ThoNhon/Danang Visit Afterthought
Together with my brother’s family joining an Asia tour last April, my wife and I also had a chance to stop by Danang and revisit Tho-Nhon school after being away for many years. With delight to pen a few words, I would like to express our sincere thanks to all Danang friends for the warm welcome and hospitality during our Tho-Nhon campus visit, and for the dinner at a local restaurant. Below is a summarized afterthought of our Danang/Tho-Nhon trip.
As we entered Tho-Nhon school’s main building, I positioned myself at the center of the old-day school auditorium and indulged my vision to sweep through the surroundings with mixed emotions---while exuberantly meeting some old friends, I winced at the sight of the school facilities. Within seconds, my mind was uncontrollably filled with reminiscence of the old days.
With my back facing the main gate entrance to the auditorium, I recalled the space in front of me, where various religious statues now standing erect, used to be the school administration office, lined with an array of teaching staff’s desks, on which were items like a tea cup, a bamboo stick, red pens, textbooks and stacks of students’ homework/exercise books. Behind me to the left was a room used to be the school library with a large-sized bell hanging high up on the corner wall. The sound of the bell made by swinging the bell-pull, usually two clapper strikes, signaled the start or end of the class session. In the early school days, recess was set for ten minutes at fifty-minute class lesson intervals. Students would rush back to their assigned seats, and teachers would drop their tea cup on their desks and proceed to walk toward the classrooms when the bell ring was heard. Fifty minutes later, the same bell ring would excite the students, and out they went, but not before the teacher, out of discipline and respect, to buy snacks or to play.
Scanning around I noticed most of the rooms along the surrounding walls in the pagoda building today are used as classrooms just like 40-50 years ago, while smaller rooms in the old days were occupied as lodging by some teaching staff, whom I still remember by name. In fact, as you know, the building was originally a pagoda, converted to Tho-nhon school in the 1950s, then reverted to pagoda in the early 1970s when Danang’s Chinese community leaders, at their economic prime time, decided to remodel the pagoda anew, bringing the religious statues back, along with building multiple three-story classroom buildings and a two-story dorm for teaching staff on the large campus. Back then, the school’s grandeur and outlooks were impressively elegant, greatly admired by the local populace. Since the school’s inception, the affluent Chinese generously provided subsidy to fund school operations for the sole standard Chinese language high school in Danang year after year for decades.
Today circumstances have changed--- Tho-Nhon is now circumscribed to have only a few allocated classrooms for Chinese language teaching within the main pagoda building, barely adequately furnished with children’s chairs/desks. The main building is half pagoda half school. The classrooms appeared in need of upgrade, in almost similar conditions like those in the late 1950s, despite great efforts by the new generation Chinese to keep them from further ruin. Their continued efforts should be praised for sustaining Tho-Nhon as a center offering Chinese language teaching to little children through evening and weekend classes. It was particularly touching, and I was filled with admiration, to learn that these folks are predominantly alumni/alumnae of our Alma Mater, some of them are actually my old classmates. As though adding to my delight, an old classmate of mine was teaching little children in the evening class at the time of our second visit. As I walked by the classroom, I saw a Chinese proverb on the black board which literally said, “If there is a will, an iron bar can be filed down to a needle.” I chuckled a little thinking perhaps forty some years ago, both he and I were sitting in the same classroom location learning the meaning of that expression in Chinese. How amusing! My friend Minh called a recess and came out to greet me whole-heartily.
In the following evening’s meeting on campus with members of the Tho-Nhon alumni association, we were told that the teaching staff and the Chinese community in Danang are currently devising a plan to remodel the classrooms and upgrade facilities to make them comparable with a standard school. I video recorded their presentation and posted on this website for alumni/alumnae elsewhere to view. Successful execution of the project will require financial support which will need to come collectively from the local Chinese and all alumni/alumnae now scattered in all corners on the globe.
In sharp contrast with the less encouraging outlooks at Tho-Nhon, it was cheerful for me to find that the city of Danang now so modernized with new buildings and greatly innovated by city planning, changed so much beyond my recognition. All streets are now so unfamiliar, even the whole neighborhood I used to live in has been totally demolished and reconstructed with new buildings. I was a bit disappointed, yet amazed, for not being able to find a trace of landmark that looked familiar in the area. So true is the saying: "You can never go home again." Believe it or not, I was told that the city had settled all beggars and homeless in a zone outside the city boundary, and a reward of 200,000 VN Dong is offered to anyone reporting such individuals found in the streets. I did not stay there long enough to have a chance to become a potential reward recipient (just kidding!), but the city looked relatively clean and I felt safe walking around town day or night, without having to watch out for strangers extending their hand begging.
On the even brighter side, never will I forget my favorite My-Khe beach rendezvous, now accessible from "Hang" market via a newly constructed suspension bridge, nick name mini-San Francisco Golden Gate bridge, within a 20-minute car ride. The beach, aka China beach, is as always truly a perfect place to swim, with its crystal clear and optimal temperature water. It is indeed a beach with almost zero pollution. Neither will I forget miles long stretch of soft, dazzling white sand under the sun that serves as a playground for adults as well as children. What an ideal resort for tourists to relax and enjoy, and for the local folks to escape the stress from daily hard work as the crowd usually gathers around five AM before sunrise and six PM at twilight!
Weather wise, however, Danang, at the time of our visit, was uncomfortably humid but not unbearable. Although raised in that region, I find my body already well adapted to the dry air environment. Our vacation trip is filled with pleasant memories, but we are glad to be back to the reality, living in California.
Sean Ly (李林祥)
已經有很多年了, 我終於有機會於今年初春和兄嫂以及內人, 一行四人參加中國雲南旅遊。之後,順道去越南北部和中部並且重遊蜆港與樹人中學。在此, 我要感謝所有蜆港朋友在我們到訪時的熱情招待以及就當地設宴的盛情。以下是我對探訪蜆港和樹人的一些觀後感。
我一進到樹人學校舊日大禮堂中心, 帶著複難的情緒放眼四周一看 ------- 除了倍感興奮遇見一些老朋友之外, 看到學校內的設施倒使我不勝唏噓。不出片刻, 一幕幕的往事隨既在我腦海裡無法控制地泛起。
背向著大門進入禮堂, 面對的是擺放著供拜神明的地方, 這正是學校教務處的前身。還記得昔日時, 裡面擺了很多張老師們的辦公桌, 桌上有杯子, 膝條, 紅筆, 教課書, 以及學生們的課業本子。我的左後方如今是空房子, 但前身卻是圖書館。館外牆壁上掛了一個大吊鐘。鐘聲是提示學生們的上下課時間, 是由工友拉動繩子敲響兩下。以前上課的時間是每隔五十分鐘就有十分鐘休息時間。只要鐘聲一響, 學生們就得趕緊回到座位上課; 老師們則放下茶杯, 走出教務處, 前往課室執教。五十分鐘過後, 鐘聲再啟時, 學生們則興高采列的蜂湧而出, 或買零食、或聚朋玩耍，不過仍要守規矩的隨侍在老師身後才出教室, 以示尊敬。
再四周一看, 沿著牆壁的隔間, 與四、五十年前一樣, 大多是教室。以前小的房間是專供給老師居住的宿舍，而這些老師們的名字我到現在還記得。這棟建築物以前是一座廟, 1950年代時改為樹人學校。1970年初期, 一些蜆港經商有成的僑領們將它又改回廟宇, 移回所有的神像。與此同時, 並加蓋了三棟三層樓的課室以及一棟兩層樓老師們居住的宿舍。當時學校規模之宏大, 一時成為當地人朝聖的地標。自從學校擴建以來, 一連好幾十年, 每年都由慷慨熱心的僑領們捐款贊助以支持校方的龐大支出。
然而今已非昔比, 樹人如今只靠著大禮堂內寥寥的幾個隔間來充作夜間或周末上中文課室之用。這個大禮堂如今又是廟、又是中文學校。儘管當地新一代的華人, 努力的維持不誏學校繼續損壞下去, 但這些教室需要裝修改進。這些華僑同胞們的辛苦, 功不可沒！要支撐樹人得以繼續下去, 成為一個可以培養下一代於夜間或周末學中文的教育環境, 著實不易。他們的執著教我肅然起敬。這裡面不泛是樹人的校友們, 有些更是我們班上的老同學！我們第二次再回去樹人時, 卻巧遇上我的初中同學正在給孩子們上夜課。悄然靠近他的課室時, 見到黑板上寫著斗大的幾個字「鐵杵磨成針」。我會心一笑, 曾幾何時, 大約40多年前吧, 就在同一個課室裡, 他與我同坐在一起聽老師講解這句成語的意思, 真是不可思議！太玄了！我的老同學誏他的學生們暫行先下課, 欣喜的趕著出來跟我握手打哈哈。
第二天, 我們有參與樹人校友會會員們在校內開的研考會。得知蜆港僑社以及樹人校友們正在醞釀著一項要重修像樣且正規一點的課室籌劃。我有碌下當時開會的情況, 並貼在本刊網站上供各地校友們傳閱。這項籌劃的實現與執行還需靠當地華僑以及全世界校友們經濟上的大力鼎助！
相對於樹人的日漸凋落, 我發覺到迅速改變和繁榮的蜆港。高樓大廈屹起市內, 差點都認不出來。所有的街道變陌生, 甚至連自已以前住過的整個住宅區都被夷為平地,代之而起的是很多新房屋。我又失望又驚訝於自已竟然找不出任何一點熟悉的地標來。老外有句話說得好﹕「你再也回不到故鄉」(故是舊的、已經全然變更的意思)。信不信由你, 据當地人說,他們的市政府將所有市內無家可歸或乞丐全數安頓在蜆港市區之外一處集中營。並設立每次二十萬越幣獎金給任何一位通風報信給政府搜尋遊民者。可惜我逗留不夠久，所以錯過拿獎金的機會(說笑而已！)。但是我親身體驗到這個城市的乾淨與安全,起碼於晚間上街閒逛，也不怕突然有陌生人會伸手討錢。
更值得開心的事是我心愛的「美溪」海灘, 現在可直接從市中心的露天「Hang」市場經由新蓋又名「小舊金山金門橋」的吊橋直通海灘大道, 前後只需要不到二十分鐘的車程。這個沙灘實在是一個完美的游泳好去處 ------ 水質清晰, 溫度適當, 幾乎零污染。教人難忘的是那綿綿幾公里長的細柔白沙灘,在陽光照熙下,成為了老少咸宜的遊樂場所。對觀光遊客來說,倒也是個非常好的休閒景點。而這裡更是當地居民每天工作前後舒解壓力的好地方。人潮最高峰的時間分別是在清晨的五點多鐘以及傍晚的六點鐘。
氣候方面來講, 蜆港相當潮溼,但尚可容忍。雖然我是在那兒長大,但我的體質已然適應了加州乾燥涼爽的氣候。這次假期快樂回憶圓滿結束,一切還是得面對現實回到加州來生活。
譯者﹕李新蒂(李林祥的太太)
