Housing and

HCM City needs new laws to protect heritage buildings Ho Chi Minh City’s 300-year History HCM City allocates millions for preservation of historic buildings

Speakers at a recent conference on preservation of the city’s built heritage held in HCM City. VNS Photo Bo Xuan Hiep

Speaking at a conference on architectural heritage held by Thanh Niên (Youth) newspaper recently, experts said the master plan must ensure balance between urbanisation and preservation of the city’s remaining heritage.

Nguyen Quang Thong, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, emphasised the great value that architectural heritage can bring to the city’s economy. “Our architectural legacy is a symbol here and around the world. Some of these have become national brands.”

According to Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the HCM City Tourism Department, architectural heritage greatly contributes to the city’s tourism industry. However, the number of tourism heritage sites in the city is a relatively modest 258, of which only 111 are potential tourist attractions.

The city has a total of 172 historic relics but only 30 per cent of them can be promoted as tourist attractions. Among the 10 must-see landmarks in the city are all historic buildings.

Economic value

Tran Van Khai, of the HCM City University of Architecture, said that most people were unaware of the economic value of built heritage.

Many foreign tourists believe HCM City today is not considered a city of culture or heritage. For them, the city is just a stopover.

Most city tours today include only a few attractions such as the Post Office, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Independence Palace, Ben Thanh Market and the War Remnants Museum.

Architectural heritage must be credited for its potential economic value, they said.

In other countries, historic buildings are preserved for aesthetic reasons as well as for the huge economic benefits they offer.

Destruction of historic heritage could result in a drop in the number of cultural tourists who are believed to stay longer, take part in more cultural activities, and spend more money.

The number of tourists to the city has continued to increase annually, reaching 6.4 million in 2017, a rise of nearly 23 per cent over the previous year. However, the average visitor stay is only 2.6 days.

Worse still, only a small number of first-time visitors ever return to the city.

HCM City People’s Committee in District 1. VNA/VNS Photo Manh Linh

Recommendations

Nguyen Thi Hau, an archaeologist who is secretary general of HCM City History Science Association, told Việt Nam News: “The government, property developers, researchers and the entire community all play a decisive role in preserving the city’s architectural heritage.”

Architect Nguyen Hanh Nguyen, of the HCM City University of Architecture, said it was important to help the historic buildings’ owners understand the economic value of their properties so they will be willing to spend money to preserve them.

Architect Cao Thanh Nghiep, a member of the HCM City Architects Association, said that businesses can preserve and promote the value of a land lot where a built heritage is located.

Experts also recommended the city conduct a comprehensive inventory of the city’s historic buildings.

They said legal protection should be extended to all historic and architectural buildings, and that enforcement and punishment of violators should be strengthened.

In addition, the city should provide economic incentives for the conservation of privately owned historic buildings, to ensure owners have benefits when protecting the buildings.

HCM City has about 3,000 valuable old houses and villas that could be preserved properly, but are likely to be demolished, according to the Architecture Research Centre at the city’s Department of Planning and Architecture.

Of that number, nearly 1,300 houses were built before 1975. About 168 of them are under State management and receive funds from the city’s budget for repair and preservation.

However, only eight buildings remain in good conditions, according to the Urban Research and Development Centre.

Valuable old buildings, mostly built during the French colonial period, include the HCM City People’s Court (built in 1881), King’s Palace or Revolutionary Museum (1885), Majestic Hotel and Notre Dame Cathedral (1887), Sài Gòn Post Office (1886-1891), HCM City’s People’s Committee (1907), Opera House (1900) and Bến Thành Market (1912-1914).

Many colonial villas have been renovated and now house schools, restaurants and coffee shops, most of which are located in District 3 on Tu Xuong, Vo Van Tan, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Le Quy Don and Tran Quoc Thao streets.

In recent years, however, many old houses and villas have been demolished or have fallen into disrepair.

A large number that are private properties have not been taken care of properly. Some of the villas are so dilapidated they are no longer habitable.

It is estimated that more than a third of the city’s historic buildings have been destroyed over the past two decades.

HCM City authorities are putting some 1,000 historic buildings into three classifications: class one (must be protected); class two (owner can build on the lot but cannot destroy the old building); and class three (can be demolished).

Experts say that people are not aware that when they destroy historic buildings they are in fact losing a potential economic value.

VNS

The traditional costumes have always contributed to honouring the country’s cultural identities. The men’s Ao Dai had once sunk into oblivion. However, today, Ao Dai for men is in the process of a renaissance, with the attention of the whole community.

An arduous journey

People who love traditional culture must not forget the image of Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Kingdom (UK) Tran Ngoc An presenting a letter of credentials to UK Queen Elizabeth II. He wore a blue Ao Dai with traditional patterns. That was a beautiful moment as Ambassador Tran Ngoc An selecteda Ao Dai to express Vietnamese traditional culture. Vietnamese Ambassador to India, Bhutan and Nepal Pham Sanh chau wore Ao Dai not only during diplomatic ceremonies but also at festivals and cultural events. He also mobilised the Embassy’s staff to wear Ao Dai regularly. Now all staff at the Vietnamese Embassy in India wear Ao Dai on three occasions each year including at Tet (Lunar New Year), National Holidays and the Vu Lan (a Buddhist holiday held annually on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month to express gratitude to mothers). Ambassador Chau has been called “The Ambassador of Ao Dai ”. The appearance of Ao Dai for men at diplomatic events has surprised many people because previously, few people thought this kind of traditional long dress could bring such elegance and honour to the national culture.

These beautiful images make us feel the revival of Ao Dai for men seems to have started. However, the return of men’s Ao Dai was not as easy as it seems. Writer and researcher Hoang Quoc Hai still remembers the time nearly 30 years ago when the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) invited experts to discuss national clothing. He said that none of the many invited cultural managers and experts could answer the question of what was the national uniform for men. For him, it is a cultural pain. He said the meeting between leaders of the Ministry of Culture and Information and experts did not bring about results as expected but it did create a start.

Many people started talking about a national dress that expresses the national identity firstly. Certainly, traditional Vietnamese clothing comes in a variety of styles for men and women. However, the traditional Ao Dai dress was considered the “prime candidate” for the national clothing of Vietnamese men. In the past, Ao Dai for men often appeared only on the stage or at festivals. But then, the Ao Dai for men gradually appeared more at weddings, fashion shows and cultural events. Images of the Ao Dai for men in use have been more frequent over the past ten years. There are more and more young people confidently wearing Ao Dai in their activities. Thua Thien Hue province has become the first locality encouraging male civil servants in the cultural sector to wear Ao Dai each Monday.

The journey of preserving and promoting the value of Ao Dai for men also featured the participation of many researchers, cultural experts and especially young people. Dinh Lang Viet (Vietnamese Communal House) Club is one group active in restoring the tradition of the men’s Ao Dai . Its members have always worn Ao Dai at cultural events. In 2017, the Ao Dai Ngu Than (five-flap long dress) Development Support Centre under the Dinh Lang Viet Club was formed. The club’s head Nguyen Duc Binh said that “Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat laid the foundation for the birth and development of Ao Dai Ngu Than in 1744. The image of Ao Dai for men had faded since 1940s due to the influence of western culture. After 1954, Ao Dai for men only appeared on stage. Wars persisted continuously, so the image of Ao Dai was forgotten. In fact, in cultural and fashion festivals, many variations of Ao Dai sometimes lost the male visage of strength, sometimes looking like the traditional long dresses of other countries in the South Asia. Many people began to confuse the men’s Ao Dai with other outfits. This is the reason why the Dinh Lang Viet Club and many research groups and art experts started to rediscover the beauty of the men’s Ao Dai . Fortunately, there are still many documents and images related to the Ao Dai Ngu Than .

In addition to Dinh Lang Viet Club, many researchers and other traditional cultural clubs have conducted their own studies. Up to this point, the traditional Ao Dai for men has been “positioned” onspecial criteria. In addition to its distinguishing factors compared to the long dresses of other nations, Ao Dai for men has a distinctly profound significance. For example, the five flaps represent the four mothers and fathers as well as himself. Five buttons represent the five virtues of a gentleman.

Efforts to make Ao Dai closer to life

As a witness of the ups and downs of the men’s Ao Dai , writer Hoang Quoc Hai is happy to see its “renaissance”. He said that he has firm faith because there are many young people among the researchers and those who like wearing Ao Dai ngu than . In fact, in addition to Dinh Lang Viet Club, the Y Van Hien Club was a group of 9x young people who have made efforts to find a way back for the nation’s traditional costumes. Y Van Hien has become a reputable enterprise that specialises in providing traditional costumes for collectives and individuals including many cultural and diplomatic activists. Director of the Y Van Hien Company Nguyen Duc Loc said: “Looking back at the photos of Hanoians in the early twentieth century, we see that many Hanoi families wore traditional Ao Dai . The traditional Ao Dai for men overcomes many physical weaknesses while exuding an elegant elegance and demonstrating the strong poise of a man”.

However, the traditional Ao Dai for men has also certain disadvantages. The preservation and promotion of value of this traditional outfit is necessary; however, the problem is how to apply it to the modern social context.

According to Master Nguyen Kim Huong, a lecture from the Hanoi University of Architecture, the renovation of Ao Dai is a trend to suit today’s life, so that it can be used while going to work and going out”.

Many other researchers believe the renovation must pay attention to convenience and comfort. Head of Dinh Lang Viet Club Nguyen Duc Binh also noted that Ao Dai must be adjusted to keep its traditional beauty as well as apply it to today’s lifestyle.

Although there is no official document recognising the men’s Ao Dai ngu than as a national costume, in the minds of many people, it is most certainly a representative image of Vietnamese costume culture.

The fifth storm to enter theEast Sea this year is heading to the central region of Vietnam. — Photo kttv.gov.vn

According to Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, the storm would directly affect central provinces, especially Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue and Da Nang with wind speeds of 90-100 km per hour and sometimes hitting 135 km per hour.

Heavy rain will blanket the central provinces from Thursday afternoon to Friday night, he said, warning about high risk of flash flood and landslides in the central region.

By 1 pm on Wednesday, the storm’s eye was about 680 km away to the south east of Hoang Sa (Paracels) with the strongest wind of 60-75 km per hour, sometimes reaching 90-100 km per hour.

The storm is moving west-northwest.

It’s expected that by 1pm on Friday, the storm eye will be on the waters close to provinces from Quang Bình to Quang Ngai with wind at the storm eye reaching 100-135 km per hour or more.

After making landfall in central provinces from Quang Bình to Da Nang on Friday afternoon or evening, the storm would be weakened to become a tropical low pressure.

About 1am on Saturday, the heart of the tropical low pressure is on the border area of Lao and Thailand with strongest wind reducing to 40-50 km per hour.

Meeting with ministries and agencies on Wednesday morning to make preparations, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung raised alert levels, calling for active and timely actions to respond to the storm’s movements.

He asked localities, border guards and the transport sector to tighten control over the operation of fishing vessels and tourist ships at sea so the vessels/ships would avoid entering storm-affected areas and find safe shelter.

By 10am on Wednesday, border guards informed 285,384 people on 58,345 vessels about the storm and instructed them to keep away from possibly affected areas.

According to Border Guard Command, by Thursday morning, about 700 vessels were in the areas possibly affected by the storm. The number does not include vessels/boats/ships that are operating in coastal areas.

Dung asked localities to instruct vessels to head to shelters, ensure safety for human life and property, particularly assist people to move/reinforce aquaculture growing facilities as the central region was a hub of aquaculture production with high economic value in Vietnam.

Localities were also asked to have evacuation plans in place to ensure safety for people living in vulnerable areas like coastal areas, river mouths and landslide/flood-prone areas.

Anti-flood measures must be taken into account to protect urban areas and agriculture production.

The deputy PM asked for review and promptly fix problems at dams and reservoirs of hydropower plants.

Now, many reservoirs in the central region are dry, so their operators must closely oversee and adjust the storage of water to ensure the reservoirs’ safety.

He assigned specific tasks to ministries and agencies, urging them to make use available resources for actively, effectively and timely responding to the storm.

Vice head of Central Steering Committee on Natural Disasters Prevention and Control Tran Quang Hoai said that proper attention must be paid to reservoirs because damages were found at 55 reservoirs in the central region including 16 ones Thanh Hoa, ten in Nghe An, eight in Ha Tinh, 12 in Quang Bình, six in Quang Tri and three in Thua Thien-Hue.

Another 41 reservoirs are under construction and 99 locations along key sea dyke system from Thanh Hoa to Da Nang need to be protected when the storm makes landfall.

There are also 26 dyke works including 13 carried out on sea dyke system or rivers mouths are being built.

PM urges response efforts as tropical storm heading towards central region

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 16 issued a notice, asking relevant ministries, agencies and localities to keep a close eye on the development of Storm Noul and put forth specific tasks.

People’s Committees of cities and provinces need to ensure safety of activities at sea, coordinate with concerned forces to control the operation of vessels, and guide local residents to take preventive measures in order to protect crops, houses and other facilities.

Human resources and equipment should be ready for the evacuation of people in dangerous areas, with attention paid to COVID-19 prevention and control, according to the notice.

The PM has warned of flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas after heavy rains, saying measures are needed to ensure the safety of reservoirs, especially important ones or those under construction.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will provide update about the storm for people and relevant agencies.

The Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control will inform vessels of dangerous areas, and instruct ministries, agencies and localities in response efforts.

Specific tasks have also been assigned to other ministries and agencies in the notice.

At 4 a.m. on September 17, storm Noul is forecast to be around 450 km to the southeast of Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, off the central coast, with a maximum wind speed of 90 kph.

Weather forecasting centers in Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, and Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) – a leading forecaster and mapper of tropical storm activity – predict the storm will keep strengthening until wind speeds reach 110-120 kph and head toward central Vietnam.

Storm Noul is the fifth formed this year in the East Sea. The fourth storm, Higos, hit last month, making landfall in China.

Natural disasters like droughts, floods and landslides killed 133 people in Vietnam last year and caused losses worth around 7 trillion VND (302.6 million USD), according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In the first half of this year they claimed 47 lives and caused losses worth 3.3 trillion VND.

The East Sea could see 11-13 storms and tropical depressions this year, half of them affecting the country, meteorologists have warned.

Danang prepares for Storm Noul

The central city of Danang is making preparations to respond to Storm Nodul which has been forecasted to hit central Vietnam soon.

On Wednesday, the Danang Central Steering board Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control issued a dispatch on the response.

The typhoon has been predicted to move towards north-northwest within the next 24 hours.

By 7 am on Thursday, the storm would lay centred in the area which is around 350 kilometres far from the Southeast of the Paracel Islands with the strongest wind power of 75-100 kilometres per hour in the East Sea.

Between 24-48 hours, the storm would continue strengthening. By 7 am on Friday, the storm eye would be off the central provinces from Quang Tri to Quang Nam with a wind force of 100-135 kilometres per hour.

Danang has been warned of being directly affected by the storm, so the municipal Central Steering board Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control called for ships and boats to find shelters to avoid the storm.

The border force has been asked to keep contact with boat and ship owners for the rescue in necessary cases.— VNS/VNA/Dtinews