RockPortrait in Vietnam

Teachers are being given more freedoms to express themselves in class. Great in principle, but more work for the teachers.

The Ministry of Education and Training is preparing a set of guidelines for teachers in a bid to end the passive approach to teaching and learning in today’s classrooms.

Teachers will no longer have to stick solely to the textbooks but will be free to use their imagination and employ other materials too.

The brighter students will no longer be held back and the slower students will be taught at their pace, so teachers won’t have to lower their classroom standards to the lowest common denominator.

My Lai Massacre apology

I don't hold much stock in apologies, especially for actions of this gravity. Ensuring things like this never happen in the first place is the ideal way, but what else can one do when we can't turn back time?

The killings that occurred on March 16, 1968 in the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai prompted widespread outrage around the world. They are also credited with advancing the end of the Vietnam War because they significantly undermined US public support for the war effort.

Daily life in HCMC

The recent discussion on banning small markets for hygiene reasons was never going to work in the first place. As I read somewhere, shopping in small markets is part of the Vietnamese lifestyle and has been forever. Also, so many people make a living from working in such markets that it would be devastating to their livelihoods. As expected, it's being re-thought.

After only one week, HCM City People’s Committee has had to rethink its ban on the sale of meat and vegetables anywhere except in supermarkets

District-level people’s committees were responsible for supervising the ban and punishing any violators. However, after only one week of operation, the decision is being ignored in most areas of the city.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/08/hcm-city-rethinks-ban-on-small-markets.html

Seems that traffic jams might be looked at because foreign investors have raised concerns. Hmmm, interesting. Still whatever gets things moving is fine by me.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/08/hcm-city-foreign-investors-tired-of-traffic-jams.html

I have to go find this guy. I haven't spent enough time in Pham Ngu Lao to stumble across him. Once I get back from my break I might go on a hunt.

The elderly but healthy man with a ponytail and a long, silky white beard is not busking but simply playing for the joy of it.

Now into his seventies, Ta Tri Hai has become a fixture of April 30th Park on Han Thuyen Street in the morning and September 23rd Park on Pham Ngu Lao Street at night.

With his trademark cowboy hat, Hai is a familiar sight to the people who live in this part of Ho Chi Minh Cityâ s District 1 and a welcome surprise to the tourists and other pedestrians who happen to be passing by.

Other

Angelina and Madonna might be cut out of the loop with this latest draft law.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/08/adoption-of-children-by-foreigners-the-last-resort-draft-law-2.html

I like frogs, and Vietnam has some really nice ones. They taste good too, although after seeing a few hop across the road last week, then discovering the same skin colours on the one I ate last night, I'm not so sure I'll be eating more.

http://www.lookatvietnam.com/2009/08/wonderful-colours-of-vietnamese-tree-frogs.html

That's all for now.