A Huge Nativity scene in the front arena of a large Catholic Church in the district of Tan Phu – Ho Chi Minh City. The picture below gives you an idea of scale.
Tan Phu is an area in the North of Ho Chi Minh City to the west of the famous -Tan son Nhat Airport. This airport during the war in the 1960’s was statistically the busiest airport in the world as the Americans bombarded a mainly agricultural country. In 1954 following the success of the battle of DienBienPhu (The defeat of the French Colonial forces by the Vietminh army) the Vietminh (later to become the Vietcong) began a campaign of elimination directed at French sympathisers / collaborators in the Northern Red River Basin area (Hanoi and Haiphong). These people were mainly Catholics and the French and American Navies shipped up to about one million of them south to Saigon. they settled on the outskirts of Saigon on poor marshy land which is now the super-prosperous area of Tan Phu. Thus there is a very strong element of Catholicism in this area where I currently live.
This is one of the entrances to Celadon City Tan Phu, a vast 200 acre development containing about a dozen high rise apartment blocks, state of the art massive shopping mall and eventually some very expensive Villas. The effort put into the commercial exploitation of Christmas is immense considering that Vietnam has no ‘Official’ religion. You will never see ‘Happy Christmas’ emblazoned as the development is owned by ‘Gamuda Land’ which is a Malaysian Company and of course Malaysia is a Moslem/Islamic Country. You may notice that this particular display has a RUSSIAN DOLL theme.
So here we have the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a slightly leaning Big Ben, a snowy Statue of Liberty a bit of the Eiffel Tower and the twin Petronas Towers, all inside the biggest plastic bubble you have ever seen. Oh and Santa on a rocket!
How on earth do you make a plastic bubble, apparently with no seems – that big! At night it all lights up and the snow blows about – it never seems to melt!
Santa’s Sleigh, gets a ‘makeover’ – stage 1.
Stage 2
Ready for ‘Christmas Eve’ – 9 Horsepower – or maybe reindeer power, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen – but do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph—————————
A Street leading to the Catholic Church resplendent in fairy lights!
The front of someone’s house! (Actually we lived in this house for a while 10 years ago).
Another house nativity scene,
Take me to Church!
And finally!
When ‘avin a bird on the back of yu bike’ takes on a whole new meaning!
Have a happy ‘bubble’ Christmas and lets hope for a happier New Year!
Love and peace – john
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