Spring arrives in Bom Bo.

Báo Công an Nhân dân•20/01/2026

From sacrificing rice to feed the troops to reaping the sweet rewards today.

Today, Bom Bo is not only a place that evokes heroic memories, but also a rural area brimming with new vitality, bearing the hallmarks of a prosperous, peaceful spring and a strong aspiration for progress.

From the center of Binh Phuoc ward, follow National Highway 14 for about 40km to Minh Hung intersection, then turn into Bom Bo commune. The road to the old "rice pounding village" is now paved smoothly. On both sides of the road, lush green hills of rubber, cashew, coffee, and fruit trees stretch endlessly, interspersed with spacious houses and garden villas built close together. Spring has truly arrived here as rows of golden bellflowers bloom brilliantly, and the winds from the Southern Central Highlands bring a refreshing breath, igniting Bom Bo with a new rhythm of life.

Bom Bo, spring is coming -0 — A gong and drum dance performance by the S'tieng people at a traditional festival.

Crossing a steep slope, we visited the family of Mr. Dieu Te, a S'tieng ethnic minority member in Bom Bo village, residing within the Bom Bo S'tieng Ethnic Culture Conservation Area. In the scorching midday sun, he was diligently pulling water pipes to irrigate each coffee plant. Stopping his work, he smiled kindly, his voice simple and genuine: "Before, our S'tieng people were very poor, lacking everything. Now, thanks to the Party and the State's attention and support in terms of capital, seedlings, and housing, and the hard work of the people, life is much different than before."

Mr. Dieu Te led us on a tour of his more than 1.8-hectare garden, where rubber, cashew, and coffee trees are intercropped on fertile red basalt soil, conveniently located near a water source for irrigation. Each year, the garden brings his family hundreds of millions of dong in income. Furthermore, he and his wife leverage the local culture, cooking traditional S'tieng dishes for tourists visiting and experiencing community tourism , earning an additional 7-8 million dong per month. From a struggling household, his family has now achieved a stable and prosperous life.

Leaving Bom Bo hamlet and driving for more than 10km, we met Mr. Hoang Van Hung, a resident of Hamlet 8 – a typical farmer who "dares to think, dares to act." His spacious house with all the modern amenities is clear evidence of his journey of overcoming difficulties.

Mr. Hung recounted that decades ago, his family moved here from the North with nothing but their bare hands. Recognizing the potential of the land, he boldly invested in planting durian – a crop with high economic value. From an initial 2.5 hectares, his family has now expanded to 18 hectares of durian, plus 17 hectares of rubber trees that are currently yielding harvests. Their life is comfortable, and their children and grandchildren receive a good education.

In Bom Bo, stories of people getting rich like Mr. Dieu Te and Mr. Hoang Van Hung are no longer isolated cases. Many other households, such as Ms. Thi Xia (daughter of village elder Dieu Len), Ms. Phan Tuan Anh, and veteran Le Van Canh, have risen to become well-off, possessing assets worth billions of dong.

Even more encouragingly, hundreds of S'tieng and M'nong ethnic minority households, previously classified as poor or near-poor, have gained access to preferential loans and support in the form of seedlings, livestock, and production tools; 195 households have had their temporary or dilapidated houses rebuilt or repaired. While Bom Bo had 128 poor households at the beginning of 2020, now only 3 remain – a significant number reflecting the effectiveness of social welfare policies and the people's efforts to improve their lives.

Igniting the aspirations for a new rural area.

Walking around Bom Bo in the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year), it's easy to feel the vibrant rhythm of life in a rural area that is changing every day. The muddy red dirt roads of the past have now been paved with concrete and asphalt; vehicles can travel more conveniently.

Right in the center of the commune, every day, convoys of trucks and pickup trucks line up, carrying agricultural products to be sold throughout the provinces and cities of the Southeast region. But behind this bustling life lies a major goal that the Party Committee, government, and people of Bom Bo are focusing their efforts on: building a new rural area.

According to local residents, the once impoverished remote villages have now received comprehensive investment. The national power grid covers 100% of the villages and hamlets; cultural centers and sports fields have been built, meeting the needs of the community. Bom Bo currently has 8 schools ranging from kindergarten to high school, of which 6 meet national standards level 1.

Mr. Do Van Hung, Principal of Bom Bo Primary School, said that the school has a high attendance rate, no students drop out, and the graduation rate at all levels is over 99.9%. 100% of the teaching staff meet or exceed the required standards, contributing to improving the quality of human resources for the locality.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Phat, Chairman of the People's Committee of Bom Bo commune, the commune's economic structure is based on agriculture, accounting for approximately 65%, with a total area of nearly 18,000 hectares of perennial crops. Taking advantage of this, the people have boldly applied science and technology to production. From a remote, underdeveloped area inhabited by ethnic minorities, Bom Bo now has 42 businesses, 3 cooperatives operating effectively, 2 supermarkets, 14 cashew processing facilities, and nearly 900 individual businesses, creating new momentum for socio-economic development.

In our conversation with Mr. Chu Van Cuu, a resident of Hamlet 5, we heard many concerns from a farmer who has spent his entire life working in the fields. He hopes that transportation infrastructure will continue to be invested in to connect inter-regional trade, helping agricultural products sell at higher prices and reducing transportation costs. And in reality, these aspirations are gradually being realized as Bom Bo clearly defines three breakthrough programs for the 2025-2030 period: developing transportation infrastructure; developing sustainable agriculture linked to high economic value; and developing community tourism linked to the preservation of the S'tieng ethnic culture, with the orientation "Bom Bo - S'tieng Identity, a Community Destination".

Alongside economic development, maintaining security and order, especially in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, has always been a priority.

According to Major Truong Van Hong, Head of the Bom Bo Commune Police, the commune currently has over 6,200 households with more than 27,000 inhabitants belonging to 22 ethnic groups, of which ethnic minorities account for 54.6%. Previously, Bom Bo commune was identified as a key area with complex social order issues, crime, and drug-related problems; illegal lending, intentional injury crimes, gambling, and property theft were rampant; and the sale of unripe cashew nuts, land mortgages and transfers, and superstitious customs among ethnic minorities had caused many negative consequences.

Through propaganda, mobilization, and leveraging the role of influential individuals, these "hot spots" have been transformed, and the crime rate and violations of laws related to security and order have been significantly reduced. This spring, Bom Bo celebrates Tet in a peaceful atmosphere, with security and order maintained.

Leaving Bom Bo as the spring sun began to set, the song "The Sound of the Pestle in Bom Bo Village"—an immortal song by composer Xuan Hong, written from the unwavering patriotism of the S'tieng people of yesteryear—still resonated in my mind.

From the solid rear base of the revolution, Bom Bo today is rising strongly, continuing to write a new epic of peacetime. A prosperous spring is spreading across this heroic land, promising a sustainable future, worthy of the tenacious fighting tradition that has made Bom Bo's name in the nation's history.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Phong-su-tu-lieu/bom-bo-mua-xuan-ve-i794716/