Day 1 Reflections-Bryan Kong

EQ1:I feel that innovation is important as it played a very important part in the Vietnam war. The Vietnamese were quite smart and made traps that could help them effectively against the Americans. One example are the small and narrow tunnels that the Vietnamese built. They were narrow as Americans were bigger is size thus, they would be unable to go inside their tunnels, making more time for Vietnamese to escape. They also recycle any items they could find and make them into something useful to go against the americans. One example are the powder in the bomb and using it to create landmines for their own use.

EQ2: Their culture has a mixture of three well-known religions: Christianity, Buddhism and Confucious. They also had one eye to represent their god which watches over them all and protects them.

Day 1 Reflections - Bryan Sim

EQ1) How is innovation a key feature of survival?

The Vietnamese were extremely innovative, and thus they were able to win the war against the Americans. The Vietnamese dug out the Cu Chi Tunnel using their own handmade tools to hide innocent villagers from the Americans and also a way to launch surprise attacks on the Americans. The Vietnamese also knew how to use exploded bomb shells and fragments to make land mines. Some of the metal fragments were also used to make home-made traps which were very efficient.

EQ2) How is cultural integration reflected in design?

When we visited the Cai Dai Temple, I noticed that most of the decorations there were a combination of red, blue and yellow. According the the tour guide, Red, blue and yellow represents Buddhism, Confucianism and Catholicism. There were also several designs/carvings of dragons on the pillar itself, which shows that design can be affected by culture.