Four years after becoming a World Cultural Heritage site, Bài Chòi folk singing has taken on a new role in the spiritual life of people in Central Vietnam - expanding the social safety net.
"The participation fee is a condition for Vietnamese citizens aged 15 and above. The contribution rate is 22%. Those not subject to mandatory requirements need to be clearly informed. The fund will provide a pension later, and death benefits will vary depending on the individual... We invite everyone to play Bài Chòi...", the performers shouted, holding bamboo cards and juggling them to the music. A large crowd of spectators joined in.
The Bài Chòi folk singing performance on the 7th day of the Lunar New Year 2021 in the center of Tam Ky City, Quang Nam province, attracted hundreds of viewers. The impromptu songs about daily life were adapted to discuss the contribution levels, participation methods, and benefits of voluntary social insurance. This first performance marked the beginning of a series of events bringing social insurance policies to the people through Bài Chòi – a folk art form combining traditional songs and games from Central Vietnam, recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2017.
A traditional Vietnamese folk performance (Bài Chòi) to encourage participation in voluntary social insurance in Hoi An City. Video : Hong Chieu
Artist Le Cong Danh, 55 years old, recalls receiving a series of documents from the leaders of the Quang Nam Provincial Social Insurance Department at the end of 2020, requesting that the content of the voluntary social insurance policy be transformed into a folk song style. This type of insurance is for self-employed workers and those in the informal sector, offering two benefits: retirement and death.
At that time, Quang Nam province had only over 17,000 people participating in regional insurance. Meanwhile, the whole country had 1.1 million participants after more than 10 years of development, mainly self-employed workers and farmers. Expanding the number of voluntary regional contributors to reach 5% of the working-age population by 2030, as targeted by Central Resolution 28, became a challenge.
The leaders of the Quang Nam Social Insurance agency realized that each night's Bài Chòi performance attracted thousands of viewers, mainly small traders, street vendors, and freelance workers – a potential group for voluntary participation. The decision to promote social security policies through the Bài Chòi festival was immediately made.
In his memory, artisan Cong Danh has been listening to bài chòi (a traditional Vietnamese folk game) since he could remember, when his father and uncles sang it whenever the family gathered, at the beginning of spring, or at village festivals. People from Quang Nam province grow up with the melodies of bài chòi, like lullabies for people in the North, or folk songs for people in the South. "But to translate the content of voluntary social insurance into bài chòi is incredibly difficult. Just reading it makes my head spin," Mr. Danh recounted.
The text is full of information and data about social welfare policies, while the lyrics of the folk songs are simple, like everyday dialogue. The difficulty is doubled when one must rhyme correctly in the seven-syllable, six-line verse style, while also adhering to the content and sequence of the text so that the audience can easily understand the performance or singing.
Without a pre-written outline like in a short play, artist Cong Danh followed the melody, circling each keyword such as "retirement," "22% salary contribution," "government support of 40% of the contribution," and after four nights of almost sleepless practice, he finished the lyrics. The artists from the Quang Nam Cultural Center spent half a month rehearsing. Everyone complained about the difficulty, and at first they hesitated, fearing they would make mistakes in the content.
The performers of Bài Chòi hold bamboo cards inviting people to join in singing Bài Chòi songs. Photo: Thanh Dũng
The journey of expanding the social safety net through the Bài Chòi folk singing tradition to the people of Quang Nam province faced many obstacles due to two peak years of the pandemic, which restricted large gatherings. After the pandemic subsided, vehicles carrying the troupe of artists toured throughout Hoi An, Thang Binh, Dien Ban, Nui Thanh, and Tien Phuoc, areas with a high concentration of potential laborers. The motivation for artists like Cong Danh came from seeing "people surrounding us in circles, not to mention the live streams on social media. Some nights, the performers got so carried away that they forgot their lines, but luckily they were able to remind each other in time."
The evening always included games with small prizes to keep the audience engaged. While the presenters sang on stage, insurance officials mingled with the crowd handing out flyers. A consultation desk was set up on the outermost perimeter to answer questions about insurance policies for those in need.
"Every night we perform Bài Chòi (a traditional Vietnamese folk singing style) to both bring social welfare policies to the people and preserve the songs passed down from our ancestors. Culture must be preserved among the people and appreciated by them," Mr. Danh said. He and the group of artists couldn't count how many people decided to join the social welfare program after hearing the performance, but they believed that persistent effort pays off. Many people took the leaflets home, meaning they cared; otherwise, they would have thrown them away on the spot.
Ms. Do Thi Bich Hoa, Head of the Social Insurance Department of Quang Nam province, said that in 2021, the province saw an increase of over 10,600 people contributing to voluntary social insurance during the pandemic. She acknowledged that it is difficult to determine how many workers entered the system through listening to traditional folk singing, but affirmed that it offers a win-win situation by both developing social security and preserving the culture of Quang Nam people.
The Bài Chòi folk singing festival always attracts a large number of participants. Photo: Thanh Dũng
Besides the traditional folk singing game, Quang Nam province is promoting voluntary social insurance contributions through various methods. Workers can contribute to social insurance monthly by making small daily installments of a few tens of thousands of VND instead of paying it all at once. Boat and cyclo drivers' unions are gradually encouraging members with stable incomes to join the system. Along with the state budget, the province is providing an additional 5-10% subsidy on contributions for voluntary social insurance participants until the end of 2025.
"Regardless of the form of promotion, the benefits and financial conditions are what ultimately determine whether workers participate or not," Ms. Hoa affirmed, expressing the industry's shared concerns after the pandemic, as the wave of job losses and income reductions has become a barrier to expanding participation, while the trend of leaving the system with a one-time payment has increased sharply.
Ms. Hoa explained that voluntary social insurance has two basic benefits: retirement and death benefits. It is very difficult to have all five benefits like in the mandatory sector. If the contribution-benefit principle is followed, the worker's contribution rate could reach 30% instead of the current 22%. Meanwhile, people, with a self-protective mindset, are more interested in health insurance.
"Can I get a free health insurance card?" is always the first question that social insurance officials in Quang Nam receive when encouraging people to participate in the voluntary health insurance program. Knowing that it's not possible, many workers flatly refuse, or hesitate, saying "I need to research more," and then give up. Social insurance officials recognize that adding benefits like free health insurance or granting a health insurance card after paying continuously for 5 years would make the policy more attractive.
"The amended Social Insurance Law, which supplements the one-time maternity allowance of 2 million VND from the state budget, is also a good thing, but it's mostly women who benefit from it. If health insurance were included, then everyone over 15 years old would be entitled to the benefits," she suggested.
Hong Chieu
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