JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

THE STRAITS TIMES, June 7, 2008

Viet women riders spice up their 'rice cookers'

Young motorcyclists customise helmets with pretty covers to look less
stuffy

By Roger Mitton

HANOI - YOUNG Vietnamese women have always loved to wear colourful
bonnets, especially when tootling around town on their snappy motor
scooters.

The stylish tradition, however, came under threat last December when the
authorities began enforcing a new law that required all riders to wear
crash helmets.

Suddenly, the young women riders no longer looked so pretty.

With drab, ungainly helmets perched on their heads, they made the
streets of Vietnam seem much duller and less charming.

The girls certainly loathed the helmets, referring to them as 'rice
cookers'. But they had to wear them - or face paying a hefty fine.

More than a quarter of Vietnam's population of 86 million own a
motorbike, and the result is a death toll that reached 30 a day last
year.

With the implementation of the new law on helmets, fatalities have
dropped by 15 per cent, and injuries by 33 per cent. The downside,
however, has been the rise of ugly 'rice cookers' replacing the
attractive bonnets.

Fortunately, Vietnam's entrepreneurial spirit has stepped in, and
stylised helmet covers shaped like pretty bonnets have sprouted up
everywhere.

Said Ms Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a secretary at one of the foreign embassies in
Hanoi: 'I'm proud to say I was among the first women to wear one. All my
friends said: 'Oh, Ngoc Anh, you look so lovely in your new helmet'.

'They asked me where I got it and now they all have one.'

Usually made of textile or light plastic, the covers fit snugly over the
top of the helmets and are secured with elastic or snap-on clips. They
come in all manner of designs and shades, from shocking pink to Scottish
tartan to kitschy polka dots with flouncy wide brims.

Said Ms Anh: 'Lots of women wear them now and they make the streets less
stuffy and more beautiful.'

Not to be outdone, many men have also adopted cap-shaped helmet covers
with camouflage designs, the stars and stripes of the American flag, or
colours of their favourite football teams.

But some say the new trend is getting out of hand - and may even be
dangerous.

Doctors have cautioned that certain helmet covers, especially those with
stiff plastic brims, may increase the chance of injury in an accident.

Said Mr Duong Minh Man, director of Ho Chi Minh City's Cho Ray Hospital
Brain Injury Department: 'Since March this year, we've had about 40
motorbike accident cases each day, and many have involved wounds caused
by girls wearing brimmed helmets.'

But Vietnam's womenfolk certainly appear unconvinced by the warnings.

Said Ms Anh: 'To be honest, I don't like wearing a crash helmet,
decorated or not, especially on hot, humid days. But life is hard and
you have no choice. So it's better to look pretty, anyway.'

rogermitton@hotmail.com