Mr. Loi is cutting bamboo in a garden in Suoi Day commune, Tan Chau district.
LONG-TERM COMMITMENT
Mr. Nguyen Huu Duc (56 years old) said that his family was one of the first to start the bamboo chopstick making business, and then shared the craft with other families in the neighborhood to create a stable source of income.
Mr. Duc recounted that back then, there weren't many jobs available, and every family in the neighborhood planted bamboo around their houses. His parents came up with the idea of making bamboo chopsticks to sell. Initially, the bamboo strips were whittled using a machete with a handle about 30 cm long and a blade 20 cm long, which was very heavy to hold, so his family invented a new whetstone. The first one was made from a metal saw blade, which his father hand-sharpened to create a round, uniform bamboo chopstick.
Later, upon learning that the fabric stalls in the market had thin, sharp blades for cutting fabric, his parents bought them, sharpened them into machetes for whittling chopsticks, and sold them to other chopstick-making households in the neighborhood. Thanks to the small, compact, and sharp machetes, the number of chopsticks whittled each day increased, and they were of better quality than before.
Mr. Duc added that nowadays, people in the neighborhood prefer sharpening blades made from utility knives. The blades made from these two materials are very durable; when they wear out, they bring them to him to have new blades sharpened on the old knife handle. Each knife handle can sharpen four blades. Now, sharpening blades is assisted by machines. Mr. Duc charges 3,000 VND per blade for each customer's sharpening session.
As for Mr. Tran Thanh Trong (49 years old), one of the long-standing bamboo chopstick makers in Truong Phuoc hamlet, he said that he has seen his parents doing this job since he was born. Hearing his parents' stories and seeing that people in the neighboring hamlet were making bamboo chopsticks and earning a good income, he learned the trade and started making them until now.
In those days, every house had a thick clump of bamboo around it. After cutting down all the bamboo for chopsticks, they would go to other villages to buy more. Since Truong Phuoc hamlet began urbanization, roads have been widened, and people have sold off some land and cut down bamboo to build houses, so now there aren't as many houses with thick bamboo as before.
Mr. Duc repurposed the knife he used to sharpen chopsticks to make more kitchen chopsticks.
Nowadays, in areas with ample land, people cultivate bamboo for harvesting shoots, resulting in a much more abundant supply of bamboo for chopsticks than before. Trọng's family mainly buys pre-cut bamboo to make chopsticks. Having been involved in the trade for many years, Trọng can easily distinguish between cultivated bamboo grown for its shoots and naturally grown bamboo.
Naturally grown bamboo, typically without fertilizer or irrigation, develops numerous white spots on its trunk when mature, while the core is darker than bamboo grown for its shoots. When the outer layer is peeled away, the darker core becomes visible, making the chopsticks look very beautiful. The older the bamboo, the more beautiful the chopsticks. If dried sufficiently in the sun, the chopsticks develop a rich color, appearing sturdy and attractive, and are resistant to mold and insect infestation.
Nowadays, in modern life, some neighboring areas use machines to make chopsticks to save time and effort, and the number of chopsticks produced is also greater compared to traditional hand-whipping methods. Mr. Trong said: “Bamboo chopsticks whittled by machine are not as beautiful as those whittled by hand. Because when whittling chopsticks, depending on the age of the bamboo, the craftsman uses more or less force to remove the outer layer of bamboo, so that the underlying layer shows its beauty. With machines, however, they are pre-programmed, and they perform the same operation with the same force on all types of bamboo.”
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A PROFESSION
Although the villagers have been involved in the bamboo chopstick making craft for a long time, it hasn't always provided a substantial income. The craft has also gone through periods where "the chopsticks produced couldn't find buyers," leading many people in Truong Phuoc hamlet to abandon the trade and work in factories and enterprises.
Mr. Nguyen Tan Loi (62 years old), also one of the long-time chopstick makers in the hamlet, said that at the age of 10, he followed his father to cut bamboo for the family to make chopsticks. When he was 21, he got married and started his own business making chopsticks. Back then, people preferred chopsticks with one end dipped in color and decorated with patterns, so each pair of chopsticks had to be painted by an additional artist.
Nowadays, consumers prefer the rustic look and scent of bamboo over the flashy colors of the past, so they often buy large quantities to stock up for family gatherings and parties. As a result, the bamboo chopsticks from his village are sold in markets throughout the province, and have spread to other provinces in the Mekong Delta.
Some traders even bought the chopsticks and resold them to Cambodia. In the 2000s, peaking in 2014, orders for chopsticks were abundant, and buyers and sellers bustled about in the hamlet. The lives of the people improved significantly as a result. The number of households involved in chopstick making in the hamlet grew steadily.
Ms. Thuy gathers the split bamboo strips, bundles them together, and lets customers take them home to whittle into chopsticks.
But in recent years, the bamboo chopstick making profession has become unstable. Many chopsticks are produced, but few are bought. Many traders force down prices, so the income isn't enough to cover the costs. For months, Mr. Loi stopped making chopsticks, but then, missing the craft, he started buying bamboo to make chopsticks again.
He has four children (two sons and two daughters), two of whom have left the bamboo chopstick-making trade to work in factories, one son has switched to buying and selling ironware, leaving only his 40-year-old daughter to continue making chopsticks. After finishing her household chores, she starts splitting bamboo strips for people in the neighborhood to buy, then they whittle the strips into chopsticks, dry them in the sun, and then sell them themselves at the market or find buyers.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Mr. Loi's daughter, said, "Every day I split two thousand chopstick sheets (each thousand sheets is considered 1,000 pairs of chopsticks by the chopstick makers). I sell the regular sheets for 180,000 VND/thousand, and the older ones for 200,000 VND/thousand to people in the neighborhood who buy them to whittle and dry. After drying, they bundle each thousand sheets and sell them for 500,000 to 750,000 VND/thousand. It's just a small profit; the older people here don't know what else to do in their free time."
Mr. Loi, like many families in Truong Phuoc hamlet, is deeply concerned about the precarious income from the bamboo chopstick making profession. He doesn't know if his grandchildren will continue the traditional bamboo chopstick making craft passed down from their ancestors, or if it will disappear forever, with people only hearing about it through stories like, "Back then, Truong Phuoc hamlet also had a village specializing in making bamboo chopsticks..."
Ngoc Giau
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