There is nothing modern or attractive about a girl sitting in her underwear on the metro in Ho Chi Minh City. Whilst a few are abusing the recently opened modern train services in Ho Chi Minh City for their 15 minutes of glory, most commuters appreciate the steps taken to modernise the city. 

While the woman in question successfully got her moment of online fame, in my opinion, she should be arrested for indecent exposure. 

Train networks are not play areas. They are not bars or party houses for people to show off or to try to be the first to grab a photo that gets 10,000 likes. They are essential transport services to reduce traffic and make life better for the community.

Clearly, younger people in Ho Chi Minh City have the wrong concept of modernisation. They see snaps from other countries and believe it is the ‘in-thing' to perform stupid stunts to attract attention on public transport. 

What they don’t know is that train networks in places like Europe and Australia are patrolled by police. The network has its own set of rules that go beyond the community responsibilities and people can be arrested for their actions aboard public transportation. 

Yes, in Australia, if you do planks on the bars or sit in your underwear on a train you will be arrested and charged with an offence that gives you a criminal record. 

The Ho Chi Minh City metro system is new and still in its settling period. Many responsible community members, young and old, have enjoyed the thrill of Ho Chi Minh City's first train line. All in all, it is a wonderful first step in bringing Ho Chi Minh City closer to the leading global cities around the world. 

Moreover, the millions of people that have used the system for a first-time experience, to get into the city, or to commute to work, have predominantly used the service respectfully and responsibly.

Vietnam is rapidly changing and Ho Chi Minh City is modernising in many ways. But modernisation does not mean that a country or city should lose its identity or culture. 

Ask any foreigner who has visited Vietnam in the past 30 years and they will agree that the culture of Vietnam stands at the very top of their memories. They leave the country having seen friendliness, respect, politeness, and dignity in the people of this country. 

Modernisation does not crush that culture. If anything, it expands it to new horizons. We need to make sure this never changes in the rapidly growing cities of Vietnam. 

We can only hope that these outward displays of disrespect on our train system are short-lived. In my opinion, this is an opportunity to send a message to these attention seekers by imposing fines, or giving police the power to arrest anyone acting in a way that is offensive or against the expectations of the community. 

As it has happened in other countries, as soon as a few of these disrespectful and selfish people spend a week or two in jail, they quickly realise it is not worth it and their behaviour quickly changes. 

Having experienced rail travel in countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Australia, I see that anti-social behaviour is not a part of the accepted practices on those trains and it is not accepted in Vietnam either. 

I am really excited about the modernisation of Ho Chi Minh City and other cities across Vietnam. The more we support change the better our cities will become but we must remain Vietnamese and not let our core cultural belief fall victim to the false idea of modern society. 

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