Minh Tuan
Writer Chu Lai had beautiful natural curly hair, and a very beautiful thick mustache, no less beautiful than the mustache and beard of Major General Nguyen Cao Ky, former Prime Minister, former Vice President of the old Saigon Government.
I once asked Chu Lai:
-Is your curly hair natural, or did you go to the hairdresser?
-“How can you go to the hairdresser?-Chu Lai smiled brightly, and strongly objected-I was born with this curly hair. Everyone in my family has this curly hair”.
Chu Lai’s house is in the Military Apartment Complex, Hanoi, located on the left side of Ly Nam De Street, if you go from Cua Nam towards Phan Dinh Phung Street, and is located at the beginning of Ly Nam De Street, near Phan Dinh Phung Street, near the headquarters of the Army Newspaper.
Going from Ly Nam De street, into this Army Village area a short distance, on the right hand side, is Chu Lai’s house, two stories, quite spacious, quite neat, and full of books. Chu Lai’s wife is also in the army, very pretty, plump, white, very gentle, when I visited them, she always smiled and welcomed me like a younger brother in the family.
Going deeper into this Army Village area, is the house of the army colonel writer Le Luu – author of the famous novel Thoi Xa Vang, also from Hung Yen like writer Chu Lai, and the house is also big, spacious, majestic, and very decent, located on the left side of the road.
And right on Ly Nam De street, on the left hand side, is the office building of the Army Newspaper, and Major General Pham Van Huan, former Editor-in-Chief of the Army Newspaper, lives there, and is also from Hung Yen.
Major General Pham Van Huan has been my close friend since we were very young, that is, since we were still new reporters, I was from Dai Doan Ket, he was from Quan Doi-Army newspaper, still naive, innocent, full of dreams, full of ambitions to build a socialist Vietnam that is fair, charitable, working according to ability and enjoying according to need as Mac-Le Nin once said.
These 3 Hung Yen brothers Pham Huan-Chu Lai-Le Luu are indeed famous, strong, and all have quite similar personalities, being strong, cheerful, humorous, and now, there are 3 other Hung Yen brothers who are even more famous, cheerful, stronger, they are General Secretary To Lam, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang, and Head of the Central Inspection Committee Nguyen Duy Ngoc, all from Hung Yen, and all are holding the most powerful positions in our Vietnam.
Hung Yen province today, in 2025-2026, is truly powerful, glorious at its peak, like Bac Ninh province, Ly dynasty 1000 years ago, period 1000-1225, Tran dynasty, Thai Binh-Nam Dinh province, 700 years ago, period 1225-1400, Le dynasty-Thanh Hoa province, 600 years ago, period 1427-1789, Quang Trung-Nguyen Hue dynasty, Binh Dinh province, actually originally Nghe An province, more than 200 years ago, and now Ho Chi Minh dynasty, Nghe An province-today’s communist era, and now, Hung Yen province, also today’s communist era.
If the three brothers To Lam, Duy Ngoc, Tam Quang boldly change the party’s name to Ho Chi Minh party, so that today’s era bears the right name of Ho Chi Minh era, then Hung Yen province will truly be glorious at its peak along with the name of President Ho Chi Minh and Nghe An province.
If these 3 Hung Yen guys only know how to “Wear Resolutions on their heads, Policies on their shoulders, Stand-up sandals on their feet, and shout “progress, progress”, then the 3 of them are just as mediocre as their predecessors like Le Duan, Truong Chinh, Pham Van Dong,,, and will be thrown into the trash can of history by history soon.
Returning to writer Chu Lai, he is the author of many famous novels about special forces-dac cong- during the Vietnam war, such as Sunshine in the Plains, Wind That Doesn’t Blow From the Sea,,,.
I have read these novels because I am crazy about special forces-dac cong- and superb martial arts – so I heard.
And when I met Chu Lai, I kept looking at him curiously, wondering what level of Chu Lai’s martial arts skills were? But I didn’t dare ask him to try performing some special forces martial arts moves for me to see, I just looked and guessed how strong he was.
And yes, just looking at Chu Lai, you can see that he has martial arts qualities, he looks rugged, rough, muscular, has a deep, strong voice, and is always smiling, always joking witty and humorous.
The first time I met writer Chu Lai was when he came to Dai Doan Ket newspaper, talking about Dong Tien commune, Chau Giang district, Hung Yen province, near his hometown.
In Dong Tien commune, there were also a few special forces soldiers-dac cong- who after Vietnam war endded, had been discharged and returned to their hometowns to live and farm, and they had grievances about the new class of tyrants in the Vietnamese countryside, in right their homevillage. They were harassed, exploited, and had their land confiscated by the new tyrants such as the Party Secretary of the commune, the Chairman of the commune, the Chief of the Commune Police, etc. They filed lawsuits everywhere but no one resolved them, and their special forces martial arts-dac cong could not be used, they could only fight the enemy on the battlefield, but could not fight the Party leaders of Dong Tien commune in the rear. So in the end, they asked the writer Chu Lai, their old special forces comrade, because they thought that the writer must have a relationship with a journalist, and asked the writer Chu Lai to talk to a journalist, so that the press could help them, to speak out their grievances to the public.
Writer Chu Lai chose my Dai Doan Ket newspaper, because at that time, Dai Doan Ket newspaper of the Fatherland Front, of Lawyer Nguyen Huu Tho (Former Chairman of the Southern Liberation Front, former Chairman of the Central Front, former Chairman of the National Assembly) was the most prestigious newspaper in Vietnam for speaking frankly, speaking truthfully, speaking constructively, but not writing in a rosy tone, not flattering or sycophantic.
(Indeed, when I settled in Japan and taught Vietnamese at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies since 2001, I was very surprised because in the library of the Vietnamese Department in Tokyo, I saw that they had subscribed my Dai Doan Ket newspaper from Hanoi to Tokyo every week. I was delighted to see that many issues of Dai Doan Ket here had my articles signed by my name Minh Tuan. I asked Mr. Kawaguchi, the Head of the Department, and Mr. Imai, the Vice Head of the Department, why there was Dai Doan Ket newspaper in Tokyo. The two teachers replied that because Dai Doan Ket newspaper is the most prestigious newspaper in Vietnam, they had ordered to buy Dai Doan Ket newspaper for decades now – sent from Hanoi to Tokyo – since after the Liberation of the South, and until now – until around 2010, they stopped ordering it, because at that time, the famous Editors-in-Chief were Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thach, Nguyen Quang Canh, and famous reporters like me – Minh Tuan – I had other pen names such as To phong Investigator, Investigative Reporter Group, Nguyen Van Luat, Tan Xuan,,,- then famous journalist Thai Duy- with pen name Tran Dinh Van, author of the novel Song Nhu Anh, talking about martyr Nguyen Van Troi, then journalist Tran Bao Hung, then Xuan Thu, Lua Moi,,, all retired or quit their jobs. Since then, from around 2010, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies stopped subscribing to Dai Doan Ket newspaper).
Therefore, one day, when I went to Dai Doan Ket newspaper to work as usual, I saw Editor-in-Chief Ngoc Thach calling me to his office on the second floor.
I went into Ngoc Thach’s office, and saw another person sitting there, curly hair, thick mustache, rugged appearance, muscular, dark skin.
Editor-in-Chief Ngoc Thach introduced this as military writer Chu Lai, and invited me to sit down and talk.
I was surprised, because the name Chu Lai is very famous, I already knew, because I had read two of his novels, Sunshine of the Plains, and Wind That Doesn’t Blow From the Sea.
Mr. Ngoc Thach introduced me to Mr. Chu Lai, and said that I was a war correspondent, a battle reporter, that is, a reporter who specializes in writing investigative reports for the newspaper.
Writer Chu Lai was happy, laughed loudly, patted me on the shoulder, and said loudly to me:
-Oh, young reporter, you look very scholarly, but you are a reporter who writes investigative reports. I am Chu Lai, you must have heard my name somewhere.
-Yes, yes, everyone knows Chu Lai’s name-I said happily, and guessed that there was probably something important of today meeting.
Editor-in-Chief Ngoc Thach told me and Mr. Chu Lai:
-Now you two go down to the Readers’ Room downstairs to talk, then Minh Tuan will report back to me briefly how things are going.
So the two of us went down to the first floor, into the Readers’ Room, and talked about Dong Tien Commune, Chau Giang District, Hung Yen Province – then called Hai Hung Province.
The story of writer Chu Lai is summarized as follows:
– In Dong Tien Commune, there was a very arrogant and brutal Party Secretary, he directed the robbery of people’s land, divided it among his family and relatives. Then he also robbed the property of some families who had individual businesses, family jobs. Whoever opposed him, he had them arrested, put in a pesticide warehouse, and detained for a few days. Then he suppressed and cut off all ways of making a living for those who opposed him. Anyone entering the commune, like entering a village in the past, had to present papers, report to the commune police, and get permission, no different from having to present a passport, apply for a visa to enter the village, the image of a free country, liberated on April 30th was no longer there.
Many people in Dong Tien commune have sent their complaints to all levels, from Chau Giang district, to Hai Hung province, to the provincial police, and then to the Central Government, but all were “scary silent”, because all the complaints from Dong Tien commune residents were returned to Dong Tien commune for settlement!!!
The special forces soldiers who were comrades with Mr. Chu Lai, who lived in Dong Tien commune, were very upset, and wanted to give this party secretary a few grenades, but for now, they asked writer Chu Lai to go talk to the press. If the press also ignore, give up, then it would not be too late to use special forces grenades.
I told Mr. Chu Lai that I needed to meet directly with the Dong Tien residents who had filed those complaints, to hear them directly present their grievances and frustrations.
After that, I need to go directly to Dong Tien commune, Chau Giang district, and Hai Hung province, directly conduct the investigation, and directly meet with the levels and sectors in Chau Giang district, in Hai Hung province, directly to the Provincial Police, to hear their opinions, then I can know how to solve the cases in Dong Tien.
Writer Chu Lai agreed, said he had a Honda 67 motorbike, he would take me to Chau Giang district to do the investigation.
Oh, it was wonderful, having writer-special forces soldier Chu Lai with me, doing the investigation reporting, and also to protect myself, what could be better.
I was very excited to prepare for the investigation trip.
A few days later, some people from Dong Tien commune came to Hanoi, came to my Dai Doan Ket newspaper office at 66, Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, to meet me, to present the incident in Dong Tien commune.
They were teacher Nguyen Van Hoc, farmer Nguyen Thi Ky, and a few others. (Mr. Hoc, after the incident in Dong Tien commune was resolved, was elected by the people of Dong Tien commune as the commune chairman).
They brought with them many petitions, and accompanying land records, and presented the same content as writer Chu Lai had told me a few days ago.
I received their petitions and records, and told them to go back to the commune, and wait for me, in a few days I would go back to the commune to meet them in person, and meet the leaders of Dong Tien commune.
But just a few days later, Ms. Ky returned to Dai Doan Ket newspaper, crying and telling me about the tragic accident that killed her husband, which she thought was murder.
Ms. Ky’s story is as follows:
– After the group of Mr. Hoc, Ms. Ky, Ms. Ky’s husband,,, went to Hanoi to meet me – as I said above – and then returned to Dong Tien, one afternoon, Ms. Ky’s child went down to the pond next to her house to bath, and dropped a basin of water into the pond. At that time, Ms. Ky’s husband – whom I had met a few days before at Dai Doan Ket newspaper – dived into the pond to find the basin that had fallen and sunk into the pond.
But this pond was connected to the commune’s common ditch, above this pond there was a water pumping station, to pump water from the pond into the ditch, to lead water to the commune’s fields.
When Ms. Ky’s husband dived into the pond to look for the basin, the water pump operator turned on the circuit breaker for the water pump to run, and the pump sucked him into the water pump nozzle, and he died inside.
Dong Tien commune reported to Chau Giang district and Hai Hung province that this was just an unfortunate accident, but Ms. Ky said that this was an intentional accident.
And Mr. Lai Van Sam, a photographer in Dong Tien commune, also one of the petitioners, also talked about the unfortunate accident – an intentional accident, that happened to his child a few years ago, when his child was riding a bicycle on the village road, was hit by another bicycle, and caused Mr. Sam’s child to die, also reported by the commune as an unfortunate accident, but Mr. Sam said that this was an intentional accident.
After hearing Ms. Ky’s story, I was furious, I felt that I had to take responsibility for this Dong Tien commune incident.
I reported to Editor-in-Chief Ngoc Thach, and asked him to let me go to Dong Tien commune to do the investigation.
Mr. Thach agreed, and when he knew that writer Chu Lai would go with me, he felt very secure.
A few days later, writer Chu Lai rode his Honda 67 motorbike to Dai Doan Ket newspaper, to pick me up for a business trip to Hai Hung, Chau Giang district.
This was the first time in my life that I had ridden a motorbike, and it was a legendary Honda 67 motorbike, a small motorbike imported from Japan to Vietnam, with an engine of only 50 cc, but very strong, very durable, and very easy to repair, the most popular and famous type of motorbike in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Mr. Chu Lai drove very slowly, carefully, at a moderate pace, not too fast, not weaving, not swerving, always calm, like his personality, so I felt very secure sitting behind.
We followed National Highway 5 from Hanoi towards Hai Phong, to Pho Noi, about 30 km from Hanoi, if we went straight for another 20 km, we would reach Hai Duong town, if we went straight further, we would reach Hai Phong, and if we turned right at Pho Noi, we would pass through Dong Tien commune, about 7 km from Pho Noi, and about 20 km further, we would reach Hung Yen town, formerly known as Pho Hien – the first develop is in the Hanoi capital, the second develop is in Pho Hien.
We did not intend to go to Dong Tien commune yet, but went to Chau Giang district first, to work with the District Committee and the District Party Committee first.
The two of us stayed in Chau Giang district for a few days, stayed at the District Party Committee guest house, worked with departments, branches, and leaders of Chau Giang district about the situation in Dong Tien commune.
Now, in 2025, General Secretary To Lam and the Party have abolished the District and County levels, I think it is so right. It is true that the District and County levels are just attics, mezzanines, and extra flesh, completely useless, just a useless intermediate level.
Mr. Chu Lai and I worked with the leaders of Chau Giang district, both the District Party Committee and the District People’s Committee, and some departments and branches of the district, but no one knew anything about the situation in Dong Tien commune, everything was just “good, good”, it was really terrible bureaucracy, and Dong Tien commune was only a few kilometers away from Chau Giang district, but it felt like it was thousands of kilometers away.
Mr. Chu Lai and I left Chau Giang district (now, thanks to General Secretary To Lam’s abolition of the District and County levels, the useless Chau Giang district no longer exists, what a blessing), rode a Honda 67 motorbike to some communes near Dong Tien commune, met some people who knew about the situation in Dong Tien commune, and heard completely different truths from “good, good” from the leaders of Chau Giang district.
While driving his motorbike on the winding village road, Chu Lai prayed: “Dear goddess of bamboo thorns, please don’t puncture my tire, I will drink beer to celebrate the health of the goddess of bamboo thorns”.
Indeed, what we fear most is the small bamboo thorn, if it punctures the motorbike tire, we had to walk for dozens of kilometers, it was too difficult.
But the prayer of writer Chu Lai was very effective, during the whole week when the two brothers of us were wandering on motorbikes in Chau Giang district, the goddess of bamboo thorns spared our lives, did not cause any trouble and did not hit Chu Lai’s motorbike tires, so we returned to Hanoi safely, without having to walk and push the motorbike.
When we arrived at Chu Lai’s house on Ly Nam De street, Hanoi, he pushed the motorbike into the house, then we asked Ms. Hong, Chu Lai’s wife, for permission for the two of us to go out on the street, drink beer to thank the goddess of bamboo thorns.
Then we went out on the street, drank a lot of beer, thanked the goddess of bamboo thorns, and discussed the details of the business trip, then I staggered home on my bicycle.
A few days later, suddenly an officer from the Supreme People’s Procuracy came to Dai Doan Ket newspaper, met a colleague of mine, and that colleague invited me to talk with the prosecutor. That prosecutor talked about some nonsense, then said that in a few days, he would have a trip to Hai Hung, he wanted to invite me to go with him, he had a car.
I felt a bit strange, but happily agreed, it was just a fuuny trip, anywhere was fine, as long as I didn’t have to worry about the bamboo goddess anymore.
A few days later, that prosecutor’s car came to pick me up to go to Hai Hung, in the car there was that prosecutor, my colleague from Dai Doan Ket newspaper, and me, 3 people, with the driver, 4 people, just enough for a small car.
When the car reached Pho Noi, I thought the car would go straight to Hai Duong town, but no, the car turned right towards Hung Yen town – Pho Hien. At that time, I thought there were 3 possibilities, the car would go to Dong Tien commune, or would go to Hung Yen town, or the car would go to Chau Giang district.
Oh, it was fine to go anywhere, it was just a trip.
When the car arrived at Dong Tien commune, it turned into the commune committee house, and I saw the commune party secretary, along with the commune leaders and the commune police welcoming us, smiling and happy.
I smiled inside my mind, and guessed the real purpose of this outing, but I also played the role very well, pretending not to know anything, and showing boundless joy at the warm welcome of the Dong Tien commune leaders. I was just a little worried that I would accidentally meet those petitioners, especially Ms. Ky, Mr. Sam, Mr. Hoc, and some special forces soldiers who were friends of writer Chu Lai. But fortunately, I did not meet anyone, because the commune party secretary had arranged very well, the commune police and the commune guerrillas had blocked all the roads in the commune, so that no one who petitioned could come near this our important group of guests.
We were led to the commune secretary’s house, and invited to a very delicious 7-course dog meat meal.
After that, we left, and the commune secretary asked me to invite me to come to the commune again.
When I returned to Hanoi, I went to Chu Lai’s house to report everything about this fun trip. Chu Lai laughed heartily, his laughter echoed throughout the house, making his wife Hong curiously laugh along.
-Minh Tuan, Chu Lai said to me, “That’s a big deal, you just pulled the string, and all forest is shaking. You can rest assured and continue.”
A few days later, an officer from the Central Fatherland Front came to Dai Doan Ket newspaper to see me. His name was Hoat, his house was right next to Dong Tien commune, and Hoat also knew quite well about the situation of complaints in Dong Tien commune, and he knew quite well the facts in Dong Tien commune. Hoat strongly supported me and Chu Lai in investigating the situation in Dong Tien commune.
And luckily for me, Mr. Hoat had two motorbikes, a fairly old Honda motorbike for women, of his, and a fairly new German Mokick motorbike, of his younger brother’s.
I asked to borrow Mr. Hoat’s new Mokick motorbike to go on a business trip to Hai Hung, Dong Tien for peace of mind, and Mr. Hoat agreed immediately.
In Vietnam, according to traffic laws, 50cc motorbikes do not require a driver’s license.
So I went on a business trip to Dong Tien alone, using Mr. Hoat’s younger brother’s fairly new Mokick motorbike.
Not only did Mr. Hoat lend me his motorbike, he also let me stay at his house while I did an investigation into Dong Tien commune.
So, Hoat and I set up a liaison station right at Hoat’s house, just a few kilometers from Dong Tien commune, so that I could stay at Hoat’s house, and from Hoat’s house I could go to Dong Tien commune, Hai Duong town, Chau Giang district, or vice versa, the people of Dong Tien commune could come to Hoat’s house to see me right away.
Then I returned to Dong Tien commune, to meet the leaders of Dong Tien commune.
I rode my motorbike to the commune committee headquarters, told the staff there that I wanted to meet the commune leaders, the commune secretary, the commune chairman, and the commune police.
About 30 minutes later, the leaders of Dong Tien commune came to see me, a large group, including the commune police, the commune guerrillas, about 50 people, some carrying guns.
Oh, why are there so many people, I thought to myself, and felt more secure with the investigation that Chu Lai and I were doing.
I was not afraid at all, I was only 27 years old, full of enthusiasm for building a fair, socialist society.
The commune party secretary came to see me, and completely different from his attitude more than a week ago, when he invited me and the prosecutor to his house to eat dog meat, just last week, but today his attitude was completely different, silent, serious, dry, like a refrigerator.
Of course I also kept a serious, dry attitude, like he refrigerator.
I asked the commune leaders to answer me about the petitions of the commune.
The secretary now revealed his true face, he asked me to go to Chau Giang district to get the district’s letter of introduction, my Press Card and the Letter of Introduction from Dai Doan Ket newspaper were not enough for him to work.
I smiled and told the commune secretary that it was OK, whatever he wanted, he would get it, just wait.
I immediately rode my motorbike to Chau Giang district, only about 5 km away, I went to the District Party Committee and the People’s Committee, to ask for letters of introduction from both places.
Both the District Party Committee and the People’s Committee of Chau Giang district already knew me, so I got 2 Letters of Introduction very quickly, from the District Party Committee and the People’s Committee, because not long ago, as I said above, writer Chu Lai and I had come to work on that bamboo goddess mission.
I returned to Dong Tien commune, perhaps only taking 1 hour, and saw the commune leaders still sitting there, along with the commune police and the commune guerrillas.
I gave both letters of introduction to the commune secretary, and waited silently for him to answer.
Then, he arranged for the commune chairman to answer my questions, and then the commune police chief also answered.
Then I said goodbye then returned to Hanoi.
The commune secretary went all the way to the gate of the Committee to see me off – now his attitude seemed softer, kinder, and more willing to make up.
I smiled and said goodbye to him, and got in the bike to go to Hoat’s house.
Then, I went to Hai Hung Provincial Police, to work with the Economic Police Department, of which Pham Xuan Quac was the Head. And I have known Quac since then. Later, Mr. Quac went to Hanoi, became the Director of the Criminal Police Department, with the rank of Major General, and Mr. Quac directed the investigation of the PMU 18 case, the ODA corruption case that Japan helped ODA money to Vietnam to build roads and bridges, was currupted by ODA management Board of Vietnam, the corruption value was up to several million USD, and then Mr. Quac was made retired by Prime Minister Tan Dung, then was prosecuted for the crime of “Revealing work secrets,,,” in 2006, when I had already settled in Japan.
After 6 months of hard work investigating the Dong Tien case, with the help of Mr. Hoat, the Hai Hung Provincial Police, the writer Chu Lai, the Hai Hung Provincial Inspectorate, the Hanoi Police, the Criminal evidences Inspect-testing Department of the Ministry of Public Security, and many Hai Hung residents, I wrote an investigative report, titled The Truth in Dong Tien Commune.
And very happily, just after my investigative report on Dong Tien commune was published in Dai Doan Ket newspaper for 1 day, the very next day, General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh published an article “Things to do immediately“, responding to and supporting my article, published in Nhan Dan newspaper.
But it was almost a year later, with many negotiations between Dai Doan Ket newspaper and the leaders of Hai Hung province, with the participation of the Politburo, that everything in Dong Tien commune was resolved satisfactorily, the commune secretary was dismissed, along with all the commune leaders, new leaders were elected, in which a citizen who complained, Mr. Hoc, was elected as the commune chairman, the Hai Hung Provincial Party Secretary who covered up for Dong Tien commune was transferred to Hanoi to do other work.
I received the First Prize of Vietnam Journalists Association, for the report The Truth in Dong Tien commune.
Writer Chu Lai came to Dai Doan Ket newspaper to congratulate me, but I also congratulated writer Chu Lai, and congratulated several special forces soldiers in Dong Tien commune, former comrades of writer Chu Lai, who did not have to use special forces grenades to resolve the incidents in Dong Tien commune.
Now, more than 30 years have passed since the Dong Tien incident, and it has been a long time since I last saw writer Chu Lai, but now, in 2025, seeing him give a press interview about the novel Red River, which was recently made into a film, and was very successful, I feel really happy, and seeing Chu Lai, despite his gray hair and white mustache, is still full of life, just like when the two brothers of us went on a business trip of the goddess of bamboo, and I still remember some of the poems Chu Lai wrote, praising the goddess of bamboo that year:
“The goddess of bamboo blesses me,
Going to investigate because of the people’s complaints,
Riding a 67, Honda brand,
The goddess loves me, don’t kiss me.”///