Vietnam must realise its cruel 'tradition' is a load of bull

A FEW days ago, a man was gruesomely gored to death by his own buffalo. The tragedy grabbed national attention as it brought to a sudden halt an event recognised as national cultural heritage.

Dinh Xuan Huong, 47, was one of the participants in the festival held in Hai Phong City. For reasons we cannot be sure of, his buffalo decided to fight him rather than a fellow creature. Huong suffered multiple injuries on his spine, head and legs, and died a few hours later.

After the first human fatality since the Buffalo Fighting Festival resumed 27 years ago, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism sent a message to Hai Phong’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, calling for a review of safety measures.

But aren’t we ignoring the elephant in the room?

The violence, pain and torture that we inflict on innocent creatures for our entertainment cannot surely be seen as something to be celebrated.

Just imagine how many tragedies the buffaloes have suffered in the last 27 years. Every single fight is a tragedy for both buffaloes, both in terms of the pain inflicted for no reason, and the fact that the prize for winning is slaughter.

The Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival is organised to wish fishermen a prosperous fishing season. In 2013, the festival was officially recognised as national intangible cultural heritage.

While the contenders often suffer serious injuries and even death in the fighting, the winning buffalo is usually killed right after being crowned champion. Its meat is sold at a high price as it is believed to bring good luck to those who eat it.

Some people who have opposed banning the festival over one accident say that risks exist anywhere and this was a very rare tragedy.

Nhung, a girl whose father loves buffalo fighting so much he breeds one animal every year to take part in the festival, doesn’t share this view. She said she was upset at what happened to her family’s buffalo after the fight last week.

“The buffalo was attacked in one eye and lost it. And he tried to walk 10km to our house with one eye bleeding and bleeding. I could do nothing but cry,” Nhung said. “I swear I’ll never watch another buffalo fight again,” she added.

Some experts have said stricter management of such festivals would prevent similar accidents from hurting humans, and the festival should be maintained for its cultural values.

Le Hong Ly, former director of the Culture Research Academy, said the buffalo fight was originally a prayer for good weather and harvest for farmers.

“Originally, people held a buffalo fight in an area with water around, but in recent years, for tourism and entertainment, this has been brought to a stadium.

“This is not tradition, but profit making. I also heard some people say that buffalo owners even let the animals drink alcohol before fights so that they can be more excited and violent,” he said.

I am one of many people who do not see any cultural value in this event. Vietnamese often proudly tell the world that we are a friendly and kind-hearted nation. If that is so, why would we enjoy such a bloody sport?

In Vietnamese culture, buffaloes have long been praised as the close friends of farmers’ families. The image of a boy playing the flute on the back of a buffalo is an iconic image of the nation.

How can we treat a friend and national symbol with such cruelty? What does it say about us when we cheer as the buffaloes are forced into what is clearly unnatural violence that hurts, maims and kills them? Is this civilised? Or does it smack of the decadent days of gladiators and people being thrown to lions?

So now it is time for us to reflect seriously on what Mahatma Gandhi said: The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - VIET NAM NEWS/ANN