~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnamese swamp ``market economy'' temple

BAC NINH - The last thing many people across Asia feel is lucky as the region's economic crisis tosses millions back into poverty.

But thousands of Vietnamese are counting their good fortune and flocking to the famous Ba Chua Kho temple near the capital Hanoi to show gratitude for being spared the worst of the misery.
Businessmen in pinstripe suits rub shoulders with pig farmers at the temple, nicknamed the ``market economy shrine'' for its reputation as Vietnam's best site to pray for prosperity.
``Our business has been good and because of this we must remember and give thanks,'' said Nguyen Truong Son, who owns a hotel in Hanoi 30 km (19 miles) away.
The hillside temple was built in the 11th century to honour Ba Chua Kho, who became a heroine for helping fend off Chinese invaders with her masterly organisation of provisions.

GET YOUR DIVINE ADVICE FOR BUSINESS HERE

Many Vietnamese now believe that if they make offerings to Ba Chua Kho at the beginning of each Lunar New Year, known as Tet, she will provide capital and advice to those seeking to start a business or buy property.
Age-old beliefs re-emerging during a decade of market-oriented reforms hold that those blessed with good fortune must return by the lunar year's end to repay their symbolic debt -- partly by burning fake gold bars and $100 bills.
For a communist-ruled country that bans superstition, it's an unusual mix.
With the current Lunar Year due to end on February 15, thousands of people have flocked from across the country to give thanks at the temple on the outskirts of Bac Ninh town.

``My business and that of my friends has been good and expanded and so we come here more often,'' said Pham Lien, 31, who runs a company in Hanoi making aluminium cookware.
As she spoke, people laden with offerings of sticky rice, stuffed roosters, fruit, and of course fake greenbacks and gold bars surged up the steps to the temple grounds.
Inside the temple, devotees bowed to the deity of business. The smell of burning incense filled the air.

MEMORIES OF HARDSHIP LINGER

Vietnamese are no strangers to economic hardship.

Communist-ruled Vietnam is still one of the world's poorest nations and only began to drag incomes off the floor when Hanoi dumped deadening central planning policies in the late 1980s.
Economic growth has slowed in the past 18 months, but the country's closed financial markets have been partly responsible for keeping it from diving into recession, as many of its neighbours have.
Many Vietnamese also remember how bad things were just 10 years ago. The country finally emerged from decades of war to be stalked by the twin dangers of famine and bankruptcy. But not everyone at the temple seeks material success.
``Now that I have a grandchild this year, I pray for him to grow up quickly and have good health, and for the whole family to be safe,'' says 53-year-old Nguyen Canh Sat, a retired government worker.

AGE-OLD TRADITIONS SURVIVE

Dozens of villagers make their living around the temple as calligraphers writing Vietnamese in Chinese-style characters, since Ba Chua Kho is believed to be unable to understand the language's current romanised form.

Nguyen Thai, who wears a long wispy beard like that of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh, has held court as a message writer for 71 years in a small stall en route to the temple.
His father taught him to inscribe messages when he was only eight, and Thai has passed the tradition down to his grandson.
Each day Thai writes up to 40 messages for worshippers.

``People pray for good health, good luck and longevity,'' Thai said as he dipped an old quill pen into an ink jar.
Up from the temple on the top of the hill is a different shrine, this one to Ho Chi Minh himself, who died in 1969.
A band of ageing veterans of Vietnam's war against the French -- which ended in 1954 -- tend the shrine while also guarding the Ba Chua Kho temple.
``People come from Ho Chi Minh City and foreign countries such as Canada, America, China and Thailand,'' says Nguyen Van Ngu, 74, who joined the Communist revolution before 1945.
``There are more and more people coming here. There are not enough car parks,'' added Ngu, pulling his Russian-style fur hat over his ears to keep out the morning chill.

Reuters - February 04, 1999.