Last year I had a great opportunity to visit some of the golf courses in the vicinity of Ho Chi Minh City as a consultant. One course, Golf Vietnam, is located at Thu Duc. A Taiwanese company manages this course through a joint venture arrangement with local companies. Golf Co. was issued an investment license by the State Committee of Cooperation and Investment to use 104 hectares of land in Song Be Province. Even though all property in Vietnam is state owned, the traditional land users and families of those who were buried on the site were compensated for the relocation of homes and tombs.
Workers sweep fairways with homemade branch brooms in preparation for early morning golfers.
Instead of ordering in the bulldozers, however, he opted for diplomacy. And after negotiations with the village headman, it was agreed that compensation be paid to the families involved and that the tombs would be relocated to a place adjacent to the golf course. In addition, Wong sent in 20 Buddhist monks to offer prayers at the site. The villagers were happy, and the project was back on track after a month's delay. A team of three mechanics maintains Song Be's fleet of 35 turf-related machines and 10 golf cars.