Enhbold
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990257
Name: Enhbold
Parent's name: Dorj
Ovog: Taichuud
Sex: m
Year of Birth: 1958
Ethnicity: Halh
Additional Information
Education: higher
Notes on education:
Work: private work
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: Sühbaatar sum, Ulaanbaatar aimag
Lives in: Chingeltei sum (or part of UB), Ulaanbaatar aimag
Mother's profession: service worker (Үйлчлэгч)
Father's profession: herder
Themes for this interview are:
(Please click on a theme to see more interviews on that topic)
education / cultural production
work
democracy
childhood
privatization
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
parents
1966 flood
collectivization
cultural campaigns
petty trade
privatization
To read a full interview with Enhbold please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 090712A with Enhbold
Enhbold was born in Ulaanbaatar. In his childhood he also lived in Erdenet and Darhan. He is the only child in his family. After finishing secondary school in Ulaanbaatar in 1976, Enhbold entered the Mongolian National University and graduated in 1982 as a teacher of language and literature. His first job was with the National Security where he worked as a political worker for two years. Afterwards he worked as a teacher in various secondary schools both in the country-side and Ulaanbaatar. Since 2000 he has been running his own small business.
In the interview, Enhbold tells about his parents, his childhood, his student years, the great flood of 1966 in Ulaanbaatar, socialism, collectivization, and democracy. He heard both of the cultural campaign and the collectivization from other people. His understanding of the cultural campaign is that it helped the Mongolians become cultured. After giving away their livestock to the state, like many other former herders, his parents moved to Ulaanbaatar. There his father found a job in the Mongolian circus as an animal attendant, and his mother became a waitress in the Mongolian National Television. In Enhbold’s memory, socialism was a good time: People were promoted based on their skills, the average salary was good, and workers did not have to bow before their superiors. Today, the situation is the opposite: People get promoted based on favouritism and kinship ties, salary is low, and those in the position of power behave like feudal lords. Nonetheless, Enhbold actively participated in the democratic movement. According to him, democracy has brought many positive things to Mongolia, including the freedom of speech and the possibility to engage in business. The biggest problem with democracy in Mongolia is that people do whatever they want in the name of freedom. No wonder then that the privatization was not carried out fairly.
Enhbold does not trust Mongolian leaders. The main reason for this he sees in the lack of a system of responsibility and accountability. The judicial system is not working properly in Mongolia, and corrupt leaders and bureaucrats are not held accountable.
