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living
expat life
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Music
for the soul
expat life
Anyone who often
passes the Opera
House in Ho Chi Minh
City will be familiar
withthesightofexpat,
JakeT.Snake,whoreg-
ularly plays the flute
outside. After serving
here in the US army,
hechosetocomeback
after nearly 40 years.
Words by
Xuan Hoa
n
society at large
J
ake has lived in Vietnam for around six
years. Music is an integral part of his
life and has a great impact on it - it has
eased painful memories of the war and
made his difficult days wandering throughout
the US more bearable.
He plays flute six days a week on the
streets surrounding the Opera House and has
become a friend of almost all the motorbike
drivers and security guards in the area. He
travels by bicycle, wears a head scarf and
always carries a host of different flutes. He
chooses to ride a bicycle instead of a motor-
bike since he loves a slow pace of life.
Jake says he plays 31 second concerts
for passersby, as they have to stop for the
red light for 31 seconds. People might not
understand what he plays, as he draws on
jazz, hip hop, blues and
cai luong
(Vietnam-
ese opera), but most, he believes, like what
they hear.
“Most of the people that pass by here
smile and give me a thumbs up, so I think that
they like the music,” says Jake. “That makes
me happy - being able to give the Vietnamese
something that they enjoy.”
Jake used to skip school to visit Motown
musicians, and then he studied under a mas-
ter flautist at the Ali Akbar Khan School of
Music, near San Francisco. Since then, his life
has revolved around the instrument. “Music
is something that you have to share with
the world,” he says. “I have learnt all kinds
of music from all kinds of people around the
world and it’s nice to share that with people \
on the street”.
Music has become medicine for his soul
since he left Vietnam in 1969. He has tried
several instruments, but the bamboo flute
eases him most. He came back to the country
in an effort to ‘complete the circle’, because
memories of his two years in the war were
so painful.
“I came back to Vietnam to because of
regret and guilt left over from the war- it was
very painful and ugly,” says Jake. “However
things that have now happened to me in Vi-
etnam have taught me so much.”
Jake plays between the Opera House and
the Continental Hotel. “When I was here in
1967-1969, I was not in Saigon; most of the
time I was around the countryside, but I do re-
member Saigon, especially this place because
it is really an old part of the town,” he says.
Jake’s life in Vietnam is more stable than
than when he wandered the streets back
home in the US. He has a Vietnamese wife
and a young son. The family is now living
in District 3. Jake says his wife supports him
since she knows that most Vietnamese love
the sound of the flute.
“I like to play the music and I can play
everywhere, but when I play here I am en-
couraged since people enjoy the music and
have positive reactions on it,” he said.
Sadly, flute lovers have only around three
months left to enjoy Jake’s music as his family
is going back to the US soon. However, Jake
says they will come back to keep links alive
with the Vietnamese side of the family.
Jake has played with bands in the US,
Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, but now he
is happy playing flute for passersby everyday,
sometimes playing with his son.
“I am who I am, so I don’t mind if some
think I’m weird. I love playing flute and peo-
ple like to hear it - that’s enough for me”,
says Jake. “Now I have a Vietnamese wife
and a child who are very important to help
me. They make me feel better about myself.
That’s why now I can say that somehow I
have completed that circle.”