Statues in Saigon – Historical guarantee in a politically volatile city?

By: Nguyen Van Trung | May 29, 2022

The legacies of an ancient 300-year-old Saigon 

Nowadays, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is one of Vietnam's most vibrant and developed cities. Yet, within modernization, such as skyscrapers, noisy streets with car horns, and increasing economic development, there is also an ancient 300-year-old Saigon, with its rich history, culture, and remains. One of the legacies and the most apparent manifestation are the statues.  

Most of the statues in nowadays Ho Chi Minh City are seen and evaluated according to mainstream lenses, such as honoring leaders, being part of a religious association, or serving decorative purposes. However, these layers of meaning are only the tip of the iceberg: far deeper, these statues are arguably a guarantee in a politically volatile Saigon, and reveal us its everchanging (hi)stories.  

Among the extant statues, on this page, we will focus on analyzing three large groups of statues associated with the space where they were built in:  

• The Statue of Ho Chi Minh at Nguyen Hue pedestrian street – right in front of HCMC People's Committee Building, the historical City Hall 
• A group of statues flanking the Post Office  
• A group of statues flanking the Opera House with its different messages and theatricals performances, then and now  

These statues will be put into context and analyzed in connection with the great political upheavals in Saigon city, including three significant periods (the French colonial period, the Republic of Vietnam, and the post-unification period).  

1. 1859–1954: The French colonial period and the presence of imperialism  

On February 17, 1859, Saigon was officially occupied by the French. Since then, for nearly 100 years, France had continuously made efforts to affirm its presence here (to support the plan to assimilate and later, to associate with the Vietnamese): from "new constructions" such as warship yards, military zone general depots, and ammunition depots to the plan to build Saigon "like a French city" with a Court of Justice, State Bank, City Hall, Post Office, Library, Sports Club, Museums, Botanical Garden, and an Opera House. (Lê and Dovert 2018)  

Many of the typical French-built buildings still exist today. Three of them are associated with the three groups of statues we shall discuss: Hôtel de Ville (or in English: City Hall), Post Office, and Opera House. However, it should be emphasized that all three statue groups nowadays were not built from the beginning at these three locations; so understanding the history of these buildings and their original purpose can provide us a solid background to dig deeper into the statues’ messages.

Firstly, the Hôtel de Ville (or City Hall) was planned in 1871, started to be built in 1898, and finished in 1908. The building is located in the Kinh Lap area (meaning that the canal was filled up) along Charner Avenue (now Nguyen Hue Street). Initially, the building was intended to become the working building of the French government, which included the French mayor and the Town Council responsible for managing the Saigon - Gia Dinh - Cholon area (Phan Thu Lang 2015). Not surprisingly, the building is modeled on the town hall in Paris, designed in the form of a tall bell tower – a popular architectural style in the North of France (Tran 2020). This style clearly shows the intention to colonize and affirm the presence of France in Vietnam. More about the messages of the City Hall, you can read here. 

At the French colonial time, there was no statue in front of the building. 

Secondly, in 1860, after capturing Gia Dinh, the French built the "Saigon Steel Wire Department" right in the city center to establish a communication system for the government. From 1886 to 1891, due to the increasing demand for communication, Saigon Post Office was started to be rebuilt according to the design project of architect Villedieu and his assistant Foulhoux (Nguyen 2019). The building featured European style with Asian decoration (see here), and there was no statue at all. 

Finally, built between 1898 and 1900, the Opera House was intended to entertain the French people living in the colony, including French soldiers. For political purposes, the building was rated by the city council and the colonial government as a large and impressive building, one of the more reflective of the glories of the French empire (Tan Man Kien Truc 2019). Also, this building did not originally have any statue in front of it. 

2. 1954-1975: Republic of Vietnam period and the affirmation of military strength 

After France failed in its Indochina colony and withdrew its troops in 1954, the United States replaced France, supporting the Republic of Vietnam in the South. The new government took over the three buildings during this period, and modified several of them to suit the intended use.  

The Hôtel de Ville then became the City Hall of Saigon,- the headquarter of the Republic of Vietnam government, the Saigon Central Post Office served the postal communication of the new government, and the Opera House was used as the seat of the National Assembly (Lower House) of the Republic of Vietnam (Duong 2017). While the two former still were without statues, the Opera House was heavily loaded with then current political messages. 

First, the Opera House faced some structural modifications. Significantly, the new government removed all decorations at the façade and entrance, among others, the two maiden statues (Tan Man Kien Truc 2021). This action can be understood to have de-colonized the building’s message (see more at Saigon Opera House: An Alien, Post-Colonial Building). 

In 1967, to honor its military strength (and its power), the government of the Republic of Vietnam built a 9-meter-high Marine statue with a gun-holding posture towards the Lower House. However, this statue was toppled on April 30, 1975 - Southern Liberation Day (Wikipedia n.d.). We can assume that the statue's removal has a close connection to its reflection on socio-political institutions. This statue of Marines was considered a symbol of the old political regime, directing their military fighting symbolism against the North; therefore, with the new government, it had to be torn down. 

3. After 1975–Now: Post-unification period (Socialist Republic of Vietnam) and reframing theory. 

After 1975, North and South Vietnam became unified within Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Since this time, our three buildings have changed their management rights and functions once again. City Hall of Saigon became the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Head Office (or in Vietnamese: Ủy ban nhân dân thành phố Hồ Chí Minh). The Saigon Central Post Office is also owned by the new government. The Lower House of South Vietnam returned to its original function as the Opera House. Also, new groups of statues around these works were built with explicit intentions. 

3.1 The People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City 

After the City Hall became the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the government erected a statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of the building in 1990, which was changed in 2015. Hence, two different messages can be detected. 

Figure 7: “Uncle Ho with Children” statue was re-carried on a stamp

The first version, namely “Uncle Ho with children” (figure 6), was erected in 1990 on the 100th anniversary of his birth. This statue depicts Ho Chi Minh during the arduous days of the resistance war when his responsibility was weighty, but the spirit was still leisurely next to a child. It is a unique symbol of affection, love, and care that Uncle Ho, similar to a father, shows for children, symbolizing the expectation and belief in the future of the Fatherland (SGGP online 2015). Moreover, in 1998, this statue was re-carried on a stamp set (figure 7), proving its important role. 

By 2015, this statue version was “invited” by the government to be moved to the Children's House of the city to create more favorable conditions for children to come to Uncle Ho, nurture a pure soul and morals, and build ambitions, lofty dreams, efforts to study, and study and follow his moral. (SGGP online 2015).

In 2015, on the 125th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh’s birth, the second version statue was erected. In this version, Ho Chi Minh is standing in an upright position, smiling, and raising his hand to salute. This statue of Ho Chi Minh aims to show “the cheerfulness, affection, simplicity, closeness, and affection of Uncle Ho for the South of Vietnam; honestly depicting his charisma, physique, and style; exuding spiritual beauty, noble personality, showing the stature of the great leader of the Vietnamese nation.”- stated by Mr. Huynh Van Muoi, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association, member of the Art Council for the construction of this statue (Le 2015). 

Thus, there has been an evident change in the messages conveyed through two versions: from care of the young nation to to national sentiment, from a simple father to a mighty noble leader. The weight of the message is further reinforced when we place the statue in its geographical space: the leader stands directly in front and the center of the People’s Committee Head Office. Obviously, the current government is trying to reframe the original colonial message of that building. They want to erase the colonial traces and affirm the ownership of the Vietnamese people, the Vietnamese government (see more at here). With Ho Chi Minh's demeanor, we also can see the message is a peacefully but strong government that ensures stability, prosperity, and liberty.

Figure 9: The statue of Caesar Augustus 

Further, in this version, Ho Chi Minh's posture is quite similar to Augustus's statue - the first Emperor of the Roman Empire. Specifically, both commanders are depicted in their familiar clothes with the standing pose, reaching out and looking ahead. However, the styles of the two statues are said to be quite different; while Ho Chi Minh seems friendly, open, and welcoming, Augustus is shown as a stern, determined, and brave commander. In the end, both statues represent the power, presence, and importance of these two characters.

In 1997, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, the two sides of the post office were equipped with two groups of statues, which is reminiscent of the socialist realism style. Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art developed and popular in the Soviet Union and other socialist countries (Britannica 2021). The purpose of socialist realism was to propagate and promote the Soviet ideals, especially the Party (Cary and Grossberg 1988). These statues present an idealized Socialist in Vietnam. 

This style’s character often refers to depicting communist values, such as the emancipation of the proletariat (Pavel 1971). The figures in the Socialist realism style are very often highly idealized, have a “prevailing sense of optimism”, and elevate the common worker, whether factory or agricultural, by presenting their life, work, and recreation as admirable (Richard 2004). These two groups of statues also employ that. The statues on the left are a young man and woman in costumes very similar to peasants (Ba Ba shirt, broad-brimmed cap, bandana – regular traditional costumes of peasants in the South). The statues on the right depict two seemingly young, a girl wearing “ao dai” (a traditional clothes of Vietnamese women, especially young student girl), perhaps to appeal to the student/intellectual class. We can quickly find similar images in other art forms such as posters and newspapers:

The characters in the pictures and both groups of statues are shown with solid and muscular bodies, slightly smiling, standing upright, with their heads raised high towards the front. We can interpret these details as confidence in the future, in the revolution, in the Communist Party – very similar to the message conveyed by the statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of the City Hall. 

Thus, The Post Office – a colonial building that promoted many French ideas about civilization and (technological) prosperity, is reframed, pushing partly back itscolonial past and affirming Vietnam’s confidence in building the future. 

3.3 The Opera House 

In 1997, also on the occasion of the 300th year of Saigon's foundation, the government decided to invest a fund up to 1 million USD for the restoration project of the Opera House (Corfield 2013, 225-6). Within that project, the City Council built a fountain and a new monument called “Mom-and-son love” in front of the building. 

Thus, after more than 23 years since the Opera House had returned to its original function and the Marine statue of the Southern government was demolished, there was a new statue there. This statue, like its name, aims to show “the image of two affectionate mother and child, a mother always protects her child”, states thesculptor Nguyen Quoc Thang, Deputy Director of the City Museum of Fine Arts of Ho Chi Minh City (tuoitre.vn 2005). Currently, this statue has been removed to serve the construction of public transport works. (Wikipedia n.d.)