VietNamNet Bridge – Bee Chua is a Singaporean woman who has been living in HCM City for more than 20 years.

Immersion: Bee Chua (right) poses with a friend at an art event. The Singaporean woman says she is filled with joy living in Viet Nam. — File Photo

She has friends in unusual places – like traders at Binh Tay Market in District 6 and street vendors and shoeshine boys.

"Viet Nam is unique since there are more artists here than anywhere else," Chua says.

"I could have chosen Indonesia, I would have loved to choose Myanmar. The fact is I have landed in Viet Nam."

She thinks Viet Nam has evolved a unique culture. Traditional practices have been preserved but at the same time new ones have been embraced, she says, giving the example of Halloween celebrations in the country.

With the convenience offered by the internet and other developments, the art and cultural scenes have changed rapidly, widening the gap between the younger generations and senior ones.

"On a personal level, as a follower of Buddhist philosophy, Viet Nam is an ideal place for me. In fact, I am blessed to be able to go around the Indochinese region.

"I am actually very impressed with the Vietnamese people and leaders and their concerted effort to move forward with the rest of the world."

She had wanted to visit Viet Nam ever since she was young, drawn by its culture. But in the beginning it was hard to communicate fruitfully with the locals.

She used to walk and cycle around rice fields in the suburban Thu Duc District, along the river from the downtown area to the post office in District 5, to Hau Giang Street in the Binh Tay area.

What she misses most are the cyclo rides she used to take every weekend. "They took me to street corners and alleys where I could mingle with ordinary people and photograph them and their spaces."

"Bee [Chua] is a rarity among expats in Viet Nam," Lindsey Kiang, a Dutch writer interested in Vietnamese art, says.

"She has almost totally immersed herself in the Vietnamese community in HCM City. She has learned the language and is completely fluent," Kiang says.

"As an art expert, and also through her gallery, she has mentored a number of excellent Vietnamese artists though presenting their works domestically as well as internationally.

"This kind of outreach has included helping young artists benefit from art residencies abroad, particularly in America.

"Still having close connections with the Singapore art scene, she brings to the local art scene in HCM City a knowledgeable perspective of the dynamics of the Southeast Asian art world.

"She has also somehow managed to find the time to be active in local charities, being one of the primary organisers of the consuls' wives annual art auction."

The two first met six or seven years ago when Kiang was in the city for the release of a book on the renowned Vietnamese artist Huynh Phuong Dong.

"At that time, her Zen Gallery was on the main road on the way to the airport.

"Since then, every time I visit HCM City I meet Bee to learn about what is current in the art world in the city," Kiang says.

"She knows a lot about contemporary Vietnamese art and artists and is very generous in sharing her knowledge."

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News