This Earth is our homeland - a meaningful song on the SEA Games 31
“This earth is ours” is a familiar song of every Vietnamese child and was voted as one of the 50 best children's songs of the 20th century. As for the construction and material business community in Ho Chi Minh city, the song "This Earth is Our Homeland" has become quite familiar and is sung on every occasion.
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The author of this new song for the SEA Games 31 is Mr. Le Viet Hai, who is extremely recognizable and reputable in the Vietnamese construction industry and is currently the Chairman of the Saigon Construction & Building Material Association of Ho Chi Minh City (SACA).
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| Mr. Le Viet Hai, the Chairman of the Saigon Construction & Building Material Association of Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: SACA) |
Here is our interview with Mr. Hai:
You are an entrepreneur who has had a lot of well-composed songs, and this time it's a song specifically dedicated to the business community. Could you tell us in what context the song was composed and what message it intends to convey?
I composed the song on the occasion of SACA's 30th anniversary in May last year, also from the desire of the executive committee members to have a celebratory song for SACA's big event, and one that would be composed by me as the association's president. The song speaks of the ambition and mission of SACA, connecting the members together, determined to build the construction industry and become the spearhead economic sector of the country, in which Ho Chi Minh City businesses will be the pioneers who pave the way.
The song is also an encouragement to the members to make great efforts to go abroad to expand the market and expand their knowledge. To have success abroad, we must stand shoulder to shoulder to overcome all difficulties and challenges, form a solid block of strength and maximize the spirit of national solidarity.
I also want to convey in the song the attitude of businesses when going abroad towards dedication and service to society and people, different from the literal meaning of "this earth is ours", that this is not an assertion of sovereignty, but this earth is the beloved homeland of people on all continents. Thus, this concept, on the contrary, speaks of love and, following that, love is responsibility and obligation, not ownership or possession.
In the song, there are very beautiful lyrics like "Our homeland is unmatched in this universe". Can you explain more about the meaning of these lyrics?
In this vast universe, the earth is just a small planet, but it is an extremely precious peck of dust in the universe because it has human life that none other planets have.
That's why each of us needs to know how to cherish and protect our earth together by bringing back the green color of life, the green color of development and the green color of peace, of compassion towards people. Vietnamese businesses go abroad to contribute to the sustainable development of the earth and join hands with contributing to protecting beautiful life on this planet.
Just like the lyrics "The greeneries we nourish along the way/Dawn freshens all the surrounding trees/ Every person is happier with warmer laughter", that is, when we do beautiful things for life, for our eternal life on earth, we bring happiness and love to all beings.
Laughter alone does not mean we are happy, but warm laughter represents happy laughter. We can't make everyone happy because that's not realistic. However, we can make everyone less suffering and more happy. That is the meaning of the lyrics "warmer laughter".
Thank you for sharing very interesting thoughts about the song.
