My childhood
I was born in a poor and sparsely populated village - Go Tre, Go Cong province (GC), 58 km south of the capital Saigon, which was once territory of the Chan Lap dynasty, named Loi Lap, captured by the Lord Nguyen's army in 1757. Although not far from the capital, it took nearly half a day by bus from GC to SG, due to having to cross the Vam Co river by ferry (*1). GC province, a sweet land, in addition to fertile rice fields, Vam Lang beach with abundant seafood, was also famous for cherry orchards laden with small, round red fruits and specialties of fried bean sprouts, unable to find in other places. I grew up in the love and protection of my grandfather, my parents as well as experiencing many great historical events. When I was 1 year old, nearly 1 million people in the North left their homes, villages, crossed the 17th latitude to migrate to the South. A year later, a country named Republic of Vietnam was born under the leadership of President Ngo Dinh Diem.
At that time, my father worked in Saigon. My grandmother had 5 daughters. Grandma passed away early. My mother's sisters got married and settled elsewhere with their husbands, except my Aunt Sau who became a nun since the age of 20 and spent most of her life in a convent in Chau Doc. My mother who was the youngest child, married and gave birth to many children continued to live with my grandfather to take care of him and helping with farming and chores in the fields.
My grandfather's house was about 1 km from the center of GC province. It was about 400m away from the main road. Turned left to GC market, right to Kieng Phuoc village. Villagers often went to the market by walking, cycling, or hitchhiking horse-drawn carriages or three-wheeled lambrettas. There was a large pond near the main road, and a banana, tomato and cucumber garden beside. Surrounded by fields, and a few succulents, on sunny afternoons, the pond water was very warm, and I often went out there swimming. One year, my mother was suddenly about to give birth in the middle of the night. My grandfather ran to a neighbour's house to ask two young men using a hammock to carry my mother to the provincial hospital to give birth. The night was pitch black due to no moonlight nor street lights back then. My grandfather went ahead carrying an oil lamp to guide the way. I was so grateful to the kind and gentle neighbours of my hometown!
From the third grade, I started riding a bicycle to go to school. Upon the death of my grandfather, according to tradition, my mother would have continued to live in the countryside to work in the fields, celebrate Tet and grandparents' death anniversaries, but she left, taking my 4 younger brothers to the capital to live with my father. My aunt Tư and her husband currently living in SG, quit their teaching job, sold their house, took their 9 children back to GC to take on the work of farming, and worshiping ancestors instead.
At that time, I had just entered the seventh grade (grade 6 now) of GC High school. I continued to study here for 3 more years then transferred to Petrus Ky high school in SG, and finished my high school at this school.
So only I and the eldest son of my aunt Tư, named Minh were living there. Minh was studying in grade 12 at GC High school. Usually, after finishing school, he would visit his friend's house near the school to study with him, rarely going home. When going home at the weekend, he had his friends with him staying over. We rarely meet. In my grandfather's house, I played the main role in taking care of the house and garden. Every night I burnt incense to worship my grandfather. The back garden had many fruit trees which were luxuriant in season. Banana, mango, pomelo, globose, plum, guava. One moonlit night, around 11 o'clock, a stranger with a basket climbed up the plum tree next to the house to steal fruits. He was seen clearly from the house. Being alone, so scared, I had to keep quiet as if I didn't know. Filling up the basket, he climbed down, whistled and went home. The other day, in broad daylight, another neighbourhood kid about 15 years old climbed a grapefruit tree to steal pomelos. Unfortunately, brother Minh, who was at home, saw it, tied him to the tree, and let the yellow ants crawling around bite him. He also threatened that if caught stealing fruit again, he would bring him to town, and give him to the police.
Earlier, the back gardens of the villagers' houses were surrounded by tall, old bamboo that grew close together, becoming a natural fence between neighbouring houses, so no one could trespass into the others. Around in 1960, with the rise of the VC, the villagers were forced to cut down those bamboo trees at the further end of their garden, making a path about 1 meter wide so that the insurgents could transit from village to village easily, without having to face the vehicle carrying ARVN soldiers patrolling the big road in front of the house. From then, the path facilitated fruit thieves to act...
Next to my grandfather's house, there was Mr. Ton, about the same age as my cousin, Minh. He was tall and dark, but did not do any study at all. Ton often found nests of yellow ant eggs and mixed them with burning candle wax as bait for fishing perch in the field or in fish ponds of the villagers. I also imitated the fishing process, but the bait was excavated earthworms. Usually, after a fishing session, Ton would bring home a basket full of fish. But I sat fishing all day and could not get one. So bored, I did not follow him to go fishing anymore.
oOo
My neighbourhood in SaiGon was a cheap government-built housing for soldiers and low-level civil servants, with installment payments for many years. The houses were then resold to other people from all walks of life. The original housing had a large open space in the middle of the land, which was intended to be a communal park. In 1965, when the legislation "The plowers have their own fields" was enacted, born a political movement in SG called "Wounded Soldiers Claiming the Right to Live". Within just over a month, this vacant land was occupied and divided. Houses were built up quickly with cheap timber or brick walls covered by palm leaves or fabric on each plot of land. These "illegal" houses were then demolished by the government. Pieces of timbers and bricks were scattering. A few days later, these houses sprang up, and were demolished again! After so many times, the government gave up and left them untouched. When completely built, the houses were sold on. When this noisy "struggle" movement subsided, only a few of those houses were actually occupied by the invalids or their families, the rest by those rather healthy and well off. Planned residences with open and spacious "park benches" become a densely populated area. Everywhere you go, you will see house and ... house. Contrasting with the scene of Sinh Tu street of the poet Tran Dan:
Onwards I walk
no neighbourhood
no house
Only drizzling rain
on a flag red ...!
...
There were many amusing things happening here. Three houses away from mine, were grown 2 plum trees in front of the house. Each during the season was full of fruit, ripe red, sweet, free from insects, grown in heavy clusters of sagging branches. Opposite mine, a boy named Viet Anh, about my age, went to school until the 9th grade then dropped out. He would wander to neighbouring houses chit-chatting and do nothing. The other day, around 11 o'clock at night, the whole neighbourhood had slept, no moon light, only flickering street lights, carrying a bag he climbed up the neighbour's plum tree, picked fruits, and was about to climb down then suddenly the lights inside the house turned on. He quickly climbed down and ran home, leaving his slippers under the plum tree. Early the next morning, someone knocked on his door asking to see the parents. His mother opened the door, the little girl of the house with the plum tree gave her mother a pair of slippers, politely said: "Last night, Mr. Viet Anh stole my plum, when returned home he forgot the slippers, so my mother told me to bring them to give him back". Later, Viet Anh sometimes recalled the old story, snickering: "Man, the people in that house seems to be gentle, but terrible. From now on, I wouldn't dare to steal plums from that house anymore".
But there was something more troubling. At the dead end of the street, there was a petite girl, short curly hair, pretty face, intelligent, and hardworking. In her 9th grade of Mac Dinh Chi School, she received an honorary award for the whole school. With bulky gifts wrapped in red cellophane paper, almost shoulder height, she had to call a cyclo to take her home. When the South lost to the Communist, perhaps disillusioned with studying abroad, she became depressed, dropped out of school, roamed the neighbourhood with atheistic face, and rarely talked to anyone. Once, when I started a conversation, she answered me in English, but unrelated to the question. It was quite contrary to her old lively talk, that her only dream was to get a scholarship to study abroad.
In afternoons, the children of my neighborhood often gathered in front of the road, playing soccer, or kicking a shuttlecock. I often joined them. When first moved to SG, I often wore an old white shirt of the Go Cong High School uniform, with the badge "Go Cong High School" sewn on the pocket, so I was called "Go Cong". Other children also have their nicknames. Long C. Đức Cống. Big Cần was Cần grenade. Small Cần was Cần Tomato (because of his nose as big as a tomato). Viet Anh was Viet Communist. Black Quí. Skinny Trí. Công Police, etc.
Next to my house, the owner has just bought a TV, putting it on a table facing out. In the evening, the children in the neighbourhood would gather outside the house to look in and watch the plays of Tung Lam, La Thoai Tan, Kim Cuong, or those played by Hung Cuong or Thanh Nga. Later, every house bought a TV themselves, so there was no longer this scene.
oOo
Going to SG, entering the 9th grade of Pestrus Ky High School, with about 50 students, I sat at the front desk, the middle row. At that time, every year a few students from other schools were transferred in. Conditions: having excellent academic records. Or outstanding athletic performance. At the same table were Pham Vien Minh, transferred from Phan Thiet, and Nguyen Trung Tien, from Thi Nghe Private School. Tien won the swimming championship in the SG high school competition. Also at the top table, there were Nguyen Trung Tin, Vu Van Vuong, Nguyen Van Ha, Nguyen Tri Dung, and LT. The second row table had Nguyen Van Lanh, Duong Binh Chuong, Tran Van Kim, Le Moc, Nguyen Ngoc An, Nguyen Phu Du. The third row table had Nguyen Nhat Trung, Le Lam Son, Vuong Khai Hoan. Near the last row table were Pham Ngoc Vinh and Nguyen Thanh Danh. Tien and An who had finished the 11th grade, left, and I had never seen them again. In my class, there was a gentle Nguyen The Hoa, who was the class leader, old, and had just obtained a Baccalaureate degree, then joined the army. 6 months later, he was dead. Sad. By the 11th and 12th grade, the class was less full. Some older students would go to private school to skip classes, some went to the army, and some just ran away from home!
After passing the Baccalaureate 2's examination, my classmates scattered everywhere. Some went studying abroad in Colombo program, or privately. Some joined the army, Da Lat or Thu Duc. The rest went to public and private universities in Saigon, either took entrance exams, or just enrolled in (depending on a university's policy).
My friends, each with a different look, shape, personalities, and also differed the family's treatment of their children's friends. Tin was small, smart, cheerful, talkative, talking and breathing at the same time. Wide forehead, thin hair, Vuong looked like a young old man. Ha, short, had a black mole on his chin and a few beards, looked old for his age. Chuong was sick, gentle, stooped. Du artistic, illustrious, loved the harp, and sang folk songs. Son 1.82m tall, long hair, spoke slowly and drew his voice, nicknamed Son melo. Nice harping, good singing, beautiful drawing. Also tall was Danh, drinking with a pale face and raely got drunk, nicknamed "Drunk Leader". Vinh was black like Che Linh, nicknamed Kendu, soft-spoken, smiling slowly. Trung was tall, strong, solid, back straight when walking or sitting, looking like having well practicing martial art. An was taciturn, strong, heavy myopia with thick glasses, did not talk to anyone in class.
The other day, the class had just finished the 50-minute session, at recess, right in front of the classroom, without a word, An suddenly hit LT hard at his face then walked away. Gentle, short haircut-as-always LT raised his hand to caress his cheek, looked sad, astonished but did not attempt to fight back. Everyone felt the act was strange, not knowing what had happened. As the class ended, when An was about to climb on his bicycle going home, two of LT's best friends sitting in the back row seats of the class jumped in and punch An a few times. His glasses dropped on the ground, An staggered but couldn't see to fight back. At that moment, out of nowhere, Trung flew in punching, elbowing at one bloke, swinging his legs up and kicking the other. The pain was so bad, the two ran away. Trung then picked up the glasses from the ground and handed them back to An. But the glass was broken. The next day, and a few days later, at the end of school class, in front of the school's back gate, two of Trung's elder brothers who were studying at the University of Science, sloppy hat on, hiding half of their face were seen waiting there to readily take a fight should the others decide to retaliate. But the other two blokes took a break from school. At the beginning of the following week, everyone went back to school as usual (Perhaps the school knew, called in those involved in the fight to investigate and reconcile). Maybe it's a law of society. Where there is conflict and struggle, progress is born!
On the other hand, Lanh was chubby, energetic, never quarrelled with anyone, and the friendliest. Friends called him Paul. When first joined the class, wary with many new faces, Lanh came to have small talk with me during the class break, I felt more comfortable, and we became good friends.
Lanh's house was a newly built 4-storey villa, in the Tran Quoc Toan alley, about 50m from the main road, just big enough for a family of 15 people and over 10 guests like Uncle Oanh, Uncle Hieu, Uncle Ut Dang, and Auntie Hoảnh ..., everyone was as gentle as "a lump of earth". Tin's house was spacious in the alley of Huynh Man Dat street. Trung's house had 2 floors in the Vuon Chuoi village. Minh's was lined with shiny tiles on the Truong Minh Giang street. At that time, home phones were still limited, cell phones were not available, so every time wanted to meet each other, we had to cycle to each person's house.
Among friends, Minh's mother was the most caring. Seeing you coming, she would call Minh out immediately. Minh was tall and handsome, had a girlfriend the earliest. The girl was in grade 11 at Nguyen Ba Tong school, plump, beautiful, and meek. After the exam, he often went out with his girlfriend, so we rarely met. Afterwards, he volunteered to join the Da Lat Officer Training School, we hardly had the opportunity to meet again.
As for Lanh, especially when touching his head, you could feel the skull bone very hard below smooth curly hair, close to the scalp. Perhaps due to containing a lot of gray matter, the skull was hard and he was very intelligent? Every time went to Lanh's house, I often saw his father sitting majestically in the living room, nearly always red face as if having had a few glasses of wine, with strong Hue's accent saying: "He's gone, he's not at home. ". Whereas seeing sister Huong, Danh or his brother, they would wink and say: "Lanh is upstairs". Sometimes I had to find a small pebble to launch on the terrace. The pebble rolled and the sound of the pile was heard, Lanh would be sticking out, looking down, and running down immediately. All of Lanh' sisters and brothers studied well. Females, attending Gia Long school. Boys, Petrus Ky school. The family had graduated 5 doctors, including 3 sisters and 2 brothers-in-law. What a great family!
I met Lanh, Tin, Trung, Son, Danh, Vinh often. Often met to chat at the roadside's cafe. Occasionally met at Thanh Hai pub, Bui Vien street.
By the second year of college, everyone seemed to have their own girlfriend, and started going out separately.
Since then, the high school friends rarely see each other.
Carefree and innocent childhood is over!!!
LPH
(completed on 11/17/2021)
(*1) Later, thanks to My Loi bridge, the traffic between GC and SG is easier, saving 2 hours via ferry. My Loi Bridge was completed in August, 2015 with a budget of AUD $87.3 million, 2.6 km long, 12 m wide, spanning Vam Co river connecting National Highway 50, Can Duoc district (Long An) and Go Cong town (Tien Giang).
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| Trái Sơ Ri | Bánh Giá |
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| Phà Cầu Nổi (SG - GC) |
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