MIM Notes 35                    Jan 23 1989 

TV Review

TV Discovery Channel Program, "An Phu." (1984?)

By Lotus Blossum

MC5 note: The following article by Lotus Blossum is a response 
to the call to do research on Vietnam, particularly its 
capitalist road since liberation.

An Phu is located in the Mekong Delta. Coop farmers and 
private producers work side-by-side. The land is owned by 
those who farm it. The people are linked to their ancestors 
and to the village. The village produces three rice crops a 
year.

A rice farmer, age 59, is a principal speaker. He was a 
freedom fighter, and the war lasted 30 years (1954), and 
including the fighting against the French.

Five years ago a rice growers' cooperative was founded. There 
was land reform: the land was divided among the people--1,400 
square metres per person. Each farmer looks after his own 
field and makes a contribution to the cooperative. Only about 
30% of the people live under socialism according to the 
program.

There are 400 families in the An Phu Cooperative. In housing, 
some live 10 people to a room. The family ties are strong; 
even grown children who have moved out are still close and 
visit often.

There were so many injustices when the farmer was young that 
he joined the Resistance. The French rule was very unjust. In 
1946 he joined the Liberation Front. He fought the French for 
nine years. In 1956 he returned.

He and his family lived as refugees with a friend. They had to 
build a hut near the house for the birth of their child.

The French came again and the husband was always going and 
coming, fighting or fleeing the French. Five children were 
born in five different places. After the French left, they 
returned to their own village. In 1950 he joined the National 
Liberation Front.

In 1968 his eldest son joined the NLF as a volunteer and was 
subsequently killed.

Next we see a cooperative experimental farm. The coop 
experiments to see which is the best rice and then supplies 
the farmers with seeds of the best kind. The state takes its 
share.

They try to get into high tech farming to improve crops, but 
insecticides are scarce and expensive. [And poisonous--Lotus 
Blossum] They want the high tech farming to produce higher 
profits or more profits. The manager is responsible for what 
kind of rice is grown.

Joining the coop is voluntary and they offer incentives as 
they want more people to join. They want the villagers to 
understand the cooperatives better.

Most rice farming is still done by hand. The buffalo is the 
main tool. High tech is only the beginning. Farmers own the 
water buffalo jointly.

One farmer is shown with his cultivated orchard. He is a 
single owner, a private entrepreneur. He has to buy rice for 
eating but he sells his fruit. He has a wife and three sons. 
The coop built the schools. Two of his sons go to school and 
the youngest to a nursery. He must grow vegetables and help 
the neighbors to get along. As to the future, he will plant 
more fruit trees, repair his house, and build an extension.

This is fertile land and a mild climate. (Mekong Delta). 
People grow garden vegetables and fish for food. Drought and 
floods are a peril.

A wedding procession is shown. The ancestors are buried in 
their fields, but they are now encouraged to use a communal 
cemetery. The spirits of the ancestors affect the families. 
The spirits live in the family household altars after their 
corpse decays in the field burial plots. There are rituals and 
respect for the ancestors--also veneration for Ho Chi Minh.

Those who work for the cooperative are paid in rice. The 
family is allowed to keep any excess rice. Families take 
fruits and vegetables to wholesaler's collectives to sell.

At the end the farmer's wife said that they no longer had to 
fear wars anymore. There was enough food now. A health center 
was shown where a woman went to have her child. It was bleak 
looking but at least a start. [Doubtless better off at home--
Lotus Blossum]