Nghe An story - 'A little sentiment' from Minister Le Minh Hoan sent to beloved Nghe An

"From the folk song of the road to Nghe An

The beauty of my homeland in folk songs.

Pink lotus on the land of Kim Lien, Uncle Ho's hometown. Photo archive

Writing about a land with a thousand-year history like Nghe An is really difficult. Sometimes when visiting Cua Lo, Cua Hoi, finding Nghia Dan, Nam Dan, Do Luong in the past, stopping to look at Hoang Mai, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau in the new days, you can always hear new stories, precious materials about the land, people, landscapes, and culture of Nghe An."The love that makes me love and miss you", please contribute a few lines of feelings about my hometown Nghe An, about Ru Nguoc -"hundred bombs cannot shake the mountain cliff",with"Who dug Lam River so deep?"

Every May, people return to Uncle Ho's hometown, where there are simple, rustic thatched houses associated with the childhood of the father of the nation. Photo: Duc Anh

Once upon a time, when going to school twice a day, was there any Vietnamese student who did not know by heart the folk song:“The road to Nghe An is winding. The green mountains and blue water are like a painting.”? Having Vietnamese lineage, who doesn't want to make a pilgrimage to visit Uncle Ho's hometown - Lang Sen. Nghe An - the land"leaning against the mountain, facing the water"fully converges the terrain features: high mountains, midlands, plains and coast. Nghe An - the land"human"- a part of ancient Hoan Chau, the birthplace of heroic warriors, scholars, and talented poets. Nghe An –"Land of Learning", every time mentioned, often think of the image of those"The Scholar of Nghe An", of mirrors reminding each other"salty ginger spicy salt", determination to overcome difficulties and rise up.

Proverb:“When I go away, I miss my hometown. I miss the morning glory soup, I miss the eggplant with soy sauce.”, is not only a feeling, but also a nostalgia, returning to Nam Dan soy sauce village, enjoying the traditional salty and crunchy taste of pressed eggplant, the sweet and fragrant taste of Thanh Chuong pickled mustard. People from Nghe An grew up in houses, next to simple jars of soy sauce, jars of eggplant, jars of pickled mustard like that, but they forged the courage to confront harsh weather, storms, and foreign invaders. People from Nghe An grew up to the rhythm of hammocks, to lullabies, to folk songs:"I have been through many countrysides, folk songs follow my steps, this afternoon listening to you sing, my heart is filled with emotion".

Lotus pond in Uncle Ho's hometown. Photo: Archive

Is that why Nghe An people accept to go far away? Going far away, going anywhere but in the end"teeth that love and remember"hometown. People from Nghe An go far to know the vast world, to have a vision beyond the space of 16,500 square kilometers, with undulating forests and mountains. People from Nghe An go far to discover new things and make their homeland more and more new. People from Nghe An go far to return, to tell about strange and interesting things outside the land with the largest area in Vietnam. A businessman - farmer from Nam Dan, Nghe An goes all the way to"city of a thousand flowers"Getting rich thanks to will, determination, multi-value integrated farming thinking, towards green agriculture. Many entrepreneurs travel far and wide, to affirm the character of those who always know how to overcome themselves. People from Nghe An go far away to return, to join forces with people in the countryside who are busy with new works, new projects, new programs.

Cam Vinh. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Many people in Nghe An are concerned:"My hometown's agriculture has everything, but looking back and forth, it seems like there's nothing."Is that so? It seems that Nghe An has a lot: human character, cultural identity, indigenous resources, green mountains and blue waters... Many countries, thanks to the human factor, have turned nothing into something, turned disadvantages into advantages, turned the impossible into the possible. There are national symbols originating from traditional products in a village: Korean kimchi, New Zealand kiwi, Japanese Mochi cake... In many remote lands, people also know how to attract tourists from all over the world to come and experience. Many countries preserve and care for historical traditions, turning them into pride for the people. Cultural identity and social community cohesion are considered valuable resources. Nghe An is always rich in cultural capital, social capital with strong identity!

Kim Lien National Special Relic Site - President Ho Chi Minh's hometown. Photo: Nguyen Sach

Sometimes people easily ignore the seemingly simple, small things around them, but if they know how to take care of them with pride and persevere in building them, they will one day turn them into great values. Some people conclude that there is nothing small, it is just that they do not know how to see the hidden value inside. Just oranges alone, Nghe An has a whole line of famous specialty oranges, once"king's offering": Vinh oranges, Quy Hop oranges, Xa Doai oranges… Many people are proud of Nghe An peanuts, which have both an advantage in yield and a rich flavor thanks to the soil, sunlight and experience of generations of farmers, from which they create special types of soy sauce, candy, and OCOP products that are popular near and far.

Agricultural products become specialties because of people. Agricultural products are also produced by people. On the contrary, specialties and agricultural products are gradually decreasing in area and quality because of people. Fragmented production land, separate and spontaneous ways of doing business are the causes leading to immediate and long-term consequences, so that specialties that were once local pride gradually fade away in regret. To resolve these limitations, there is no other way than to reorganize production, cooperate among producers, form farmer organizations, associations, industry alliances, and standardize production processes. The encouraging sign is that Nghe An's agricultural sector is doing these things, pursuing the goal of sustainability.

Pink lotus in Dong Thap homeland. Photo: Dong Thap Information Center

Intellectualizing farmers, improving the capacity of professional social organizations, positioning and connecting markets are clear directions, but they need to be persistent, flexible, suitable to the scale of production, adapting to the trend of agriculture applying science and technology. Multi-value integration thinking must permeate policies and action plans, from leaders to farmers, cooperatives, and enterprises. Land is not only for production, but can also become a resource for agricultural and rural tourism. Ecotourism spots can be created from lotus ponds, water surfaces, rivers, lakes, farms, salt fields, agricultural practice areas... Marine economy is not only about exploitation, but also about aquaculture, algae, molluscs...

The image of a glass of water, either half full or half empty, always evokes contemplation. If we only look at what we don’t have, what we have lost, we will easily sink into negative emotions. On the contrary, if we know how to appreciate the smallest things and look for opportunities, we can completely build and create values ​​that are many times higher. Why not take advantage of everything we have, to confidently achieve things that we don’t have yet?

Temporarily leaving Nghe An, my heart still remembers the parallel sentence:“Sowing seeds in Nghe An to leave his mark. Blooming flowers in Dong Thap to remember his gratitude”. A little sentiment from the people of Dong Thap Sen Hong would like to send to the beloved Nghe An. And there is also a promise about a visit to the western mountainous region of Nghe An, back to the origin of the Lam River."know when to let it dry"!