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Topic: The Cao Dai religion

Reason: I’ve heard of this religion before and was truly excited to visit the temple. But people around me just remarked “aiya this is a nonsense religion because it is so japalang (mixed)”. This made me wonder if there are/were any resistance to the creation of this religion in a communist country where the majority is Buddhist/Catholic.

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Topic: Usage of land

Although the land is huge, there is alot of clusters around one area. Many places are packed together and scattered randomly. Unlike Singapore where there is a variety of places in one area for convenience sake, in hcmc places for education are far away from the “town/city” district which is inconvenient with the overcrowding population.

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Traffic in Vietnam. It seems to be more reckless yet the road rage doesn't seem to be as bad as compared to those in Singapore. Why do they have more tolerance on traffic and why do the people of Vietnam have such a trust in each other that they will make way for pedestrians that are crossing any road and how are pedestrians also trusting that motorist will not knock them when the drive on the pavement. How is their society so chill while driving recklessly.

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Topic: Discovering the community

Reason: I was surprised by how friendly and welcoming the community was. People always have a smile on their faces, and shared stories about their lives. This warmth helped me understand Vietnamese culture in a way I would not have as just a student tourist, and it showed me how compassion can lead to real care and connections.

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Topic : Cu Chi Tunnels

Because i wasnt born in an era where war directly affected me, i dont know what its like to be in a war, especially for the soldiers. Having gone to the Cu Chi tunnels gave me a very good sense on how tough the soldiers were having it, the tunnels were so small and dark. There were definitely taller soldiers, so it was surely a struggle for them, but they persisted through for whatever reasons they had

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Agent Orange

Reason: The term agent orange to any normal person may catch them off guard but to those who know the story would have either memories or dark knowledge of its harm. I want people to know the cost Vietnamese had to pay. Consequences that they had to suffere which they did not deserve and their future. I also want people to know that it only goes to show that Vietnamese people were resilient to get back up and rebuilt their once solemn country.

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Topic: The “warmness” of Hong Duc students

Reason: The students at Hong Duc were so kind and friendly towards us who were strangers to them. This is a contrast as compared to how people in SG treat each other. In SG, when you don’t know someone, it’s natural to just act cold towards them.

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Topic: Reunification Palace

Reason: I want to research about this topic because it is really interesting to know where all the important decisions that affected the situation in Vietnam was made in the past. Also because the palace is very symbolic through its beautiful architecture and decorations.

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Topic: Village Chance

Reason: The children there are very young and seeing how tired the teachers are makes me wonder about the difficulties and challenges they face everyday. Did they have to go through special training to manage the children? What are their daily routines? Do they stay at Village Chance with the children?

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Topic: War remnants museum

Reason: There were a lot of pictures and drawings on the walls in each rooms which was an idea of what was like for the people during the Vietnam War, where showed the sufferings that they had to go through. It was good for me to know all these and I can actually see what happened during the war and feel more empathy for them. I would like to find out more details and backstory behind the pictures.

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Topic: Street vendors

Reason: Why does Vietnamese locals advise us to stay away from street vendors. Some street vendors may add in other additive that maybe harmful to our body

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Topic: Vietnamese food

I realise that most of the Vietnamese food are sour, sweet which may be differing from Singapore or other ASEAN country, people might not be used to the food when they first tasted it. Other than that, they added a-lot of herbs and spices to varies food. From this few days of experience, I noticed that they often add spring onion and coriander etc.

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Topic: Vietnam War, war museum

Reason: The Vietnam War shows how a war can really mess up with one’s mind and mental wellbeing, dehumanizing them into doing inhumane acts. The War Museum was the perfect experience to experience what it was like during the Vietnam War—the small signs of the US soldiers losing their minds (e.g., the mass killings in the villages) that turned into a mass genocide.

Honestly, in my opinion, I feel bad for both sides. Vietnamese, because they have suffered through the Vietnam War, the mass killings, losing people, and having to fret for their safety. The US soldiers because the Viet Cong messed up their minds, the surprise attack (traps, ‘hit and run’ techniques the Viet Cong used against them). The US originally wanted to repress the Viet Cong, but they lost their minds through it and resulted in war crimes.

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Topic: The education system in vietnam

When we went to Hong Duc High School, I learnt that there were 3 different schools in o. Primary, Secondary and High School were all in one compound. I want to learn more about their education system, what subjects they learn and their schedule. I also want to learn how the students spend their time after school (if they have CCAs like us)

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Education in Vietnam

Reason: There are apparently certain routes to education. 2 pathways for different career aspects one being engineering where students mostly study mathematics and sciences while the other is socialising where people study languages to further progress into jobs which require them to be billingual

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Topic: cao dai temple/religion :3

Reasoning: Since there are multiple conflicts that occured due to the topic of religion and people saying that so and so religion are enemies I have always thought that it’s impossible to have all/multiple religion to come together in one harmony. Yet there is the Cao Dai religion which is multiple religions combined, And I would want to learn how did the religion come about & what part of each religion did the Cao Dai religion pick up.

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Topic:Street Vendors

Reason:Our guide have always ask us to try to keep away from the local street vendors as some of them sell things that are not suitable for our age and the food they sell might also contains addictive substances.

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Topic: Traffic Condition

Reason: Almost each and everyone has to be stuck in the traffic during the peak hour, riding a motorcycle, resulting in the traffic condition to be bad. However, the is the only way to live in their life, needing to constantly travel and wait in the heavy traffic during the early hours

just to provide food on the table for their families

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Topic: The Cu chi tunnels

Reasoning: I want to know why the tunnels were dug before the Vietnam war itself and the personal stories that were left behind there. Being there in the tunnels and experiencing the viet cong life makes me want to know more on how it was for 20 years. I also would want to know how the viet congs manage to avoid the effects of agent orange and other conflicts during the Vietnam war that wasn't in the front lines.

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Topic: Cao Dai Religion

I have never heard about the Cao Dai religion and was very surprised when it was introduced to me. I honestly find it very interesting to be praying to all Gods equally and to incorporate different beliefs into one religion. Something that really captivated me is that a messenger from God received instructions on how to build the temple. I would really want to learn more about this religion and expand my knowledge about it

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USA War Crime during Vietnam War

Reason : Many people have the perception that USA is the hero and always look up to the US. However, that was not entirely true as seen in the War Remnants Museum. The USA commit a lot of war crimes during Vietnam war. For example, using chemical weapons during the war and killing innoncent people such as the villagers.

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About the languages. I was shocked that most vietnamese could speak other languages such as french and I think latin too. Their English might have been minimal but I still could understand them with gestures to help.

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Topic: Vietnamese Education System

Reason: There are several educational pathways in Vietnam. Such as when you want to pursue tertiary education in Vietnam, you will have to go to high school and from there are many other pathways such as sciences, where people who want to be engineers or doctors will take. There is also Languages and arts pathways. These seem interesting and will love to reseach more about it

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Topic: Cu Chi Tunnel

Reasoning: The tunnel holds a crucial hiding spot in the Vietnam War as it was used to be a hiding spot for the Vietnam Cong’s. Having experienced a walkthrough in the tunnel provided me a poignant glimpse of how life was like for the Viet Cong’s.