'Cam Dai Bay' and Ha Long Bay

I have fond memories of Mr. Hung, my university English-language lecturer. I had great admiration for him as he spoke the language as a native. He was passionate that we students should master the language if we were to teach it to others.

To aid our learning, Mr Hung required us to do a two-minute talk at the beginning of each lecture. Typically he ended up doing most of the talking because we didn’t know what to say.

One of the talks by a classmate still brings a giggle to my lips. It is a story about language interpretation. It goes like this.

A foreigner to Vietnam walks past a wall and saw a sign ‘CAM DAI BAY’ in capitalized letters. Being curious he asks a local, ‘I have been to Ha Long Bay and many other famous attractions, but I have never heard of Cam Dai Bay. I want to go to Cam Dai Bay. Where is it?’

The local fellow shakes his head and grins as he replies, ‘Sir, there’s no Cam Dai Bay place in Vietnam.’ He holds his hand in front of his mouth as he lets out a squeak, ‘Cam Dai Bay means ‘No Peeing’’.

The foreigner shuffles his feet, shifts his backpack, says thanks and mooches off.

Language is a precise tool that should be used as such, otherwise, it can lead one astray. Mr Hung relished this story.

 

Ha Long Bay

The tourist would not have asked the question if the sign was written in Vietnamese properly with the squiggle marks on its letters. It should have been ‘Cấm Đái Bậy’ (‘No Peeing’).

These signs are normally found in low-traffic areas away from the streets where men are not shy to answer the call of nature.

Despite the appeal, it doesn’t help. It is mostly ignored. They don’t care because they think passers-by only see their backs!

Interestingly, I have noticed a similar behaviour in South Africa. However, I’ve never seen a ‘No Peeing’ sign in South Africa.

I hope you enjoy my story and learn a Vietnamese phrase as well, just in case.

By the way, the one place mentioned by the tourist, Ha Long Bay, has a natural feature just off the coast. Ha Long Bay is so famous in Vietnam that it is printed on a two-hundred-thousand-dong banknote (the Vietnamese currency is called dong). This money note is equivalent to US$19.

The iconic rock in Ha Long Bay is printed on a two-hundred-thousand-dong banknote of Vietnam
Photo screenshot from baoxaydung.com

Here are the photos of Ha Long Bay that I took on my one-day trip from Ha Noi, the capital of Vietnam. I was here when the tide was low and it was a cloudy day. I felt like Ha Long Bay didn't treat me well! That's why my photos don't look alluring to your eyes as you may see on travel magazines or Instagram photos. 

The photos were taken in late 2015.