"Saigon Bao Thuong": Preserving collective memories of a tolerant and affectionate city

On the afternoon of September 20, at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, Saigon Books organized an exchange program with author and journalist Vu Kim Hanh, on the occasion of launching the publication "Sai Gon bao thuong" (Hong Duc Publishing House).

Journalist Vu Kim Hanh (sitting) and Mr. Nguyen Tuan Quynh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Books, who also encouraged journalist Vu Kim Hanh to turn her diary pages into the book "Sai Gon Bao Thuong"

With more than 500 pages of book, journalist Vu Kim Hanh is like a diligent "secretary", carefully recording a special period in history.

That was when the whole world suddenly had to live in the disastrous days of the Covid-19 pandemic. For that reason, Saigon Bao Thuong is like an album that preserves a part of collective memory.

Reading Saigon Bao Thuong , readers will not see any lamentations, will not feel sorrow, but only the patience of memory and the modesty of the narrator.

Through stories and documentary images, the book depicts a city that is tolerant and affectionate as it has always been, especially during the tense and difficult period when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

At the program, journalist Vu Kim Hanh said that the beginning of Saigon Bao Thuong was a long diary, which she wrote regularly every day during the quarantine period.

“At that time, I lived with the kitchen lady. Even though I was in the house, I still had to follow the 5K principle, so I didn’t know who to talk to. For that reason, I chose to write a diary as a way to relieve pain, frustration, and anger. As I say now, it was a way to heal myself,” journalist Vu Kim Hanh said.

Journalist Vu Kim Hanh signs books for readers after the program

According to journalist Vu Kim Hanh, from the diary pages to Saigon Bao Thuong was a long journey of more than 4 years, through many edits from the comments of her son and friends. Even when completing the manuscript, on the last page she still felt the need to add the article Why do my children grow up and I cry?

Not stopping at recounting what happened, Saigon Bao Thuong also asks the question about what should remain in us after the incident: gratitude, self-control, the ability to listen, the courage to give each other a handshake at the right time.

From a slice of life, the book opens up a horizon of contemplation: how can a dynamic city still maintain its soft soul; how can the community's memory not fade amid the rain of news; how can trauma become a humane launching pad for the future.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hau calls Saigon “historical documents of the pandemic era.” According to her, the days of the Covid-19 pandemic will remain in our memories forever, and those memories are not only of great and painful losses but also of a “mourned” Ho Chi Minh City, causing “so much nostalgia” for those who have gone far away, and for those who are still living in this city.

“For me, the book is like a historical work from a social perspective, because it provides authentic information and many other things hidden behind each line,” Dr. Nguyen Thi Hau expressed.

QUYNH YEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/sai-gon-bao-thuong-luu-giu-ky-uc-tap-the-ve-mot-thanh-pho-bao-dung-nghia-tinh-post813944.html