Disabled soldier becomes billionaire from stone carving

Disabled soldiers get rich from stones

Born in 1937 in Liem Can commune (Thanh Liem, Ha Nam), orphaned at a young age, at the age of 12, Mr. Nguyen Canh Hung went to Hanoi to make a living and was forced by the French to work as a laborer before peace was restored.

In 1959, he joined the army and fought in the Southern battlefield. During the 1968 Mau Than campaign, he was seriously injured, losing his left leg and a finger, becoming a 2/4 disabled veteran with a disability rate of 61%.

After being discharged from the army, he returned to work at the Nam Ha Food Company. After retirement, he continued to work in many different jobs but still struggled to raise 6 children. He said this pain tormented him more than the wounds on his body when the weather changed.

Peaceful moments, old age of war invalid Nguyen Canh Hung.  

During the years of hard work, memories of Truong Son nature planted a bold idea in Mr. Hung's heart. Back then, amidst bombs and bullets, he took the opportunity to collect beautiful stones and orchid baskets hanging on trenches or carrying them in his backpack. Nature became a peaceful place in the midst of war, he believed that when life got better, people would seek out elegant hobbies. From then on, the path to getting rich with stones and ornamental plants began to open up for him.

When he first started his career, the war invalid with a prosthetic foot and a missing finger quietly rode his old bike, crossing bumpy roads to the Kim Bang mountain area (Ha Nam), tirelessly searching for each stone slab and each tree stump. In the 90s of the last century, his idea of ​​getting rich from ornamental rocks was considered “crazy”.

Memories of the falls and difficult moments are still deeply imprinted in Mr. Hung's mind. He recalled: "Once on a ferry, the road was slippery, my health was weak, I lost my balance, and my whole body, my bike, and the rocks I was carrying fell onto the bank. Before I could regain my composure, when I tried to stand up, I staggered again, and my whole body and bike plunged into the cold river in the middle of the late afternoon of the year."

Another time, while cycling to the market to sell ornamental plants, a strong headwind blew, causing the bike chain to slip and he fell onto the road. The fall was so hard that his prosthetic leg flew off. He tried to get up but was exhausted, so he had to sit helplessly for nearly an hour before someone passed by to help pick it up and put the prosthetic leg back on.

“There were times when I burst into tears. But then I told myself, in the past, I did not give up amid the rain of bombs and bullets, so I cannot give up now. I think about my comrades, about the years of fighting to gain more strength to continue,” Mr. Hung confided.

In his diary entries recording the time when he left footprints all over the mountains and forests from Ha Nam, Hoa Binh to Thanh Hoa, he wrote: “In the forest, hearing the birds singing “cat-co-tie-cot”, I thought that it was the birds’ voice encouraging me to “overcome difficulties”. The birds’ voice urged me, with both my good and fake legs, to climb high mountains, overcome each rocky outcrop to bring back rocks, orchid pots, and driftwood trees that I liked.”

His wife Hoang Thi Khang proudly said: "Back then, my husband walked with will and iron determination, not with his feet anymore."

 

All the mountain shapes and tree shapes were created by Mr. Hung's rich imagination and skillful hands .

After bringing back the rocks and trees, the disabled soldier Nguyen Canh Hung diligently studied each mountain shape and tree position to breathe life into each work. According to Mr. Hung, even a beautiful block of rock needs to be arranged harmoniously to have soul. He added that the artistic value of a rockery is not only due to the combination of rocks and trees but also requires a delicate layout.

Because he is the founder of the profession in the region, Mr. Hung created all the mountain shapes and tree shapes himself. His inspiration can come from the landscape of his homeland, from the shapes of the clouds passing by that he saw, or from memories of the Truong Son mountains where he fought (like Nhi Son, Tam Son, Ngu Hanh Son, Phu Tu...). He said that each stone and each tree in his rockery work carries the appearance of nature and the story of his youth on the battlefield.

Thanks to his meticulousness and ability to "breathe life into stone", his name quickly spread far and wide. In 1999, he became the first person in Vietnam to export rockery to the world, bringing dozens of containers of rockery to Hong Kong, Taiwan (China); Germany, South Korea; Australia... bringing in tens of billions of VND in revenue each year. From a 2/4 class disabled veteran with nothing, he overcame his circumstances to become the "ancestor" of the rockery crafting profession in a low-lying rural area of ​​Ha Nam province.

"The heart still beats to build life"

When he had success, Mr. Hung did not forget his fellow countrymen, his comrades and comrades in arms. He expanded his business, taught many families of veterans, and helped them get rich in their homeland. After a quick calculation, he said that there must have been more than 100 families in the area who had learned his trade.

 

Every year, he spends hundreds of millions of dong to support the education promotion fund, help flood victims, and victims of Agent Orange. He also spends hundreds of bonsai trees and rockery pools to restore martyrs' cemeteries and build memorials worth billions of dong.

At the age of nearly 90, enjoying his old age, but only 2 years ago, he was still the Chairman of the Ha Nam Ornamental Plants Association; Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Ornamental Plants Association. Before that, he also held positions such as Member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ha Nam province and Member of the Executive Committee of the Ha Nam Province Education Promotion Association.

In his small living room, there are dozens of certificates of merit from the central to local levels hanging on both walls. In particular, in May 2006, he was honored to receive the Third Class Labor Medal from the State and the title of National Emulation Fighter, along with the certificate of merit for "Disabled soldier overcoming difficulties to do good business" from the Prime Minister. He lived and devoted himself to the same way as the poem that his comrade-in-arms gave him in the past: "Although the legs are lost, the arms remain/ The heart still beats, still building life".

 

Mr. Hung's certificates and medals are hung on both walls of the living room.

Mr. Pham Van Do, Chairman of the People's Committee of Liem Can Commune, said: “As someone who is closely associated with the locality, I have had the opportunity to witness the great contributions of Mr. Nguyen Canh Hung throughout his career. He is not only a pioneer in economic development but also always willing to join hands in building new rural areas, supporting education promotion movements, and helping many families in difficult circumstances. Mr. Hung is a gentle, dedicated person and always puts responsibility to the community first. With such contributions, every year when considering awards, we always propose that he be honored appropriately."

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Huan, Secretary of the Youth Union of Liem Can commune, is also one of the people who continued the profession of carving ornamental stones from Mr. Hung. “I really admire Mr. Hung's determination and enthusiasm. He not only overcame his circumstances to become rich in his hometown, but also helped many people have jobs, contributing to the development of the craft village. Mr. Hung also always guides and guides our young generation to elevate the traditional profession. I learned many valuable things from him, from honesty, straightforwardness to the spirit of dedication. I myself will try to practice and study to contribute to building my hometown more and more prosperous and beautiful," Mr. Huan shared.

Article and photos: PHAM THU

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/cuoc-thi-nhung-tam-guong-binh-di-ma-cao-quy-lan-thu-16/nguoi-thuong-binh-tro-thanh-ty-phu-tu-nghe-da-823887