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The 60-Year Journey
Vinh-The Lam
Librarian Emeritus
University of Saskatchewan
CANADA
Vinh-The Lam
Librarian Emeritus
University of Saskatchewan
CANADA
In the morning of March 21, 2013, Nghĩa, the youngest son of Master Chương, phoned and told me that his father had just passed away. After the phone conversation, I went to the altar in our house, lighted some incense, and prayed Buddha for Master Chuong’s soul to be accepted in the Eternal World. His departure from this world ended our journey that lasted 60 years, from the Year of the Snake (Quý Tỵ) 1953 to the Year of the Snake (Quý Tỵ) 2013. In 1953, two important events happened in my life. The first one was my passing of the very selective entrance examination of the famous Petrus Trương Vĩnh Ký High School in Saigon. I was put in Đệ Thất B6 (Grade 6 B6), which was later changed to Đệ Thất F (Grade 6F) and was kept that way until the end of Junior High. The second event was that a group of young teachers, who just graduated from the prestigious College of Pedagogy of Hanoi, were assigned to the South, and presented for duty at the PetrusTrương Vĩnh Ký High School in Saigon. They were the following Masters: Bùi Trọng Chương, Nguyễn Hữu Kế, Lê Xuân Khoa, Vũ Ngọc Khôi, and Đinh Xuân Thọ. I was lucky to have Master Chương as teacher of Citizen Education right away in that year. At that time, my French Language was still weak and I came to his tutoring course at his residence, a small house in the narrow alley behind the Thanh Bình cinema. The following years, at grades Đệ Lục F or Grade 7F (1954-1955), Đệ Ngũ F or Grade 8F (1955-1956), and Đệ Tứ F or Grade 9F (1956-1957), I also took courses in Citizen Education and Vietnamese Literature with him. After having successfully passed the examination for the Trung Học Đệ Nhứt Cấp (Junior High School) diploma, I moved to the Senior High, and again had courses in Vietnamese Literature with Master Chương in Đệ Tam A or Grade 10A (1957-1958) and Đệ Nhị A or Grade 11A (1958-1959, the year I had to take the exam for the Baccalauréat I). It is possible to say that I have “stalked” Master Chương by following him every year thoughout the 7 years I studied at Petrus Ky High School, except for the final year. One thing I did not expect but a blessed one was that our journey did not end in 1960 when I successfully passed the exam for the Baccalauréat II, left the Petrus Ky High School, entered university and into life, but continued and lasted for the whole period of 60 years.
With the subject knowledge and the pedagogical method received from the College of Pedagogy in Hanoi together with his professional conscience and his love for the students, Master Chương was an exemplary teacher. He was very serious but not harsh. He was very conscientious in performing his duties: preparing his lessons very carefully, reviewing assignment reports from students on a regular basis and marking them moderately. When he taught classes that will have to go to national examinations, e.g. Grade 9 (Lớp Đệ Tứ) for the Examination of the First Cycle (Kỳ Thi Trung Học Đệ Nhứt Cấp) or Grade 11 (Lớp Đệ Nhị) for the Baccalauréat I or Grade 12 (Lớp Đệ Nhứt) for Baccalauréat II, he made every effort to stick to the required curriculum, and thus, helped us to take the exams with ease, without having any problems. Throughout my high school years, I have received not only good subject knowledge from him but also solid training to become a good citizen. The Citizen Education courses that he taught me in those Grades of the First Cycle prepared me to fully understand the rights and responsibilities of a citizen and the national legal system and institutions as well. The courses of Vietnamese Literature helped me to have complete knowledge of our language and to fully enjoy our classical literature. Master Chương was himself a perfect example for us to follow in our study. Although having a full-time teaching job and a large family to take care of, he made every effort to study and in the end receive the Bachelor Degree of Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Saigon.
After having passed the National Examination for the Baccalauréat II Degree, I decided to follow his steps: to become a teacher. I presented myself to the Entrance
Examination of the prestigious Faculty of Pedagogy of the University of Saigon, and, luckily, I passed. After my graduation from the Faculty of Pedagogy, and became a
senior high school teacher like him, I had the opportunity to work with him at a few National Examinations for the Baccalauréat Degrees in Saigon. At that time I was just
an Examiner but Master Chương was always either Head of Deputy Head of the Board of Examiners. And, again, I have learned from him how to perform our duties in just, unbiased manner and with a clear conscience. After April 30, 1975, like most South Vietnamese people, I left Vietnam. Before my departure, thinking that I would probably never have a chance to come back, I came to see him at his house in the Bàn Cờ disctrict to say good-bye to him. After having lived in Canada for a few years, I was overjoyed, therefore, when I learned that he himself has already left Vietnam and was resettled in the United States. Our master-student journey continued. I kept close contact with him, and had an opportunity to visit him and his wife in Portland, Oregon, in 2000. During this period of time, he went back to visit Vietnam, almost every year. Each time, he let me know about his trip, and I relayed the news to my former classmates of Grade 9 F (Đệ Tứ F) so that my friends could organize a get-together / reunion with our Master. After that, being over 80 years old, he could no longer make such long-distance trips like that anymore. However, he still kept himself updated on information regarding his former students in Vietnam and abroad.
One day in June 2010, he phoned me and during the conversation he suddenly said: “My health has not been good lately, can you come to see me?” I booked a flight to California immediately. Before leaving, I wanted to bring him a gift. I looked into my personal photo album and selected one photo of students of Grade 11 A (Đệ Nhị A) with him taken at the occasion of End of (Lunar) Year (Tất Niên) of 1959. I brought it to Wal-Mart to make an enlargement, and bought a nice frame to put it in. When I saw him, I presented that small gift to him and he was very pleased. Later on, every time he phoned me he always talked about that framed photo. For me, I was happy that his health was still not really bad; only his feet were a bit weakened and he had to walk with a cane. That evening, he could go to the restaurant and had dinner with me, Lân, his oldest son, and the family of Bích Thu, his younger daughter.
One day in June 2010, he phoned me and during the conversation he suddenly said: “My health has not been good lately, can you come to see me?” I booked a flight to California immediately. Before leaving, I wanted to bring him a gift. I looked into my personal photo album and selected one photo of students of Grade 11 A (Đệ Nhị A) with him taken at the occasion of End of (Lunar) Year (Tất Niên) of 1959. I brought it to Wal-Mart to make an enlargement, and bought a nice frame to put it in. When I saw him, I presented that small gift to him and he was very pleased. Later on, every time he phoned me he always talked about that framed photo. For me, I was happy that his health was still not really bad; only his feet were a bit weakened and he had to walk with a cane. That evening, he could go to the restaurant and had dinner with me, Lân, his oldest son, and the family of Bích Thu, his younger daughter.
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Visiting Master Chương in Southern California in June 2010
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One day in May 2012, he phoned me but did not have me. He phoned again a few times and finally left a message. I was in the hospital, just having had an open-heart triple by-pass surgery. Coming home from the hospital, my wife heard his message but she did not call him, being afraid that telling him my condition could make him worry. Finally she decided to call Lân, told Lân about my hospitalization but asked him to tell Master Chương that I was in Vietnam for a visit, and I will call him when I am back. A few months later, when my health condition has been a bit improved, I phoned him and told him the truth. He scolded me and wanted that in the future I should tell him the truth no matter whatever happens. That was typically him, a teacher always taking care of his students and always sharing good things and bad things with his students.
When I got news about his stroke, I was terribly worried but my health was not fully recovered and I was not in a position to travel. A few months after that, a former student of his, Lương Văn Hy, flew in from Toronto to see him and took a photo with him. Having seen the photo, I was very happy, thinking that the worst time for him has passed. However not long after that, in a phone conversation with Nghĩa, I knew that I was wrong. His health has been deteriorating quite quickly. One day, Nghĩa phoned me and allowed me to talk to him. He still recognized my voice but I found that his voice was weakened pretty bad; the thing that made me deeply moved was that he used his first words to ask me about my first grandson, just a few months old. Again, that was typically him, always taking care of, and sharing good things bad things with his “little students.”
After receiving the bad news about My Master from Nghĩa, I decided to take a flight to California to attend his funeral. And with his family’s consent, as one former student of his, I read a eulogy at his funeral. My eulogy ended as follows: “At the end of the 60-year journey of our master-student relationship, your “Little Students” of the Year of the Snake 1953 are now all old men in their 70s in this Year of the Snake 2013, I only say to you “Good Bye.” One day, all of us will be reunited with you, just like in the classrooms of Petrus High School in mid-1950s in Saigon.” It was also at the time of his funeral, Lương Văn Hy and I decided to proceed with our plan to establish a scholarship fund named after our Master, “The Bùi Trọng Chương Scholarship Fund.” The Fund will have as objective the award of scholarships to outstanding and poor students at the high school where he had spent his 30-year teaching career: The Petrus Trương Vĩnh Ký High Chool, after 1975 being renamed The Lê Hồng Phong Special High School. The creation of the Bùi Trọng Chương Scholarship Fund as an endowment is the way that Lương Văn Hy and I hope to materialize our wish to keep the image of our Beloved Master forever. I earnestly call for the support and contribution of Our Master’s colleagues, friends and former students. Everyone is invited to visit this following blog: hoc-bong-btc.blogspot.ca (or http://btc-fund.blogspot.ca/) for more information.
