Reliving past memories

Recently, we had the pleasure of meeting again with Ms. Chinh and Mr. Nam, who had worked at Da Nang Radio and Television Station since its early days, on the occasion of their visit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Da Nang Radio and Television Station. For us, this was a reunion after several decades since they moved south, and we were happy to see old friends again and pleased to see them healthy in their seventies.

Some photos of colleagues from the generation of Uncle Nam and Aunt Chinh. Archival photos.

Back then, the villa on Le Thanh Ton Street was repurposed as a housing complex for Da Nang Radio Station, allocated to four families: our three families and the family of Ms. Chinh and Mr. Nam. Each house was probably less than 30 square ^meters , but it was a memorable gathering place in the days following national reunification. Ms. Chinh and Mr. Nam were locals, while our parents had moved from Hanoi . Each family had its own circumstances, but they all shared one thing in common: someone worked in journalism for the city. Fifty years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Oddly enough, journalists and poets after 1975 shared similar housing styles. Journalists clustered in houses on Le Thanh Ton Street, while writers and poets shared a villa on Ba Dinh Street. Even stranger, to this day, these residences remain inhabited by the same people, unwavering in their presence. The only change is that everyone has aged considerably.

We grew up in that shared space. Four families, Aunt Chinh and Uncle Nam in the inner room. Back then, almost every family raised livestock except for Aunt Chinh's, perhaps because she was the youngest and grew up in the South, so she didn't have the happiness of "a pink egg every day." As we grew older, we felt that Uncle and Aunt were a beautiful and kind couple. Uncle Nam was very kind; in 1973, after graduating from the Polytechnic University ( Phu Tho ), he was assigned to work at the An Hai broadcasting station, "the 7.2-hectare area."

At that meeting, I learned that, during a historic moment for the city, Uncle Nam was the one who directly handed over the broadcasting station keys to the revolution, and together with the technical staff, he produced the first broadcast with the voices of Uncles Minh Luan and Anh Trang: "This is the voice of the Military Governing Committee of Da Nang City, broadcasting from Da Nang City." As for Aunt Chinh, in 1976, after passing the selection rounds of the station, she was hired as a broadcaster. The standard was "Quang Nam accent, but not too heavy" so that everyone could hear. A man from the South and a woman from the Central region found love and stayed together until they grew old.

When I invited them to dinner, I asked her what she remembered from the mornings when she said, "This is Da Nang Radio Station." She recalled the feeling of excitement and pride when the station's leadership assigned her the task of providing live commentary alongside Mr. Minh Luan at the 10th anniversary celebration and parade of the liberation of Quang Nam - Da Nang province on March 29, 1985, at Chi Lang Stadium. She was enthusiastic, expressive, and… received praise from the officers.

She recounted how, back then, every time she received praise, she was happy for days. The praise and criticism were specific and served as a real source of motivation for each employee. And Uncle Nam was very kind; in over ten years living together in the communal house, she never saw him offend anyone, and he was always smiling. Living together, we were only slightly older than each other, so we were very close. The best part was going over to each other's houses to eat. The sliced ​​mackerel, with finely minced onions folded back together, was fried in fragrant peanut oil by Ms. Chinh's skillful hands. That style of fried mackerel seemed unique to the South; we, as manual laborers, found it strange and our mouths watered with admiration. Those bowls of rice from the subsidy era, for some reason, tasted as delicious as the triangular peanut candy my mother bought every time she went to the market.

Among the various forms of journalism, is radio less popular now? I remember the old saying, "One person speaks, a thousand people listen," but now it might be the opposite: a thousand people speaking for one person. A phone is all you need; you can read, listen, and watch live almost all events, no matter where they happen. Technology changes, forms of journalism change, methods of production and reading change, but only the sentiment of remembering each other remains unchanged. Few of the people from Ms. Chinh's and Mr. Nam's generation are left, but I still vividly remember those times when the whole family eagerly awaited "A Story Per Week" on Da Nang Radio Station years ago.
Meeting Ms. Chinh and Mr. Nam again felt like reliving our own memories.

NHAN DAN

Source: https://baodanang.vn/channel/5433/202504/gap-lai-ky-niem-chinh-minh-4003530/