天美麻豆

@snake77

...What's your guess? What will its official name be, let's say, 50 years down the road?

Saigon. The city's locals call it Saigon, the many people I know up North (Hanoi/Thai Nguyen) call it Saigon, all the old folk songs and poetry call it Saigon. The river flowing through it is the Saigon River.

Officially, of course, it is Ho Chi Minh City, but "Miss Ho Chi Minh City" just doesn't sound right馃槈.

Not that I'd be around to collect in 50 years, but I'd bet hard cash it'll revert back to it's historical name.

Announced in the news today: Ho Chi Minh City to set off fireworks at 16 sites for 50th anniversary of city named after President Ho Chi Minh
I remember how 11 Years ago, on the even of 30 April 2015 I was sitting with a few locals on a sidewalk in Downtown "Ho CHi Minh City" (aka Saigon or Q1, depends who you're talking to).

As the fireworks started, nobody that was sat around our tiny plastic table seemed to take notice, so I went "hey guys, turn around, the fireworks started".

The only response I got was from an elderly guy who made a living as a Xe Om motorbike taxi driver. All he had to say was " that's not our fireworks, that's Hanoi's fireworks". He then added, "even the Soviets finally renamed their town back to Volgograd, so we'll just have to wait, then we'll also celebrate".

What's your guess? What will its official name be, let's say, 50 years down the road?

Well, it's still the Saigon River. And the call letters for the airport are SGN.
- @snake77

@snake77聽 聽 聽Vietnamese are masters of 鈥檛he waiting game鈥� they have patience of a rock.聽 聽Everyone here in the Delta calls it Saigon鈥︹�︹��even the Busses show Saigon on the front.

I'd bet hard cash it'll revert back to it's historical name. - @Aidan in HCMC

ever thought about what that actually would mean, or rather, require, in terms of changes, besides street names...

Well, it's still the Saigon River. And the call letters for the airport are SGN.

Bia Sai Gon, not to forget that in Ha Noi Cha Gio is called Nem Sai Gon, but that's not the point.

@snake77聽 Vietnamese are masters of 鈥檛he waiting game鈥� they have patience of a rock. Everyone here in the Delta calls it Saigon鈥︹�︹��even the Busses show Saigon on the front. - @PhuNinhTim

Most Saigonese that I know actually don't call the city Saigon, or depending on the circumstances. Normally when a Saigonese would be in the delta and gets asked "where you're from", the answer is more often than not, just "Thanh Pho".

Within the HCM city limits and surrounding areas, when people ask where you're from, the answer is more likely to be something like Quan 11 or Thu Duc.

If someone in Q.11 or Thu Duc would say "let's go to Saigon", they mean let's go to District 1, downtown.

But yes, nobody tends to use the "official" name.

and as we're at it, here a few updates, latest news:

(ahh, what I've been wondering is, why wasn't this historically important date not mentioned way in advance? I don't recall seeing it when they published the annual national holiday lists...)

but anyway, here we go again:

Wow, what a historical find!

As Ho Chi Minh City will mark the 50th anniversary of being named after President Ho Chi Minh on July 2, two new documentary films are expected to shed light on the little-known history behind the city's renaming and the deep public sentiment that inspired it.

According to historical materials featured in A Historic Proposal, Professor, physician and distinguished educator Tran Huu Nghiep proposed renaming Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City during a gathering of southern Vietnamese residents in Hanoi on August 25, 1946.

The proposal was reported in the August 27, 1946 edition of Cuu Quoc newspaper and received the support of 57 southern intellectuals attending the event.

Source:

What better than to:

Ho Chi Minh City will simultaneously break ground on a series of key infrastructure projects on July 1, including Can Gio - Vung Tau sea-crossing road, and Nha Rong (Dragon) Wharf - Khanh Hoi Cultural Park, as part of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the city named after President Ho Chi Minh on July 2.

Source:

And last but not least, to ensure max convenience鈥�.:

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security on Monday announced temporary traffic restrictions on several downtown streets to facilitate celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the city named after President Ho Chi Minh on Thursday.

Source:

@snake77

Okay, so back at you.

What's your guess? What will its official name be, let's say, 50 years down the road?

@snake77
Okay, so back at you.
What's your guess? What will its official name be, let's say, 50 years down the road? - @Aidan in HCMC

Sorry for not responding sooner, but haven鈥檛 managed to check back here until now.

Haha, I didn鈥檛 think about that one, smart move indeed! But fair enough, after asking others to stick their neck out, you wouldn鈥檛 want to be the one hiding, wouldn鈥檛 you!

To be honest, frankly speaking, I鈥檓 not so sure. But YES, or to be clear, YES, I do think it should be renamed back to its historical name, and moreover, the better sooner than later.

And to be honest, because it鈥檚 a brainwash farse and from all sorts of conflicts, it is clear, or at least to me it is, that true reconciliation is the only way to real prosperity.

I鈥檓 neither pro this or against that. At the same time I鈥檓 more than fully aware of the complexity and the endless different and often opposing opinions. I don鈥檛 want to judge about right or wrong, who鈥檚 to blame or which one holds more guilty than the another.

It was a period of terrible conflicts, endless suffering, mostly by innocent individuals.

I understand if until today, neither the Western Allies nor the Soviets cared about honoring the dead of the SS or repatriating their remains. But I believe that even the Soviets went out of their way to create and establish war memorials and war graves for members of the Wehrmacht. I know that at least some exist.

As far as I know, there鈥檚 only one ARVN cemetery remaining that hasn鈥檛 been bulldozed or paved over by purpose. The recent efforts to recover remains or identify of the hunderds of thousands of fallen that perished during the war, doesn鈥檛 seem to include any who served for the South.

As anyone who鈥檚 familiar with local customs will know, worshipping ancestors is a very important part of centuries old cultural and social normality and way of life!

90% of the Viets I know, they couldn鈥檛 give a damn about all of this. They don鈥檛 care! They don鈥檛 live in a world where it matters what name the city has, they care about prosperity, success, health and happiness.

Sadly, they don鈥檛 have the time nor the luxury to think about their own reality or the limits they are restricted to live within!

Not sure how exactly it might look like today, but 20 years ago, simply debating this topic would not be the smartest thing to do. Those aged let鈥檚 say 50+ originating from the former Saigon area know all too well how that would have ended back then, and which is way they continue to prefer to ignore and keep silent!

But what about the Xe Om or Cyclo drivers, which have been disappearing more and more over the last 1-2 decades, let alone, what about their families? If your father was recruited into the ARVN and had the privilege to enjoy one of those reeducating camps during 1975 onwards, what鈥檚 the chances of ever becoming a police officer, a judge, a politician or anything else related to some sort of government entity.

All I鈥檓 saying is that only if there is a real effort to allow freedom of speech, accept or tolerate different opinions and most importantly, honestly try to allow and share/tell history, instead of sanitizing and censoring unpleasant or unwelcome facts, then there is a chance of long lasting prosperity for the nation and all it鈥檚 people.

However, please don鈥檛 get me wrong, even if this might have sounded somewhat negative, pessimistic, perhaps even revolutionary or in that sense, anti-revolutionary. No worries, despite all the ups and downs, lacks and shortcomings, I see it optimistic.

The reason is simple, and it鈥檚 only because of how stubborn, resilient and determined the Vietnamese people have shown, over and over again, that they won鈥檛 give up and continue to live life in accordance and the way they鈥檝e inherited a heritage of traditional values, regardless of the obstacles or hardships they may be faced with.

Therefore, I believe that somewhere down the road, be it - maybe not 5 years from now - but whether 50, 100 or 500 years from now, one day they will look back and simply see 鈥渢oday, this day and age鈥� as nothing else but just another period of time. So I don鈥檛 really care, to me it鈥檚 Saigon, and whether someone originates from Saigon, Danang or Hanoi, to me, they are all my dear Vietnamese friends alike, and I wish them all the best of luck and prosperity!

Btw, anyone care to 鈥渁ttempt鈥� to go watch those wonderful fireworks? From those few I knew who had planned to go watch, as far as I know, none of them did eventually go, it was poring down like hell all night, and I guess they simply decided to do something else.

Vi峄噒 Nam mu么n n膬m!!!