the Ben Thanh Twin
Towers in 2012. They were planned as a 55-storey mixed-use development: the majority of the space would be dedicated to condominiums, but the tower would also be the home of office and retail space. Total investment at the time was about $400 million. The project was expected to be completed in 2015. The conceptual design seems a little haphazard, but the building’s planners have actually designed it with intentional symbolism. The project’s two towers symbolise the popular Vietnamese symbol of two dragons. This wellknown iconography depicts a pair of entwined dragons circling towards a sun. It’s a common image at pagodas and other prominent cultural locations, like the Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural. The dragon is frequently associated with flight, ascendance and progress. Similarly, important Vietnamese sites like Ha Long Bay have incorporated the word dragon into their names (the Vietnamese word long means “Dragon” in English).
by Jesús López-Gómez
A popular Vietnamese saying: Rong gap may translates to “Dragon meets the clouds”, meaning something is in a favourable condition. The project’s two towers will reach 235 metres and 225 metres—touching the clouds, indeed.
When Will It Be Finished? The project is now expected to be completed in 2020, according to Bitexco Group’s website. A Bitexco group representative confirmed the new timetable for #iAMHCMC in a phone interview, but wouldn’t go into more details on why the project has been delayed for as long as it has. They noted that builders have nearly finished the basement portion of the Ben Thanh Towers.
Empire City Also arriving in 2020 is the Empire City project led by the developer Keppel Land. This 14.5-hectare city-within-a-city development
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
features a shopping mall, an office campus and a 5-Star hotel. The crown jewel of the development is an 88-storey building that will lord over the new development named Empire 88. For now, the building’s planned height will make it taller than the in-progress skyscraper that’s also vying for the title of tallest tower, Ben Thanh Twin Towers. However, the Empire 88 will top out at 333 metres, significantly less than the 461metre Landmark 81. It’s not only height that defines this tower, but also a groundbreaking design that brings green elements into the project. And we’re not talking about solar panels or sustainable materials. The name “Sky Forest” comes from the buildings’ use of actual trees and plants about two-thirds of the way up the Empire 88 building. At this height, the building will have five square-ish platforms jutting out of the building that will be covered with living plants and trees.
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Dubbed the “Sky Forest” by the architecture firm leading the design Büro Ole Scheeren, the firm unveiled the proposed design last November. Concept drawings show the Empire 88 tower along with a group of three towers arranged around the terraced public space rich with plants and trees. The architects said they wanted to capture the feel of Sapa’s iconic, terraced rice paddies. The architects have planned a multi-tiered, stacked park with graduated platforms. Viewed from above, the space might mirror something like a fingerprint with the platforms’ edges creating continuous lines that wind through the three Empire City towers.
When will it be finished? The Keppel Land-led project expects to open its first residential properties in the second quarter of 2020. The 88-storey tower should not be too far behind. 5
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Jesús López-Gómez
Keppel Land reports that 680 units within the Empire City project have already been sold to prospective residents.
Landmark 81 The Landmark 81 tower had been scheduled to “top out”—the phrase used in skyscraper construction when the highest element has been constructed—in May. But builder Coteccons hit that landmark 45 days ahead of schedule by giving Ho Chi Minh City an architectural asset now taller than the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. With the 61-metre spire at the top of the building, Landmark 81 stands at 461 metres, about 86 metres taller than the Malaysian towers. The 81-storey tower is the centrepiece of the Vinhomes Central Park project in Binh Thanh District. While it remains under construction, developers have been quick to point out that this will not only be the tallest building in Vietnam but the 23rd tallest in the world.
The Vingroup-owned, US$1.5-billion tower is being built with a cinema, indoor skating rink, gym and clubhouse for residents, including a pool, gym, spa and outdoor lounge. Residents will be able to choose from apartments with up to four bedrooms. The architectural design appears like a cluster of bars consolidated around a tall steeple. The result is a building of staggered heights facing towards the Saigon River. On their website, Atkins, the British architecture firm who designed the project calls it “modern and unusual”, a symbol of the rapid ascendance of Ho Chi Minh City. Retail developments will be the base of the building. Even before the building is completed, the development had already amassed awards. Landmark 81 garnered the “best residential
Landmark 81
6 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Empire 88
Bitexco Financial Tower
Ben Thanh Twin Towers
high-rise development Asia Pacific” at the Asian Pacific Property Awards 2016. “Atkins is proud to be involved in this award-winning project for Vingroup, as it represents a new benchmark in high-quality, sustainable, high-density, vertical living. This building type will be particularly important as Asia moves forward,” the firm said in remarks reported in a press release created concurrently with the award.
When will it be finished? The project appears to be on track to finish construction by this year. When completed, it will be only one metre shorter than the Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg, Russia, the 22nd tallest tower in the world. It will be less than 10 metres taller than the 24th placeholder, the Changsha IFS Tower T1 in Changsha, China.
Vietcombank Tower
Sabeco World Trade Center
Times Square
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But if you want to cook something special or just want to save some money, OAHC furnishes its kitchen areas with a wealth of cooking implements and serving utensils. What’s more, a newly opened No.18 Lounge at the lobby means you’re never far from the freshly made meal of your choosing. If you need more local ingredients for your meal, try out the Vuon Chuoi Market five minutes away.
Localized Expertise
A Cozy Home
Away From Home in D3 Part of the beauty of Saigon is its multitudes, the worlds within worlds that all live in harmony.
building’s residents have committed for longer than that.
Take, for example, the bustle of one of District 3’s busiest streets, Dien Bien Phu, even at peak rush hour it is silenced by the peaceful neighbourhood of those like nearby Ward 4. The neighbourhood is intimate. An enterprising motorbike could snake through its wet market and past a couple coffee shops hidden like secrets, before arriving at a tall, handsome yellow building, the Oakwood Apartments Ho Chi Minh City (OAHC).
Bachelor Pad or Deluxe Penthouse?
The visitors are greeted by a retro chic café in the window, which you can see through the yellow building’s generously sized windows. The hotel service staff are professional and attentive though the place feels cozy, like the home of a friend.
Home Away From Home The commonalities between both a hotel and a home are there intentionally. The staff explained that the apartment’s guests are largely members of the professional class. They are absent during the day but, “after working out they come back here, chill out and enjoy their time”, the Hotel Manager said. OAHC also serves short-term travelers who are staying less than a month, but most of the
For a short stay of a few nights, the business traveler might consider the residential hotel’s Studio Deluxe room, a 39-square-metre affair complete with the amenities you’d expect from similarly high-quality Saigon stays—WiFi, TV and an air conditioner to cool you down for a restful sleep on the room’s queen bed—as wellthought out extras like a multimedia panel on the desk that allows you to mirror your laptop’s screen on the television if you need to look at very large spreadsheets (or Netflix). In OAHC, families have even more options, from the Two Bedroom Apartment—a polished, 65-square-metre multi-guest accomodation—or the more upscale Two Bedroom Penthouse, a home away from home that includes a bathtub and an outdoor balcony.
What’s On the Menu Anyone who’s been in the city more than a few hours will readily recognize that it’s entirely possible to never cook and, more importantly, eat well courtesy of Saigon’s robust restaurant and street food scene.
The digs are nice and hearing the pleasant birdsong of neighboring schoolchildren is almost as charming as the location, but what really puts the residence head and shoulders above the competition is the knowledge of the lay of the land. They’ll show you where you can get a late night snack, where you can have a meal and they can even direct you to the pleasantly quirky café-cum-aquarium shop nearby. “Some of the guests want to explore the area … and we support that”, the Hotel Manager said describing this specific, homestay-like aspect to OAHC’s service portfolio. “People are quite friendly … and here people can safely walk around.”
What Others Say Oakwood Apartments Ho Chi Minh City’s 3.5 Star rating on TripAdvisor puts it in the top tier of the city’s hotels. The most mentioned facilities at OAHC are the sauna, steam room and pool. Guests also lauded the “stylish” interior of the hotel’s quarters.
What We Say Make the most of your time here through OAHC’s knowledgeable staff. When you’re ready to relax, come back for a nap inside your attractively-made home away from home or have an espresso downstairs in the café. The west-facing dining area captures a romantic mood around late afternoon. Oakwood Apartments Ho Chi Minh City will throw the atmosphere in for free. 18 Street No. 3, Cu xa Do Thanh, District 3, HCMC +84 28 3929 6926 www.oakwoodasia.com/serviced-apartments/ vietnam/oakwood-ho-chi-minh
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Tran Thi Minh Hieu
The Supply & Demand of Housing in Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City Researchers say Hanoi should keeps its housing supply at no more than 20 percent over demand. Is housing demand in Hanoi really lower than supply, or is there a mismatch between the needs of developers and consumers? At a conference in Hanoi in December 2017 organized by the Hanoi Institute for Socioeconomic Development Studies and sponsored by Hanoi People’s Committee, researchers at the institute suggested that Hanoi should keep housing supply to no more than 20 percent over demand to avoid excess supply and waste of resources. They recommended that the city should authorize no more than 3.5 million square metres of residential space for new development projects each year. This conclusion made headlines in local media, since many people would find it absurd that Hanoi is intentionally selling more houses than its residents are willing to buy. 8 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
The capital city is the second most crowded city in Vietnam behind Saigon, with a population of 7.3 million as of 2016, according to statistics provided by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO).
Priced Out In fact, demand for housing is really high, but many still struggle to afford a new home. The Hanoi Department of Construction said in 2016 that Hanoi needed at least 7 million square metres of residential space, or 120,000 new apartments for middle income families whose budget is around VND1 billion (US$45,000) for an apartment.
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Tran Thi Minh Hieu
#iAMHCMC
The latest report by the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) shows that, in 2017, Hanoi’s market has 54 projects on sale, supplying 34,217 apartments, 950 villas and 999, two to three storey buildings with a shop on the bottom and a residence above. Apartments accounted for 90 percent of new accommodations. 52 percent of the 20,776 apartments sold are from the low-end market, with prices from US$600 to US$1,000 per square metre, and 42 percent are from the middle market (US$1,000 to US$1,500 per square metre). There are very few projects at less than US$600 per square metre. Meanwhile, none of the 330 luxury apartments priced at over US$1,900 per square metre were successfully sold in 2017. The mismatch of supply and demand in Hanoi reflects two sides of a coin: housing supply for the high-end market segment is in excess, while the majority of demand for affordable housing is not met. Hanoi residents prefer to stay in the centermost districts, including Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Dong Da, Hai Ba Trung, Thanh Xuan, Cau Giay and Tay Ho, where facilities such as schools, hospitals, offices and shops are concentrated. However, land prices in these areas are ever increasing, so investors opt for developing luxury apartments for high returns. But while most affordable apartments are approximately 10 to 20 kilometres from the city center, the development of facilities and public transportation is not keeping up. This is a considerable challenge that prevents many people from choosing to buy these apartments, when they can continue to rent a place in the city centre.
Contrasting Scenes: Saigon
are really looking for accommodations rather than investment opportunities.
Statistics from real estate company CBRE show that in 2017, the supply of apartments in Hanoi is a 16 percent increase from 2016 and is the highest in the last five years. In contrast, Ho Chi Minh City sees a 18 percent decrease in apartment supply, with 31,106 apartments on sale.
The middle market segment, priced at US$800 to US$1,500 per square metre in Saigon, accounted for 64 percent of apartments on sale, compared to only 40 percent in 2016. It also had the highest number of apartments sold, taking up 60 percent of the whole market.
However, the shrink in supply allowed consumers to buy apartments that are still in stock from previous years. As a result, a total of 32,905 apartments is sold in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017, higher than in Hanoi. This is the first time in the past five years that demand overtook supply in a city booming with development projects.
The Vietnam Real Estate Association (VNREA) announced slightly different statistics due to differences in criteria.
According to CBRE, this is because developers in Saigon are turning their gaze towards the middle market, meeting the demands of consumers who
According to VNREA, there are 70 new real estate projects on sale in Ho Chi Minh City in 2017, providing 37,067 apartments, 1,057 villas, 3,362 shophouses and 1,518 plots of land. This makes Ho Chi Minh City the largest real estate market in Vietnam. Notably, the number of apartments sold is 40,786, almost double that of Hanoi.
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by Molly Headley-Benkaci
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
The Truth About the Missclassifying of
Real Estate Loans
Duplicity in the Market Real estate loans are officially on the decline, but do the numbers speak the truth? Two major regulatory changes caused investors to cool on real estate loans. After the property market deteriorated between 2008 and 2013, in large part due to speculative buying followed by unsuccessful investments, the government enacted several measures, including raising the assessed risk of real estate loans to decrease lending, as reported by The Vietnamese Investment Review. In early 2017, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) tightened conditions even further by requiring banks to handle outstanding bad debts, especially those in the area of real estate. The State Bank also demanded that banks project a realistic growth of approximately 10 percent, in order to ensure sensible development in the market. As a direct result of the stricter regulations there was a drop in real estate loans last year, according to the National Financial Supervisory 10 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Commission (NFSC), but recent information has shown that the numbers may be skewed. While lending for home loans has dwindled consumer loans have skyrocketed. How do these two types of loan classifications correspond and why is it relevant?
Real Estate Loans Hiding In Consumer Lending? Some borrowers may be taking out consumer loans to buy their homes as well. According to state finance regulator the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC), consumer credit has typically been used to purchase home appliances or pay for home renovations and repairs. However, an unexplained shift upward in the relatively stable level of consumer debt has regulators puzzled. Purchase and repair loans made up 52.8 percent of the total consumer loans in 2017, compared to 49 percent in 2016. Some experts believe that this points to real estate loans being hidden within consumer
loans. In reporting in June 2017 by Vietnam News, representatives from commercial banks said “they currently classify home repair loans and home purchase loans as consumer lending so that lending is not restricted.”
For the moment there is no concrete regulation against classifying home repair and home purchase loans as consumer loans but this may be the next step for the SBV. Moody’s, a credit rating agency, reported that “[t]he increased risk weight is credit positive for the banks, as it will help limit their appetite for lending to this high-risk sector...” Moody’s analysts also acknowledged that certain banks will have to limit their association with the real estate market. The turn of phrase in Moody’s report is especially pertinent now. The appetite that the banks have for real estate lending does not seem to have been tempered by the strict new regulations. But the history of the real estate market in Vietnam proves that rapid lending in this sector is filled with uncertain prospects
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
#iAMHCMC
and that a boom in high-risk lending can put not just the banks but the entire Vietnamese economy in jeopardy.
No Crash in Sight But Bad Debts May Increase Vietnam News wrote that “[i]f lending is not controlled well, with home purchase loans not based on real demand but for speculation, the country will suffer from a real estate bubble and the economy will be unstable ...” However, the fears may be blown out of proportion. Viet Anh Nguyen, co-founder of FINGO, a start-up company in Vietnam that helps connect consumers to the right type of loans for their needs, said this type of loan misclassification is unlikely to topple the financial system but it does pose serious risks for the consumer. Nguyen explained that consumer credit lending is much less regulated than mortgagebased loans because of the size of the loans. Consumer loans are capped off at VND1 billion or US$43,900. Real estate loans can go into the millions of USD.
“The higher the loan is the more the banks are checking”, Nguyen said. Nguyen acknowledges that there may be real estate loans that are misclassified as consumer
loans but these are likely for moderately priced properties in the rural market, in the villages and for cheaper land. In HCMC and Hanoi, VND1 billion is not even 30 percent of the market, where the cheapest apartment in a new development sells for US$1,500 per m2. According to Nguyen, a market crash is unlikely based solely on these small loans, however, they do augment the debt cycle. Since consumer borrowers may be considered less reliable, the banks charge a very high interest rate, ranging from 13 to 40 percent per month. In addition, Nguyen reveals, the repayment average is very short, from one to five years depending on the bank’s policies, so borrowers are hit with a high monthly payment.
The interest rate can easily turn a loan that started out at a total of VND15 million into a loan of VND25 million after one year. Some borrowers find themselves in a situation where they can’t repay their first loan and are forced to take out a second loan to settle the debt. This can put the borrower in a precarious financial state. To address this FINGO runs a series of consumer education classes, in order to help potential borrowers choose the right type of loan for their income. For the time being, the risks of taking out the wrong kind of loan are a danger just to the individual rather than to the broader financial system.
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by CBRE
Co-Working Spaces:
More Than Just An Office In A Café Co-Working Spaces Multiplying for Millennials
than the global average of 67 percent and reflects Vietnam’s young demographics.
Normally, co-working spaces (CWS) feature a communal workspace with a shared reception, meeting rooms, access to highspeed Internet, printing and copy machines and cafeterias. Most of these amenities can be rented for a fee.
Many of these young professionals are freelancers—more than 50 percent worldwide, according to a Deskmag survey in 2012. In 2017, CBRE Research Vietnam estimates that 54 percent of users in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are either the founders or employees of startups, while approximately 14 percent are freelancers and self-employed. These startups include both local and overseas firms.
But the design of the co-working space depends on the needs of the clientele. Some venues have extra amenities such as food and beverages, art galleries, game rooms, beds and auditoriums to set themselves apart from the increasing crowd of CWS popping up in HCMC and Hanoi today. These communal spaces enhance the concept of flexibility, collaboration and diversity as well as appearing more attractive to prospective and current tenants. In Vietnam, there might be another thing that you notice besides the office-cum-café atmosphere—the people filling the desks are largely under the age of 35. A study by CBRE Research Vietnam in 2017, found that 91 percent of co-working space members are millennials. This proportion is much higher 12 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
The study also found that more than 55 percent of CWS users work in the IT industry, with the remainder spread across various sectors including tourism, food and beverage, education, marketing and real estate.
Cost-efficient Options in Major Cities
In both HCMC and Hanoi, the number of CWS has grown exponentially. As of April 2018, there are 19 CWS in Hanoi and 15 CWS in HCMC, which is a 62 percent increase from 2017. By the end of 2018, both cities are expected to have a total of 45 co-working spaces.
Co-working spaces usually charge per person rather than by square metre like traditional offices. The main options include flexible desks, fixed desks and private offices. For flexible desks, rent is charged on a daily or monthly basis, while for the other two options, a monthly rate is applied. Some co-working spaces may also offer hourly rates for non-members. The advantages of this system are that users of CWS are not tied down to a rental contract or office mortgage. They also enjoy the freedom of changing locations if they so choose. The cost of renting a co-working space varies across cities. Co-working spaces in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are currently priced lower than most other cities in the Asia Pacific region, which reflects the general cost advantage of renting office spaces in Vietnam. In HCMC, as some co-working space operators have expanded into the central business district area in the beginning of 2018, pricing for private offices reportedly increased from 30-50 percent in venues in prime locations. Most co-working spaces are operated by major local operators, such as Toong, UP, Circo and Dreamplex but smaller operators are also opening rapidly, growing from 30 percent last
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by CBRE
year. Foreign entrants such as NakedHub from China and Hive from Hong Kong have started to make their mark on the market as well. Hive plans to open one more venue in the centre of HCMC by the end of 2018 and NakedHub will launch two venues in HCMC and Hanoi. Other international CWS operators are also looking forward to entering Vietnam in the next two years.
Targeting Their Niche Markets
Age Distribution of co-working space users in Vietnam in 2017 6%
#iAMHCMC
Occupation of co-working space users in Vietnam 2017
2%
10% 13%
34%
58%
54%
23% In the past, CWS in Vietnam have not been located in prime buildings or areas since operators needed to keep rental costs at a manageable level. They’ve usually been found in underutilized buildings in decentralized locations, especially on the fringe of the central business district. Office buildings are typically categorized with a rating of Grade A being the highest and Grade C being the lowest. Both Toong and Up operate their centres from buildings that are rated at B or below. In Hanoi, a few CWS have located themselves in Cau Giay district, an emerging office cluster, while CWS in HCMC tend to be more spread out on the outskirts of Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan. Recent developments pointed out that CWS operators are now changing their game and focusing on targeting their niche customers, which will dictate where they will be located.
21-29
30-35
Staff of a start-up
Others
36-42
43-50
Freelancer / Self-employed
Founder of a start-up
Source: CBRE Vietnam
For example, since Toong offers their spaces to a diverse number of clientele working in different industries, the design of their spaces is getting more differentiated. Circo, in particular, has always been more interested in getting a prime, convenient location for their members. So as they have been expanding, their venues are finding their way in to well-connected traffic-hub locations, making it easy for their clients to get to and from downtown. UP co-working spaces are generally geared towards startups, which means they are more conscious about places where younger
start-ups are more likely to be. For example, UP collaborated with the HCMC University of Technology for a co-working space and incubator, where they also offered legal advice and HR-sourcing services. HCMC and Hanoi are both neck and neck in terms of demand. Operators reported a general 75-80 percent average occupancy rate as of April 2018. This high level of demand as well as the fact that the market is still relatively new compared to counterparts in other APAC nations, create opportunities for upcoming merger and acquisition activities among local and foreign co-working spaces.
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by J.K. Hobson
Vinhomes IPO
On Course To Be The Biggest Ever
Vingroup subsidiary Vinhomes JSC, Vietnam’s biggest and most successful property developer, has chosen four foreign banks to assist with its plan to go public with a US$1 billion listing of its residential property business, according to Reuters. Bloomberg reports that it could be the biggest first time share sale—or initial public offering (IPO)—ever. Vingroup has turned to Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse for the proposed initial public offering of Vinhomes. A press release from Vingroup stated that the proposed transaction “marks a strategic step for Vingroup, as it continues to expand its reach and diversify its shareholder base to a wider set of investors.”
Past Success The new IPO follows last year’s listing of Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company, Vietnam’s largest shopping mall operator, which is also a subsidiary of Vingroup and raised about US$700 million. Vinhomes JSC currently manages 10 projects, which are comprised of almost 18,000 apartments, villas, and shophouses, according to Vingroup’s recent annual report. Included in these properties are Vinhomes Royal City in Hanoi, and Vinhomes Dong Khoi in Ho Chi Minh City. Vingroup’s 14 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
shares have increased in value over 83 percent in the past year, bringing the company’s overall market value to US$9.1 billion.
We spoke to a representative of Vingroup who chose not to be named about its recent success. “Vingroup’s share price has tripled in the past 12 months” to VND132,000 per share. The representative wrote that the stock has “taken over Vinamilk’s crown as the largest market cap [belonging to any] company in Vietnam.” “Vingroup also has a very good history of successful IPO[s] with VRE [Vincom Retail Joint Stock Company] in Nov 2017 which will obviously attract[ed] a lot of attention.” The newest “IPO is expected to even surpass VRE’s record as Vietnam[’s] equities and properties market[s] are both doing extremely well this year, propelled by strong economic growth and business reforms.”
Emerging Opportunities What does all of this mean for the everyday people of Vietnam? Our source at Vingroup says that it makes at least two things clear. “One: Vietnam is an attractive destination for business and investment. Opportunities are
there for both entrepreneurs and investors.” “Two: We might have hope that Vingroup will continue to develop more high quality living environment[s] for the Vietnamese people, (maybe targeting ... middle income people like VinCity projects) … [and] helping with the urbanization progress of Vietnam’s biggest cities.” When asked about challenges to the development of the IPO, our source explained that according to current regulations, foreign ownership of a company is limited to 49 percent, but that the current IPO only applies to a fraction of outstanding shares.
Just last November Vingroup acquired Vincom Retail (VRE)—the biggest trading center in Vietnam—listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE). As a result of this event, Vingroups’ shares rose sharply for the second half of 2017, making it the top gainer in the market. Vinhomes JSC’s share sales are just a part of Vietnam’s overall strong economic growth. Forbes magazine announced that Vietnam’s economy is set to grow by a 6.7 percent. Even the conservative and cautious World Bank estimates that this year’s growth will surpass that of last year.
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
The Rebirth of Thuan Kieu Plaza into the
Garden Mall
The traffic—motorbikes crowded with too many occupants, blue buses teetering like ancient mammoths, the odd cyclo rolling by in hopes of finding a client— swarms and ceases at the intersection of Hong Bang and Do Ngoc Thanh streets in District 5, HCMC’s Chinatown. Up until recently commuters who passed through this intersection in the evening were met with the sight of three russet-coloured towers rising into the sky. These towers were the home of Thuan Kieu Plaza a residential development project dating from the late 1990s. The project failed but this land was too valuable for developers to ignore forever. Situated in a prime location in District 5, Tuan Kieu Plaza was initially valued at more than US$55 million, according to the real estate news website, realestatevietnam.com.vn.
200 bird sculptures which, according to reporting by Vietnam Breaking News, reflects the hopeful Vietnamese idiom, Dat lanh chim dau, or in English “Where there is good land, the birds will come and settle.”
In 2013, the development team An Dong Investment JSC won the right to renovate the buildings for the price of VND600 billion, according to reporting by Thanh Nien News.
Completed in 1998, Thuan Kieu Plaza became the first high rise apartment complex in HCMC, yet the development failed to live up to its promise of becoming an emblem of new wealth in Vietnam. According to reporting by Kenh14 in June 2017, the towers contained a commercial centre, 648 apartments and various other facilities for the residents. Initially, the project drew a fair number of occupants, but one by one the people and businesses left.
In November 2017, after four years of stops and starts the towers were officially transformed into The Garden Mall, a flashy new commercial and residential centre with shops and events to draw in a younger crowd. The complex features a tropical garden with 16 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
The End of Thuan Kieu Plaza
Thuan Kieu Plaza was built for an expected influx of Hong Kongese after Britain transferred sovereignty to China in 1997, but the immigrants never came and the apartments were purchased by Vietnamese buyers instead. However, the building’s low ceilings and insufficient airflow, made the Vietnamese quite literally sick. Occupants eventually moved out, citing illness and respiratory issues amongst their complaints. In contrast, the Garden Mall designers have attempted to create light where once there was dark. True to its name, gardens and greenery are the theme throughout the building. The cheerful new colour of the buildings has given them a fresh start.
A New Centre for Saigon’s Youth Standing outside The Garden Mall, five months after its grand opening, it is easy to see the pains that An Dong Corp took to erase the stories from the past. Now, rather than the abandoned pink buildings, the towers resemble shoots of bamboo reaching towards the sky.
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
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In emailed responses translated from Vietnamese, Nguyen Hoanh Anh, Brand Director at The Garden Mall, wrote that the concept of The Garden Mall is to create a modern green garden for young people in the city. Saigon Signature, The Garden Mall’s management service, describes the complex on their website as “an exciting civilized playground for the youth and whoever loves street arts to keep in touch, learn, and exchange experiences.” Mention of Thuan Kieu Plaza is noticeably left out of both descriptions but that is hardly surprising. The Garden Mall is geared towards HCMC’s youth, many of whom weren’t yet born when the saga of Thuan Kieu Plaza began, and it isn’t in the best interest of the investors and developers to bring up reminders of the past. The new space consists of 3 commercial floors replete with the typical shopping complex offerings. However, two areas change the space from just another mall to a destination. Vietnam’s first Phuong Nam “book city” is located in the complex and, according to The Garden Mall’s website, contains more than 500,000 books. However, the crown jewel of the development is definitely the Theatre de
Cho Lon—a space dedicated to the heritage arts of Vietnam, such as Vietnamese opera and fashion shows highlighting a collection of traditional dresses called ao dai. #iAMHCMC’s staff writer Tran Thi Minh Hieu attended an event in February at the newly finished Theatre de Cho Lon. She described the experience: “[S]ome parts of the mall on the third floor were not completed, it was rather dark and quiet. I did feel as if the place had been abandoned for some time “Me, too - All my worldly goods are going to me!” and was being renovated.” However, Tran “could tell that this is a historical place and it carries the pride of a culturally rich Saigon.” Other staff members at City Pass Guide were Specialists in Wills + Estate Planning for Expats in Vietnam impressed with the exterior renovation of the buildings but found the retail space to be Tel: +84 28 3520 7745 www.profwills.com lacking in interest and the food and beverage offerings to be of substandard quality.
Your Will?
As night falls in Saigon, the ceaseless bustle in Cho Lon continues. Visitors linger around the entrance to The Garden Mall which now carries few reminders of its past. Against the backdrop of the starless sky the towers’ incandescent green spotlights soar optimistically upwards acting as a beacon for Saigon’s youth. Whether or not the venture will be successful remains to be seen.
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
Saigon’s Ready-made Neighbourhoods The Changing Face of Community The bulldozers and cranes have retired for the evening but their hulking forms remain stationed in front of residential developments all over Saigon. They’ve become a permanent part of the city landscape, as the projects they cater to climb ever upwards into the skyline. The urban population in Vietnam has multiplied and so has the need for housing, prompting a wave of condo developments to be erected all over the city. But as older buildings are demolished, the communities surrounding them are often dispersed as well. How are ideas about neighbourhoods being restructured to conform to this progress?
Shifting Times, Tastes In the past, communities were made up of social networks centred around resources, such as land for agriculture or water for the fishing industry. As Tom Vanderbilt explained in an article for Wilson Quarterly, “In late medieval Marseille [...] quarters—in essence, neighborhoods — were important sites of social identity, oriented largely 18 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
toward one’s profession”. Traditionally, HCMC has organised itself in a similar way. There are streets filled with one type of product or artisan— spice streets, woodworking streets and even hems populated with merchants selling only light bulbs. In other parts of the city, the modern day neighbourhoods have become more fluid. They are often composed of services, like markets or street eateries, combined with the social characteristics of the residents and merchants themselves. The community identity is created almost by accident by the haphazard elements that populate the defined area. In recent neighbourhood developments in Ho Chi Minh City little is left to such chance.
Contemporary complexes have become self-contained communities— not only places to live, but spaces with schools, hospitals, shops, gardens, and community areas where residents can congregate, celebrate and connect. Ready-made neighbourhoods, so to speak. Each aspect of the community is a thought out part of the development. The new residences are a love song to steel and glass—modern skyscrapers
that are built higher and higher in hopes of selling better views to their potential occupants who are spoiled for choice in today’s market.
According to Duong Lanh’s case study “Housing Development in Ho Chi Minh City”, there are currently 1,007,021 new housing units in the city, and real estate trend tracker Mansion Global writes that “We’ll have 5,000 more luxury units coming online by 2020.” An abundance of competition makes it necessary for real estate developers to rethink what potential residents want in order to remain relevant. A current trend for luxury developments is to create a more centralised community setting.
Rethinking Branding Vinhomes Central Park, a residential complex finished in 2016, boasts on its website that it is “modeled after a small city”. Within the walls of the compound, there is a VinSchool, a Vinmec hospital branch with “over 600 examination rooms”, a massive park and a Vincom commercial and activity centre.
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Molly Headley-Benkaci
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One Vinhomes Central Park resident who requested to remain anonymous explained her experience:
“In the morning I wake up and drop my daughter off at school. Then my son and I grab a snack at the bakery and head to the park to meet up with other moms who live nearby. All of these places are within five minutes of my tower. I never have to leave the complex if I don’t feel like dealing with the outside traffic and chaos. In a way, I’ve become more of a “Vinhomian” than anything else. This is my world now.” Vingroup is not the only developer interested in creating this type of lifestyle. Singaporean property developer, Frasers Property, is projected to create another community-minded complex called Q2 Thao Dien, which according to the publication Vietnam Economic Times, will be completed by 2021, just in time for the expected finish of the metro linking D2 to D1. Q2 Thao Dien’s website promotes its “uniquely designed shared spaces [which] will entice and encourage a social community where neighbors become friends. . .” These shared spaces include rooftop gardens, a “floating gym” and corners dedicated to playing chess and other games with neighbours. Though smaller in scope, The Vista An Phu was created with a similar philosophy. The towers were designed in incorporation with
serviced residences at the Somerset and the commercial space at the Oxygen. These three elements provide the residents with long- and short-term accommodation, office spaces, shops and even a preschool.
convenience of being able to send her son to kindergarten, catch up with her friends over coffee, pop into the supermarket, stop by the bakery and head to the gym all without leaving the building.
“As a mother, it has been very easy to develop friendships at The Vista. The playground and community areas provide a space for families to mingle”, resident Ruth Hammond said reflecting on her experience at The Vista An Phu. She spoke to #iAMHCMC at the Starbucks Coffee located within the complex. “The special events on the weekends also create an opportunity for people to meet up.”
While these developments may not solve all of the challenges associated with increasing urbanization, their success provides some insights into the kind of interactions some buyers and renters are craving. The need to intelligently develop Ho Chi Minh City’s urban landscape is essential, but on a human level, there is also a desire to hold on to the values of a neighbourhood, even in the midst of a metropolis, even if that neighbourhood is prefabricated.
In addition, Hammond emphasized the
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REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Tran Thi Minh Hieu
Real Estate is a
Top FDI Destination Real estate is the third largest foreign direct investment (FDI) attractor in Vietnam and the top foreign investment destination in Ho Chi Minh City. The majority of FDI come from other Asian countries. Vietnam is expected to remain one of the world’s most attractive markets for foreign investment in 2018, especially the real estate sector. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the total registered foreign direct investment (FDI) is US$5.8 billion, indicating a
decline of 25 percent compared to the year prior in the first quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, FDI spending experienced a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent. This year it was US$3.88 billion. The real estate sector is one of the biggest FDI recipients. In the first quarter of 2018, real estate was the third-highest attractor of FDI with US$486 million worth of registered capital, equaling 8.4 percent of the total registered capital. FDI inflow in the real estate sector continued to be behind that of the manufacturing and processing sector (US$3.44 billion) as well as
the retail and wholesale sector (US$531 million). A series of major FDI-funded projects conceived last year are expected to be carried out in 2018, such as Dai Phuoc Lotus in Ho Chi Minh City by the China Fortune Land Development; Future Otis Hotel in the central city of Nha Trang by Taiwanese P.H Group; and apartment projects in Ho Chi Minh City by CapitaLand. Ho Chi Minh City has been the largest recipient of real estate FDI in Vietnam. According to Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, in 2017, the city had attracted US$1.01 billion worth of FDI in the real estate sector alone, equaling 43.4 percent of the total FDI inflows of the city. The large amount of FDI in Ho Chi Minh City’s real estate market is attributed to improvements in the infrastructure system and administrative procedures, a growing middleclass population, and a stable economy. In a recent survey by the real estate consulting firm Savills, Ho Chi Minh City has been ranked third out of 50 cities worldwide for property rental growth and fifth in terms of investment prospects. At the same time, the FDI inflows in the real estate market in Hanoi have been more
20 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
REAL ESTATE FEATURE
by Tran Thi Minh Hieu
modest compared to that of Ho Chi Minh City. Only a few number of projects in Hanoi received investment from foreign groups such as Ciputra, Gamuda Land, Hanoi Garden City, Park City, Booyoung Vina, Daewoo Cleve, and The Manor Central Park. However, according to real estate company CBRE, many foreign investors have started to pay special attention to the northern real estate market, particularly Hanoi. This year, the US$4 billion smart city project in Dong Anh District, Hanoi, will begin construction. The project is jointly led by BRG Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation Group. The project involves building a smart city with a modern transport system using the latest technologies. This huge construction project is
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expected to heat up the real estate market in Hanoi.
to Tri Duc Real Estate Company.
The northern real estate market of Vietnam is also expected to experience growth in the coming year. Alex Crane, General Manager of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, said in a recent market report that 2018 would carry a significant increase in FDI in the northern market.
Hongkong Land signed an agreement to develop Thu Thiem River Park with HCMC Infrastructure Investment. In March 2017, Creed Group from Japan took over the Lacasa project that was initially invested by Van Hung Phat Real Estate.
Investors from Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mainland China, have been reported as the biggest foreign investors in Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Western investors seem to be less active in the real estate market. They tend to focus on real estate related services like managing office buildings, resorts, hotels, serviced apartments, and shopping malls.
Most of the major merger and acquisition deals in 2017 were led by Asian investors. For example, VinaLand Ltd, managed by foreign-owned VinaCapital, sold all of its stake in Vina Square
According to Savills Vietnam, market differences such as local rules and legal issues could prevent these investors from participating in Vietnam’s real estate market.
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HEALTH FEATURE
by Jesús López-Gómez
Water Filtration:
Mere Fuss or A Must Have? You know better than to drink water from the tap, of course. But is filtered water enough to protect you from the dubious water quality of Saigon?
amount of chlorine used in treatment. Water consumed in any city in Europe may have around .1 ppm (parts per million) of chlorine. A swimming pool has on average around .5 ppm chlorine in its water.
pools—lost annually. The losses add up to about US$10 million in lost revenue per year.
Ask Aron Szabo, a water quality specialist with water filtration vendor BWT and the answer you get may not help you fall asleep tonight.
Vietnam’s water averages around .7 to 1 ppm in chlorine content.
“It’s not just about drinking”, he said matter of factly. “You take in more water in a shower and bath. The largest surface for (liquid) exchange is your skin.”
Test your water to determine if this is a problem and how severe it is. But you’ll know if your chlorine content is over acceptable levels with a few telltale signs: irritated skin and damaged hair.
The incoming fix notwithstanding, Szabo said it’s within all Saigon residents’ interest to be proactive about this problem.
Depending on where you’re showering in the city, your shower water may be served with nonnegligible amounts of cyanide. In the North, you may have arsenic in your water supply.
Help On the Way
A persistent problem that is ubiquitous almost everywhere is the levels of chlorine in the water. Szabo said the weak integrity of the city’s water pipe system—Szabo estimates about 26 percent of the water in Saigon’s water pipes exits through holes in the infrastructure—means that there’s an almost constant exchange of chemicals between the dirt outside of the pipe and the water inside the pipes. To combat this, the country’s water treatment specialists have introduced chlorine into the water treatment process. That by itself isn’t a problem; in fact many European cities take the same approach to protecting their water quality. The issue is the 22 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Saigon recently brought on-line a water quality control system used in more than 100 countries specifically to help recover some of their lost water. Announced in January, the city’s water management company, Saigon Water Corp., launched an automated water-control system that will be able to, among other capabilities, immediately detect leaks, bursts and failed pipes in real time. At the announcement, Saigon authorities noted that this is an important first step in recovering the 50 million cubic metres of water—the equivalent of 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming
Be Proactive
A home water filtration system can be an easy and painless addition to your home. BWT can install their home water filtration system in about 15 minutes. Depending on the kind of water filter you settle on, you may not have to replace the filter for up to a year. BWT’s water filters are nearly peerless in their thoroughness. The water filtration system filters items down to .01 microns in size, the size of your average virus and waterborne medication. The city’s chlorine levels may be more serious than just the superficial concerns, like losing your hair or having itchy skin. Szabo cited emerging research showing breast cancer patients have high levels of chlorine in their cancer tissue. He warned that the link hasn’t been proven yet between cancer and chlorine but the possibility is one worth considering when weighing whether you can go without a high-quality water filtration system.
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at the same time, a common problem if you’re moving into a new building. Here’s an obvious block you don’t want to stumble over: did you know that you shouldn’t write labels on the top of the moving box but instead write the identifying information on the side where it can always be seen even if the boxes are stacked?
A Complete Process
Moving
Is More Than Just Moving Because moving should be simple but isn’t, Crown Relocations offers a relocation service that is both robust and expeditious to make sure everything gets to the new space quickly for a seamless transition with no downtime and no lost business.
Relocations has a novel suggestion for your first step: use empathy.
Your company is moving. Should be easy enough, right? Just get the goods from one place to the other?
If the company is moving in response to something negative, “We may be seeing people lose their jobs, we need to be empathetic.”
If your solution to this problem is giving your staff a few boxes and a few days, you’ve already made your first mistake.
If the move is happening for positive reasons— because the company is growing, or because a great year has allowed for bigger, better digs— this is a chance to create a positive experience within the company by celebrating it. Moving is then an asset that can be used to “sell” the company to the employees, the often overlooked first customers. Understanding the reasons for the move will help companies create a process that’s sensitive to the state of the client.
“A common mistake we see is not realizing how long things might take to pack”, Crown Relocations Country Manager Jamie Rossall said. Rossall’s moving team advises creating a moving process that mirrors theirs: give your staff moving crates at least a week in advance and slowly start packing the nonessential items—old company records, removal or disposal of old furniture, etc.—so you don’t leave everything to the last minute. Giving yourself time to make the move correctly is the best approach to creating a smooth process.
Moving as an Act of Kindness This step—the part of the move where you and your staff actually start moving your company’s things—ought to be one of the last stages in an extensive preparation process. Crown
“One of the first things we want to know is the reasons for the move, is it a good reason or a bad reason”, he said. Why?
The Knowns and Unknowns So you’ve decided to move and all stakeholders— leadership, staff, building managers—are all on the same page. Everything’s packed, so the next step is go, right? Perhaps because moving is seemingly simple, the process only seems like it’s a matter of pack and go. What’s missing are the myriad of questions that arise during the relocation, like whether the elevators will be operational at all times and whether there will be others moving
Moving your company is a task you ought to take as seriously as any of your other businesses’ projects, and it deserves to be managed like one. Crown Relocations’ service starts with a survey of the moving company’s items, a study of the original location and the new venue, and a presentation of the move as a project. “Based on their timeline and what they need, we would put together another presentation that’s fit to share with every single member of their staff”, Rossall said. That way, “every single person, no matter what their role, understands their responsibility during the entire process.” On moving day, each sealed crate and piece of company property goes through a fourcheckpoint system—leaving the building, entering and exiting the transportation, and entering the new building—which tracks each item through a unique barcode as it heads to the new location. Once at the new location, possessions are move in according to a floor plan drafted in partnership with the client. It’s a very robust process, but the moving company has streamlined it into an expeditious one. Rossall said that our own City Pass Guide offices—with a modest staff of about 20— could be brought to a new location in a matter of a day. For a larger scale move of 500-plus employees, the relocation could be done in a weekend in order for the company to resume working on Monday. The choice is simple: you can either move on your own and hope everything goes smoothly, or you can hire folks who know what to do when it doesn’t.
Unit 2404, 24th Floor, Pearl Plaza Office Tower 561A Dien Bien Phu St., Binh Thanh District, HCMC +84 28 3840 4237 I www.crownww.com
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East West Brewing Co. Prefers to Show, Not Tell Its Beer-Making Process
District 1 microbrewery East West Brewing Co. is the only one in Saigon with an inhouse beer-making operation. Why? Craft beer tells a story, and it’s better explained with a visual aid and it’s a handsome machine to boot. The first thing you’ll notice entering East West Brewing Co. is the gleaming machinery towering overhead. As the doors close behind you, shutting off the din of downtown District 1 and Ly Tu Trong street, your ears will be greeted with the cavernous acoustics of something like to a museum. The floor plan is open permitting a clear view of the Ho Chi Minh City brewer’s pièce de résistance: the mammoth gleaming tanks on two floors that make up the beer maker’s in-house brewery.
Show, Don’t Tell In response to why the brewhouse was built to be a public-facing operation, East West 24 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Brewing Co.’s founders explained that craft beer’s relative newness and novelty in Vietnam created an opportunity for them to present the drink in a more intimate way. At the time of writing, East West remains the only place in Saigon where the city’s thirsty can drink a craft beer made on site. Brewery spokeswoman Mimi Truong said that explaining the broader motivation of craft beer—the process, the reasons behind making it and drinking it versus a Tiger or Heineken— is a bit like telling a story.
“If we didn’t show the general public upfront what craft beer was about, then the understanding wouldn’t be there”, Head Brewer Sean Thommen said. “That’s the biggest challenge that we have as a country that doesn’t really have a craft beer culture behind it.” “We could just be brewing the beer elsewhere and using the location as a taproom”, Mimi said. But “to actually have it laid down in front of you ... it introduces the concept of real brewers brewing real quality beer. It creates this relationship that’s more personal.” “It’s one thing to tell you, it’s another to show you”, Mimi said.
How It’s Made
Like all stories, it benefits from a visual aid. Mimi used an analogy to explain. “Let’s say you’re eating street food outside. There’s some kind of relationship when you visually see them cooking and the hard work that goes into that process.”
The untrained eye might get lost in the chromy gleam of the open brewery. The four tanks at the top are seated on another five polished 1,500 litre tanks at the ground floor.
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It’s like looking at the engine of a car: the industrial beauty is enhanced by the mystery of how the Rube Goldberg machine-like invention works. East West Brewing Co. offers tours of its brewery to learn more about how they make the beers. During the tour, you might learn that the brewery is not just a two-storey machine, but also contains a third at the very top. It’s here that the recipe begins, crushing the grain in preparation for the mash. From there, the malt moves to the second “hot” floor where the ingredients are combined with boiling water and cooked to specification. Then the liquid is moved to the kettle and boiled. This is where one of the most important steps for perfecting flavour happens: adding the hops. Unfinished beers leaving the second floor are sent to the bottom to cool and condition in the 1,500 litre tanks standing at attention adjacent to the dining room floor. Depending on the style of beer, the unfinished brew could be in fermentation for a long time—the malty, pronounced Independence Stout calls for a resting period of a month and a half—or a short one, like the Summer Hefeweizen, which is ready for kegging and bottling in just over two weeks. The brewery is built in levels like this to have gravity do the work of moving the tremendous liquid volumes from the top to the ground floor where the beers enter the fermentation stage, the last step in becoming drinkable, finished brews.
For example, when the microbrewery opened a year ago, the top seller was the Saigon Rosé. The light, fruity raspberry wheat beer was a popular first foray into craft beer for the local drinkers, a crowd typically doused with light lagers like Tiger and 333 at other places. Then, “in just six months the palette changed so quickly”, Mimi said.
Changing Tastes
Nowadays, the brewery is now equally known and renowned for the Summer Hefeweizen, a citrusy, zesty take on the classic German wheat ale recipe, as well as their Far East IPA, and its flagship East West Pale Ale, a polished, hoppy beer that acts as ”a nice bridge” out of the land of industrial scale lagers, Mimi said.
As Saigon’s beer lovers are getting to know East West Brewing Co., the brewer is also getting to know it’s audience and it’s shifting preferences better.
The beer that carries the brewery’s name is an abridged reimagining of the company’s story. The East West Pale Ale combines hops from the US with hops in New Zealand. Similarly, East West Brewing Co. is the
lovechild of a marriage between craft beer—a western convention—to a vision formulated by a US-raised Vietnamese entrepreneur Loc Truong and Sean a US native leading the brewing operation. “If they can come in and see it, smell it… they can understand why it’s not just a product”, Sean said. “We have to show them that it’s… an experience, there’s a science behind it.” Most importantly, he added “it’s fun.”
Contact Info Address: 181 - 185 Ly Tu Trong, District 1 Phone number: 091 306 0728 Email: info@eastwestbrewing.vn Facebook: www.facebook.com/eastwestbrewery Website: www.eastwestbrewing.vn Opening hours: Sunday to Wednesday from 11am – midnight Thursday – Saturday from 11am to 1am
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TRAVEL FEATURE
by Tran Thi Minh Hieu
An Authentic Travel Experience Through Homestays
Le Bleu Homestay
Vietnam’s tourism is seeing a new trend: homestays. The country’s diversity of geography, culture and cuisine allows for unique and authentic travel experiences when staying with local hosts. About a decade ago in Vietnam, the word “homestay” only appeared in discussions about students studying overseas. Very few people thought that they could start a business by offering their own house for tourists to stay. Now, homestays are becoming a growing trend in the country’s tourism industry, bringing changes to communities and new experiences for travelers. Staying at a local house is not only cheaper, it also allows travelers to experience the daily life and culture of the local family. It’s like coming to a friend’s house, and having someone to show you around their favorite places in town. You might get to try their favorite food, have meaningful conversations and do different things than other tourists normally get to do. This is why many travelers, especially young people, are looking for homestay options when they travel around Vietnam. With the rising demand, homestay travel is becoming serious 26 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
business, with a host of new homestays and new destinations regularly putting their names on the map.
Sapa, A Homestay Heaven
Que Lan, a recent homestay traveller to Sapa, shared her experience on Instagram. “Here everyday I can learn new things and meet new people. Everyday there’s a routine — after I’m done with my work, I’ll do the housework, and sometimes Nu takes me for a ride to her store so I can walk around the [Cat Cat] village. My Cat Cat is so beautiful.”
Sapa is one of the first destinations where homestay travel started gaining popularity. The small town lying on the edge of the highest peaks in Vietnam is full of ethnic minority groups, with a diverse and intriguing culture that adds to the amazing scenery. While the town is lined with big and small hotels, homestays are very popular, and even tour operators also include this in the itinerary. Lu Van Khuyen, Chief of the Department of Culture and Information of Sapa, told Nhan Dan newspaper that within 10 kilometres from Sapa township, there are more than 1,000 homestays. Some people come and stay for weeks or months.
Phơri’s House
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by Tran Thi Minh Hieu
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Phơri’s House
Community Changer Following in the footsteps of their more famous cousin, other towns in Vietnam’s Northern mountains are offering homestays to gain more visitors. In the vast terrains where it’s too hard to grow crops, the life of local people is getting easier thanks to homestays. Ha Giang province is the northernmost province of Vietnam, difficult to reach but full of pristine treasures: flower fields and forests, ethnic costumes and festivals, and traditional houses. In Nam Dam village, Quan Ba district, from 2012 to 2015, non-governmental organizations Caritas Switzerland and PanNature worked with local Dao people to build 30 houses and 18 homestays, and develop trekking routes to support tourism in the village. The most prominent homestay in Nam Dam village is Dao Lodge. It was designed by architect Hoang Thuc Hao and his colleagues from 1+1>2 Architects, using the ancient techniques of the rammed earth house, which involves compressing a damp mixture of earth and clay into a wooden frame and removing the frame to make a wall. In another remote part of Ha Giang, Hoang Su Phi district, Helvetas Vietnam and the Center for Rural Economy Development supported the local Dao people to build homestays. It was no easy job, as the Dao people live in stilt houses, and traditionally raise livestock on the ground under the house. As Ban Quay Chang, a homestay owner in Hoang Su Phi, told VietnamNet, “It took us
months to decide to move the cattles some hundred metres away from the house. We have been keeping cattles close to our home for generations, so we can’t change that overnight.” Language is also a challenge. Unlike in touristfriendly towns like Sapa, people in Hoang Su Phi have never been exposed to English in their life, so initially they struggled to communicate with their international guests. But where there’s a will there’s a way. They bought smartphones and went to English classes in the district’s center.
A Countrywide Movement Now with the help of travel booking sites and apps such as Airbnb, you can find homestays almost anywhere you want to go in Vietnam, from popular destinations to remote areas. Here’s a list of homestays that will make you want to pack your bag and go.
Rice Road Homestay (Sapa / Pu Luong) Phơri’s House (Sapa / Hanoi / Saigon) Mr Linh’s Homestay (Bac Kan) Le Bleu Homestay (Hanoi / Tam Dao / Hoi An Dalat / Saigon) Old Yellow House (Hoi An) Countryside Homestay (Phu Yen) Mui Ne Connect (Phan Thiet) Kokoro Home (Nha Trang) The Da lat Old Home (Dalat) Cocohut Homestay (Ben Tre)
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BUSINESS FEATURE
by J.K. Hobson
VN Sues US Over
Catfish Restriction Measures imposed by the United States are threatening Vietnam’s booming fishing industry and as a result, the southeast Asian country has filed a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam is challenging an import tax on Vietnamese catfish the US imposed to raise the price of fish. US trade authorities have accused Vietnam of “dumping”, or selling catfish at an excessively low price. The tax Vietnam is challenging is necessary to raise the price to a normal valuation, US trade authorities argued when the Department of Commerce won the right to impose the fee in 2003. Vietnamese trade authorities are no amateurs to delivering legal action against trade opponents at the WTO. This event marks the third time Vietnam has challenged a US trade tax against Vietnamese catfish at the the WTO. Vietnam previously twice challenged similar catfish taxes from the US. 28 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
Vietnam’s exports of fish fillets to the US have increased from US$100 million in 2007 to over US$520 million in 2016, making Vietnam the US’s third-largest supplier following Chile and China. In 2017, Vietnam’s catfish exports increased overall but its sales to the US have declined slightly as the foreign nation’s stiffer import demands have been enacted. Catfish sales to the US were down 10 percent from the year prior. The US was Vietnam’s top import market for Vietnamese fish consuming 23 percent of exports, until last year when Europe took first place. The change has come partially as a result of these anti-dumping measures, as well as a range of reasons including the tariff. VietnamNet reported that Europe was becoming an unreliable customer because of a misinformation campaign in several countries that slandered Vietnam’s fish. In January 2017,
a media outlet in Madrid ran a news report purporting to show that Vietnamese fish were being bred in substandard conditions and even being fed the carcasses of other fish. Similar coverage has appeared in Italy, Germany and France as well. Organisations of catfish farmers have cried foul play accusing envious European producers and their more expensive fish of spreading the false information. However, Vietnamese fisheries have no shortage of demand. China is quickly becoming a top importer of Vietnam catfish. In 2016, the country purchased US$420 million worth of the nation’s catfish, up nearly 40 percent from the year prior.
Stiffer US Regulations Last year, the US passed the Farm Bill. As part of the measure, inspections now fall to the stricter regulatory body of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rather than
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the US Food and Drug Administration, which had previously been responsible. As of September 2017, the USDA has reclassified the fish. Among other restrictions, it requires catfish production companies to use treated water instead of river water when transporting fish to processing factories via boat. In addition, water used during different phases of transportation would need to be collected and treated after the fish are delivered to a factory.
These fishing and transportation regulations are next to impossible for Vietnamese companies to satisfy and the changes required to meet them would prove monumentally costly, they allege. The law subjects all of Vietnam’s catfish exports to examination by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Vietnam Pangasius Association claims that the new regulations prevent the industry from maintaining the growth it has achieved over the last decade. If the WTO rules in Vietnam’s favour, retaliatory trade tariffs could be imposed against the US as a means of compensation for the financial losses suffered by the fishing industry. US agricultural exports would likely be targeted. John Connelly, President of the National Fisheries Institute, said that this “should come as little surprise to those familiar with the decade-old history of this duplicative and wasteful program.”
“The program is now poised to negatively impact significant US agricultural exports to Vietnam. Cotton, wheat and other grains, pork, soybeans, beef, poultry, eggs and fruit, may end up in the cross hairs of retaliatory tariffs.”
“Farmers from Texas to Oregon and California to Georgia, who export tens of millions of dollars’ worth of their harvest to Vietnam annually, could become collateral damage in a campaign waged by catfish lobbyists to regulate their seafood competition out of the market”, Connelly continued.
The US is no stranger to the kind of litigation being enacted by Vietnam. In a 2015 lawsuit brought against the US by Canada and Mexico, the WTO ruled that meat-labelling requirements imposed by the US violated international agreements and were deemed an unlawful trade barrier. Congress responded by repealing the unfair regulations. US farmers and ranchers would have been harmed by tariff retaliations and loss of access to the markets in those countries.
A Banner Year Vietnam’s catfish currently sells for around VND30,000 per kilogram in domestic sales. Farmers selling for these prices are making around VND4,000 to VND6,000 per kilogram of fish meat. In general, the value of domestic catfish sales goes down toward the end of the year because the year’s contracts are typically fulfilled by this time. However, an increased interest in catfish has created a persistent demand that remained repeatedly unfulfilled through the end of the year. Concurrently, water space allotted to catfish production has also increased. In 2017, the area dedicated to catfish farming in the Mekong Delta expanded 3.1 percent. This was a factor that led to a 5.4 percent increase in catfish production, 1.3 million tonnes. 29
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by J.K. Hobson
SOCIETY FEATURE
picture by Bret Hamilton
Westerners Afflicted with
“Asian Fever”?
Mimi Nguyen is a 24-year-old Viet Kieu woman who was raised in Moscow and lived in the United Kingdom for almost a decade beginning in her mid-teens. She has a swagger that, along with her bright pink hair, makes her a unique figure in the tapestry of Ho Chi Minh City.
“I had what I like to call a ‘white boy phase’ when I was in university. I dated them exclusively”, Nguyen said. She remembers her first experience with what she called “the yellow fever thing … was when I was talking to this guy and I remember him explicitly saying that he wanted us to do a role play kind of thing. What he wanted was very specific; he wanted to play out a colonial role play where I would be tied up and where I would call him ‘master’.” The concept of “yellow fever” is—depending on who hears it—controversial, offensive or a point of fascination. Perhaps the earliest 30 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
known usage of the phrase comes from the afterword of the 1988 work “M. Butterfly”, a play from US playwright David Henry Hwang. He wrote that “Heterosexual Asians have long been aware of ‘Yellow Fever’—Caucasian men with a fetish for exotic Oriental women. I have often heard it said that ‘Oriental women make the best wives.’” Some would argue that it commodifies Asian people, especially women, turning them into a group of identical, interchangeable objects. This draws attention away from their humanity and places it on their bodies and sexuality. Others argue that neither the phrase nor the phenomenon are worth worrying about. One might be inclined to ask, what’s wrong with preferences? For example, some women prefer tall partners, while others may have a penchant for men with “dad bods”. It’s quite probable that for every trait that exists there is a segment of the population that finds that trait attractive and are drawn to it consciously or subconsciously.
“Something About Facial Geometry” I spoke with Tom Harlow*, a 39-year-old, white US national who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, regarding his stated preference for Asian women. “I think everyone I’ve dated for the past 20 years has either been Asian or half Asian. I think it’s mostly an aesthetic thing. Something about facial geometry”, he said. “For me to be attracted to an Asian, they only need to be objectively a six out of 10 [a “10” being assigned to a physically perfect mate], whereas if they were African or European they’d need to be an eight out of 10.” Harlow added, “I’m from Columbus, Ohio. There are Asians but not too many, maybe 10 percent of the population at best, probably three percent. So maybe there’s an element of exoticism at play.” But preferences are not wholly innocent and the real causes are often developed subconsciously, argues Dr. David Frederick,
by J.K. Hobson
assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University, who is studying the effects of social and biological factors on attraction. In an interview with Vice Magazine, he argued that to white men who have mostly grown up around white women, “Asian and other ethnic minority women [may] appear novel and exciting.” He added that previous good relationships also factor into attraction. “If a man has a particularly positive relationship with an Asian woman, this may increase his preference for Asian women. The physical features typical of Asian women can become paired with feelings of reward and pleasure, leading men to preferentially seek out relationships with Asian women in the future.” Also, often these expectations are not even derived from previous experiences but are deeply informed by stereotypes, which are steeped in power and race. Speaking to Nguyen about the first time she felt the shadow that “yellow fever” cast on her dating life, she said, “I knew that Asian women were fetishized”, or desired solely for physical characteristics particular to their race, “but [the above sexual experience] was the very first instance of overt fetishisation.” She continued, “I don’t think I ever liked receiving attention because I was Asian. It made me feel worse actually. When men would look at me and they would express in one way or another that they were attracted to me because I was Asian, it felt very dehumanizing. It felt like it could be literally anybody sitting here right now.”
SOCIETY FEATURE
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Women As Art, Pleasure Products
in sexual favors if she so chose). Still, the geisha became a highly sexualized image for the Western male”, Park writes.
Stereotypes about Asian people, and especially women, are founded in the colonial relationships between the West and the East. In the 1840s, at the end of the first Opium War, the ports of China, Japan, and Korea were flooded with new traders from the United States and other Western powers from Europe. Western men came into contact with Eastern women, like the Japanese geishas, “the name coming from gei (art) and sha (person)”, Patricia Park writes in her critique “The Madame Butterfly Effect”.
At the end of World War II, United States soldiers infiltrated the ports of Japan to indulge in the network of brothels that employed tens of thousands of women, until General Douglas MacArthur declared them off-limits the following year. Similarly, Vietnam’s sex trade flourished during the American War. In her New York Times editorial “The Alt-Right’s Asian Fetish”, Audrea Lim describes the way that soldiers from these wars often married women that they met in these places and brought them, along with the sexually-charged perceptions of Asian women being docile and servile, back to the West. Today, US tourists flock to places like
“She was a separate entity entirely from the paid-for-hire prostitute (though she did engage
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by J.K. Hobson
SOCIETY FEATURE
Thailand, where the booming sex trade industry brings in US$6.4 billion dollars annually. These histories and the images that they’ve created have palpable effects on the lives of Asian women worldwide. Nguyen describes a realization she had when delving into her interest in photography. “I’ve noticed that there’s a very specific way that Asian women are shot in general, but also a specific way that white photographers shoot Asian girls. It’s
very sexualized and... the models are [put into] very submissive positions. A lot of lower angle up-your-panties kinds of shots.”
The Case for an Asian Husband Additionally, although they are not as common as their male counterparts, there are white women who date Asian men exclusively. Jen Lee* is a white US born woman married to an Asian man living in California with their three children. When asked about how she developed her preference for Asian men she replied, “I moved to San Francisco after college. While there I met a lot more Asian men than I ever had before and naturally I found some of them attractive. I started dating an Asian guy and all of a sudden it became like a thing.” She continued, “I think my preference started from looks but then transitioned to cultural norms. American Asian men are generally highly-educated, driven to be successful, hold traditional family values and are good with money. They stand up for their families in the face of any adversity. These are things I wanted. I wanted a man that would defend his family and provide for them.” “I didn’t continue dating him necessarily to make a statement”, Lee said. “I continued because I truly loved him.”
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Love & Power Live in Disharmony In the end, the reasons for attraction are as amorphous and difficult to pin down as they are subconscious. Often, it is difficult to explain why someone falls in love with a certain person or not. Attraction is not the problem, but attraction that is built on stereotypes can build up walls between people that shouldn’t exist where there is supposed to be only intimacy. In a video from the series about fetishisation “They’re All So Beautiful”, Dr. Benjamin Tong, professor and psychotherapist at the California Institute of Integral Studies said, “Interracial relationships are not bad per se but they can be problematic with the presence of fetish. Those relationships can become affected by the hegemony and the power of these stereotypes, thus putting pressure on the people in them to play these roles, or to push back against them. To truly discover who another person is right from the start is virtually impossible. We bring baggage; we bring projections. The difficulty in relationships is working through that so that the relating is authentic and real.” *A false name has been used here
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“Our customer care policies are much more effective than Airbnb because we are the middleman of host and guest”, Thong said. Where the Airbnb system is comparatively hands off—the service hosts the marketplace and infrastructure for payments, but does little else—9Stays takes a more involved approach in their guest experience by liaising between the guests and tenants as well as by offering on-call support staff to fix any problems that arise in the course of their stay. “So if there’s something, some problem happening, we can solve it very quickly”, he said.
9Stays Offers Personal
Unique Travel
It seems like an inevitable irony that travellers go somewhere new, unusual and interesting yet stay in a hotel like any other hotel, sleep in a room that while nice, is like all guest rooms everywhere. The tour you book will take you on a package of preselected “musts” tied to the destination. It’s out of this quandary that the homestay and homestay travel provider 9Stays emerged.
What is a Homestay? The homestay is a more personal, intimate solution to travellers’ need for affordable lodging. Instead of spending money to rent a room at a hotel, homestay travellers pay a typically smaller amount for what are typically more modest accommodations. The temporary residence could be a home or a room within one, and the travellers are treated more like guests than just customers. “They stay with the host and they can experience all the culture, the daily habit of the host”, Do Trung Thong, 9Stays lead salesman, said. Homestay travellers should come “ready to learn something new”, he said. “They can experience all the things that they haven’t experienced before.”
See It Like No One Else The difference was abundant when 9Stays Director Van Hong An went to Dalat. He went with friends to the renowned mountain city and, instead of going for one of the city’s many hotels, he opted for a homestay to host him and some friends. While there he met other travellers as well as the host, who provided Van with some local insight directing him to the best sights in the area. “When you come to a strange place, that’s really helpful”, Van said. Van rated his host as very generous and said he felt comfortable asking the homestay’s owner for help if he had a problem with his motorbike, for example, or even a medical emergency. These are nice extras if you get a hotel with staff willing to go the extra mile for you, but a 9Stays homestay host takes those possibilities as part of their responsibility to the guest.
Wait, Isn’t This Airbnb? Through 9Stays, travellers can look online and find a place to stay outside of the hotel system, a room or a home inside of a neighborhood.
Before guests come to a homestay, the destination must pass an in-person inspection conducted by a 9Stays staffer. Each of the 500 homestays listed on 9Stays has received a personal visit from the company.
Homestay Your Way Through Vietnam With homestays peppered throughout the country in notable locations such Da Nang, Ha Giang province—”We have the best homestay experience in the northwest”, Thong said matterof-factly—as well as in Dalat, it’s entirely possible to homestay your way through the whole country. What’s more, 9Stays is populating its site with travel information from professional writers and also invites its guests to write reflections on their homestay, both of which serve as resources for travellers and compliment the host’s insights. 9Stays also is aiming to activate homestays on Vietnam’s many islands, places where major hotel providers have not yet sprung up around the existing residences. 9Stays is just over half a year old, but has already facilitated about 300 homestay travel experiences. It’s more appropriate to call them “experiences” because of how much work that goes into making a homestay visit a unique and novel experience. “Travel is for exploring”, Thong said. “You want to travel to explore something new.”
Let’s ask the obvious question: how is this different from Airbnb? 33
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Australian International School Artists Meditate on
Identity in Final Show It’s not uncommon for teenagers to take pictures of themselves, but looking at student artist Chelsea Degenhardt’s photo composition—a work in which the teenager appears nearly denuded crouching to squeeze inside a series of frames—it will take more time to process than your average selfie. Standing beside her work inside the Australian Intrenational School International Baccalaureate Visual Arts Exhibition, the terminal work that art students must satisfy before obtaining their diplomas, Degenhardt isn’t demure about the complexity of her piece. “For my show, my theme was about trying to figure out whether I’m American or Vietnamese”, Degenhardt said. The artist has parents from both lineages, and she said her thinking about the question has culminated in broader questions about cultural and self identity. The 17-year-old is working through these questions in her show through paintings and sculptures along with the photography work. The black against the white, “[t]hat’s kind of like [my] different cultures.”
The Big Show Degenhardt is taking risks with her art as are her fellow student artists. One of the student works, by Truc Anh Le, is a respectful portrait painting of a Vietnamese soldier draped in tattered, blood-red cloth, it tells a story of struggle and sacrifice, a theme common to many of the works presented across this exhibition. In the middle of the art exhibition lies an actual, working boat moored to the school’s linoleum floor. “It’s about the Vietnamese people”, artist Yen Chi Huynh said explaining that the boat is a reference to the riverbound Vietnamese of the Mekong Delta. 34 | iamhcmc.com/gazette
The boat also also serves as a stand in for the bitter irony of the dated transport: the boat typically serves as a symbol for progress and ascent. A boat on a dry surface exposes the emptiness of the trope. “It’s supposed to take people away to a farther future”, Yen continued, “but instead in Vietnam it’s trap [sic] people inside.” This isn’t just the students’ last chance to show for their peers and community before heading to their next, distant destination—most of the international school’s graduates earn a place in the freshman classes of top foreign colleges and universities— but a graded, cumulative project intended to be a showcase of the students’ best works. The IB diploma requires students to make nine seperate satisfactory grades. The exhibition represents nearly half of one of these grades. “They curate, they decide how an audience is going to interact with it”, art teacher Nigel Hall said. “And their work tells a story.” “It isn’t a theme, it’s a narrative. It’s a cohesive collection of artwork”, Hall explained.
“It’s a huge matter. The exhibition is a culmination of the work they’ve done in that two-year period”, he added.
Finding Answers It’s during this time that students are becoming self-aware and examining ways that their settings and culture have shaped their experiences and artistic talent.
“My exhibition is about what restricted [sic] by the culture” and how the new environment of the international school has created a space for her to think critically about the value system she inherited, Yen said. It’s not an answer to the question, but a foundation for addressing it more honestly. Degenhardt is at a similar point in her exploration of her own cultural identity. “You don’t really need to have a definite answer because a passport doesn’t really hold your identity. You’re kind of your own person”, Degenhardt said, a reflection of the self-acceptance she crafted for herself while she was making her art.
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Topping Up the Taps Off of Pasteur Street in District 1 you’ll find an alley with a secret. What is it? Hint: it has to do with the street name. First, you’ll notice that the alley itself—white painted walls brightened with cool street art and strings of faerie-lights—has become a top selfie destination for hipster Vietnamese youth. Head a little further down this hem to discover the real draw of this side street. At this point, any beer aficionado will be able to describe the well-travelled stairs that lead up to the home of one of the pioneers of craft brewing in Vietnam: Pasteur Street Brewing Co. Pasteur Street Brewing Co. was established in 2015 and this taproom, dubbed “The Original”, has been brimming with beer lovers ever since. This observation drove the team at Pasteur Street Brewing Co. to expand their operations in order to welcome more of their fanbase on a nightly basis. The first taproom to be added to the brand is in the same eyecatching alley as “The Original” and is known as the “Hem”. The expansive new space boasts two floors, one of which is a rooftop, making it the perfect location for events, private parties, and tastings. Head to “The Original” taproom if you want to see where it all started! Everyone is made to feel welcome at this cosy bar where it’s just as easy to have a solo after-work drink as it is to kick back and enjoy a few pints with a group of friends. The “Hem” taproom is the perfect place to go for a party or larger groups, or just to enjoy the rooftop breeze with a beer in hand. The expansion has been so successful that as of October 2017, the brand has grown even further to include a third taproom in Phu Nhuan District, known as Phan Xich Long “PXL” taproom. This district is more local and the area includes a large selection of cafés and restaurants. However, craft brewing is still a new concept here. The “PXL” taproom, which is the largest to date, will host beer tasting events and meet and greets with Pasteur Street’s all important brewers.
Pasteur Street Expands to Five Locations in Vietnam
In addition, fans of the company should be aware of the “Ha Noi” taproom, which opened directly behind the historic St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the Old Quarter in Hanoi in July of 2017. The location spans two levels and includes an outdoor seating area. The brand also has a presence in Thao Dien—a tiny 15-seater taproom named the “Filling Station”. The “Filling Station” can also be used to pick up your favourite beer in a “growler” size bottle and offers a free delivery service within Thao Dien.
Winter Heavies and Summer Sours Each taproom features a selection of different beers on tap, so people can also get a taste of new flavours. There is always a balanced selection of light, heavy, dark, sour, and hoppy brews to ensure that there is a beer for every palate. According to Anniek Voesenek, Pasteur Street Brewing Co.’s countrywide F & B Manager, “in the South people are more used to experimenting with the different types of craft beer because Saigon is where the movement began in Vietnam. In the North, people still have to get used to some of the
more funky flavours, like the sours, but now there are more and more places starting to serve craft beer.” Weather also plays a part. In Hanoi, Pasteur Street Brewing Co. tends to focus on the beers that are stronger in alcohol during the winter months whereas in Saigon they aim to have a good balance between the fruity beers, the heavier beers, sour beers and IPAs. All locations have their bestselling Jasmine IPA and Passionfruit Wheat Ale available, as well as the Imperial Chocolate Stout, the 2016 World Beer Cup winner. Pasteur Street Brewing Co. fans should head to “Hem” on May 2nd, “Ha Noi” on May 15th or the “PXL” taproom on May 25th for a pint of brew and some live music. Keep your eye on the company’s Facebook page to learn more about these dates, as well as other special events and meetups with the brewers at all the locations.
Contact Info HO CHI MINH “Original” & “Hem”:144 Pasteur Street. Down the alley and up the stairs, D1, HCMC +84 28 3823 9562 “The Filling Station”: 29 Thao Dien Street, D2, HCMC +84 28 6273 0562 “PXL”: 47D Hoa Lan, Phu Nhuan District, HCMC +84 28 6684 0033
HANOI 1 Au Trieu, Hoan Kiem Hanoi +84 24 62949462 cheers@pasteurstreet.com www. pasteurstreet.com 35
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