New characters in Cham village

Cham village in Dau Tieng now has 92 households with 394 people. To help Cham ethnic people involve in cultural exchange with other groups, local authority built an asphalted road leading into the village with the total length of 1,700 meters. This route is divided into 2 stages. Accordingly, the first phase has a total length of 1,100m with the total expense of over VND5.4bil and is expected for completion in July, 2013 whilst the second phase will be started in the coming time.

Du So, a delegate of Minh Hoa commune People’s Council also a representative of Cham ethnic group in the commune, said “Living in Minh Hoa commune, we enjoy the Party and State’s assistance on productive land, nurslings and species, etc. We are very happy and try to build cultural hamlets”.

Statistically, the village has 3 poor households and 3 sub-poor families in line with the provincial new poverty line. To help these families escape poverty, Hoa Loc hamlet managerial board has mobilized donors to assist accommodation, nurslings, species, non-interest loans and so on for these poor households. “With many significant deeds of local authority, these poor households will escape poverty in the coming time”, Nguyen Huu Tai, head of Hoa Loc hamlet said.

With a developing economy, Cham ethnic people realize interest of learning. Therefore, many local households’ children have gained high degrees in study.

Preserving traditional clothes, script and housing architecture

  Cham people are praying in a temple.

Cham ethnic people have made efforts to preserve their cultural identity. The Cham wear distinctive clothing. Both men and women wear a batik, a garment much like a sarong, which is worn knotted around the waist. Men wear a shirt over their batik, while women wear close-fitting blouses with tight sleeves over theirs. Men and women usually cover their heads with turbans or scarves.

In this village, local people and donors built a school to teach Cham language for local children with the participation of more than 40 pupils. Aside from learning Cham language, pupils learn about custom and lifestyle.

Preserving custom

Cham are Muslims. They pray 5 times per day and keep a vegetarian diet in Ramadan month. Like Muslims worldwide, every Cham hopes to make a pilgrimage (religious journey) to Mecca (the holy city in Saudia Arabia). They gather and pray at temple in the afternoon of every Friday.

It is common for a young man to ask his parents' permission and assistance in finding a wife than to do so on his own. His parents or a matchmaker approach the young woman's family to see if they are interested in a match. If the response is positive, the families negotiate the terms and time of the marriage.

After an exchange of gifts, the young couple marries. It is still common for many young couples to spend the first year of marriage in the home of the woman's parents. After the parents are assured of their son-in-law's stability, or after the birth of the first child, the young couple moves into a new house built for them by their families.

Minh Hoa commune party committee vice secretary Nuyen Van Cam said that local authority has set out many supportive programs for developing Cham culture. Accordingly, the communal party committee has steered mass bodies and agencies to hold cultural and artistic exchanges and legal promulgations for local ethnic people. Therefore, aside from improvement of material living, Minh Hoa commune-based Cham’s cultural and spiritual life has changed positively.

Reported by T.Ly – Translated by A.C