Fiddler in the park

Seventy-year-old Ta Tri Hai on violin The elderly but healthy man with a ponytail and a long, silky white beard is not busking but simply playing for the joy of it.

Now into his seventies, Ta Tri Hai has become a fixture of April 30th Park on Han Thuyen Street in the morning and September 23rd Park on Pham Ngu Lao Street at night. With his trademark cowboy’s hat, Hai is a familiar sight to the people who live in this part of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 and a welcome surprise to the tourists and other pedestrians who happen to be passing by. Street airs Hai has been playing his violin, mandolin and harmonica in the great outdoors for going on 60 years. Born in Hanoi, he has lived in this southern metropolis for 32 years. The retired engineer and self-taught musician is proficient on his chosen instruments and has a vast repertoire that includes many songs from other countries. Every day for five years, Hai has been performing in April 30th Park in the morning and September 23rd Park in the evening. “I spend more time playing out here than staying home,” he says. “I’m getting old. The music keeps me occupied and makes life more interesting.” Many passers-by stop to listen and sing along with him or accompany him on their own instruments, young people particularly. Hai always has his violin, mandolin and harmonica with him when he goes to the park. “I carry the musical instruments here. The young people who can play them seem very adept and natural,” he says. “I choose to sit in the park as few areas of this noisy city have a quiet place for people to sit together with the plants and grass and enjoy music.” Ngan Sao Club So many people were coming to hear Hai play and to learn from him that he gave them a collective name: the Ngan Sao Club, whose name means “a thousand stars.” Anyone who likes good music can join, and instrumentalists of every kind are welcome to play along with Hai while the other spectators sing. In the shade of the trees, Hai and the Ngan Sao crowd liven up the park and adjoining street with their music. Sometimes they perform for hours at a stretch, and at any one time there can be up to 100 musicians and singers. Global contact Besides his musical prowess, Hai can speak English and French. Many foreign students and tourists stop to listen and chat with him, and it’s always a crowd-pleaser when he takes a foreigner’s request and plays one of their folk songs. “Some tourists still send me emails with photos regularly. They stay in touch,” he says. Hai keeps a notebook with him for people to write down their thoughts and feelings, as well as their names, addresses and phone numbers. Turning over the pages, one can see comments in Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, English, French, Thai, Arabic and so forth left by Quang Thanh, Martin, Jessica, Amy... Hai says he’s onto his ninth notebook. He probably doesn’t know exactly how many people have written in his notebooks and how many languages they contain. Obviously he cannot understand all the comments but he holds them in high regard without exception as their authors came from all over the world. Every night after his public show, Hai returns to his small rented room in an old building on Ngo Duc Ke Street in District 1. When he returns to the park the next morning, a sizeable crowd has already assembled in anticipation. And so the music resumes. Reported by Diem Thu-Ha Dinh Nguyen