Paving the Way - Vietnam

April 1997
As the streets of Hanoi wake to the sound and smells of the new dawn, people are preparing for the rigours of the day that lies ahead. Women wash clothes and vendors are counting their chickens in mesh crates. Yet there's also singing, badminton and even fencing. By 7.30 you can't see the pavement for the stalls and it's time for breakfast, with an extensive cuisine to choose from. The Vietnamese government have launched a campaign to restore order to the streets. We follow Captain Ngoc on his beat around one of Hanoi's busiest markets. In order to avoid prosecution, vendors develop clever survival techniques. Armed only with a pair of scissors, Trieu Khac Co, Hanoi's most famous street barber, is able to remain highly mobile. Trading on his reputation, he doesn't even need a mirror. Hanoi's population has doubled in the last few years and will do so again soon, as migrants swarm from the countryside in search of work. Even at night the streets are alive as commerce continues to encroach on the footpaths. As the day draws to a close some grab the chance to unwind with the highly prised art of conversation.

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Vietnam
• Hanoi
• market
• poverty
• trade
• Journeyman
• Pictures
• news
• documentary
• current affairs
• journeyman
• journeyman pictures

[toki1404]

In 1997, when i'm 6 year old...

My country is so poor...

War end in 1975.

[50poiuyt]

@xuixuanxui to "american" second category like you I will not respond ,moron.

[xuixuanxui]

@50poiuyt You sound stupid, you act like we even care about Vietnam, we had a big party there and left after having our way with Vietnam. When you take a shit in your rice paddy do you sit and stare at it like it's going to turn to gold? Hell no, we just flush. That is what we did to Vietnam we gave it the big flush, get over it and stop whinning, nobody cares anymore.

[xuixuanxui]

@sanbastion Actually the goals of America were very narrow in Vietnam. We never declared war and our goal was to kill as many communists as possible so that other nations would never go the way of Indochina. Guess what it worked, no other country went communist in SE Asia or the world for that matter, nobody wanted to end up like Vietnam. It is a poisoned shithole, 13 million handicaped with 350,000 born every year, I guess that means winning to stray dogs only.

[50poiuyt]

lt seems the losers of Vietnam battlefield do not wants to Vietnamese win in peace.Kiss Vietnamese ass.We will win else.

[3258640]

poor the street people. their lives are on the street bastard, stop cleaning them off. I dont like those idiots in green uniforms and radio. leave Vietnam like how it is, a couples of street food stands or street markets will not hurt anyone. leave those poor people alone.

[BiThuAnNamHuyen]

if you are not a bastard, you can not become Ho Cho Minh.

Remember that this stupid coolie has a 3rd grade education and was hooked into communism (just like cocaine)

[funkynette]

true people !

[heoheosua]

boi bac wa

[zzzpqd]

If you go to Vietnamj, don't eat the food or drink the water, it's all poisoned by Dioxin. Agent Orange has completely permeated the entire eco-sytem in Vietnam. They use human feces for fertilizer and it continues the cycle keeping the poison in the food chain. The chicken, eggs, fish, dairy and wild life, ducks, pigs, cattle, goats all suffer from birth defects and are poisoned. I used to buy Basa fish frozen from Vietnam until I found out it has dioxin