Flags on Thanh Lan Island

Looking at the map, Thanh Lan and Co To are like two eagle wings spreading out over the waves, like two pages of an open book, like a pair of iron fins of a whale in the vast ocean... After more than half an hour by boat from Dragon Bay (Co To), we set foot on Thanh Lan Island, an island about 27km2 wide, with about 1,200 people living. More than 4km by sea from Co To, Thanh Lan is closely connected to Co To in all aspects. Every day, there are ships carrying people and goods from Co To to Thanh Lan and back, mainly every morning bringing cadres, teachers, and workers from the big island to Thanh Lan to work, and in the afternoon bringing them back, creating a rhythmic and very happy lifestyle here.

Members of the Children's Literature Creation Camp of the Vietnam Writers Association visited and worked with Thanh Lan Border Guard Station.

We came to Thanh Lan Island on a literary writing camp for children, so the first destination of the group was Thanh Lan Secondary School, the only small school on the island. We arrived just in time for recess. 114 children gathered in the simple hall of the pretty little school, so it was very crowded. Each student voluntarily took a plastic chair, sat in neat rows as usual without needing to be reminded. They wore many different types of clothes, the special thing was that each shirt was embroidered with a beautiful red flag with a yellow star. The strong, pretty and cheerful appearance of the children conquered us immediately. Their tanned skin, salty from the sea, and their mischievous, childish eyes happily smiled and welcomed us. They rushed to us, writers and poets from far away, with gifts of books and newspapers and small scholarships...

The small school is located in a very remote part of the country, but the students always study all subjects, from the main curriculum to extracurricular activities. And every year the school has students who achieve excellent results at the district level (according to the previous administrative unit) and the provincial level. In a few short hours, we - the literary authors and the students had time to get to know each other, share many things about studying and life, even sit and sing together in the school yard filled with shade and the national flag. In particular, the students had the "initiative" to ask for signatures from the members of the delegation, especially the 9th grade students with the wish: "This is a book of the final year, I ask for the signatures of the uncles and aunts and then I will laminate it and hang it in the study corner as a souvenir". This idea made us extremely moved and every moment sitting in the sunny school yard of Thanh Lan Secondary School was an unforgettable moment...

Thanh Lan Island is an island of seafarers. Thanh Lan wharf is equipped quite modernly, starting a charming curve leading to Van La bridge into the center of the island. On the left of the bridge is a small and pretty temple, where people hold a ceremony to open the sea every year on the 15th day of the first lunar month, starting a year of fishing and boat building... Thanh Lan Island has nearly 300 households, most of the houses are built small but solid, along the roads radiating from the center to the villages and hamlets. Everywhere you can see the familiar images of coastal people: clusters of squid fishing baskets woven with black nets arranged in the walkways; small boats placed in front of the porch to be painted and repaired; then sea products such as shrimp and fish drying under the golden sun of the island sea... And each house, each alley has a red flag with a yellow star, expressing the love for the country and the national pride of each household on the island. The small bay next to the island's administrative center is crowded with small boats taking shelter from the storm, creating a very intimate and familiar scene.

A large part of Thanh Lan Island is primeval forest, with a wild green color, overlapping like a giant shield protecting the islanders. Going through the forest, we came to Thanh Lan Border Guard Station, where soldiers are on duty to prepare for the arrival of Ragasa storm (storm No. 8) which is forecast to make landfall soon. With more than 30 soldiers, Thanh Lan Border Guard Station carries out many tasks, from propaganda, mobilizing the whole population to guard the island, patrolling, guarding at sea, preventing crime... to rescue, search and rescue, protection, and storm prevention. A 20-year-old private showed us the red flag with a yellow star fluttering in the blue sky and said: "The flag flying high shows that the sea is still safe, people going to sea can see this flag and quickly return to the sea.
to avoid the storm".

Walking along the winding coastal road, with one side being forest and the other side being the vast ocean, we visited village 1, Ba Chau lagoon, Hai Quan beach, C76 beach, Vung Tron beach. It was all a fleeting experience, with only enough time to listen to the tour guide’s introduction, write down a few notes, take a few photos…, but the emotions of each of us are still full until today. Because in the minds of writers and poets, there are always images, shapes and colors of a deserted sea, but incredibly clean and beautiful. Except for the concrete road, everything is natural with green forest, white sand, golden sunshine, silver waves… immense, like waves spreading out full of love. We saw on the fishermen’s boats returning from the storm, bright red flags appearing as signals bringing a strong, stable and peaceful connection. We left the island before dusk, carrying with us the silhouettes of bright red flags and the words “I love Thanh Lan” appearing and disappearing with the waves.

Luckily, storm No. 8 did not reach Thanh Lan and Co To, leaving us with a smooth journey to the islands and seas filled with beautiful memories. The flags on Thanh Lan Island are the most beautiful image of the Fatherland's sovereignty , in a place at the forefront of the waves and winds, very far away but shining with pride.

Essays by Tran Thu Hang

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202510/nhung-la-co-tren-dao-thanh-lan-bb53e2f/