Passenger princess’s shorthand

Rumors have it that once you go to the Mekong Delta you will never want to leave

Dear friends, 

In July 2018, the online version of Tuổi Trẻ Newspaper was suspended for three months, deemed to publish “false information and split national unity”. 

The penalty decision made by the Ministry of Information and Communications stated a reader’s comment under an article titled “Why aren’t there Mekong Delta’s expressways in the development masterplan?” published more than a year before –  in May 2017 –  contained “untrue,” “nationally divisive” content.

Tuổi Trẻ is one of the largest print newspapers in Việt Nam. At its peak in the late 2000s, the publication issued around half a million copies per day, each with a block of blow-in cards which was usually thicker than the newspaper itself. 

The emergence of social media, mostly Facebook, contributed to the downtrend of print newspaper circulation in the country at the beginning of the 2010s. The three-month suspension, undoubtedly, delivered a hard slap into the newsroom income which had relied heavily on advertisements. 

I remembered some acquaintances – reporters and editors of Tuổi Trẻ – going out on streets to sell print copies while the online version was blacked out as an act of solidarity with their newsroom rather than bringing in any revenue. 

A year later, for the first time in my life, I went to the Mekong Delta as a pro-bono trainer for an international conservation organization and got a chance to experience what were called national highways there. 

It took forever to ride from Cần Thơ Airport to U Minh Thượng National Park in Kiên Giang Province on two-laned, bumpy roads. I then understood why it was so frustrating to see the status quo of local infrastructure. One who has ever driven on modern inter-provincial roads and expressways in northern and central Việt Nam can easily share the sentiment, especially when the Mekong Delta has been long considered the country’s rice bowl and most prosperous agricultural region. 

In mid-July, 6 years after the suspension, Tuổi Trẻ again published an extensive feature titled “1,200km of expressways for the Mekong Delta: when will it be?”. The article reviewed Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s pledge of constructing 6 expressways connecting 13 provinces of the delta with each other and with HCM City – the country’s economy spearhead – from 2021 to 2030 with a vision to 2050. 

I traveled to Cần Thơ and Đồng Tháp this week with some friends. It was a spontaneous trip, indeed, since the initial idea was inspired by the Journey to the West but we were all short on time and budget. Therefore, the trip ended up in two localities in the delta (as it is regarded as “miền Tây Nam Bộ” (the southwest region) or “miền Tây” (the west region), for short, in Vietnamese) instead of India as it should have been.

We passed by two impressive bridges, Cần Thơ and Mỹ Thuận 2, on our way to exit Cần Thơ – the delta’s capital – and process to Đồng Tháp – a province famous for lotus and Tràm Chim National Park. 

Roads connecting the two localities, however, were pretty much the same as those I experienced 5 years ago – two laned and bumpy. 

I found myself starting to wait as well. 

Till next time, 

T.  

A morning at the Cái Răng Float Market. Trần Hoàng Na – the new bridge in the background – is built using an ODA (official development assistance) loan and opened this year in April. On the left is a barge delivering sand for the Cần Thơ - Cà Mau Expressway project. On the right are my fellow riders singing.

This week’s top picks

A good read on rice cultivation

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/20/climate/rice-farming-climate-change.html

Ur-Fascism

“freedom of speech means freedom from rhetoric”

https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/226/2015/12/Eco-urfascism.pdf