To mark his birthday on November 23, 1926, Secret Indochina honors Vann Molyvann, the prodigious architect, symbol of the golden age of Cambodia in the 1960s and father of the most eminent buildings of the New Khmer Architecture movement.

In 1946, as a young graduate of Sisowath High School in the Khmer capital Phnom Penh, Molyvann won a scholarship to continue his studies in France, where he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. There, he became fascinated with Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, the virtuoso architect, urban planner, man of letters, painter, and designer who blended heritage and modernity in the works he created around the world. In 1956, Molyvann returned to his native country, which had recently gained its independence after 90 years of French protectorate. Cambodia entered the era of the Sangkum Reastr Niyum under the rule of Norodom Sihanouk, who established a form of authoritarianism with socialist overtones. Sihanouk appointed Molyvann chief architect of the kingdom and entrusted him with the task of helping build the country’s future. The young architect worked fervently and boldly to create a unique style for the new public buildings, one that combined the modernism he studied in France with the subtleties of Khmer mythology and the aesthetics of traditional housing.

During this period of almost miraculous peace in Cambodia, during which its Vietnamese neighbor was mired in conflict, Molyvann created the most emblematic buildings of his time. He designed the Chaktomuk conference hall in Phnom Penh, inaugurated on the banks of the Tonle Sap in 1961, whose structure radiates out in the form of a fan like a palm leaf, and the independence monument built after the temple of Banteay Srei in 1961, a symbol of the city that emphasizes continuity between ancient and modern culture. He created the national sports complex built to Olympic standards in 1964, originally to host the 1963 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (an event that was eventually aborted), where General de Gaulle delivered his speech criticizing American policy in Vietnam on September 1, 1966, before a crowd of 100,000 people. He also designed the “white building,” a series of apartments intended to serve as Olympic villages that were later used as housing for civil servants; the State Palace, home of the Senate, with its folded concrete slabs that form a double honeycomb roof; and the Institute of Foreign Languages on the campus of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, a reinterpretation of Angkor Wat that is widely considered to be his masterpiece. Molyvann also supervised the construction of new cities such as Tioulongville (Kirirom) and the seaside city of Sihanoukville (Kampong Som).

During this prosperous period, Molyvann’s artistic style embodied the principles of “do not hide the structure, do not dress anything up, reveal in transparency the process of the construction.” His talent was enhanced by support of two UN experts, Vladimir Bodiansky and Gerald Hanning, who introduced Molyvann to the Modulor, Le Corbusier's famous tool of proportions, an architectural concept that he used in all his creations. His trademark, which stands out among his fellow architects (the most famous of whom are Lu Ban Hap, Chhim Sun Fong, Seng Suntheng and Mam Sophana), established the pillars of the emerging movement known as the new Khmer architecture. This architectural style with a holistic vision is characterized by the use of new materials (such as reinforced concrete) and adaptation to the tropical climate of southeast Asia by controlling the flow of water, heat, and wind through natural ventilation systems and a subtle mastery of the play of light, represented most symbolically by the loggias (covered balconies and walkways) and claustras (openwork decoration). It also highlights the culture and daily life of Cambodians with designs inspired by traditional objects, such as straw hats, fans, and golden arrow, or structural elements drawn from the traditions of Angkor, including moats, raised walkways, and roof ornament.

On March 18, 1970, the coup d’état led by General Lon Nol, with suspected support from Washington, deposed Sihanouk, who went into exile in Beijing. Molyvann left for Switzerland, where he joined his wife Trudy Amberg, the United Nations delegate to the Kingdom of Cambodia whom he met through his mentor Hanning in 1961, and their four children. For the next ten years he worked with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN Habitat), which promotes sustainable development in cities to provide shelter for all, in Nairobi, Kenya and Vientiane, Laos.

In 1991, Molyvann returned to Cambodia and served as President of the Council of Ministers in the Hun Sen government, Minister of State in charge of Culture and Fine Arts, then Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. Despite these positions, he was not assigned the urban planning of his native town Siem Reap, which was close to his heart. He also played a key role in the classification of the Angkor site as a UNESCO World Heritage site and served as president of the APSARA (Authority for the Protection of the Site and Development of the Angkor Region) that manages the Angkor site. In the years that followed, he watched helplessly as the tourism industry in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh developed at a rapid pace. In 2008, he obtained a doctorate in organization and development of Asian cities and wrote his thesis on Khmer modern cities. He passed away at the age of 90 in his modest home in Siem Reap, near the temples of Angkor, taking with him the memory of the modern heyday of Cambodia when its most sumptuous architectural gems took shape

 

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Northeast Vietnam (Cao Bang) is famous for its limestone massifs, people, and history. It is also famous for one of its legends: lieutenant colonel Dang Van Viet. One year ago, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the RC4 battles of October 1950. Now, we honor the memory of the famous King of RC4 (RC4 as Road N4), who passed away September 25, 2021, at the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Hospital in Hanoi.

Lieutenant colonel Dang Van Viet is also known as RC4 Tiger, Grey Wolf, Vietnamese Napoleon, King of RC4, or General without Stars. He was born in Nge An province in 1920 to an aristocratic family; his father, Dang Van Huong, was a vice minister of justice under the Nguyen dynasty. During his adolescence, he was friends with Empress Nam Phuong (Perfume of the South). During the Decoux years, he served as a scout, then studied medicine for two years at the University of Hanoi. After the Japanese coup of March 1945, he joined the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. His friend General Giap entrusted him with the northeast front, and the 174 Regiment – the RC4 Regiment – was founded.

From 1947 to 1950, Dang Van Viet and his men conducted various attacks and ambushes on the axis and forts of the RC4 and RC3. He applied the principles of Sun Tzus Art of War: the enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy stops, we harass him; the enemy is tired, we attack him; the enemy retreats, we pursue him. After the RC4 victory, during the rest of the Indochina War, the lieutenant colonel led various battles and operations, notably the operation On the Back of the Dragon, which aimed at harassing the surroundings of Hanoi. During his military career, he led 120 engagements, of which only four were lost. After the war, he was dismissed and sent as an instructor to a military school in China.

On his return, he left the army and became a civilian engineer. He married and had two children. He then wrote several books on the RC4 campaign, including Les souvenirs d'un colonel Vietminh (Indo Editions, Paris, France. 2006). At the end of his life, from the ages of 90 to 102, he dedicated himself body and soul to two main projects: writing a military history of Vietnam and, perhaps the most important of all, the rehabilitation of his father’s memory and name.

Dang Van Viet is part of the older generation. Even if he fights France, he loves her like a mother, he knows her language and its subtleties, he loves her people, her terroirs, her cheeses, her castles, her music, her literature, and her humanism. During the development of various projects in Cao Bang province, Secret Indochina met Dang Van Viet and a friendship was born. For us, he became a mentor, an example of man, life, courage, open-mindedness, intelligence, and humility.

His legend and memory now float on the misty mountains of Cao Bang

 

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In this autumn edition, Secret Indochina returns to Vietnam’s south-central coastline and one of its wonderful oddities: the pandanus.

The pandanus (Pandanales order, Pandanaceae family) is a tree-plant or shrub, similar to a palm tree in appearance. It is also known as baquois, pandan, screw-palm, screw-pine, and breadfruit. The genus pandanus contains about 700 species. Pandanus is characteristic of the bays and coasts of the Asia-Pacific area, Oceania, and the islands off Africa. It is especially fond of islands and barren atolls, while some species have adapted to maritime mountains and associated forests. In Vietnam, pandanus is found mainly along the rocky coasts of the south-central provinces. It can also be found in Cambodia, especially on the island of Koh Kong.

The pandanus likes the foothills of sea dunes, beach heights, or the bottoms of creeks where it can better withstand typhoons, the scorching winds of the dry season, and the salt spray. The smallest ones measure one meter, the tallest over 20 meters. They are supported by pyramidal stilt-like roots that support the fruits and the main trunk and anchor the plant in the sand or the often-unstable coastal soil. According to the conditions, the branches are tentacular and intertwined. At the top, the pandanus divides into several crowns of thorny leaves that can reach up to two meters; the trunk is hollow and, depending on the species, smooth, marbled, or with a series of hairy rings.

Its fruits, assembled in heavy globular clusters, have prismatic sections, and change color from greenish, orange, then reddish during the one-year maturation process. Eventually, the seeds break off and spread, mainly by floating along streams, rivers, and bays, from bay to bay or out to sea and from island to island. They are enjoyed by bats, birds, elephants, rhinos, crabs and some cretaceans.

Humans also make use of the pandanus. Among the aboriginal populations of the South Pacific archipelagos, notably the Kabi Kabi, the pandanus is a world tree. Its uses are varied, according to Dr. Ray Kerkhove’s work The Pandanus: Historical Occurrence and Aboriginal Uses. The pandanus is used as a chew rope, the roots macerated in a mixture of honey, dead bees, larvae, and dead or rotting wood, then chewed and sucked as “a contemplative occupation prized by the ancients.” Pandanus wine is made from distilled fruit mixed with honey. The plant’s stems are fibrous and rich in water; when chewed, they help rehydrate. A grove of pandanus trees (pandanaies) can indicate the presence of water nearby. The roots form a sieve-like filter purifying the water, which is itself sucked up through long tubes. The flowers are used as ointment and hair decoration. The leaves and braided fibers are used to create dresses, ornaments, necklaces, headdresses, baskets, mats, hoods, trays, fans, and ropes. Women use the highly fragrant pandanus flower as an intimate invitation to love or as part of a body ointment. Roofs are made of pandanus leaves, sometimes in parallel logs as drainage. Its seeds and wood are used as projectiles to train novices in warfare. Pandanus receptacles are used to hold weapons known as fire sticks. Its wood is used for daily fire or for ritual ceremonies (the corroboree), and the embers are used to cook food in pandanus leaf wrappers. The trunks, “swimming logs,” are used as floats to navigate the coast, sometimes from island to island.

The pandanus is the subject of various myths and legends. In western annals, one of the first mentions of the pandanus is from the Greek author Ctesias, a physician trained at the Cnidus medical school. Around 398 BC, Ctesias was a captive at the Persian court of Artaxerxes II and brought back two botanical works: the Persica and the Indica. According to him, the pandanus is the exclusive property of the “king of the Indians, it is found only in the royal gardens, only the king can get this product, as well as the members of his family.” Ctesias mentions a rose-scented tree, probably the Pandanus odoratissimus, from which the Indians obtain essential oil from “its fragrant flowers.” Suzanne Amigues notes in her work The Indian Flora of Ctesias: a Historical Document that “the exotic aroma filled the air with the mysterious penetrating scent of this extraordinary flower. Its first olfactory impact is that of an intense sharpness. It is penetrating and capable of spreading to an amazing degree.”

In peninsular Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia and Thailand, pandanus leaves are used to make mats. They are cut into thin strips, sorted, then woven and colored. The leaves are occasionally used to make bags and veils. In Cambodia, the pandanus is called a “ramcek,” and its leaves are used to make mats or attach roofing elements of houses to the rafters; its flowers have a strong aroma and perfume the linen. The Ratanakiri Bru (a proto-Indochinese group in the Cambodian highlands) use it to make mats and crossbow bolts.

The leaves of the Pandanus amaryllifolius variety, known as “Asian vanilla,” are appreciated as a bouquet-garni to flavor stews, curries, and rice pilaf or as an extract to flavor cakes. Finely chopped, the leaves become fragrant confetti, used in various ceremonies. The leaves are occasionally used to decorate hair, and in India an extract (Kevada) is distilled from them. The Vietnamese prepare “ban-duc,” a pandanus-flavored confection with coconut milk. The British chef and food writer Nigella Lawson praises the merits of pandanus and notes that it will be the object of future international attention. In 1892, Paul Gauguin also celebrated pandanus by placing it in one of his paintings (I raro te Oviri - Under the Pandanus).

Pandanus fruits are renowned in traditional medicine as treatment for headaches, rheumatism, epilepsy, wounds, boils, scabies, ulcers, colic, hemorrhoids, hepatitis, smallpox, liver cirrhosis, diabetes, leprosy, kidney stones, syphilis, and cancer, as well as an antioxidant and aphrodisiac.

In Vietnam, pandanus is found sporadically in some northern regions and especially in isolated coastal sites in the provinces of Khan Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan. Via a Secret Indochina module, it is possible to admire specimens in the vicinity of the Cape Mui Yen, a rare and almost moving encounter with this emblematic species of south-central Vietnam’s admirable rocky coastline


© Illustration credit: Rachel Newling