To Southeast Asia—with Reservations

Saigon—This must be the noisiest city in the world, bar none. Every bar girl, secretary and office boy has at least a Honda. The amount of noise is as incredible as it is intolerable. I understand they are using bicycles in Hanoi: My first day in Saigon strongly inclines me to the North Vietnamese viewpoint, at least in this respect.

How did it happen? Well, I am told that West Germany actually offered buses as a gift. But Saigon’s government preferred to buy Korean ones for the sake of rich kickbacks not obtainable from Germany. Unmaintained, and shoddy to begin with, the buses fell apart after two years. Meanwhile, a strong bus “union” had sprung up and swore that it would not permit bus service—government or private—unless it was, without any investment, cut in on the ownership. And needless to say, it threatened to sabotage and destroy any buses that disregarded the “union’s” orders.

EH

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Ernest van den Haag

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Saigon—This must be the noisiest city in the world, bar none. Every bar girl, secretary and office boy has at least a Honda. The amount of noise is as incredible as it is intolerable. I understand they are using bicycles in Hanoi: My first day in Saigon strongly inclines me to the North Vietnamese viewpoint, at least in this respect.

How did it happen? Well, I am told that West Germany actually offered buses as a gift. But Saigon’s government preferred to buy Korean ones for the sake of rich kickbacks not obtainable from Germany. Unmaintained, and shoddy to begin with, the buses fell apart after two years. Meanwhile, a strong bus “union” had sprung up and swore that it would not permit bus service—government or private—unless it was, without any investment, cut in on the ownership. And needless to say, it threatened to sabotage and destroy any buses that disregarded the “union’s” orders.