Aside #2: The Social Role of the Motorcycle in Vietnam
The motorcycle is an affordable means of transport anywhere in the world, but more so in third world or developing countries where they are the main mode of transportation for workers. Here, in HCM City, the motorcyle has a social function over and above that. Allow me to illlustrate this, with due reference to the courtship rituals of the Vietnamese youth, as observed in our short stay there.
The motorcycle is, to Vietnamese couples, the equivalent of the car in other parts of the world. In other words, got wheels will pak tor. In the morning, send your girlfriend to work on the back of your bike. At lunchtime, pick her up for a spot of lunch and to chill out at a nearby park. After work, send her home to freshen up. 9 p.m. - it's parteeeeee time! Pick up your girl and... Well, Option #1: Go check out the latest shopping centre to open in town and gawk at the prices of the luxury goods. Option #2: Head on down to the local disco on a riverboat docked at the river, plenty of cheap beer, loud music and girls in platform shoes. Option #3: Go nowhere. Just take the bike out for a slow spin around town. In Hokkien we call this "chiak hong"; in Cantonese, "sek fong". This appeared to be by far the most popular option, judging from the incredibly heavy but slow-moving traffic just cruising around the Dong Khoi area. Of course, it being the pre-Christmas period, the hotels were a prime attraction, decked out in Christmas decor. Now, whether or not Vietnamese couples do on their bikes what other couples do in the backseats of their cars, I cannot tell. We certainly didn't see any acrobatics, but that is not to say that it doesn't happen.
Of course, after courtship comes the inevitable. With families of 3, 4 or 5 children, you would imagine that a car becomes necessary. Perhaps cars are that much more expensive than motorbikes, or perhaps motorbikes are simply more mobile in a crowded city. Whatever it is, the motorcycle remains the vehicle of choice for Vietnamese families, although with 5 children, two or more bikes become necessary. As we observed one night, it is possible to seat a family of 7 on two bikes - Dad on one, with three children behind, Mum on the other, sandwiched between two other children - and have a running conversation while cruising down Le Loi Street. Clearly, the motorbike plays an important role in Vietnamese society.
The motorcycle is, to Vietnamese couples, the equivalent of the car in other parts of the world. In other words, got wheels will pak tor. In the morning, send your girlfriend to work on the back of your bike. At lunchtime, pick her up for a spot of lunch and to chill out at a nearby park. After work, send her home to freshen up. 9 p.m. - it's parteeeeee time! Pick up your girl and... Well, Option #1: Go check out the latest shopping centre to open in town and gawk at the prices of the luxury goods. Option #2: Head on down to the local disco on a riverboat docked at the river, plenty of cheap beer, loud music and girls in platform shoes. Option #3: Go nowhere. Just take the bike out for a slow spin around town. In Hokkien we call this "chiak hong"; in Cantonese, "sek fong". This appeared to be by far the most popular option, judging from the incredibly heavy but slow-moving traffic just cruising around the Dong Khoi area. Of course, it being the pre-Christmas period, the hotels were a prime attraction, decked out in Christmas decor. Now, whether or not Vietnamese couples do on their bikes what other couples do in the backseats of their cars, I cannot tell. We certainly didn't see any acrobatics, but that is not to say that it doesn't happen.
Of course, after courtship comes the inevitable. With families of 3, 4 or 5 children, you would imagine that a car becomes necessary. Perhaps cars are that much more expensive than motorbikes, or perhaps motorbikes are simply more mobile in a crowded city. Whatever it is, the motorcycle remains the vehicle of choice for Vietnamese families, although with 5 children, two or more bikes become necessary. As we observed one night, it is possible to seat a family of 7 on two bikes - Dad on one, with three children behind, Mum on the other, sandwiched between two other children - and have a running conversation while cruising down Le Loi Street. Clearly, the motorbike plays an important role in Vietnamese society.
posted by blobbes at 8:00 PM
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