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HOBBY
remains durable over many years, even
when the layer drawn on the porcelain
is extremely thin,” he explains.
Looking back at the early days,
Hai recalls selling all his properties to
invest in research and development.
He even borrowed money from any-
where he could and encountered legal
issues. However, his will to achieve
his dream was strong and he was not
discouraged.
Over the last four years he has
been able to market a product that he
described as ‘almost perfect’.
“We use the least gold - much less
than traditional plating techniques - but
we create the most aesthetically pleas-
ing and durable products which can be
used in exterior decoration,” Hai says.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Bui Xuan Hai started life as a ge-
ography teacher, but he soon began
to think about how he could create
jobs for thousands of students. “I
thought handicrafts were the perfect
choice: they use the smallest amount
of space, machines and equipment,
but create jobs for most of the peo-
ple,” he explains.
“At the time, I was collecting an-
tiques and I had a broken gold drawn
vase dating back to the Minh Dynasty
in China. But China itself lost the tech-
nique a long time ago. What I’ve got
seems to be the only item left,” he says.
It was this piece that first prompted
Hai to consider bringing these tech-
niques back to life. It was later that his
ambitions grew and thoughts of better-
ing the ancient techniques began.
He pondered painting ceramics
with indigo; such items are up to sev-
en times more expensive than normal
ceramics, but he ultimately concluded
they are not luxurious enough. Gold –
the metal of gods and emperors – was
required to meet the demands of the
very wealthiest people in society.
THE CRAFTSMEN
Normally, it takes a long time to
train a skilled craftsman; however, it
just takes three months at the longest
for Hai to skill-up a worker in his work-
shop. His youngest craftsman is just 15
years old, and the oldest is around 60.
Many of them used to be farmers
and some are handicapped, and most
had never picked up a paint brush be-
fore in their lives. But here at the work-
shop, they are all talented artists.
“Luong Cong Nghiem a child from
Kien Thuy district, Haiphong City be-
came craftsman after six days of train-
ing,” Hai reveals. “Vietnam is an artistic
nation; here everybody has the blood
of an artist running through their veins.
Factoring this in, it means our country is
very full of potential.”
At the Red River Delta Industry and
Trade Fair 2013, Hai showed a splendid
palace in the Egyptian style made from
more than 300 gold painted pieces of
porcelain. The product will be trans-
ported to Dubai in late 2014 with the
target of conquering the Middle East
market in 2015.
Until that time, the company will
focus on the domestic market. Even
though the economy is still facing many
difficulties, Hai remains optimistic: “The
richest people are the ones who are af-
fected the least by the economic down-
turn,” he says. “Instead of losing jobs
and getting into a miserable situation
like middle class people, the income
of the very rich just shrinks a little.
Several months ago, at the Vietbuild
International Exhibition 2013, we took
an unbelievable number of orders that
we are still fulfilling.”
Now aged 71, Hai seems to be
more energetic than ever and he has
not stopped dreaming: “It is my whole
life’s dream to witness our country
become powerful. If high technology
is being followed by many nations and
we can hardly catch up with them in
the field, then highly developed crafts
and art seem to be our advantage. We
can seize this advantage in order to
become more powerful and competi-
tive globally.”