Chuong Village, well-known for its quality conical hats in Thanh Oai District, Hanoi, is being threatened with extinction as young people do not want to learn the craft because of poor salaries.

Hoang Thi Sang makes a conical hat

The Chuong hat collective trademark has been recognised by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

It usually takes half to a whole day to complete a hat. A conical hat costs from VND20,000 (80 US cents) to VND100,000. According to the locals, both young and old people in their villages made hats together 20 years ago. But now, only the elderly are still making hats and hoping that their crafts will be preserved since young people prefer other careers with higher and more stable incomes.

Moreover, conical hats are no longer commonly worn.

60-year-old Hoang Thi Sang said, "My family has been making hats for decades and I'm determined to maintain hat-making. The pay is not high but I love the job. My children don't want to continue the craft and find works far from home. I think Chuong Village will survive but only a few people will still make hats then. I hope the government will have solutions to preserve the craft."

Another local thought that if Chuong Village can be upgraded into a tourism site then they can preserve the craft better.

Chairman of Phuong Trung Commune Pham Van Toan agreed that it is necessary to preserve the traditional villages. 

"We have several policies to support the conical hat making villages such as providing preferential loans to the households to help them buy equipment and materials," he said.

Phapluatplus/Dtinews