Pick up stories of Nghe people abroad

There was a trip to Taiwan that my daughter invited me to “go with her”, so I eagerly arranged to go. My writer friend Pham Duc Long saw that his son was craving for mung bean cakes, so he sent me 2 packs to bring to him. His son is working in Taiwan. The problem is, Mr. Long is from Nghe An, and this son is of course from Nghe An. He just brought his wife to live with him, so there will definitely be another generation of Nghe An people in Taiwan with the last name Pham Quynh Luu.

And when I went to Taiwan, I met many more Nghe people there.

Meeting with Nghe An compatriots in Macau. Photo: Nguyen Nga

Wandering around Taiwan by subway. On the first subway stop, I immediately saw a bench with 4 young men sitting and speaking Nghe. The most bewildered girl was named Chien, who had only been here for 3 months. She took 4 stops on Sunday to visit her brother, and was already on her second term here. Each term is 3 years, and when it's over, she has to go back and redo the paperwork to come back.

Chien said he really likes working overtime because it helps him pay off his debt quickly. He has to send money back to his parents to pay off the loan and then save money.

Chien said she worked for a leather factory, and the others worked for an electrical and electronics company, spending a total of 4-5 thousand dollars. The salary was from 800-1,000 dollars/month, and if they worked overtime, the salary was higher.

I laughed at the word “okay”. Chien said he really liked working overtime because he could quickly pay off his debt. He had to send money back to his parents to pay off the loan to go and then save up. Usually, the first 3 years of going were just enough to eat and pay off the debt, and then he could save up for the next trip. When I asked how the owner treated him, he said it was very good. The owner provided food and lodging in the factory, and sometimes organized separate vacations and group activities for Vietnamese workers.

I also pretended to be knowledgeable about economics, telling Chien that it probably wouldn't take 3 years, because let's say his salary was 800, he would save and spend only 300, and send the remaining 500 back home. With 500 per month, it would only take 10 months to have 5 thousand. He argued: Oh, there's also interest, uncle, and besides... it hasn't been 3 years. I said I was just asking to congratulate the children, but rest assured that I'm not a tax collector, so don't worry.

Nghe An compatriots in Taiwan mobilize donations to help the poor and those with serious illnesses in their hometown. Photo: Pham Hoang

Most of the people who go to Taiwan to work later come back and bring their relatives to work. The four children I met here all have older brothers or sisters who worked there first and then brought them over, and every Sunday they visit each other, cook, then take the train back, sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart. Moreover, now they text each other online for every move, and parents at home also talk and watch live pictures of their children and grandchildren regularly...

The other day I went to Thailand, I was wandering around the Kanchanaburi tourist area when I heard... Nghe An accent. I thought it was a tourist, but it turned out not to be the case. The young men and women working here took advantage of the time when there were no customers to talk to each other in their mother tongue. I was happy to hear that, so I rushed over to talk. They have been working here for several years, their jobs are stable and seem to be progressing well.

It can be said that wherever you go in the world, you will meet Nghe An people. Everyone knows that Nghe An people have a very high spirit of solidarity and mutual support. Wherever you go to do business, you will continue to tell your relatives, then your neighbors, your fellow countrymen, to sponsor each other to come and do business. Wherever you go, do business, as long as you live well, and then send money back home. That is the Nghe style of mutual support.

One of the Nghe Tinh people who has lived abroad the longest that I know is Professor, Doctor, poet Nguyen Huy Hoang.

Mr. Hoang just arrived in Pleiku, we met by phone. I also posted on my page the heartbreaking case of his daughter. She went missing in Sochi at the age of 13, and if she were still alive, she would be over 40 years old. Mr. Hoang has devoted his whole life, since she went missing, to not return home to find and wait for her.

Poet Nguyen Huy Hoang. Photo: Sputnik

Having tried everything, including asking the world-famous prophet Vanga, there was still no news of his niece, and he still patiently waited. His hair had turned white since she went missing, and until now he still could not stop suffering, could not stop yearning to find her, even though the ray of hope seemed to be getting thinner and thinner, but he still believed that one day she would return to find him. And so, the large Nghe community abroad still had the name of the little girl Quynh Nga, daughter of Professor, Doctor, poet Nguyen Huy Hoang.

"The Song of the Homeland River" captures the whole heart, soul, life, blood... of the people of Nghe An. It's like that at home, let alone abroad, far from home.

Poet Le Huy Mau went on a trip to Europe last year. He planned to go for about half a month, but in the end he stayed for several months. Simply because he was the author of the lyrics to "Khuc hat song que", which was passed around like a ball in the Nghe community there.

Almost all Nghe people consider the song "Khuc hat song que" as... a provincial song. More than a provincial song, because if it were just a provincial song, it would only have rational elements, but "Khuc hat song que" captures the whole emotion, soul, whole life, blood... of the people of Nghe. At home it is like that, let alone abroad, far from home. So it has become a unique thing, a thing for Nghe people far from home to express their love for their homeland. A fellow countryman among fellow countrymen, a homeland among homelands, Nghe among Nghe, a kind of fellow countryman, homeland, Nghe condensed, refined, fragrant...

A friendly meeting between poet Le Huy Mau (third from right) and his fellow Nghe An friends in Moscow (Russia). Photo: Vo Hoai Nam

My Van family, over 600 years ago, originated from Hoang Mai, Nghe An. Now the tomb of the great Van ancestor in Mai Hung ward, Hoang Mai town is recognized as a provincial historical relic. When he was still alive, Professor Van Nhu Cuong, one of the most Nghe people, joked with me: Our family has exported many talented people abroad, such as Van Goc, Van Bat Ten, Van Nit To Roi, and so on...

But who knows. Who would have thought that, hundreds of years ago, the Vietnamese Ly family had gone all the way to Korea to have a powerful family lineage like today in the land of Kim Chi?