Deeply indebted to the delta!

Báo Vĩnh Long•17/04/2023

While working in Ca Mau, I visited a section of the dike in Dam Doi district that has been under construction since 2020, along with my colleagues from Ca Mau Newspaper.

While working in Ca Mau , I went with colleagues from Ca Mau Newspaper to visit a section of dike under construction in Dam Doi district that has been unfinished since 2020.

Traveling and writing have always been a joy and a source of happiness for journalists; for us, along with responsibility, there are also intrinsic urges, a great love whenever we write stories about the Mekong Delta. And it is conveyed through the perspective of someone who is an insider, the perspective of a child whose life is deeply intertwined with this land.

The five-part series "Water Security is Protecting the Life of the Delta!" was undertaken with that mindset, as with many other journalistic topics, but it faced unique difficulties and left many lingering concerns as challenges and unanswered questions remain.

Compared to many of our colleagues in the Mekong Delta, we are somewhat fortunate to always receive encouragement and support from the leadership and Editorial Board of Vinh Long Newspaper to write articles and cover topics that extend beyond the main propaganda mission of the local Party newspaper. Every year, reporters must develop high-quality topics; among them, submitting good works to participate in the "Journalism Award on the Mekong Delta" is always considered one of our top priorities.

From the very first "Journalism Award for Writing about the Mekong Delta," we participated and were fortunate enough to win a high award. Over the seven editions of the award, the team of reporters from Vinh Long Newspaper has always paid special attention to selecting the most meticulously crafted works to submit. This is because it's an opportunity for journalists in the Mekong Delta to exchange ideas and learn from each other, and it's also an important journalism award that motivates and elevates the careers of many writers in the region, including ourselves.

With our entry for the "Journalism Award on the Mekong Delta" this time, perhaps we have set ourselves a somewhat challenging task, because when discussing water security—in this case, the Mekong River water resources—it is necessary to consider both "internal" and "external" risk factors.

However, due to limited resources, the issue could only be temporarily confined to the local area as an immediate necessity. Through field trips across the delta, it was the realities of life and the people encountered that revealed and enlightened me about many issues that I had previously considered all too familiar.

The depth of agricultural and riverine culture is inherent in the rice-farming culture. Photo: NGUYEN HOANG KHA

Each farmer's story is a new lesson learned from old tales, helping us to better understand the depth of the agricultural and riverine culture, which belongs to the rice-farming culture and has been redefined in terms of its dimensions and distinctive attributes within the culture of Southern Vietnam. These aspects may have faded somewhat in the younger generations that follow.

A crucial issue has emerged: without a deep understanding of this land, our love for it can easily become superficial, leading to impulsive and inappropriate actions. Even the way we name and use words to refer to rivers and waterways represents a vast cultural space—from rivers, streams, canals, ditches, estuaries, and tributaries—but worryingly, there are increasingly behaviors, planning, management, and administration that sometimes go against the "cultural flow of the delta's waterways." The flood season in the delta is now simply referred to as the flood season.

Just think, since the time of the Oc Eo culture, through several periods of sea level rise and fall, this region has only experienced flooding—whether freshwater flooding from the Mekong River or saltwater flooding from the sea—but never floods! It's truly heartbreaking that even people in the Mekong Delta are gradually misnaming and misunderstanding the nature of the flood season. Therefore, during the rainy season, the fields are parched, while the cities suffer from perpetual flooding.

Salinity intrusion, once a normal occurrence in the downstream region's hydrological regime, has now become a serious problem, requiring the construction of dikes and sluices everywhere. We should clearly define our mindset and understanding: should this delta adapt to or combat climate change? This is to avoid planning and solutions that are contrary to the natural environment of the entire Mekong River system.

A patch of forest in Ho Gui, Dam Doi district, is in the process of being completely eroded.

Therefore, along with water diplomacy , internal regional issues need to be addressed effectively. This delta was created by water, so it will cease to exist when its water resources are damaged, treated unnaturally, and gradually depleted. This work only aims to contribute a little bit of affection, a small voice like a grain of silt, along with millions of other grains of silt, hoping to enrich the riverbanks of our homeland, which is also the home and lifeblood of more than ten million beloved delta inhabitants.

Producing good journalistic works is first and foremost the responsibility of journalists, a love and gratitude for the land of Southern Vietnam, a debt to each farmer, to each river, to each field; but it is the motivation from the "Journalism Award on the Mekong Delta" that, year after year, has nurtured and elevated the skills of writers from the delta.

• Text and photos: NGOC TRANG

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