He began to collect M’Nong stories and poems when he was a teacher in Dac Nong Province’s Gia Nghia town. He had translated M’Nong works including 75 epics, 15 legendary tales and other books into Vietnamese.

Dieu Kau was the consultant on M’Nong culture and art for the national radio, Voice of Viet Nam. He recently completed a book on the M’Nong’s proverbs and had also compiled a Vietnamese-M’Nong dictionary and written textbooks for teaching the M’Nong language.

In recognition of Dieu Kau’s contributions, the Government named as a national folk artist, one of the two people who have received the honour in Dac Nong. He also received a certificate of national unity from the Viet Nam Fatherland Front. — VNS