Saigon: War's Remembrance

By Norbert Mercado

A veteran soldier is tired of all the fighting in his country. He comes to a point where he must flee for his life. Will he choose life over love?

Saigon: War's Remembrance is the latest novel from the pen of Norbert L. Mercado.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Norbert Mercado
• Release date: Jul 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301986644

Norbert Mercado

"In this age of revolution, the contemporary writer should utilize the pen for the preservation of peace," Norbert Mercado, a Filipino author, stressed. The books he has written and published, including his anthologies, unapologetically assert the indispensability of peace in a nation’s progress. The author has written more novels than any Asian writer had in just a brief period of time. In fact, he has surpassed the number of novels written by world-renowned novelists like Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1970) and American authors Ernest Hemingway (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1954). Solzhenitsyn has four novels to his credit, while Hemingway has eight. His style of writing is simple and succinct, but poignant and colorful like Hemingway’s THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, and Solzhenitsyn’s ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DESONOVICH. "The simpler the novel, the better," he said. In line with Japanese Yasunari Kabawata’s writings about the Japanese way of life, most of Norbert’s novels focus mostly on the current situation in his country. Kabawata is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968. His books present hope to the Filipino, especially to the "economic exiles" in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan whom he has spent most of his time with, in their daily struggles. But most of all, his novels lucidly show the futility of war and violence in the resolution of political-economic-class conflicts in the Philippines. "War should not be used as an instrument in resolving political conflicts. Writers who abet wars and revolutions must think of the widows and the fatherless, the chaos, destruction, and suffering of the people whom they claim to be concerned about," he said. What if, like Solzhenitsyn, Hemingway, and Kabawata, he eventually wins the Nobel Prize? What will he do with the US$1,000,000 award? "I will use the prize for establishing a Peace Foundation that will assist in the formulation of policies which will resolve the current shooting conflicts in the country and help alleviate the continuing poverty of our countrymen." He will take charge of the foundation and personally campaign for a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the Philippines. "The insurgency and the secessionist rebellion have foreign support. A Nobel title will give me the personality to approach the leaders involved in the conflicts," he explained. Born on March 25, 1955, he is the youngest among the children of Mr. and Mrs. Aurelio Mercado, Sr. of San Manuel, Tarlac. He graduated from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, with two degrees, Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Communication. Voted Outstanding Campus Journalist in 1974, he was a columnist and associate editor of the Philippine Collegian, the campus publication of the University of the Philippines. He has also written articles for various newspapers and magazines in the Philippines, as well as abroad. He also won the 1981 National Essay Writing Contest sponsored by SIDESTREETS Magazine. Norbert is a graduate of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), the topmost armed forces school in the country, where he was conferred a Master’s degree in National Security Administration (MNSA) and the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). He graduated from the NDCP at the age of 32, the youngest in Class 21 which had already produced several generals in the Armed Forces, and the youngest graduate in the history of the National Defense College of the Philippines. He was elected one of the fifteen directors of Class 21. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity (Applied Servanthood), Honoris Causa, for his almost 30 years work in Christian literature. His batch mates include Senator Robert Barbers, Undersecretary of Trade and Industry and Bulletin Columnist Nelly Villafuerte, Actor and Producer Fred Galang, Rev. Peter Vasaya, and the His Royal Highness Sultan of Sulu and Sabah Ishmael Kiram. A sports lover, he was a rifle marksman in his UP ROTC days, and a winner of the 1988 and 1989 5,000 meter-run sponsored by the National Defense College Alumni Association. His sports include swimming, basketball, volleyball, boxing, karate, cycling, and marathon among others. A traveler, he has attended various international conferences and trainings in Asia and Europe. His travels have widened his insight not only of places, but also of people he has constantly observed and empathized with. He is the youngest graduate of the Singapore Haggai Institute for Third World Leaders in 1980 at the age of 24. "Let us work for peace in our country, in any way we can," Norbert stressed. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Ria M. Mercado

Book preview

"Do you mind if I ask you a question? I asked the man seated beside the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant located along Duong Nguyen Thi Nghia road, across the Pham Ngu Lau Park in Saigon.

What about? the man asked in return.

I smiled and gave him a controlled laughter.

I wanted to ask you if you know English, but my question is unnecessary, I said.

He laughed, too.

You are writing something… Are you a writer? he asked.

I’m writing a poem about the giant trees along the roads of Saigon. What do you call these tall and straight trees?

Sao Dau… These are really tall and straight. So, you’re a poet.

A little, I replied.

You’re a writer then, he remarked.

I’m a novelist. I’m Norbert Mercado, from the Philippines, I said.

I’m Nguyen Nam. It’s nice meeting you. Is it your first time to visit Saigon? he asked.

No. It’s my fourth time here, I replied.

So, what places have you visited in Saigon? he asked.

I laughed again.

Honestly, I don’t know the places I have gone to. This morning, I took a bus and toured the city. The bus stopped at its station. But I don’t know the place because all the signs are in Vietnamese. I took another bus from that station, and the driver drove us around Saigon until we reached another bus station. From that second bus station, I took a third bus to Ben Thanh market. I don’t know the names of the places I’ve been to, I said with laughter.

He, too, laughed again. Then he asked, What do you think of Saigon?

It’s probably the motorcycle capital of the world, I said.

He smiled. Saigon’s roads are indeed filled with motorcycle riders. It is estimated that about 90% of the vehicles on the road are motorbikes. There is a big discrepancy between the price of a motorcycle and that of a car. Perhaps this is the main reason why the majority of the population of Saigon has preferred the former as their main mode of transport.

But I’ve seen luxury cars, too, I’ve said.

Those cars are either owned by Communist Party leaders, by hotels, and by business establishments, he replied.

I also noticed that there are a lot of high-rise buildings being constructed. What is the name of that tall building we see from here, I asked as I pointed to the highest building I could see.

"It’s called BITEXCO TOWER," he replied.

It’s very tall! I remarked.

Yes. It’s the tallest in Saigon. Most of the buildings are put up by multi-national corporations. To put it in economic terms, the Communist Party leaders have turned to the free-market model which they used to despise, he said, laughing.

Marxist economics is a failure in all countries conquered by the communists, I said.

That’s why communists in Vietnam have turned to the free-market model, he said.

I see newspapers being sold on the streets. I bought this Vietnam News Daily, I said.

That’s a Communist propaganda paper based in Hanoi. Mass media is controlled by the government. What we have here are magazines focusing on movie stars and fashion, he said.

But I see computers and cellphones being sold in shops and bazaars, I said.

That’s a good development here. The Vietnamese can now communicate to the outside world, he said.

I even saw young Vietnamese using iPads and iPhones, I said.

He nodded in agreement.

But even if the Vietnamese have access to the Internet, there is still a limit to the sites they can go to. Government still regulates what a citizen can view online. Regulation is achieved using both legal and technical means. This has given rise to the term Bamboo Firewall - referring to the Vietnamese government’s effort to regulate, monitor, and oversee Internet usage.

Tourism is flourishing in Vietnam. I met three Polish ladies near the Ben Thanh market. Their names are Eva, Martyna, and Marta*. They visited the Philippines. Then, they came to Saigon, I said.

(* Eva Wojtarowicz, Martyna Kalinowska, and Marta Milosiewicz. The Polish women visited Metro Manila, Cebu, and Boracay.)

The Philippines is a very beautiful country. And the Filipinos are very friendly. I owe a lot to the Filipinos, the Vietnamese seriously said.

I was touched by what he said.

Have you been to the Philippines before? I asked him.

I lived there for two years, he said.

You worked there? I asked.

No, he replied.

What did you do there?

"Do you remember the boat people from Vietnam? I was one of them. We lived in a refugee camp in Bataan," the man replied.

Hearing about a Vietnamese living in a refugee camp in Bataan, a place in my country, made me curious. And Nam noticed that I was interested to hear more.

"You told me you are a novelist. You