Sa Ky seaport
In the afternoon, on the shore of Rang beach, Mr. Pham Van Quyen, a person who has been associated with the Cultural Department of Nui Thanh district for many years, welcomed us, who had also worked in cultural work in other districts, towns and cities of Quang Nam. After a long time, we met again, shook hands and greeted each other, many memories flooded back.
Our conversation was constantly interrupted by many people and friends who came to greet Mr. Quyen. And that's okay, people who work in the cultural sector mostly have simple lives, valuing emotions more than other things in life. Moreover, he worked in the cultural sector in the district for a total of 31 years (1984-2015), of which the first 10 years were spent as Head of the Department of Culture - Sports, and 21 years as Vice Chairman in charge of culture and society. Perhaps in our country, there are few cases like that. Working in the cultural sector for a long time with good professional skills and a pure heart, getting to know many people and being loved by many people is not strange.
Nui Thanh is almost a miniature image of Vietnam, meaning it has mountains, rivers, fields, and seas. But this land possesses a characteristic that no other place has, which is its geographical location . It is located in the middle of the country, with National Highway 1A passing through, a railway station (Nui Thanh), a seaport (Ky Ha), and an international airport (Chu Lai). The good news is that over the 40 years (1983-2023) since its establishment, Nui Thanh district has known how to see and thoroughly exploit the unique and special advantages of that location to grow and take off.
Chu Lai International Airport
In fact, recognizing and thoroughly exploiting the unique and special advantages of geographical location for development has existed since the time of the Nguyen Lords, applied in Hoi An. In the book Understanding the People of Quang (Da Nang Publishing House, 2005), writer Nguyen Ngoc made a profound comment: "The merit of the Nguyen Lords 400 years ago was to recognize the location of Quang, to take advantage of and successfully promote the advantages of this land that was not very fertile, making it from an "unknown" land to the most prosperous at that time, not only that, but also becoming the economic lever of the whole country, promoting the history of development with an unprecedented acceleration". Hoi An in the North of the province is now a World Cultural Heritage, then moved to the South of the province, Nui Thanh, to build an Open Economic Zone, all aimed at exploiting the unique and special advantages of a land's location.
When the province was first separated in 1997, Quang Nam was one of the poorest provinces in the country. Now, after only 26 years, it has become one of the few provinces that can balance its budget and contribute to the central government. What made this miraculous change? The answer is that Quang Nam has a deep vision and has successfully exploited its unique geographical location by building the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Nui Thanh. It is known that Truong Hai Automobile Company alone in this Open Economic Zone has contributed over 50% of the budget for Quang Nam province. From the success of this Open Economic Zone, another interesting comment by writer Nguyen Ngoc is: “A poor or rich land is not necessarily a matter of fate, but mainly depends on how people treat it, on how they think, and from there on how people do business in that land…”.
Truong Hai Auto Company in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, Nui Thanh
Considering location more important than resources to open Hoi An trading port 400 years ago and build Chu Lai Open Economic Zone later is a very modern way of thinking, and is essentially the cultural behavior of Quang people towards the land they live on.
Sometimes our conversation was quite rambling but in the end we returned to the topic of culture. And it was understandable, because we “took on the job” since we were young. We wanted to handle the relationship between economy and culture well so that localities could develop sustainably. But in reality, it was not easy. Mr. Quyen gave an example: the Cultural Park in the center of Nui Thanh district is now very spacious and beautiful, a destination for entertainment, relaxation, recreation, and cultural enjoyment for the people in the district, but at first, this issue also encountered many obstacles. Because from the perspective of those who only know how to do business, that is golden land, if sold to real estate businesses, it will bring in a lot of money for the district. We discussed, debated, and argued for a long time before finally deciding to build a cultural park. That is, many cultural works and institutions in the locality sometimes have to squeeze through narrow doors to be born.
We have sat by the sea many times eating seafood, but rarely have we enjoyed it as much as this time at Rang beach. The sea and shore are still pristine with blue water, white sand, golden sunshine, and cool breezes. Sea crabs, squid, snails, especially grilled flying fish are very popular with many people. Mr. Pham Van Quyen and those who were once passionately involved in cultural work are still passionate about the story of how a land can develop strongly while still preserving the natural landscape that the land has bestowed. If in the future a real estate tycoon comes and spends money to build magnificent service projects, blocking people's way to the sea like some other places have done, then this place will no longer have any charm or appeal! We sincerely hope that this will not happen to Rang beach...
NDSN HUYNH HUNG
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