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Sean Lambe
AN OAKPARK man living and working in Vietnam has co-created a documentary that explores the lives of street vendors in Ho Chi Minh City and their experiences with western tourists.
Sean Lambe from Colliswood in Oakpark has been been teaching in the Vietnamese capital for the past years.
Traleetoday.ie have been chatting to Sean about Faces You Forget: Nights Out in Saigon documentary and how things are going in Vietnam.
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“It’s a really nice life here,” said Sean Lambe. “I miss my friends from home of course but the lifestyle is excellent and the people are really nice. This city has a lot of money it didn’t have until recently, and it is in the process of a big change. It is an interesting place to be,” he said.
“I intend to stay here for a while yet, a few more years at least,” he added.
The 26-year-old is a son of Jo and Pat Lambe and moved to Tralee from London when he was seven.
Sean is a former pupil of Blennerville National School and Mercy Mounthawk, before going on to study English and Politics at UCC.
Having got to know street vendors on the city’s main tourist drag of Bui Vien, Sean and a work colleague, William Snyder, from Austin, Texas decided to tell their story.
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“Bui Vien was an obvious choice due to its strangeness. It’s a far cry from having a few beers in Tralee town!” said Sean.
“When people newly arrive in Saigon they inevitably find themselves on that street because there’s so much going on there and it’s a lot of fun,” said Sean.
“Street workers would sit down for a bit and have a laugh with us, but we’d also see them treated quite coolly by tourists passing through.”
“It’s understandable in a way because those people go from hotspot to hotspot with groups of locals looking to capitalise on them everywhere they land. But it also struck me as a bit wrong, and we tried to make those different viewpoints shown.
“The two groups are very separate even though they exist in close quarters. As far as the lives of the sellers, I was impressed with their attitude, even though they are poor they see what has to be done and get on with it.”
The 27-minute-long documentary is available to watch on YouTube and has already attracted over 1,000 views since it was posted up yesterday.
