Asean’s golden jubilee: 50 things about Asean countries you probably didn’t know : Vietnam
PUBLISHED
AUG 6, 2017, 7:51 AM SGT | Straits Times |
_______________________________________________
Ten countries, several ethnicities, dozens of fables, scores of cultural symbols, hundreds of places to visit and thousands of delicacies to relish – diversity flourishes across this region of over 628 million people. The Sunday Times highlights five facts each about the regional grouping’s members.
___________________________________________________
VIETNAM
AN ETHNIC GROUP FACING EXTINCTION
The Si La ethnic group is among those with the fewest people in Vietnam.
With a population that is fewer than 1,000, the Si La people live mostly in Muong Te District in the northern province of Lai Chau and in Muong Nhe District in the northern province of Dien Bien.
The Si La people’s language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, but its usage is dropping and the group has no written language.
Hundreds of years ago, the group’s ancestors lived in Lhasa, the capital of today’s Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. They then migrated to Laos before coming to Vietnam.
Men in the group used to dye their teeth red, while women dyed their teeth black, but that custom has died out. The costumes of the Si La women are made with metal coins attached to the chest. Their headscarves indicate their ages and marital status. The Si La people customarily marry twice. The second ceremony is held one year after the first.
READ MORE: NEXT – MALAYSIA
