This is an interesting development in Saigon. I stuck my camera though the metal gates still surrounding the construction of this monument to Thich Quang Duc, the monk who self-immoliated in 1963, to protest against the Diem government’s persecution of the Buddhist community.
The monument will be located where this event took place, at the intersection of two main streets in central Saigon. On the opposite corner there is already a very modest altar and small statue of him, but you could miss it if you weren’t looking for it. This statue will take up a whole corner block, with grass and trees surrounding. As everyday I pass another example of old and intriguing places making way for new office blocks, it is refreshing to see something other than money and progress being celebrated.
Apparently Thich Quang Duc was encircled by monks and nuns 7 or 8 fold deep as the flames engulfed. And what is much celebrated about this story is that his heart remained intact, and is still kept in a nearby pagoda.
David Halberstam, an American journalist who witnessed the event said, ‘I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think... As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.’
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