VietNamNet Bridge – People in Son Dong commune in Hoai Duc district, Hanoi have a good life thanks to their traditional trade: making Buddha statues and altars.



Tens of Buddha statue and altar making shops and enterprises are located
 along roads in Son Dong. Artisan Nguyen Viet Thach, Chairman of
 the Son Dong Fine-art Handicraft Association, said that over 4,000
 people in Song Dong commune, plus 2,000 workers from other regions,
do this job. Income from the job accounted for 61 percent of the
commune’s total income in 2011.




Khuat Duy Trinh is printing patterns on wood. Trinh, from Ba Vi district, Hanoi, has worked for artisan Nguyen Viet Thang’s enterprise (with over 10 workers) for 11 years, starting from 18 years old. “I earn around VND200,000 ($10) per day and I have never had to be off work just a single day,” he said.


Bui Trong Lap, from Quoc Oai, Hanoi, said that income from this job is quite high if workers work hard.


“We can live with this traditional job and do not have to leave our home to do other jobs,” said Hoang Thi Van, 43.


“This job is quite hard but we can earn a lot of money,” said Quang. Quang and his brothers are running their own enterprise. They sell 50-80 Buddha statues per month.


Nguyen Dang Hoang, 29, began making Buddha statues at the age of 14. He said it takes him two months to make a statue.


Workers of Thao Hoai enterprise still work at 12pm. Their products are exported to many countries.

Nguyen Nghiem Viet, a researcher of fine-art woodwork, said Son Dong people began making Buddha statues and altars from the 10th century. It is now the largest Buddha statue and altar making village in Vietnam.


“I’m proud that our village’s traditional trade has robustly developed. I hope that the state takes many measures to preserve traditional jobs,” said artisan Nguyen Trung Manh.
Infonet