Vietnam Cuci Tunnels Comples - Entrance Hidden from Plain Sight

The guide showing us how small it the entrance actually is

This fascinating pictures shows how small the actual entrance to the tunnels at Cu Ci were. During the height of the Vietnam War against the US, these tunnels were the main deciding factor in determining how the war swung from the stronger, larger built soldiers, superior forces of the US to much smaller, poorer armed both in technology and communications but motivationally and possibly strategically stronger Viet Cong army.  

Placing the top of the tunnel covered with dead leaves

           The guide shows us exactly how small the tunnel entrance is ; hence many of the enemy could not find the VC or after an ambush had taken place, the VC somehow had disappeared into thin air. In fact they went underground. A very brilliant maneuvre and tactic using only manpower and motivation to dig these long tunnels. Once the entrance is shut, it is pitch black and everyone inside is supposed to keep silent as their entire unit and lives depended on it. The US forces upon discovering the tunnels would first throw a couple of hand granades or smoke granades to kill, maim, or stun or even smoke out the VC. Once they came dashing out, they were easy prey or surrendered. 

The entrance totally hidden from plain sight ; you need to practically walk over the entrance to notice it if you actually do. 

The LURPs Long Underground Reconnaissance Patrols were the specialists Rangers tasked to flush out these tunnel combatants. Called the Tunnel Rats, they would sleep most of the day and only operate to full efficiency at night. Their jobs were ruthless and it was savage from what I read about how they carried out their jobs. 

4 Levels underground - Tunnel Complex ; there are even small pipes to emit CO2 and expelled air 

        Here is the Elevation View of the Tunnel Complex ; at the highest levels are the Command Center, the Hospital and the Armoury. They are not directly linked so that there are routes to escape in the event one entrance is found out by the enemy. The Command Centre is only accessible probably near some river embankment or even underwater as shown on the extreme right. The people lived their entire lives underground for up to 20 hours each day. 

Ho Chih Minh City - War Museum

Kannan with the Chinook Helicopter 

          During my last visit to Ho Chi Minh city (2011 I believe), my colleague N. Kannan and I visited the War Museum in District 1. It frankly opened my eyes about the Vietnam war, the atrocities which the US occupying forces did to firstly contain and hopefully defeat the Communist Party Viet Cong. As history as proven, the US lost the war and pulled out in 1976 when Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam (now called Ho Chi Minh city) fell to the North Vietnamese.  

          With the collapse of the South Vietnam army after the US pullout, the country unified itself under Communist rule and now, some 40 years down the road, is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Coupled with a young population, it has excellent potential for manufacturing, tourism and a seaport (Da Nang) to lead its development. 

         The War Museum presents history from the Vietnamese eyes, it presents the US as the oppressor who used all their superior weaponry, firepower, military aircraft and shamefully, chemical weapons (who can forget the carpet bombing of the jungles with Agent Orange) to try to  defeat the morale, the numbers and will of the North Vietnamese. In the end it was the North Vietnamese Communists who WON the war through sheer tenacity, strategy and collective will. 

        Countless films have been made to soothe and befuddle the rest of the world, Platoon, Deer Hunter, Apocalypse Now,Hamburger Hill and the incredibly inane Rambo series pandering to the intellectually comatose and ignorant audiences. The fact that US lost and pulled out, and here are propoganda films starring a bulging Sylvester killing hundreds of soliders is indeed laughable and in a sense, embarrassing.   

           2 memories stick out till today. There was this instrument of torture I will never forget. In the Hanoi 'Hilton' (or the prisoner of war camp) there was a 'cage' made of barbed wire and the prisoner of war (Viet Cong) who was captured would be thrown into that cage and be impaled and cut by the every piece of rusty spikes in it. He would be there until he gave some 'information'. How inhumane was that ?  

         There was another propoganda film made by the Vietnamese, it showed how a brave 16 year old girl had single-handedly blown up 2 tanks by crawling near to them and firing bazookas point blank.

        When you 'see' the war from the 'other side' finally you get the true picture of how it was, from a independent viewpoint. 

Comparison between living in Sweden and Singapore ; from the Market Perspective

         I do not own rights to this video, but this is one Swede's perspective of his 2 years living in Singapore after having lived his earlier life in Sweden. 

         Its always easy to criticise the tough aspects about living in Singapore, so sometimes its good to hear from a Western perspective, totally devoid of bias and purely based on ease of living and quality of life. 


      


      This video comes in 2 parts and in Part 2 ; the Vlogger gets so taken up by Singapore's orderly and clean society - compared to Sweden now. Sweden was once touted as the perfect Scandinavian image to the world, but now some of it (in the city anyway) has degenerated into lawlessness, homelessness and lack of civic consciousness by its people and inhabitants. This is his viewpoint in the video and not mine. 

       Its no surprise Singapore has recently emerged as the most liveable and the city has the highest quality of life in Asia.  

This Lor Mee stall can't make it

        

           Situated at the basement 2 of Vivocity is the KopiTiam foodcourt. there are at least 15 food stalls and today I ventured to try the Lor Mee (or dry noodle with gravy). Lor Mee is a staple dish at many food centres and Vivocity was no exception. I decided to give it a try and spent $5 for a Signature Bowl.  The name of this stall is called Penang Cuisine and during breakfast time around 9.30 am, the food court had just opened.   

          Much to my disappointment, the bowl of noodles had 3 fried shark pieces, 4 sliced fish cakes and nothing much else. It was full of yellow noodles, super thick gravy. Normally I would expect the Lor Mee to come with some posk belly slices, additional fish bits, more fish cake and generous helping of shark pieces.

         The stall 138 at Tiong bahru Hawker Center (scheduled for reopening on 19th May) is so much better in terms of taste, and much more ingredients.

         So my rating for this :

-    Food quality  : 1.5 out of 5

-   Service          : 2.5 out of 5

    Overall           : Cannot Make the Grade ; in Singlish Cannot Make It 



     

Cognitive Dissonance - What Exactly is It ?

                  This cartoon by Dilbert brilliantly explains the cognitive dissonance theory 


     Cognitive dissonance is a state of mind whereby humans or animals (if they can think),
create an acceptable illusion ('deal with it') of their situation even though their current situation is considered so absurd or contradictory to their rational beliefs or state of mind.Dilbert's cartoon so brilliantly exemplifies this theory. 

    A good example is this fable by Aesop, long time ago, there was this hungry fox, he was wandering around a nice wine estate and chanced upon some lovely grapes which looked so ripe and juicy. The trouble was that the grapes were hanging high up from the branches and the fox had to try its best to jump to reach them. he envisioned that the grapes would be really sweet and melt in his hungry and thirsty mouth.

   So, he want just below it, with all his might, he jumped high up and snapped. He missed it and chewed air. Damn ! he said to himself, so close ! So he tried again and again with all his might and jumped up 8 more times. Again he fell back to earth disappointed and with a mouthful of bitter defeat. Nothing.

   Finally he tried the running and jumping from a distance. 3 more times he tried and failed.
Damn ! again he missed it. 

   He slowly walked away in disgust and told himself : " ah what the heck, the grapes would have probably tasted sour and I would not have liked them at all".

   He created an illusion that it was better not to have eaten the unattainable fruit or goals

   Hence the common phrase "sour grapes".  .

  

Peranakan Museum ; A Gem of a Museum Part II

Peranakan Museum at Armenian Street ; A Gem of a Museum Part I

The entrance of Peranakan Museum at Armenian Street 

       Last weekend, as I was out on an errand, I chanced upon the Peranakan Museum, which is located at Armenian Street, next to an open air carpark and after the Bible House on the left hand side. It is just before Timbre and the Substation, and the building was formerly the Tao Nan school and has been conserved for purposes in the public interest.

      Painted in azure blue, the museum houses 3 floors of Peranakan artifacts, mostly donated by Peranakans over the decades.The word Peranakan  means Straits born Chinese people, Straits meaning Straits of Malacca. The Peranakans first came over during the 17th century, mainly as odd job labourers and businessmen and settled here. The 'sons of the soil' or 'bumiputra' people are the indigenous Malay people hence the word Malay Archipelago where the island of Singapore is at the very bottom end of it. Some Chinese married the locals over the centuries, while others went back to China and brought back to Malaya and Singapore their wives and over the last 2 centuries developed their own Peranakan or Baba Chinese culture which was initially Chinese but infused with some Malay influences. 

Sarong Kebaya uniform of Singapore Airlines 

         Many dishes of the Peranakan Chinese are still around today, some famous ones are the Babi Ponteh (Pork curry), the Itek Tim (Duck vegetable soup) and Ayam Buak Keluak (Chicken masala curry with local spice nut). They are very tasty but extremely high in oil and animal fat. The entry fee for Singaporeans and PRs is S$ 4 while that for foreigners is $10.

The embroidery of the Peranakan Chinese is fascinating and can be seen by the painstaking efforts they use to embroider their sarong kebayas, tableclothes, wedding clothes, tea cosy and bed linen.

Ayam (chicken) Bua Keluak (the tamarind nut)  curry 

a side note ; the keluak black nut is naturally found in mangrove swamps of SE Asia. Its latin name is called Pangium Edule and the raw fruit is naturally poisonous, containing hydrogen cynaide inside it. it is rendered harmless and edible by steaming, boiling or fermentation. 

        The trademark Sarong Kebaya  worn by the Singapore girl air stewardess is inspired from the dress of the same name ! 

The building housing the museum once was the Tao Nan school which moved to the East Coast in 1982 

                                                              Wedding Bed 

        The museum is open for 7 days each week from 10 am - 7pm. Its well worth a visit and I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in Singapore's history, particularly of the local born Chinese to pay a visit. The above wedding chamber bed is made of 2 sections, one is the double bed, presumably for the couple to conceive and the outer bed is a single bed, presumably for the person to change up before he steps onto the ground.

        Peranakan weddings are an elaborate affair lasting up to 12 days (in the past). The customs of the Peranakans of yesteryear was that if the couple wanted to conceive a son, a rooster would pop up from under the bed (placed by anxious relatives of course!). If they wanted a girl then a hen would pop up !

       Imagine trying to have an intimate time with a rooster and hens underneath the bed !