When looking at old post cards of Saigon during the French period, there are many Malabar (the old word for people from Coastal South India) around Vietnam (especially Saigon).
Jul 10·edited Jul 10Liked by Postcards from Vietnam
Very interesting topic, good stuff. There are some other remnants, although small, for example with food, there's a Vietnamese curry, you may have heard of ông chà và? Chà Và was apparently used originally to refer to people from Java (Indonesia) and eventually becoming a catch-all term for anyone with dark skin from Asia, even Filipinos were thrown into that group. To this day, there's still Chà Và Bridge (although rebuilt a number of times) in D8 where much of the Malabar population you refer to in your post lived and traded (there are a few buildings from the era just hanging in there). And how about bánh xèo...don't you think it looks a lot like dosa? Then there's bánh khọt, bánh căn, and bánh bò (the version that looks like a Sri Lankan hopper), which all have versions in Indian cuisine and can be found throughout the south. Fascinating stuff!
I saw you posted a YouTube short about the history of the Malabar in D8. I really hoped to find a longer video which the short was clipped from, but I couldn't find it. It was very interesting and I wanted to learn more.
I never really thought about food of Vietnam being so internationally inspired. I know about the French and Chinese influence, but the Malabar influence seems to be left out of the Lonely Planet guidebooks.
I have been watching a YouTube channel, OTR Food & History, which uses iconic regional foods as a way to tell a historical story about a part of SE Asia. The episode about the History of Curry opened my eyes to the cultural exchange going back hundreds of years ago, all over the region.
I went to Chà Và bridge in D8 today to see if I could find any trace of the old Malabar community, but ran into a dead end. A friend who has lived there all of her life said that this community has been gone before her family even moved to that area 30+ years ago.
Yeah, nothing there to suggest any Indian community inhabited the area, there are some dilapidated shophouses further along Binh Dong Street (to the west where the flower market is each year) that have been around for a long time which are interesting nonetheless.
I have seen the old French colonial shophouses and assumed their purpose was warehousing rice during the time when Cholon controlled the Mekong rice industry. Most of the Malabar buildings I know of are in the center of Cholon, which makes me wonder if Cholon or D8 had a "Chà Và town" in the center of Chinatown at one time.
Possibly. Current day Tôn Thất Thiệp St in D1 I believe was known as "Indian Street". I read somewhere the other day that even though the Indian community was small (approx. 1%), they "owned" 33% of Saigon's streets, which caused tensions 😬
No, the only visit I have had to India was a day tour on a cruise. My husband visited India several times for work, but where he went he didn’t want to take me, particularly as most days I would have been in my own.
My husband would tell me that he didn’t think it was safe and the beggars are prolific, harming their children to try and get your sympathy. He travelled to Mumbai and Arangabad. In the past I have gone with him to several counties including Vietnam and China where I was the only white person particularly in Shanghai, quite an experience. I did find that the Vietnamese were very friendly and I even had a young girl come up and say “excuse me Madam but your bag is open”. Quite a change as if it was in Italy, in particular the Gypsies, they would have helped themselves
The children beggars are a tough one. They really pull hard on heart strings. It is hard to resist the urge to pass out (whatever the equivalent of the local dollar is) like candy to every small dirty hand in the vicinity, but I have found they are very dangerous in a crowd because those same little hands will also reach in your pockets or daypack and rob you dry. Every country seems to have their danger areas, usually the tourist hot spots. I try to avoid these areas unless I have taken the time to pickpocket-proof myself. Generally I agree, the vast majority of people are kind and honest ...typically places without tourists.
Very interesting topic, good stuff. There are some other remnants, although small, for example with food, there's a Vietnamese curry, you may have heard of ông chà và? Chà Và was apparently used originally to refer to people from Java (Indonesia) and eventually becoming a catch-all term for anyone with dark skin from Asia, even Filipinos were thrown into that group. To this day, there's still Chà Và Bridge (although rebuilt a number of times) in D8 where much of the Malabar population you refer to in your post lived and traded (there are a few buildings from the era just hanging in there). And how about bánh xèo...don't you think it looks a lot like dosa? Then there's bánh khọt, bánh căn, and bánh bò (the version that looks like a Sri Lankan hopper), which all have versions in Indian cuisine and can be found throughout the south. Fascinating stuff!
I saw you posted a YouTube short about the history of the Malabar in D8. I really hoped to find a longer video which the short was clipped from, but I couldn't find it. It was very interesting and I wanted to learn more.
I never really thought about food of Vietnam being so internationally inspired. I know about the French and Chinese influence, but the Malabar influence seems to be left out of the Lonely Planet guidebooks.
I have been watching a YouTube channel, OTR Food & History, which uses iconic regional foods as a way to tell a historical story about a part of SE Asia. The episode about the History of Curry opened my eyes to the cultural exchange going back hundreds of years ago, all over the region.
I'm working on a longer video that includeds a little about the Indian community, been meaning to for yonks and just slowly getting round to it 😅
I went to Chà Và bridge in D8 today to see if I could find any trace of the old Malabar community, but ran into a dead end. A friend who has lived there all of her life said that this community has been gone before her family even moved to that area 30+ years ago.
Yeah, nothing there to suggest any Indian community inhabited the area, there are some dilapidated shophouses further along Binh Dong Street (to the west where the flower market is each year) that have been around for a long time which are interesting nonetheless.
I have seen the old French colonial shophouses and assumed their purpose was warehousing rice during the time when Cholon controlled the Mekong rice industry. Most of the Malabar buildings I know of are in the center of Cholon, which makes me wonder if Cholon or D8 had a "Chà Và town" in the center of Chinatown at one time.
Possibly. Current day Tôn Thất Thiệp St in D1 I believe was known as "Indian Street". I read somewhere the other day that even though the Indian community was small (approx. 1%), they "owned" 33% of Saigon's streets, which caused tensions 😬
He interesting, it surprises me as much as I found out that the Portuguese had history with India
Yes and I hear Goa is still an amazing place to visit to this day. Have you been?
No, the only visit I have had to India was a day tour on a cruise. My husband visited India several times for work, but where he went he didn’t want to take me, particularly as most days I would have been in my own.
I have never even been to India, so you definitely one up me there. I hear certain areas can be difficult, especially for women.
My husband would tell me that he didn’t think it was safe and the beggars are prolific, harming their children to try and get your sympathy. He travelled to Mumbai and Arangabad. In the past I have gone with him to several counties including Vietnam and China where I was the only white person particularly in Shanghai, quite an experience. I did find that the Vietnamese were very friendly and I even had a young girl come up and say “excuse me Madam but your bag is open”. Quite a change as if it was in Italy, in particular the Gypsies, they would have helped themselves
The children beggars are a tough one. They really pull hard on heart strings. It is hard to resist the urge to pass out (whatever the equivalent of the local dollar is) like candy to every small dirty hand in the vicinity, but I have found they are very dangerous in a crowd because those same little hands will also reach in your pockets or daypack and rob you dry. Every country seems to have their danger areas, usually the tourist hot spots. I try to avoid these areas unless I have taken the time to pickpocket-proof myself. Generally I agree, the vast majority of people are kind and honest ...typically places without tourists.
Another interesting topic that I didn't know I didn't know about. You are very good at digging into lost or forgotten history, and always interesting.
Thank you very much. This topic came from looking at a bunch of old post cards.
really???!!! no wonder i love the place so much…past lives!