Soc Trang works to preserve ethnic minorities’ culture

Khmer traditional musical equipment handed over to Khmer traditional music clubs and groups. (Photo: VNA)

Soc Trang - The Party Committee and People's Committee of Soc Trang province where more than 35% of total population are ethnic minorities have always paid attention to preserving and promoting the traditional values of local ethnic minorities.

Many investment programmes and projects, such as supporting ethnic costumes and traditional musical instruments, and opening classes to teach music of the ethnic minority groups, have been carried out, helping promote the cultural identity of the ethnic groups in the locality.

According to Tran Minh Ly, Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Soc Trang is implementing a project on preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development, which is part of the National Target Programme for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority Areas for the 2021-2030 period. The first phase of the project, from 2021 to 2025, has a total investment of over 21 billion VND (833,800 USD).

The project has supported 29 cultural clubs operating in the particularly disadvantaged hamlets with 10 audio equipment sets, 16 sets of five-tone musical instruments, one set of ethnic musical instruments, and 442 sets of ethnic minority costumes. Additionally, it has renovated and repaired 53 cultural houses in the underprivileged ethnic minority areas.

Ly Let, a renowned artisan building Khmer pagodas across the localities in the Mekong Delta, shared that in recent years, thanks to the timely attention from the Party and State, many forms of traditional cultural heritage of ethnic minorities, including the Khmer people in Soc Trang, have been preserved and passed down.

He expressed his delight at the support and favourable conditions provided by the local authorities in Soc Trang to help restore and promote the cultural heritage of the ethnic communities. This support has contributed to the gradual creation of distinctive cultural products to serve tourism development, and provide stable, long-term employment for the Khmer people in the locality.

Up to 30.18% of Soc Trang’s population belong to the Khmer ethnic minority group, and 5.2% are Hoa ethnic minorities. Preserving the cultural identity of all ethnic groups, especially the Khmer people, has been an important task in the context of national integration and development./.