 |
| Yin
and yang:
The traditional tiled roofs of Hoi An follow the
rule of harmony. — VNS Photo Vuong Quang Huynh |
|
 |
| Path
to peace:
The covered bridge in Hoi An once connected the
town’s Chinese and Japanese quarters, and still
provides a nice spot to relax. — VNS Photo Dao
Tien Dat |
|
 |
| Easy
riders:
Hoi An’s streets are ideal for cyclos. — VNR
Photo |
|
Hoi
An finds that its clean streets are paved with gold
"Our
women agreed to say ‘no’ to all bad habits, including drug
addiction"
by
Phan Tung
It might
seem far-fetched for the authorities in Hoi An to claim that their
tourist town is free from "social evils", but a little
chat with a cyclo driver convinced me that they are telling the
truth.
As he drove
me to Cam Nam to enjoy some local delicacies, Hua Luong promised
me they were right.
"They’re
not exaggerating," he said, after I expressed my doubts about
Hoi An’s purity.
Luong
confided that he had been one of Hoi An’s few notorious figures
in the early 1990s, and had fallen prey to drug traffickers.
"It
took me more than two years of rehabilitation to rid myself of
addiction," he said. "Even if I wanted to relapse, I
would be unable to find a den to sell me any drugs."
The cyclo
driver confessed to me that he had mostly used opium and
marijuana. He said all of the drug pushers had been exposed as
local police spared no efforts to cut off all illicit supplies to
the town.
Luong also
said that the local motto of "all for one and one for
all" was also responsible for giving addicts and dealers
short shrift in Hoi An.
He recalled
an incident seven years ago, when townsfolk became aware that some
school students were addicted to seduxen, a prescription sleeping
pill.
The chief of
Hoi An’s police department, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Bao, told Viet
Nam News that the police were called in and all 26 addicts
were identified.
"After
just one year, we had succeeded in transferring the few hardcore
addicts to the Da Nang centre, while the rest were rehabilitated
in their homes," Hoi An mayor Nguyen Su said.
It is
difficult for the local police to maintain law and order in a town
of 80,000 that welcomes 200,000 visitors each year. They have
taken a firm approach to preventing social evil.
"And
this is what makes Hoi An different," Lt-Col Bao said.
|
From
trading port to tidy town: a chronicle of Hoi An
history
1535
Hoi An first becomes known to the West when
Portuguese navigator Antonio De Faria anchors off
Da Nang and visits Hoi An. He was one of the first
Westerners to write about the port, and under his
guidance Portuguese ships begin to visit Hoi An
regularly.
1560
Japanese traders arrive before the Chinese, and
also leave before them. However, some Japanese set
up long-term residence, and the name Fai Fo,
meaning Japanese town, is born.
1565
China lifts its ban on foreign trade. The Chinese
Emperor, who wants Viet Nam’s silk and
porcelain, authorises trade with Southeast Asian
ports and Chinese traders instantly appear in Hoi
An to set up trade organisations and residences.
However, China maintains its ban on Japanese
ships. Hoi An becomes a source of silk for Japan.
1588
Hoi
An, like many other seaports in the south, falls
into the control of the Nguyen lords, who reopen
foreign trade at Hoi An. Foreigners who want to
trade in Hoi An are required to dock there and
travel around the coast or over the Hai Van Pass
to negotiate with the Nguyen lord in Hue.
1613
Richard Cocks, chief of the newly established
English East India Company in Japan, dispatches
two colleagues to Hoi An on a Japanese junk to
investigate trade.
1618
Christopher Borri joins the newly established Hoi
An Mission.
1624
French missionary Alexander de Rhodes arrives in
Hoi An and continues developing the romanised
Vietnamese script (quoc ngu).
1636
The Dutch establish a trading post in Hoi An under
Abraham Duijker, and their presence remains until
1741. The Dutch bring heavy weapons, their own
delicate glassware and Japanese copper, which
could be made into weapons.
1637
Japan’s Tokugawa Shogunate restricts Japanese
trade with China. Business in Hoi An is badly
affected as a result. About 50 Japanese traders
remain in Hoi An and Hue after the ban.
1683
China ends its "closed door" policy
towards Japan. Chinese textiles and ceramics are
exported worldwide and begin to compete with those
from Viet Nam. Hoi An’s main trade items become
dried foods for consumption in China.
1672
English traders arrive in Hoi An. They are
interested in exchanging silks, sugar, tea, and
porcelain for their woollen cloth.
1742
The French send Pierre Poive to survey the Hoi An
business scene. Two years later, the French
receive permission to set up a warehouse.
1748
Poive returns to Hoi An in an attempt to
monopolise the trade in aromatics, but, French
influence does not take hold in Hoi An for another
century.
1786
Hoi An burns following conflict between the rising
Tay Son insurrection army and the reigning Nguyen
lords. Hoi An receives only a few Chinese junks
each year and slowly reverts to a traditional
village economy.
1999
The town is entered on the World Heritage
register. — VNS |
|
Hoi An lies
between Da Nang to the north and Tam Ky to the south, and has
become a must-see destination in Viet Nam after it was listed on
the World Heritage register by UNESCO in 1999.
The mayor
said his town had also been chosen by the Ministry of Culture and
Information as a model community where the residents live in
harmony, with stable livelihoods and a clean environment that
leaves no room for social evils to flourish.
"But
it’s easier said than done," mayor Su said.
The local
authorities had worked hard to involve all local residents and
organisations such as the youth and women’s unions involved in
the campaign.
Huynh Thi
Thanh, from Cam Chau village, is one of the many enthusiastic
activists who had volunteered to protect the town’s traditional
culture from the onslaught of modernity and the social evils that
had spread along the central coast.
"Our
women agreed to say ‘no’ to all bad habits, including drug
addiction," Thanh said.
The
women’s union saw prevention as better than cure when it came to
fighting social evils, she said. Union activists visited homes and
talked to locals about the importance of eliminating bad habits
and maintaining the town’s cleanliness and tranquillity.
"Unless
Hoi An protects both its architecture and culture, no visitors
will want to come here."
The town has
found that there is money to be made in cultural tourism. Cyclo
driver Hua Luong, for example, does alright ferrying travellers
around Hoi An.
However, Su
wants to take the campaign further by improving the overall
hospitality and business environment in the town.
"We
need to make all of the small traders aware of appropriate
behaviour, so that no tourists are overcharged or harassed by
hawkers and touts when they visit places of interest," the
mayor said. — VNS
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