by NGUYỄN MAI [19.06.1972]
The young author Ngô Thế Vinh lives in a modest house, in the Hòa Hưng suburb. It has a difficult to locate street address -- not because it has many sub numbers -- but because the first number in the address belongs to a house that does not lead to a side street.
It is at that difficult-to-locate house that Ngô Thế Vinh greets me by the side of a small desk, on which the writing instruments consist of nothing else but a portable typewriter (problaby his faithful companion during his travel all over the tri-border region, during the cross-border into Cambodia, and who knows where else —considering that he is a physician attached to the Airborne Ranger Group) a piece of pencil, and a large cup still showing coffee dregs at the bottom. To be honest, when the editor-in-chief gave me Ngô Thế Vinh’s address, I imagined meeting him at a doctor’s office or at least a living room in a luxurious house. The “super artist” atmosphere in which we meet, fortunately, helps set the tone for an open and intimate exchange.
Assuredly, prior to the New Year of the Rat, while still going on an operation for the defense of Kontum, the author Medical Doctor Ngô Thế Vinh did not leave his unit to go to Saigon to accept the 1971 National Literary Award for his book The Green Belt. After the Tết, as he was being transferred to Saigon to go abroad for professional training, he received a warrant to appear before the court for the article “The Battle of Saigon” that appeared on the issue No. 34 of the magazine Trình Bầy. The charge read: “[the article is] harmful to public order and detrimental to the discipline, fighting spirit of the armed forces.”
On the 18th of May, at the Saigon Trial Court, Mr. Nguyễn Huân Trình presiding judge found him guilty as charged and ordered him to pay a fine (suspended) of $VN 100,000, and an honorary $VN 1 to the Ministry of the Interior. Ngô Thế Vinh appealed, and the case was sent to the Court of Appeals. Even though the trial took place in the midst of fierce fighting, the press (civilian as well as military) and public opinion unanimously voiced their support for the author who showed such clear commitment to and solid understanding of the mission of a writer during this difficult period of history.
We feel honored to conduct this interview with author Ngô Thế Vinh, the first in a series of interviews to appear regularly in the coming issues of Chính Văn.
NgM — Can you share with us something about your life?
NTV — I was born in 1941…
NgM — Was it on the first of April?
NTV — How can you tell?
NgM — I read your bio in Trần Phong Giao’s book “Từ điển các Tác giả Hiện đại/Review of Contemporary Authors”.
NTV — If so, Trần Phong Giao / TPG must have included more extensive and precise details in it.
NgM — Well, according to TPG you were born on April 1st 1941 in Thanh Hóa. After high school you attended the Saigon Medical School. You were quite prolific while serving as the General Secretary of the Journal Tình Thương, the mouthpiece of the Medical School students (1963 — 66) *. You graduated in 1968, volunteered to join the Airborne Ranger Group, served as the chief physician of the 81st Airborne Ranger Group. At the present time you are working at a hospital in Thủ Đức.
NTV — Shrugged his shoulder and showed a fleeting smile on his lips.
NgM — Still according to TPG, your published works include 4 novels: Mây bão, Bóng đêm, Gió mùa and Vòng Đai Xanh/ The Green Belt. The first three were pubished by Sông Mã during the consecutive years of 1963-64-65. In regard to the fourth one, can you please tell us why it was published by Thái Độ Publishing House (1970) instead and also why you did not have anything published during the period from 1966 to 1969?
NTV — Actually, from 1966 *, after the issue No. 30, the Journal Tình Thương was suspended by the War Cabinet. I no longer had to take care of it so had more time to write. However, please note that from 1968, I served with the Airborne Ranger Group and was quite busy going on operations. Because of my frequent absence from Saigon, I had to rely on the assistance of my friends for the publication of The Green Belt. Foremost, Thế Nguyên, the publisher of Trình Bầy Magazine. After him, Thế Uyên “actively fought” the Sở Phối hợp Nghệ thuật/ Office for Art Coordination, with the support of the friendly press. At the end, as you can see, the The Green Belt was published by Thái Độ, in the Văn nghệ Xám Collection.
NgM — As a result, unlike the three previous ones, the book you spent the most time writing did not have anything to do with the publisher bearing the name Sông Mã, the heroic river of our history?
NTV — A sad smile on his face and a vague gesture in the air
NgM — Can you let us know if there is any change in your thoughts, philosophy between your first book and the TGB?
NTV — Not at all. From Mây Bão (1963) to Vòng Đai Xanh / The Green Belt(1971) there was only one unchanged body of thoughts. But, there are noticeable changes in the setting and mood from one novel to the other.
NgM —What feelings or emotions has TGB invoked in you from the moment you started writing to the time you were awarded the National Literary Award of 1971?
NTV — While still in the staff of Tình Thương (63-66) *, as a young student reporter, I had the opportunity to travel extensively. One of the events that affected me deeply was the bloodshed and conflict between the ethnic Vietnamese and Montagnards in the Highlands. At the time I did not have any way to write for newspapers so I decided to work on a book instead. The draft of TGB took shape followed by many interruptions over the period of 65-70 due to two obsessions: the first one is about the theme and the second the inability to expand on the theme. By that, I mean censorship. Even though I had to exert much self control writing TGB, to the point of deleting pages of my own writing, censorship had put my writing to a halt for some time. However, the Ministry of Information eventually relented thanks to the significant pressure coming from the press at the time. As far as the 1971 National Literary Award is concerned, in my view, the fact that TGB was chosen -- besides the literary considerations -- carried the merit of shining the spotlight on the common concern for the future of the Highlands – the Promised Land. Unfortunately, things did not turn out that way. I would like to remind us of a “phenomenon” pertaining to censorship: Even with the green light from the Sở Phối hợp Nghệ thuật/Office of Art Coordination, there was a risk that TGB would undergo a second phase of “coordination”. I found out about it from Thế Uyên when he informed me that he was ordered by the Ministry of Information to delete an excerpt from TGB in his new textbook.
NgM — In Bách Khoa issue No. 370, you stated that you had to remove almost half the number of the pages you have written. Can you give us a general idea of what you wrote in them. And do you intend to rewrite them at an opportune time?
NTV —I have to confess that I extremely regret the cutting out of those pages resulting in an impoverished content of the final text. It is a case of self-censorship in order for TGB to see early publication. The removed pages could be considered classified documents — a kind of Highland Papers, pertaining to the surrounding events that were taking place in the Highlands. For instance, the case of the French instigation for the creation of an autonomous Highland prior to their departure in 1954, the contact and direct intervention of the newly arrived Americans, the longterm recruitment of the ethnic minorities by Hanoi with organized trips called “Tuần Du / Observation Tour” for them to visit the North, the establishment of the Trung tâm Huấn luyện ở Gia Lâm/ Training Center at Gia Lâm to train high level cadres for the Mặt trận Tây nguyên Tự trị/ Tây Nguyên Autonomous Movement. And we also have to take into consideration the simplification of the “too real” but at the same time ruthless details of the events in the convoluted politics of the Highlands. To this day, the circumstances have not improved enough for me to revisit the issue. Furthermore, the way I see it, the issue of the Highlands only represprents a minor aspect in the large picture of the Vietnam War. Currently, I have other concerns about the next chapters of my book “The Battle of Saigon”.
NgM — What were your thoughts and impressions when you stood before the court on 5-18-1972 to answer the charges against your long article “The Battle of Saigon”?
NTV — I no longer had the feeling of being offended like when I learned for the first time that I was being charged. It was also the third time I appeared before the court. On the day of 5-18-72, many other cases involving the press were tried. Including the case of “Tiêu Lang là ai?” before the Supreme Court. It occurred to me then that I was being forced to participate in a “Game of Democracy” in which there was no room for dialogues, for the voicing of individual “beliefs.”
NgM — In the Airborne Ranger Group, besides the issue of the Montagnards you raised in TGB, do you have anything else you wish to mention?
NTV — The Airborne Ranger Group is a special unit in the Armed Forces. It was set up to deal with a type of “unconventional war” whose main area of operations was in the Highlands. In fact, the issue of the Montagnards represents an important topic in TGB. There are however many others that revolve around it. I mean to talk about “a war within a war” that vitally reflects a tragic state in the interaction between the Vietnamese and Americans. Nowadays, the Airborne Ranger Group remains an unit of the Vietnamese Armed Forces, even when the U.S. “Green Berets” have left. Naturally, before and after their departure, there exist many issues that need to be addressed. Especially, the impacts of a particular phase in the war called Vietnamization.
NgM — It looks as if not many of your articles have been published in the magazines, periodicals of Saigon. On this occasion, would you like to share with us your opinions about the state of our nation’s literature since 1971 until now?
NTV — Considering the present objective circumsctances, I do not see the likelihood for them to be accepted by the press. Therefore, I am concentrating all my efforts on writing a book and have it published whenever the opportunity arises.
As for your question about our country’s literature, I also think about the literature in the North that I know very little about.
With the ample facilities of our National Library, I can envision the necessity of establishing a Library for the North. I hope to talk more about this in the future. As far as the South is concerned, our literature over the last years seems to reflect rather faithfully the conflicting conditions that exist in today’s society: it ranges from a literature dealing with the leisurely lifestyle of a certain sector in society to the bloody scenes of a raging conflict. I always believe when this storm dies down it will be followed by a period of crystallization. Then we will see great works of literature making their appearance – the true representatives of Vietnam’s contemporary literature.
NgM — You have appealed to the Appeal Court. Can you let us in on how you plan to plead your case?
NTV — Just like with the Trial Court, before the Court of Appeals, my statement if any, would not be a plea but rather simply a public acknowledgement of my responsibility as the author of “The Battle of Saigon”. When I decide to appear before the court, my attitude is that of acceptance of whatever may come my way. I do not give much thought to the verdict and any consequences I may encounter from the military of which I am a member. We are dealing here with an infringement on the freedom to write of an author. I do not intend to be sentenced in absentia. In any case, we need to have faith in an enlightened legal system of Vietnam in its resolve to safeguard the fundamental rights of the people – and for a writer it means the right for free expression. It also depends on the integrity and unanimity of all writers.
NgM — In the coming days, you will, most certainly, write about your concerns as well as aspirations for the future of the country?
NTV — Having experienced the events first hand and compare them with what I read in the foreign press, I do not give much credence to the works of those international “experts”. The people who understand the problems of Vietnam best are the Vietnamese themselves. I think that, in the eye of the Vietnamese writers, the future and hope of our country are not limited to give them a voice but also to attempt to understand them.
I had once expressed my wish to be able one day to write a light and romantic novel. That day has not come yet. As an author, I myself am living under the threat of being caught and crushed by the system itself.
NgM — What would be your most short-term plan?
NTV — If my professional life allowed, I wish I can find time to finish a book I’m in the process of writing by the end of the year. It is a novel that “The Battle of Saigon” only occupies a chapter.
NgM — Would you like to say something else to the readers?
NTV — No. I have said everything I need to with my books.
“With my books”. Sadly enough, the things he wishes to convey to his readers the most, he has to cut them out from his books “with his own hands (...) like sabotaging his own works in order to see them in print...” (Bách Khoa No. 370). I wonder what the readers are able to get from the books Ngô Thế Vinh wrote for them? That question lingers on with me after we bid goodbye with a firm handshake, a “certain smile”, a certain something like regret, sadness I inadvertently caught in his bright, clear, and intelligent eyes.
NGUYỄN MAI
(19-6-1972)
* The Tình Thương Journal last date of publication was in 1967 not 1966 as stated by the author of the interview
