Artist Douangmixay Likaya on the manuscript of the song (Photo: nhandan.com.vn)

Xiengvang village, Nong Bok district, Khammuon province in central Laos, was the place where President Ho Chi Minh came to meet overseas Vietnamese during his revolutionary activities in Thailand from 1928 to 1929. Located nearly 400 kilometers south of Vientiane, the village is home to a President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Area, the first of its kind in Laos, which was built on land donated by overseas Vietnamese. The memorial is a complex of Lao and Vietnamese architecture, with flower gardens and a lake.

Artist Douangmixay came here to learn about Uncle Ho to compose his work. Being a Laotian, the artist speaks and writes Vietnamese very well. He also knows well about Vietnamese culture and has special sentiments for President Ho Chi Minh. After six months of nurturing the idea about the work, with two visits to Xiengvang village and twice to Thai areas where President Ho Chi Minh used to live and carry out revolutionary activities, he completed the work.

The song "The sun shines in Xiengvang village” has simple and clear language, talking about Uncle Ho’s dissemination of revolutionary information, encouraging people to carry out revolutionary contributions, and calling them to promote patriotism to struggle for national liberation and independence. The author met with elderly people who knew Uncle Ho to learn about the time Uncle Ho did revolution in the village, and the melody of the song is also the traditional melody of this locality.

According to artist Douangmixay, he is working with Vietnamese agencies to present the work to the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

It can be said that national artist Douangmixay Likaya is one of the Lao composers with the largest number of songs about Uncle Ho. Confirming that he will compose more songs about President Ho Chi Minh, he said that in Laos, the great Vietnamese leader is also a great and close person to local people’s hearts./.

Compiled by BTA