Gombojav
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990306
Name: Gombojav
Parent's name: Sanduijav
Ovog: Orhid
Sex: m
Year of Birth: 1950
Ethnicity: Halh
Additional Information
Education: higher
Notes on education:
Work: gruppt
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: Nömrög sum, Zavhan aimag
Lives in: Bayangol sum (or part of UB), Ulaanbaatar aimag
Mother's profession: herder
Father's profession: herder
Themes for this interview are:
(Please click on a theme to see more interviews on that topic)
childhood
cultural campaigns
education / cultural production
work
democracy
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
mother - father
childhood
schoolchildren's life
secondary school
Chinese
urbanization
belief
repression
cultural campaigns
nature and environment
To read a full interview with Gombojav please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 090810A with Gombojav
I was born in 1950 in Nömrög sum of Zavhan aimag. My father died when I was a child and I was raised together with my older sister, elder brother and my mom. In 1957, just at the beginning of the collectivization movement my mom followed her older brother to Ulaanbaatar. In 1960 I first went to first grade at the 14th school. In 1968 I entered the Teacher’s school and graduated from it in 1970 and then I went to the 14th school to teach. I taught for five years and then I studied at the Agricultural Institute and became a forest engineer. In 1980 I was appointed to work at the Ministry of Forestry and Wood Industry. I worked as a dendrologist at the city planning office of Ulaanbaatar. I used to be in charge of the 50 meters of land surround the administration offices. So, I would go for an inspection. The whole autumn and winter I wrote the plans and then I got them approved and I did the landscaping. I caused the trees to be planted.
I first came to the city on a post truck. Just when you go over the Shar Öv, Ulaanbaatar would seem so beautiful. I settled at Amgalan, which was said to be the trading city from the olden times. Almost 80 percent of the people there were Chinese who grew their own vegetables. Also, the Chinese used to saw ail’s wood, they carried water and cleaned the drainage. At that time splendid Chinese movies were shown on the building wall. Amgalan had hooligans. Movies were shown in the General club and dance parties were organized. After dance parties there were fights. I don’t know what the reason was for fighting, but there was a lot of fighting. I’ve heard that since the olden days there were fights of sixty people during the Danshig naadam and the champions were singled out.
In the 1990s I watched the hunger strike on Sühbaatar square. We talked about it with other people. The people who thought the social relations were wrong used to gather here. Democracy gave the people freedom. It was a great triumph that the herders got their livestock and the citizens who lived in the apartments were given them through privatization. People obtained private property and they are doing whatever they wish, you know. I sold my privatization coupons for 300000 tögrögs. There were people who purchased those coupons and they had done something with it adding all of them together. By the 20th decree the money people had in the banks was increased by 100 percent. When Byambasüren guai was the Prime Minister and Ganbold the Deputy Minister, they issued the 20th decree and 10 tögrögs were raised to 20. This 20th decree was profitable to those who worked in the upper-levels, but for the ordinary people and the herders it didn’t have any impact.
