Cam Ranh City Bureau of Culture and Information has been performing many programs to preserve Raglai culture.
Cam Ranh City Bureau of Culture and Information has been performing many programs to preserve Raglai culture.
Gradual oblivion of Raglai culture
In Cam Ranh City, Raglai people live mainly in Cam Thinh Tay Commune (5,038 households); Giai Phong Hamlet, Cam Phuoc Dong Commune (3,197 households); Quang Phuc Hamlet, Cam Thanh Nam (87 households); and Phuc Son Population Group, Cam Phuc Nam Ward (320 households).
As reported by MA Tran Kiem Hoang (Cam Ranh City Bureau of Culture and Information), in the past, Raglai people lived a mostly isolated life. All contacts and exchanges of goods were performed right at their house or at the fields, which were initiated by the other ethnic people (Cham, Kinh). Besides, there have been just around ten scattered households in each Raglai traditional village. These are the reasons the culture of Raglai ethnic group in Khanh Hoa Province has gradually faded into oblivion.
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| Artisans teaching Raglai youths to play “mã la”. |
According to the statistical data, in Cam Ranh, there are now only two Raglai artisans, named Ha Mau Dang in Cam Thinh Tay and Cam Le Vuong in Cam Phuoc Dong, and a few elderly people who know Raglai culture. At present, a majority of Raglai young peole have learned culture of Kinh people and forgotten their own culture.
Many preservation programs
Reportedly, every year, Cam Ranh City often carries out many exchanging programs to recall Raglai traditional culture. In 2014, the city Bureau of Culture and Information organized a class teaching Raglai language, attracting more than 100 people who were mainly teachers and officers working in the field of culture in the localities where many Raglai people live. The three-month class helped the learners to be able to understand Raglai language at the basic level.
After that, with the support from the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the bureau opened three classes teaching “mã la” playing, taught by Raglai artisans. The classes were attended by nearly 100 Raglai people. Besides, in 2015, the bureau held two Raglai folk song classes for the children and youths in Cam Thinh Tay Commune and Cam Phuoc Dong Commune.
Recently, Cam Ranh City Culture - Information Bureau has implemented the scientific project, directed by Nguyen Quoc Bao, about preserving and upholding folk values of Raglai people in Cam Ranh City. In addition, the bureau has carried out other scientific projects about Raglai cultural preservation.
According to Bao, Raglai people play the role as the beneficiary, object and subject of Raglai cultural values in the preservation and upholding of these cultural values. Therefore, there should be effective solutions and methods in order to improve the cultural live of people in the mountainous areas, especially ethnic minorities as well as to preserve the intangible cultural heritages, such as language, religion, festivals, music, folk tale, epic, proverb, folk game and custom, etc. A part from that, the radio and television programs in Raglai language are also needed to be improved.
Van Ky
Translated by H.N
