The Tien River doesn't stand still, because it understands that flowing is the way to live. And when the river moves, the land also changes.
THE TIEN RIVER - A HISTORICAL RIVER, A MARK OF A LAND AWAKENING
From the Cambodian border, the Tien River flows through Thuong Phuoc, Hong Nguy, Cao Lanh, Cai Be, Cho Gao, and then opens its mouth to flow into the East Sea. This journey is over two hundred kilometers long, but it's not measured solely by its length, but by the layers of alluvial soil representing history, culture, people, and aspirations.
The Tien River not only carries water, but also the historical flow of the Southern region, where the first migrants followed Nguyen Huu Canh to reclaim and develop the land, where ancient villages, floating markets, and an entire riverine civilization were formed.
Each stretch of the river is a chapter in history, with years of bustling trade and seasons of floods filled with hardship and love.
"The Tien River doesn't stand still, because the river understands that flowing is the way to live. And when the river moves, the land also changes." |
That river once witnessed farmers sowing rice during the flood season, heard the calls of ferrymen on moonlit nights, and reflected the images of bustling floating markets.
Today, the river is witnessing another "transformation" as Dong Thap and Tien Giang provinces merge, opening up a new space for development with multiple layers of value.
Like a river connecting two banks, a new province also needs a flow of thought that links the past, present, and future.
THE RIVER OF ECONOMY - WHERE THE FLOW IS NOT JUST WATER, BUT VALUE
The Tien River has long been one of the lifebloods of the Mekong Delta. Along its banks are rice paddies, orchards, fish ponds, traditional craft villages, floating markets, boat docks, industrial zones, and even new urban areas that are gradually taking shape.
However, if we only see the Tien River as a transportation route or agricultural land, we are still only seeing the "surface of the water." Beneath that surface lies an entire economic landscape undergoing restructuring.
From agriculture focused on output to agriculture focused on value. From raw production to refined processing. From selling agricultural products to selling stories, experiences, and trust.
The Tien River has the potential to become a smart economic corridor, where goods, data, technology, and tourism merge, creating a multi-valued development zone where rice paddies remain green and fish continue to swim, but also where there are clean processing plants, eco-tourism areas, logistics centers, and people with a global mindset who still retain their rural roots.
THE RIVER OF CULTURE - WHERE MEMORIES MERG WITH THE FUTURE
Each stretch of river is a page of memory. In Hong Ngu, there are riverside landings and call-and-response folk songs.
In Sa Dec, there are villages where flowers bloom, filling the air with fragrance every spring. In Cai Be and Cho Gao, there are floating markets where people exchange goods and smiles. But culture is not just for preservation, but also for development.
If we can tell the story of the Tien River in the language of the times, through film, tourism, art, and experiential education, then the river is not just a landscape, but a source of creative inspiration.
At that time, culture was not just a legacy of the past, but a soft foundation of the creative economy, helping this land develop sustainably without losing its soul.
THE RIVER OF SOCIETY - WHERE PEOPLE LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER AND SHARE
Along the Tien River, each community, each cooperative, each enterprise is like a "small island." If everyone only cared about their own land, the river would dry up. But when they learn to work together to conserve water, share water resources, preserve forests, and protect the banks, the river will fill up again.
Development cannot be merely about "growth," but about the mutual progress of the community. We cannot allow one side of the river to become wealthy while the other remains impoverished.
We cannot allow businesses to thrive while farmers are left behind. We cannot allow modernization to take place while neglecting the barehanded laborers on the riverbanks.
A sustainable society, like a river, needs smaller branches to spread its lifeblood. Just as the Tien River divides, meandering and winding through villages, so that everyone can "touch the water."
THE RIVER OF THE ENVIRONMENT - A LESSON IN HARMONY WITH NATURE AND ADAPTATION
The Tien River is facing many challenges: low water levels, little alluvial soil, frequent erosion, and severe saltwater intrusion. But in the midst of these adversities, nature still teaches us a lesson: "To survive, you must know how to flow differently."
We need a development mindset that aligns with the laws of nature: not "fighting" water, but "living with water." Not just "building dikes," but "opening pathways for water to flow, for silt to arrive." Not just "doing economic work," but "doing ecological work."
Every riverside factory needs to ask itself: "What do I give back to the river?" Every bridge built across the river needs to ask itself: "Am I connecting joyful banks, or blocking the flow of water?" Development without preserving the environment is like a river losing its source.
THE RIVER OF HUMANITY - WHERE THE DESIRE IS REBORN
If the Tien River is the bloodstream, then the people of the river region are the heartbeat of that river.
They have toiled and struggled, but they always possess a precious quality: adaptability, survival skills, and compassion for one another. People from the riverine region can predict rain by observing the sky, wind by observing the waves, and understand people's hearts. They understand: "Only when the current is strong can one tell the skill of the helmsman."
Today, in the new wave of digital transformation, innovation, and green entrepreneurship, the people of the Tien River region need a new mindset: not just "following" but "thinking differently"; not just "seizing opportunities" but "creating the future"; not just "going with the flow" but "knowing how to guide the flow".
WHEN RIVERS AND NEW PROVINCES MOVE TOGETHER
The Tien River continues to flow, and the new Dong Thap is flowing alongside it. A river cannot be separated from its land, just as economic development cannot be separated from culture, people, and the environment.
If the Tien River symbolizes constant movement, then Dong Thap province should be a testament to an even more powerful transformation, shifting from linear thinking to an ecological mindset, from single-sector development to multi-layered value development, from resource exploitation to knowledge liberation. Because a river lives by flowing, and a land grows by knowing how to move.
Let the Tien River, a river of history, flow not only through the land, but also through the will, aspirations, and actions of the new people of Dong Thap, where every drop of water carries within it the energy of change, where every person becomes a small stream in the great river of the future.
LE MINH HOAN
Source: https://baodongthap.vn/dong-song-luon-chuyen-dong-a236837.html
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