Sugar
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990495
Name: Sugar
Parent's name: Shar
Ovog: Sharnuud
Sex: m
Year of Birth: 1931
Ethnicity: Halh
Additional Information
Education: incomplete secondary
Notes on education: This most likely means 7 years of schooling.
Work: accountant, driver, retired
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: Agaruut sum, Dornogovi aimag
Lives in: Hatanbulag sum (or part of UB), Dornogovi 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)
collectivization
work
herding / livestock
environment
politics / politicians
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
To read a full interview with Sugar please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 100506A with Sugar
Sugar was born at Agaruut sum of Dornogobi aimag in 1931. His childhood was during the difficult period of the war. During this time flour, rice, and things to eat and drink were very scarce and they lived in a state of half-hunger. Starting 1950s, food became available. He graduated the accountant course at the Finance College after primary and secondary school. He retired in 1990 after 30 years of service at the collective. Sugar said about the collectives: “...The collectives brought progress to livestock husbandry. It brought progress in livestock management and we all developed this together by working as a team. Everyone had a job and there was no unemployed person at that time”.
After graduating Finance College Sugar came back to his hometown in 1959 and at that time it was announced that collective movement was complete. There was a collective named 'Shine örnölt' (New Growth) in Hatanbulag sum. Sugar worked at the collective as an accountant for many years and before retirement he worked as a driver for 10 years. At that time the driver was one of the important professions and you received a driver’s license after 6 months to 1 year training.
Sugar worked for many years at the collective, so he talked about the collective starting from its establishment to privatization. Also, Sugar talked about “Communes”, which were before the collective’s establishment. Poor people jointly established a commune and took livestock from rich people and distributed them to the poor. He explained however, that livestock gathered in such way were not raised properly and so went down the drain, and the “Commune” was not successful. Also, there was a harsh drought in the summer and a lot of snow in the winter in 1967. During this natural disaster, the collective livestock were reduced from more than 50000 to about 20000. Furthermore, Sugar said about the democracy: “Democracy gave us freedom. My lifetime dream to have a car came true. After democracy people have a freedom and travel whenever they want to ...”.
