‘MR. CHAIRMAN, WELCOME TO DAKLAC PROVINCE, VIETNAM!’

‘MR. CHAIRMAN, WELCOME TO DAKLAK PROVINCE, VIETNAM!’

(1,594 words) Written by Ken Hua

Wednesday 21st November 2012

Revised 30^th April 2015

‘Mr. Chairman, welcome to Daklak Province, Central Highland, Vietnam!’

‘Hoang Oanh, it is just great to be here! I miss my homeland – Vietnam, I miss Buon MeThuoc, the capital city of Daklak Province, Central Highland, Vietnam!’

‘Mr. Chairman, what made you come to this regional remote area? I don’t think there are many tourists visiting this remote area.’

‘Hoang Oanh, I think you have got the wrong idea. Some tourists like to enjoy the coastal beaches like Danang, Nha Trang etc. In addition to the coastal beaches like Danang and Nha Trang, I would like to explore this regional remote area.

‘Mr. Chairman, I think there must be another reason for you to visit this regional remote area.’

‘Hoang Oanh, how do you know that? It seems to me that you have read my mind. Did my appearance show that I was missing something here.’

‘Mr. Chairman, you appear to be a little melancholy and stressed.’

‘It is good guess. I made a special trip to visit my homeland – Vietnam and my old good buddy living in this regional remote area after my family and I left the country more than 33 years ago.’

‘Mr. Chairman, you have left the country more than 33 years ago. 33 years is a long time. I just wonder you would have been able to visit this country some time ago instead of 33 years later.’

‘For various factors, I could not plan my trip some while ago and I feel a great regret that I should have visited Vietnam a couple of years earlier so that I could see my old good buddy for the last time when he was in hospital for treatment due to a traffic accident.’

‘Mr. Chairman, I am terribly sorry to hear that. I just wonder how come your good mate and his family did not keep you informed about this accident.’

‘I have to say he is a very meticulous person, who did not want to trouble people even his good mate. Apparently he and his family were trying to hide me that he was getting sick and receiving treatment at hospital.’

‘Mr. Chairman, what happened next?’

‘When I received an email from his second son telling me the sad news of his father’s departure, I was shocked and devastated to learn about the sad news. I just burst into tears and I also felt terribly sorry and heart-broken I could not attend his funeral.’

‘Mr. Chairman, I think your good mate must be a gentleman. Did you plan a special trip to see his family.’

‘Yes, I did plan a trip to see his family and I was greatly impressed that I received such a very warm welcome. I got a flight from Danang and arrived at Buon Me Thuoc on 20^th November 2012.’

‘Mr. Chairman, are there any changes in you good mate’s family?’

‘Yes, Hoang Oanh. There are a lot of changes in the family. I remember in 1977, my good mate’s family only consisted of 8 members when they moved to this regional area however look at them now, there are altogether 44 members in the family. He has 11 children and 33 grandchildren.’ ‘

‘Mr. Chairman, what a big family! How about you, Mr. Chairman?’

‘Hoang Oanh, 33 years ago, my family consisted of 5 members and now my family consists of 8 members, a small increase of 3 members in the family.’

‘Mr. Chairman, How has the life been with your mate and his family at the beginning?’

‘I have to say that life with my mate and his family at the beginning was like hell. Before the Communists took over South Vietnam, they were not farmers and they had not worked in the farm before. My good mate was in the army and I was working as a naval interpreter. They had no choice but moved to the Central Highland to begin a new bloody life at the beginning. They did not think that they would survive by living in Danang, their home city and also it is my home city too. In order to make a living, they had to move to the remote area in Central High Land.’

‘Mr. Chairman, could you please tell me about the life of your mate and his family in the so-called new economic zone when they moved to Daklak Province in 1978?’

‘At the beginning of their settlement in the so-called new economic zone, life was just like hell. There was all bush around the area they were first settled, they had to work bloody hard day and night. The family worked as a team to overcome the obstacles. Although they lived in poverty, however my mate and his wife insisted that their children had to go to school. Since they did not have the money to buy bicycle to go to school, their children had to walk 7-10 kilometres to school. Both the parents and the children had a very strong will and determination to survive. They did not have enough food to eat. Rice was considered as a luxury for them. They had to cook rice mixed with sweet potatoes, corn, taro, sweet potato leave etc. There was no fish or meat on the dining table for a long time.’

‘Mr. Chairman, it seems to me that they had a very tough life at the beginning.’

‘Hoang Oanh, you are not wrong. In the first few years of their settlement in the area, the authorities were harassing the ex-army non-commissioned officers and those serving in the previous army and my good mate were one of them. The authorities always kept an eye on them. However after a few years, the authorities had a soften policy towards these people.’

‘Mr. Chairman, did their life improve afterwards?’

‘Yes, life has gradually improved quite bit. Thanks to the good management and guidance of my mate and his wife with the good cooperation of their children. Their life has gradually improved slowly and steadily. At the beginning, they started growing coffee in a small plantation and later they planted coffee in a larger scale and they hired local people to work for them. Since they were able to make some profit, they started having meat, fish on the dining table. Rice mixed with sweet potatoes, corn and taro disappeared from their dining table.’

‘Mr. Chairman, what kind of accommodation did they have when they were first settled?’

‘Hoang Oanh, they lived in a simple timber house with the bamboo posts as the support posts, the roofs were made of straws and they collected the tree branches used to do the cooking.’

‘Mr. Chairman, do you think that you and your family could survive under such harsh condition like they faced at their beginning of their new life in Central Highland?’

‘I doubt very much. First of all, I don’t think that my family and I have had the guts. Besides my physical health is a major concern. I have to say that I greatly admire their strong will and determination when they first came to a completely different harsh environment to begin a new life in the bush.’

‘Mr. Chairman, did you go to their coffee plantation to understand their life in this regional remote area?’

‘Yes, I did go to their coffee plantation to have a better understanding of their life in the bush and I had some photos taken for memory too.’

‘Mr. Chairman, since the plantation is already there, do you think you can come here to work as a farmer planting coffee just as they have been doing for the past 35 years.’

‘I am afraid that I am not fit and I am also not born to do this type of work. It is just too hard for me.’

‘Mr. Chairman, what else do you have to say about the family?’

‘Hoang Oanh, believe or not. My mate’s grandchildren are either in high school or university students and some of them have finished university. My mate’s children all have good career and making contribution to the society. Talking about their accommodation, they lived in shabbily simple house and they gradually upgraded their houses and now they have quite beautiful big brick house. Their hard work and great efforts have contributed to their success. I have to give them a ‘thumb’s up’.

‘Mr. Chairman, I almost forgot to ask you. Did you receive a big welcome from the big family?’

‘Hoang Oanh, I did receive a very big welcome from every member of the family. I am extremely impressed by the very warm reception, which I will never forget in my whole life. My mate’s children told me that I am considered as their father. When they see me, it is just like they see their father. Good parents produce good children and good grandchildren.’ 

Oh, what a good bunch of good children and grandchildren my good mate and his wife have produced!

‘Mr. Chairman, if opportunity allowed, would you come here for another visit?’

‘Hoang Oanh, that is for sure especially to see such a good bunch of nice fabulous guys in Daklak province. It has been nice to talk with you.’

‘Mr. Chairman, it is my great pleasure.’

Oh, what a spectacular magnificent feeling, Daklak Province, Vietnam!

From Daklak Province, Vietnam, it has been Chairman of Country Cottage reporting.

Written by Ken Hua

Wednesday, 21^st November 2012

Revised 30^th April 2015

‘AUTHOR’S OLD GOOD BUDDY’S SECOND SON BESIDES HIS DAD’S CEMETERY, VIETNAM.’

‘AUTHOR & HIS OLD GOOD BUDDY’S CHILDREN TOURING DAKLAC PROVINCE, VIETNAM.’

‘SUDDENLY, MY DEAR OLD BUDDY, YOU ARE GONE!’

‘SUDDENLY, MY DEAR OLD BUDDY, YOU HAVE GONE!’

(1,135 words) Written by Ken Hua 07-09-11

Revised 18^th December 2015

Author’s note: Today, Thursday, 23 September 2021 is one of the happy days at Weeroona Village for our Chairman of Country Cottage because today he finally could get a hold of the family of his dear old buddy, Phan Danh after haven’t kept in touch with each other. Author promised to keep in touch with his family as soon as he is discharged from the nursing home. To celebrate this occasion, he would like to post the above writing for readers’ viewing pleasure. Thank you.

Yesterday, I could see your nice smile and hear sweet voice,

But today I could no longer see your nice smile and hear your sweet voice any more.

As I logged in the Internet yesterday morning,

The ‘Sad news’ columnfrom the second son of my dear old buddy in Vietnam came to my attention.

Saying that ‘Phan Danh’ the father, grandfather had passed away 05-09-11.

As soon as I read the bad news, I could not control myself but burst into tears.

All of a sudden, my dear old buddy, you have gone forever.

I can feel the sadness, loneliness deep inside my broken heart.

Then my thoughts were with him.

I recollected the very first time we met together,

He was the non-commissioned officer in the South Vietnamese army and

I was in a Naval Force working as an interpreter

In our hometown – Danang, the second largest city in South Vietnam and that was 38 years ago.

As the saying goes: ’Honesty pays to belong.’

Since we were genuine down to earth people,

Our ‘friendship’ had nourished steadily since we met.

In 1973, I was discharged from the naval forces,

While he still remained in the South Vietnamese forces.

In the middle of 1973, some of my friends and I established a wholesale grocer business.

I remember one afternoon you dropped into my company just to say ‘Hi’

And we were talking about the progress of my company business.

You interrupted me and asked me whether he could be part of the company.

I told him that ‘you are welcome on board whenever you are ready!’

Two days later he armed himself with stacks of notes and told me.

‘Thank you very much’ to accept me as part of your company.

I did not expect this to happen so quickly and I was shocked.

I asked him: ‘Are you sure you can trust me with this large sum of money?’

‘Of course, mate, I trust you from the very first time I met you.’

I told him that with more money invested into my company,

Hopefully the company would perform better under my limited management.

There were four partners in the company and since I invested more money in the company, I was nominated to lead the team.

The company had been doing quite well since it was established.

However the situation in the frontline was deteriorating and people in the rear were confused and sad.

As more and more bad news continued to throw in and more and more territory was lost to the enemy,

The Vietnamese people realized that we were losing the war.

Indeed we were going to lose the war.

Early 1975, the Communists in the North combined with their counterparts, the Viet Cong in the South launched an all out attacks in South Vietnam

In the meantime the Allied Forces were gradually withdrawing from the country.

Within a couple of months, the Communists claimed ‘Victory’and the map of ‘South Vietnam’ no longer existed as of 29^th April 1975.

It was an extremely ‘sad ending’for the Vietnamese people.

Since the Vietnamese Communists took over, there was no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion and democracy.

As a result, hundreds and thousands of people had risked their lives by traveling by boats to seek freedom in western countries.

Since my family had not worked in the farm, so we were just hanging loose in the city to see what will be our next steps.

While my good old buddy and his family decided to move to the so-called new economic zones for plantation

Not long after the Communists took over South Vietnam.

My dear old buddy and his family did not think they would survive in the big city like Danang.

You and your family had not worked in the farm before.

However there was no choice, so your family and you had to take the challenge by moving

To the very remote area of ‘Daklac’province in Central Vietnam to begin a very tough bloody life by growing coffee

Your family and you had to start from the very bottom.

It was yours and your wife’s plus your children’s consistent endeavours that overcome all the obstacles confronted your family.

For the first five years, your family, you and your young children had to work bloody hard to have ends met.

With God’s blessings, you and your family had slowly built up the infrastructure and gradually life had been improving.

I remember quite well that in the mid 90’s, I received an urgent letter from you

Indicating that one of your children got seriously hurt and asked me for help.

Unfortunately I had financial difficulty at that time and I declined your request.

As a matter of fact, I should have got a loan to help you in that particular difficult time.

As I am writing this poem, I still greatly and deeply regret that I had not done enough to help you at that time.

And now I always regret…

My dear old buddy, could you please forgive my neglect and ignorance?

I also regret that I could not plan a trip to visit ‘Vietnam’– my birthplace earlier due to various reasons.

One of the main reasons of my visit to Vietnam was to pay a special visit to see a special friend like you and your family since I left the country nearly 32 years ago.

And suddenly you have gone…gone forever…

I will plan a trip to Vietnam some time next year,

One of the main reasons is to see a special friend like you and your family.

Since we were growing older, perhaps it might be our last time to see each other.

However your sudden departure had shattered my dreams of seeing you again.  And I could only see you in the dreams.   

Good Bye, my dear friend! Although you have gone…

However you are always in my heart!

May God bless you!

Written by Ken Hua 07-09-11

Revised 18^th December 2015

‘AUTHOR BESIDES HIS OLD GOOD BUDDY’S CEMETERY.’