Right from the beginning, I had heard enough stories and well-meant advice from friends and relatives about Vietnam which would deter anybody from going there in the first place. I thought that I would be ready with my last-minute-knowledge gleaned from travel guide books and a large dose of my sense of humour  for any challenges that come my way.

However, I was wrong.

The moment I landed in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon), I was in for a total culture shock. No matter how many guide books you read or memorised, there is nothing quite like the real thing to zap you out of the laid-back, cushy comforts of home and  be thrust into the  living conditions of a developing country where rules seemingly do not really exist. This is where there are no traffic rules, no safe drinking tap-water and where power cuts are frequent.  Thus, this is where my odyssey into “one of life’s  experiences” began.

For my work attachment, I was posted to the Ho Chi Minh ( HCMC) office of Keppel Land Limited.  Keppel Land is a Singapore real estate company which has expanded regionally in recent years. HCMC   developed the city’s first sky scraper  known as Saigon  Centre which is a mixed development project made up of serviced apartments, offices and three floors of retail space. Indeed, I was very fortunate to work and live in Saigon Centre for the two months I was there.

The purpose of my work attachment consisted of three parts and revolved mainly around market research. The first and second part of the job was generally light in comparison to the last part which was both physically and mentally demanding. To elaborate, the first part was to conduct a general survey of Ho Chi Minh City and its population in terms of its growth rate, population size, living standards etc. This is important for the company as a sound understanding of  HCMC is necessary for a foreign company breaking into the local market. The second part was to assist the leasing managers in studying the current office rental rates in HCMC in order to make the necessary strategic adjustments and to stay competitive.  This included making cold calls to prospective tenants and finding out  current competitors’ rates by  “visiting” them under the guise of renting an office unit. The last part  filled the major bulk of my job and was the most challenging among the three. The job required a study of the local retail scene and to propose a marketing plan for Saigon Centre. The scope of work demanded a mini-market survey with a sample size of 100 retailers to be carried out within HCMC and to present the final results and analysis to my company. The prospect of conducting surveys without any knowledge of the city and language was daunting in itself, but I was lucky enough to have ready help from the local staff and an understanding supervisor.

Due to the nature of my work, a large part of my job attachment was spent outdoors interviewing. As such I was able to observe interesting vignettes of Vietnam life which I would not have been able to with a desk-bound job.  The first few weeks was the most interesting as well as the most traumatic. For  a start, I learnt that all the rules that I learnt at home did not really apply here. This included crossing the road, eating and shopping. For a start, vehicles do not stop for you to cross. Instead, you have to meander your way through oncoming motorbikes (the most common mode of transport) and vans. Secondly, the locals eat their meals wherever it suits them, be it by the road-side, in the market  or along the alleys. Hence you learn to eat like them too unless you visit the restaurants. Thirdly, bargaining is a way of life. All prices quoted are usually 30-40% higher than the market price. This is especially so if you are a foreigner. Having learnt the basic three rules of survival in Vietnam, I was able to slowly ease myself into my work and life there.

Throughout the course of my survey work and attachment, I came across many faces and talked to many people. In a way, Saigon is like ( in the words of my supervisor) Singapore in the  1960s revisited.  The pace of life here is definitely less of a rat-race and the people are generally friendly. Little things about the people here lend the city a certain grace and charm. I remember a few instances when the Vietnamese shopkeepers would invite me to sit with them  until the rain had subsided and I could continue with my surveying.  Or chance encounters with old folks who chatted with me out of curiosity, and a war veteran who bought me a drink and told me tales of his past in his self-learned English. Or passing strangers who were ready to give directions and lent me their telephones when I lost my way. These were the little things that made my stay both meaningful and enjoyable despite the fact that I spoke little of their language.

 Of course, the Vietnamese staff in the company also opened my eyes into their culture and way of life. The locals there generally had a “Don’t worry, be happy”  attitude towards life which is rather heartening when you look back on the country’s past history and hear their life stories. On the whole, the local staff speak English and are forward-looking, with some of them taking evening courses to improve themselves. Also, the company morale is generally high as the Vietnamese frequently treat one another as family and would exchange jokes and laughs. In addition, they were kind enough to  bring me out for dinners to savour  delicious local foods such as Vietnamese steam-boat, Chinese street-stalls cooking and coconut ice-cream at a sidewalk café, as well as share with me their jokes and stories.

In retrospect, my work attachment has been most fulfilling and indeed a life experience that I will never forget. My experience taught me new things that cannot be learnt from textbooks such as handling interviews and managing company relationships. Also, I had the rare opportunity to understand the city, its past and its people through the course of my work. I believe the experience has also taught me to be more appreciative of the peace and daily comforts of life such as clean tap water and electricity in Singapore. This realisation comes when one has gone overseas and learnt not to take these things for granted.