Mr. Huyen Sy - Anecdote about a ferry boy who became the richest man in Saigon

"Nhat Sy, Second Phuong, Tam Xuong, Four Dinh", these are the four famous rich men in Saigon at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. They are not only the richest people in Saigon but also the richest people in Cochinchina, six provinces and Indochina.

Attached to the names of these four giants are anecdotes about incredible wealth, of which, "Nhat Sy" - Huyen Sy, the grandfather of Nam Phuong Hoang Hau, is the richest person.

Currently, Huyen Sy is still remembered with the work that proves his huge fortune is Huyen Sy church. His real name is Le Nhat Sy, born in 1841 in Cau Kho, Saigon, but born in Tan An, Long An in a Catholic family. As a child, he bore the holy name Philip.

Huyen Sy was taken by French monks to study abroad in Penang, Malaysia. Here, Mr. Sy learned languages such as Latin, French, Chinese and Quoc Ngu. Because his name was the same as a teacher, the teacher changed his name to Le Phat Dat.

When he returned home, Mr. Le Phat Dat was appointed by the Government of Cochinchina as an interpreter, and from 1880 worked as a member of the Cochinchina District Council. Although he changed his name, the neighbors still called him by the name Sy. Because of that, the name Huyen Sy Le Phat Dat was attached to his fate.

Although he came from a family that was not too rich, by the time of Le Phat Dat, he quickly became the richest man in Saigon. According to scholar Vuong Hong Sen in the book "Saigon in the past", Mr. Le Phat Dat's rapid rise had many lucky factors.

Legend has it that in the beginning, the West had just passed, and the population was scattered. France distributes land without recognition, selling cheaply but still no one to bid. At that time, the old owners all left the land, did not acknowledge it, because they were afraid of the concern and the Hue court accused of following the French, and also wished that one day the West would be defeated and withdraw. At that time, everyone goes to their respective places, why is there a crime in haste...

Not afraid because the land was not seen by anyone, the French set up a City Council and a Land Committee and then took each other to search each area. Where the terrain is good, the local trustees claim to be theirs: "Ùy" a sound! Wherever you go, shake your head, then say "Nong" again! In the end, he only learned two languages "Ùy", "Nong", but Mr. Le Phat Dat established a career as a son of a king.

The storm in the year of Giap Thin, ie 1904, the land of Go Cong was deserted countlessly, anyone who is brave enough to come out and pay taxes is the official owner, but no one wants it... Then, pressing Le Phat Dat , he reluctantly had to run away to buy a dose. Unexpectedly lucky, the field hit the harvest for several years in a row. He became rich quickly.

Despite being so rich, in Mr. Le Phat Dat's house hangs a couplets that teach life:

Need to be frugal, the ruler is superior

Forbearance and peace, dealing with wages

Besides, there are also rumors that Huyen Sy's massive house in Tan An, located near the confluence of Tan An and Bao Dinh rivers was built on the land of dragons, so his family became rich and famous. the greatest hope of that time.

There are several examples to describe Mr. Huyen Sy's wealth:

Today, if you go by motorbike from Huyen Sy church to Hanh Thong Tay church, it takes nearly an hour, enough to see how vast the land of Huyen Sy is. Not only that, Huyen Sy's children like Mrs. Le Thi Binh - mother of Queen Nam Phuong, Le Phat Thanh, Le Phat Vinh, Le Phat Tan are all great landowners with a lot of land in Tan An, Germany. Hoa, Duc Hue and Dong Thap Muoi.

Particularly, Huyen Sy's eldest son, Le Phat An, was conferred the title of An Dinh Vuong by King Bao Dai. Mr. Le Phat An is the only person in the history of Cochinchina who belongs to the common people, not the "prince, the patriarch" to be crowned the most noble of the court.

The level of wealth of Huyen Sy's family is also rumored to be many times greater than that of King Bao Dai. So, the new story is that in 1934, on the occasion of marrying her niece Nguyen Huu Thi Lan, ie Nam Phuong Hoang Hau, to Hue as Queen, Le Phat An gave Nguyen Huu Thi Lan a million dong in cash to do dowry. If converted, 1 million dong at that time was about 50 dong/tael of gold. So this gift is equivalent to 20,000 taels of gold. The family of Nguyen Huu Hao, the father of Queen Nam Phuong, and the son-in-law of Huyen Sy, were also richer than King Bao Dai. During his reign as king, the playboy emperor Bao Dai used to spend more money from his wife than from the royal family.

The wealth of District Sy Le Phat Dat so far is still clearly shown through construction works, one of which is Huyen Sy church. This church was donated land by Mr. Huyen Sy and exported 1/7 of his fortune to build, according to the price at that time, it was about over 30,000 Indochinese silver coins. The church was started construction in 1902 according to the design of priest Bouttier, in 1905, the church was inaugurated. The church is located on a high land and is more than an acre wide, located at the corner of Frère Louis, now Nguyen Trai and Frère Guilleraut, now Ton That Tung. The church was originally named Cho Doi Church because it belonged to the Cho Doi family. On the other hand, because Saint Philip the apostle is the patron saint of the District, it is also known as the Church of Saint Philip. However, folk still called Huyen Sy Church and then gradually became the official name of this church.

The original design of Huyen Sy church consisted of 5 compartments, or about 50 m. But at that time, Chi Hoa temporary church was severely damaged. Therefore, officials in the Cho Doi parish asked to cut down a space and use that money to build Chi Hoa church.

Mr. Huyen Sy died in 1900 when the church was not completed. Later, after his wife, Huynh Thi Tai, died in 1920, they buried them in the gable behind the sanctuary of this church. The left wing is a plaster bust of Mr. Huyen Sy with a head column, behind is a marble tomb decorated with patterns. On the grave is a statue of Mr. Huyen Sy resting his head on two exquisitely sculpted marble pillows, his head covered with a towel, and returns to the church's sanctuary. each other in front of the chest, shoes on feet. Opposite to the right is the statue of his wife, Mrs. Huynh Thi Tai, with her hair in a bun, also leaning on two pillows, holding her hands in front of her chest, wearing a brocade dress, and carrying a comedy on her feet. Inside, there are busts of their son and daughter-in-law, John Baotixita Le Phat Thanh and Anna Do Thi Thao. Up to now, this work is still considered as an attractive destination for tourists who want to learn about the life of the richest man in old Saigon.

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