My brother and I grew up on the same river, the Nine Dragons.

Texting Kyaw, a Myanmar friend who studied with me in the "Cross-Border Cooperatives" course at Mekong Institute (Thailand), I asked: "What was the name of our group's graduation thesis back then?"

VietNamNet Newspaper organizes the contest "Stories of the Rivers" so that readers can share beautiful stories, memories about rivers, reflect on issues of economic and cultural development along rivers and express wishes, plans, and ideas to promote sustainable development on rivers and for the community. The contest takes place from March 5 to June 30, 2024 in the Tourism section. We would like to respectfully introduce the article "We grew up on the same Nine Dragon River " by author Bung Tran . - "We grew up on the same Nine Dragon River", Kyaw replied. Looking at a branch of water hyacinth emerging from the gentle waves of the "lải" boat - the name of a small boat in the West - just passing by on a small branch of the Hậu River in front of me, I wondered if this Burmese friend whose name means "blessing" had ever seen this branch of water hyacinth on its tireless journey... Every time I return to the land of coconuts for a meeting of the management board of the Ben Tre Future Fund - a tiny social enterprise that a group of brothers from the West set up to contribute a little effort and heart to their poor hometown, I always allow myself to lazily sit and absent-mindedly watch the river, watch the mangrove trees on both sides of the stream, watch the afternoon sun to breathe in the air filled with the smell of alluvium as a way to detoxify the busy worries in Saigon. Looking at the water hyacinth branch floating, I suddenly remembered the ancient philosopher Heraclitus saying "No one bathes twice in the same river", laughing at my own thoughts about whether or not my friends in the Mekong Delta countries have seen the water hyacinth branch going along the river and witnessed many lives and people's fates on its silt-filled path. But one thing I know is that after crossing a dozen more bridges, this water hyacinth branch will flow through the house of two poor students who won national prizes in the Amazon Web Services cloud computing competition: Doan Minh Tuan and Nguyen Nhat Tuong of Dong Khoi College. I remember these two young men had very bright eyes placed on a thin face darkened by the sun and wind. I still remember my feeling of confusion after awarding the scholarships to the students, because at that moment of joy, the concept of "the Mekong Delta is a technological lowland" recorded in the annual economic report of the region conducted by VCCI and Fulbright University, of which I was invited to co-author, suddenly surfaced. Suddenly, I remembered the "Southern Sadness" as the name of a song by Vu Duc Sao Bien, which was drawn by artist Xuan Vinh into the painting "Struggling" on the cover of this economic report. Confused, because even though I am someone who lives according to the United Nations' sustainable development symbol, the "hummingbird" - a small bird that picks up drops of water to save the burning forest without caring whether these efforts actually extinguish the fire - I still feel that my efforts to repay the Mekong River that has nurtured many generations of my family and myself, are still not enough. Therefore, "Stories of Rivers" on VietNamNet is a special occasion for me to continue to do something for my hometown. I looked out at the river, wondering why I didn't jump into the water like when I was a kid? Maybe because I have more wrinkles on my forehead, or because I'm afraid the water is salty, contaminated with pesticides and is no longer the tolerant hometown river that embraces me like it used to be?

Mekong Delta. Photo: Hoang Giam

Kyaw continued to text, awakening memories of the old days when they studied together in Khon Kaen - a border province of Thailand and Laos: "Bung, do you remember when we drew an arc called Million Dollar Front on the Mekong River using Google Earth?" Of course not? The time when everyone dreamed of doing something extraordinary to change the world , like creating an information system between traditional craft villages in five countries Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam so that everyone would know what handicrafts each other was developing. From there, it would avoid international tourists traveling to many countries encountering similar tourism products: scarves, handicrafts from coconut, beeswax, woven products... all similar to each other, people from the upper river sold them, so people from the lower river could no longer make a living. I remember the floating market on Cai Rang River in Can Tho, then Nga Nam Market in Soc Trang where the river branches meet, so famous that the name of this land became Nga Nam Town, and Nga Bay Floating Market in Phung Hiep, Hau Giang. And how many more merchant trips drifting on the water trading on the river surface created a more beautiful cultural feature than a painting? Just imagine, an international cruise along the river, through so many countries, experiencing so many cultures, and living the life of "river people" like our ancestors when they opened up the South, how wonderful would that be. At that time, wouldn't every house facing the river be a facade to dialogue with the world? "Hey, can we do Tiger@Mekong to promote innovation network connections in the region?" Yeah, that time it lasted from Vietnam to Laos and then to Cambodia to experience and connect together, continuing to dream of "We grew up together on the Nine Dragons River". I told Kyaw: "It seems like we didn't meet each other when we went to Myanmar to do the MIST - Mekong Innovative Startup on Tourism competition. That time there were many good tourism initiatives from the land of mist - an English word meaning fog swirling like smoke on the river, like the wordplay of the organizers". After the message, I was a bit absent-minded, because thinking back to every time I participated in the organizing committee of the largest annual economic forum in the Mekong Delta called Mekong Connect, I was confused about the quality of human resources in the tourism sector of my hometown when inviting international guests. "Countryside people only have a heart", but even if the heart of the people of the West is as immense as the Mekong River, without professionalism, it is difficult to integrate into the global tourism system with all the strict standards.

Author Bung Tran and economist Pham Chi Lan at Mekong Connect - The largest annual economic forum in the Mekong Delta

I bragged to Kyaw: "We also did another program called Match - Mekong Agriculture Tech Challenge, bringing 40 agricultural technology companies from around the world to solve agricultural problems in the Mekong region, but it's true that there are still many barriers, so the practicality and implementation level are not as expected..." - "So, is Bung bored?". A boat ran by, drawing long V-shaped water streaks behind it. I told Kyaw: "Your name means good luck, Bung just saw the cosmic signal sending the word Victory - Success, how can I be bored...".

At the scholarship award ceremony for two Ben Tre students who won the cloud computing prize in the re/Start program - enhancing digital capacity of Amazon Web Services globally.

This morning, I went down the river to Soc Trang. There, more than 200 teachers were waiting for me to share about digital transformation ineducation on a weekend morning. Wow, there are so many people going on the weekend. Well, I am like a hummingbird, quietly picking up every drop of water for life, and the dream of the Mekong River connecting the entire lower Mekong River becomes a symbol of world tourism, where every tourist on this earth can explore the magic of this strange and tolerant river, not with mystery, but with the river frontage full of joy, products and humanity.

Bung Tran - Vietnamnet.vn

Total prize value up to 200 million VND

The contest "Stories of the Rivers" organized by VietNamNet newspaper, starting from March 5 to June 30, 2024 in the Tourism section. The organizers encourage the authors to present their works in multimedia form, in which the video clip is from 1 to 3 minutes long, the commentary is in Vietnamese, the number of photos is less than 12 with captions; encouraged entries have a breath of life journalism, have character stories, reflect the problems of people living on the rivers, have an impact and influence on the development of the rivers. Prize structure: 01 First prize worth 50 million VND; 01 Second prize worth 30 million VND; 02 Third prizes each worth 10 million VND. In addition, there are additional prizes awarded by the sponsoring unit. The Organizing Committee will cover the cost of food, accommodation and travel for the First and Second Prize winners living in Vietnam to come to Ho Chi Minh City to receive the prize. In case the group of authors wins the prize, the Organizing Committee will cover the cost for 01 representative of the group to come to Ho Chi Minh City to receive the prize. For more information about the contest rules, please visit the following address: https://vietnamnet.vn/bao-vietnamnet-to-chuc-cuoc-thi-chuyen-cua-nhung-dong-song-2255386.html Source