Meet the men who watch over lighthouses in south-central Vietnam Tien Nu (Fairy) Lighthouse, which stands aloft in Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.Tuoi Tre For decades, a number of men have been watching over lighthouses located along the south-central Vietnamese coastline, including the Truong Sa (Spartly) archipelago, ensuring warnings and safety for passing ships and helping reiterate Vietnam’s sovereignty over its seas and islands. Mui Dinh Lighthouse, which stands aloft in Thuan Nam District in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, is the most treacherous among all structures of its kind along the country’s coastline. According to Wikimapia, the structure, which stands 16 meters tall, was built by French people in 1904. Though the road to the lighthouse has been considerably shortened, one still has to plow their way through an immense stretch of sand and rocky, steep terrain before they can reach the building. On his grueling way to the lighthouse one day, a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter bumped into a group of young trekkers who gave up halfway their quest to make it to the structure due to the daunting slope. For the weather-beaten watchmen who have called the Mui Dinh Lighthouse home for over the past 30 years, the arduous trek is a daily routine.   Mui Dinh Lighthouse, which stands aloft in Thuan Nam District in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan. Photo: Tuoi Tre Loneliness and lack of excitement are also noticeable in the far-flung place, the reporter observed. Pham Van Co, head of the five-watchman team, revealed that their daily working routines generally begin at dusk, when the entire system is supposed to be ready so that light beams are swept periodically over the dark sea. The keepers take turns to maintain their watch to make sure the system operates seamlessly and emits light beams properly throughout the night. At daybreak, they clean the light and cover it with a piece of cloth. They stay put inside the tower rain or shine, as “the well-illuminated light is a great asset to the stormy sea,” as Co explained. Apart from daily necessities, these lighthouse keepers, most of whom hail from northern provinces, carry nearly 800 liters of oil to the lighthouse each month to operate a generator. Fresh water, which is a luxury to local residents in times of droughts, like the one that happened earlier this year, is even harder for these lighthouse keepers to come by.   After each night shift, keepers meticulously do the cleaning and maintenance at daybreak so that the light will work best in next shifts. Photo: Tuoi Tre They have to fetch the water all the way from the mountain foot to the lighthouse. Falls and injuries are unavoidable during such transport of water and oil. Destined to be keepers These keepers, whose legs and arms are riddled with scars, all intended to do their job temporarily when they started out. Bound by destiny, they ended up spending dozens of years watching over the lighthouse. Nguyen Van Thanh, who has been on the job for 33 years, is the oldest, most seasoned keeper. Co, the team leader and sole native to the area, recalled that back in 1983, a storm was sweeping through his fishing village. As a 10th grader, he dropped out of school after his father found him a keeping job at the Mui Dinh Lighthouse to add to his family’s income. He has been bound to the job ever since. Meanwhile, Tran Minh Thanh trained as a steersman after he was back from the Cambodian battlefield during the late 1970s and discharged from the army. He was assigned to tend to the Mui Dinh Lighthouse temporarily while waiting for another job. A few years later, as he was offered another job, he decided to stay and married a local girl. “It’s been 30 years now. My son is almost old enough to follow my footstep as a lighthouse keeper,” Thanh said. Co added that despite their meager salaries, they have managed to send their children to school in Phan Rang-Thap Cham City, which is the provincial capital, and other cities for a proper education. “However, our job, which requires that we spend days away from home, keeps us from taking good care of our families,” Co said sadly.   Nam Yet Lighthouse, erected in Vietnam's Truong Sa archipelago. Photo: Tuoi Tre Lighthouse keepers in Truong Sa Like their colleagues elsewhere, watchmen at the nine lighthouses dotting Vietnam’s Truong Sa archipelago, which is administered by the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, have also stayed committed to their job of providing passing ships with warning signals and thus ensuring their safety for over a decade. These rugged-looking men are also tasked with helping affirm their country’s sovereignty over the group of islands. Da Lat Lighthouse is the most remote and treacherous among such structures in Truong Sa. Unlike the towers erected right on other islands, the Da Lat Lighthouse stands forlornly in the water, over 300 meters from the submerged island of Da Lat. Nguyen Quoc Tien, head of the Da Lat Lighthouse keeper team, stressed that he has been to all the nine lighthouses in Truong Sa, but conditions at Da Lat remain the most taxing and perilous. “The lighthouse rocks violently in strong gusts. We rush for shelter on other islands whenever fierce winds hit us,” he said. Waves sometimes crash over their sleeping area at midnight, leaving them unable to take a rest. On cloudy days when supply of solar energy is limited, daytime activities are kept to a minimum to save power to operate the light by night. Dang Van Thanh, head of the Truong Sa Lon Lighthouse keeper team, noted that though keepers are not soldiers themselves, all their activities are placed under the command of the island lead officer. They are also armed with skills required of militiamen and are ready for action when necessary. Thanh added that though their serving time in the archipelago is only two years, most of the keepers in Truong Sa have done their job for more than ten years now.   Song Tu Tay Lighthouse, one of the sea signalling towers in Truong Sa. Photo: Tuoi Tre He himself has kept watch at several lighthouses in Truong Sa over the past 22 years. According to Pham Quoc Suy, general director of the Southern Vietnam Maritime Safety Corp., apart from salaries, lighthouse keepers are eligible for allowances meant for those undertaking perilous jobs. “However, these benefits remain meager compared to their efforts and sacrifice to ensure ships’ safety, which have mostly gone unnoticed,” he said. TUOI TRE NEWS