Most people have been referring to the capital of former South Viet Nam rightfully as Sài Gòn, but there have been a few who keeps referring to it as Ho Chi Minh City. I humbly request all Vietnamese refer to our great city by its true-in-spirit name of Sài Gòn, this request is especially for the Viet Kieus because of our common goal of seeking freedom from oppression. Why should we do this? My reason is three-folds:

1) The name change to Ho Chi Minh is just one of the many insults additional to injury from the communist regime against its fellow brothers of the South. The name change was just made out of spite, and holds no true significant meaning beyond this.

2) To honor those who fought and fell for the ideals of freedom. While dying, the soldiers' final thoughts were about their family, their fellow Vietnamese, and their country, symbolized by the capital Sài Gòn. Let's not spit in their faces by using the bastardized name.

3) Sài Gòn just sounds much prettier. For example, in a part of the song of the same name, written by Y Van:

Dừng chân trên bến khi chiều nắng chưa phai,
Từ xa thấp thoáng muôn tà áo tung bay
Nếp sống vui tươi nối chân nhau đến nơi này
Sài Gòn đẹp lắm, Sài Gòn ơi ! Saigon ơi !

As you can see, using the bastardized name for Sài Gòn just isn't the same:

Ho Chi Minh đẹp lắm, Ho Chi Minh ơi ! Ho Chi Minh ơi!


Again, I am humbly asking that the Vietnamese use the beautiful name of Sài Gòn when referring to what the communists now call Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, to preserve the passion and conviction of those who died for freedom and of those who made the enormous sacrifice of leaving their country so their children can escape oppression; that is, those people being your parents and those children being you.

Bow to Sai Gon. Sai Gon muon nam

saigon toi yea

I love Saigon

I hate Saigon xD It's sooo hot there!

Good for you all; HoChiMinh, what's with the name?

Yes, but what the hell does Saigon means? I read somewhere that it was a pronunciation of a khmer word that means city in the middle of the jungle, but I'm not sure, because I've heard of other theories too.

Ho Chi Minh City just doesn't sound right.

I think we should rename our of our central and southern cities, because a lot of them don't make any sense in Vietnamese. All the cities in the north make sense, but in the south they used a pronunciation of the city or territory when it was under the Cham and the Khmer. What does Daklak means? Dalat? Pleiku?

I'm fine with those; I like those names actually, because it adds some variety; and those names should be kept for their historical roots.

hey hey y u got to be hating for

I just like the weather in Nha Trang way better than Saigon. xD

Geez! I wonder why...
If you go north about a few hours, the weather is superb!

Saigon's weather between October to March is just perfect. Nice and cool while still sunny.

You mean you like the white sand beaches of Nha Trang? The French Doctor Alexandre Yersin too, who's a celebrated personality there.



(Who doesn't hate Saigon for the heath, lack of privacy, noise, etc...?)

for the name, I don't care, I say

Sài Gòn - TP.HCM, or either.

yep... saigon.....is the way to go....

Haha, the only place that i have ever being to while i go to saigon is the airport. Lolz never being outside before of the airport.......

hey do u guy ever heard of this song nho sai gon

Da Nang #1.


I was there from the end of March.

Cũng ngoan dữ rứa hỉ ....hmmmm...giỏi !! cho cây cà-rem

Amen brother. Amen. I'll even drink to that - .

Just like if you say

"I go to HCM for sex tourism"

That doesn't sound OK!

Some how to most interesing news in Vietnam is always from saigon, or at lease interesting enough for me to read.

Well that's because Saigon is the centre of the Vietnamese universe.

Amem

chứ không phải Da Nang = Da Nắng = Nắng Da ... sao ?




nựng hả ?

LOL. No comment. LOL. Anyways, back to the topic.

Hồ Chí Minh or Sài Gòn are the same thing. I'll call Ho Chi Minh city when I feel like it, and Saigon when I feel like it. I don't think those two names make any difference to me, or may be it's just because I don't have a good impression of that city.

How can I blame you? You've never been to Saigon so you won't understand why Saigon is the centre of the Vietnamese universe. <sigh>

Errrh... I've been to downtown Saigon, and probably most of it. Been there twice (or thrice) already dude. I'd rank Saigon the bottom 3rd on my Vietnam cities list.

And your justification for ranking Saigon 3rd?

There's no need for justicication, just a rank.

If you say something, you need to back it up with something concrete, otherwise it will hold no weight and just sounds like babble

Why Saigon is the best:

- Economic engine/powerhouse of Vietnam
- Largest city in Vietnam
- The most exciting and bustling city in Vietnam
- Home to Vietnam's film and music industry
- Historical significance as a cultural and political centre
- The original home to most of overseas Vietnamese

Now let's see what Hanoi, Hue or Da Nang has got to offer

Yeah sure.

Muahahaha. Come on, I need a strong counter attack. Perhaps if you could tell me the national significance of Da Nang, I'll pay it more respect.

Just to let all Vietnamese know, Saigon's economic clout alone is sufficient to overshadows other Vietnamese cities, whether it be Hanoi's historical significance or Hue's Imperial past

- Economic engine/powerhouse of Vietnam ==> $$$
- Largest city in Vietnam ==> $$$
- The most exciting and bustling city in Vietnam ==> tourism/workers ==> $$$
- Home to Vietnam's film and music industry ===> $$$$
- Historical significance as a cultural and political centre ==> should go to Hanoi!!
- The original home to most of overseas Vietnamese ==> not sure if you consider this a plus

so all those points are equated to one thing only: $$$




Da Nang/Hue (Quang Nam/Central)
- home of the movers and shakers that change the history of Vietnam in the last century (and the world over): without it, the French flag would be flying over Saigon nowaday...yes? (my case would rest here in this debate ....no? ...just for some extra credits ...I'll give you some more
- home of the literary minds, poets, writers, musicians, etc ... ==> cultural..yes?
- home of the most beautiful beaches in the country....yes?
- home of the Cô gái áo dài duyên dáng ...yes?

Hanoi: ? I'll let minikensun as spokeman for Hanoi

Let's not use history as a leverage. Let's look at the current situation.

Saigon is both the centre of Vietnamese economic engine and popular culture. Beat that

Without Saigon, Vietnamese would be still in the economic stone age. There's a reason why my great aunt in Vietnam have so many servants from Northern and Central Vietnam.

My friend, you brought two items on your list....please tell me this is NOT history leverage ?
What's matter ? changing the rules while the game is in progress?

Economic powerhouse ? yes.
Pop culture? ....let's analyse this,,,,shall we????

First let me ask you:
What influence pop culture ?

i guess were gonna have oursleves a boutin round 'o' whose da bestest region eh?

saigon fosho is the economic hub - but the stuff they sell comes from all around the country

haha im not voting for anyplace being better - lol

vn1234,,,,long time no see bro!! where have you been ?
Great signature that you made for me dude!!!

Yeah, I kinda feel a little bit rowdy and mischievous today

Thread terrorists, stop turning this into a 'this-region-is-better' thread.



Sure, you can call it whatever you want, but if your parents and/or you're a Viet Kieu and Sài Gòn doesn't hold any significance to you, then I personally don't consider you that much better than a whitewashed Vietnamese who only considers himself Viet "on the outside only."

nah nah take it easy doods - i dont mean anyone is bad - just a freidnly competition between my village and your village theme going on here - its all healthy as long as we dont start pissin each other

im here on and off - kinda a late comer to most of the posts so i miss the party in a lot of thread - just read and and catchup is what i do

coo - glad you like the sig - did you get an avatar? it came with the sig set

OK let me ask you which city is comparable to Saigon, and why?

True. This is no flame war man! just regional dogfight...erhhh I mean discussion

V this is what drwan me to this debate!!!

Just wanna NQSH to have some respect for the centralers...that's all


You're the forensic scientist huh?


Oh, I thought the avatar and the sig are sold separately
Yeah, I got them both......just like my avatar (reach-out-and-touch-somebody-hand)

Hmmmm....interesting! you have not answer my question yet. Priority! priority dude! answer my question then we can move on to youe question...no?

Human creativity influences pop culture. Hence Saigonese are the most creative people muahahaha.

Now answer my question.

Bow down to Saigon, or stave. muahahaha I'm evil

^oh no prob i just thought forgot to pm you your avatar or a link to the image was dead or something - no prob u use whatever you want lol

so your a Da Nang resident eh? haha give NQSH a run for his money!

haha keep it doods - pride in the hometown!

Calma down chief! let me cross examine you first then you can have me for all the questions....

Very good answer so far.....not direct, but good answer thus far,,,
So you say...."Human creativity influences pop culture",,,,then

How does human creativity are express and exemplify by which mean ???
you can run....but you can't hide dude

Answer my question first before making a new question.

^ okie! when you say which city comparable to Saigon?

by noting the items from the list above in your criteria,,,,,one of them is cultural/pop culture....in term of cultural idealism DaNang I will challenge Saigon over this point. Like I said, wait until I am done questioning you, then you can have all the questions for me....cool?

Thanks for hijacking my thread, you four

Uh uh forget it. Consider it no deal.