A mother's love letter in the financial comic "Smart with money"

Mother's letter

While the story of a teacher in Tuyen Quang being thrown sandals at by students and forced into a corner of the classroom has caused a stir in public opinion in recent days, the letter a mother sent to her son who is about to study abroad and embark on a new journey in life has moved many people.

"Dear child,

Mom understands that you will have to face many difficulties and challenges. Then you will have to go through cold winter nights, with snow falling outside the window. At those times, remember the family meals under the warm yellow light and the stories and smiles of your parents and loved ones.

Mom understands, you always preserve and pack the love of your family, the love of your teachers, friends, and the love of your homeland in your life's luggage.

That will be the fire that warms you on cold winter nights and in uncertain times. That is also the fire that lights up passion, willpower, determination, and confidence to conquer the vast sky of knowledge."

Kim Ngan's mother's heartfelt letter to Tin Dung (Photo: Minh Nhan).

Mother Kim Ngan sent her son Tin Dung a few heartfelt words, hoping that he would realize his aspirations and dreams to help his family, community and country in the future.

In a faraway land, Dung burst into tears upon opening his mother's letter. He took a piece of white paper and wrote: "Always try your best so that your parents don't have to worry. Dare to dream... Think big... New paths are waiting for you to explore."

Originally a boy with aspirations and goals, Tin Dung strived to study abroad, with the desire to return to build and support his homeland from his financial knowledge. The boy carried his love for his homeland, family, teachers, and friends across the five continents, with a sense of responsibility to contribute to the country.

The letter is excerpted from the story "Mom believes you will walk firmly" in the book " Be smart with money - Avoid worries " by author Le Thi Thuy Sen (Director of the Communications Department of the State Bank of Vietnam ), published by Kim Dong Publishing House in December.

"The stork carries the sun and the rain

My mother carried me through all four seasons of wind and frost"

Smart with Money - Avoid Worry is the first financial comic for Vietnamese families, including 30 stories, divided into 3 chapters.

The book revolves around financial knowledge such as money (history of money, economic and social value of money, inflation, deflation, interest rates, exchange rates... how they affect life, behavior in currency transactions, domestic and foreign currencies...); financial investment (stocks, bonds, insurance, fund certificates...) or banking (history, banking activities, notes when saving, borrowing, paying...).

Like his mother Kim Ngan, MC Quyen Linh learned many valuable financial lessons that he had previously lost money on due to not understanding them. He introduced the book to his two daughters Mai Thao Linh (Cinderella) and Mai Thao Ngoc (Chestnut).

The male MC hopes that his two children will find financial lessons through this compassionate story.

"The book has inspired the efforts, kindness, and responsibility of children to their family and society. This is a gift from Linh for Cinderella as she prepares to turn 18," Cinderella confided.

To convey dry financial knowledge that anyone can understand, the author cleverly exploited everyday stories revolving around the Credit family.

The family consists of grandparents, mother Kim Ngan, father Tiet Kiem, Tin Dung and younger sister Tai Chinh. They have to face many happy and sad situations, worries about money and finance such as: the importance of understanding correctly and clearly the value of money; how to spend money wisely; how to avoid scams related to savings; knowledge about financial investment, banking...

Luckily, thanks to the special help of "financial doctor" Tien Huyen and her "financial prescriptions", they gradually understood the importance of having knowledge and knowing how to manage finances.

Not only aiming to supplement financial knowledge, many stories imbued with humanity in Smart with Money have touched the readers' emotions, such as: the story of the grandmother's inflationary meal, the veteran's pain of losing his comrades, the mother's wet boots...

The author uses the story of mother's boots to explain that money is the accumulation of labor (Photo: Minh Nhan).

The story "Mother's Boots and My New Shoes" is about Tin - Tin Dung's cousin, Mrs. Vay's son. During the meal, Tin expressed his wish to receive a pair of expensive branded shoes as a birthday gift.

When seeing the price, Mrs. Vay was shocked and told her son, "Just choose a pair that is affordable, I still have a lot of things to worry about." Hearing that, Tin sulked and left the table.

That night, it was raining and stormy, the wind was blowing like tearing cloth outside the door, it was almost midnight and Mrs. Vay still had not come home. Tin kept calling but his mother did not pick up. He was worried that his mother was in danger because the road was half-full of water.

Finally, Mrs. Vay came home, drenched in the rain, her hair plastered to her forehead. Tin looked down at his mother’s wet boots and put them away in the shoe cabinet.

When he looked up at the shelf, he realized that his mother only had one pair of old shoes, one pair of slippers and one pair of boots, while he had five pairs of shoes.

After that evening, Tin loved his mother more. Not only did he not ask for new shoes anymore, but he also helped with housework to help his mother feel less tired.

Doctor Tien Huyen "examined" and then commented that earning money is "blood sweat and tears", we must know how to appreciate the value of money.

To have money, we must work and labor, money is understood as the accumulation of labor results. Money can be calculated, but the merit of parents is as great as the sky and the sea.

Her meal reflects the inflation problem (Photo: Minh Nhan).

In the story "Grandma's meal" , Tin Dung followed his grandmother to the market to buy food. When they came to the stalls selling meat, fish, eggs... she just asked the prices and then left, wondering "why is everything more expensive than last month".

Stopping at the meat counter, my grandmother asked the price of a kilo of tenderloin, the seller announced 100,000 VND, an increase of 20,000 VND compared to last month due to inflation.

The grandmother and grandchild Tin Dung do not understand "what inflation is". The grandmother laments, "Every day the prices go up at the market, it's like losing money, everything is expensive. Income remains the same, prices go up, so we have to "cut our coat according to our cloth".

Dr. Tien Huyen explained that inflation is the increase in the price of goods and services over a certain period of time, leading to a loss of value of a currency. This means that grandma will have to spend more money to buy the same amount of meat than before.

At the end of "Smart with Money" , there is a touching story about "The Savings Book and the Penicillin Bottle" . Once, my grandfather told Tin Dung that when he was 18 years old, he was called up to join the army and fight along the Truong Son road. His unit was stationed in Hue, Quang Binh, Quang Tri...

On the day of enlistment, the unit gave each man an empty bottle of penicillin, inside of which was a small piece of paper or metal with his name and hometown engraved on it.

He and his teammates were told to always keep the jar in their pockets, so that if they died, their teammates and family would find their remains one day.

In a fierce battle, the unit lost 17 men, but only 4 were buried with the penicillin bottle. A comrade named Chien was seriously injured and was carried into the bunker by his grandfather. But he also gradually lost consciousness and died in his grandfather's arms.

When peace was restored, he and Mr. Chien’s mother went to the old battlefield to find his grave. Thanks to the penicillin bottle, people knew the name and age of the martyr and gathered Mr. Chien’s remains to the commune’s martyr cemetery. Mr. Chien’s family was also somewhat comforted.

The touching story of my grandfather's penicillin bottle.

One time, Kim Ngan's mother went into the Credit room and saw a glass jar with a rolled up piece of paper inside that had the boy's four goals written on it: "Determined to study to expand knowledge; Quit playing games, determined to get into a specialized school, conquer the top 30 schools in the world; Practice hard to join the basketball team; Always try to make parents and grandparents happy."

Tin Dung then asked his parents for some money to send to his grandfather to visit his comrades. He and Dung decided to save the money together, and when Dung grew up, he would give it back to him.

Doctor Tien Huyen warned that saving money seems simple but if not careful, it can lead to many problems. Elderly people like my grandfather are easily taken advantage of by bad people, who lure them into buying bonds and insurance.

The doctor prescribed "savings" medicine, emphasizing "4 no's" and "5 yes's". In which, "4 no's" include: Do not ask others to deposit money on your behalf, including bank employees; Do not sign fake bank documents; Do not deposit money outside the bank's legal location; Do not lend savings books.

"5 yes" includes: Check bank notifications to understand balance fluctuations; Comply with bank regulations on savings deposits; Deposit within the bank's prescribed time frame; Carefully check information on the savings book; Promptly notify the bank if the savings book is lost.

Nearly 30 stories, divided into 3 chapters in Smart with Money, are not forced but imbued with family affection, camaraderie, and love between people. This is the connecting thread that helps members overcome all difficulties and move towards peace and happiness.

"The biggest reward for me is that the book is spread"

With over 20 years of experience in the fields of finance, banking, and communications, and consulting on several television programs on financial education and communication, author Le Thi Thuy Sen has witnessed many people encountering problems, even falling into poverty. One of the reasons is the lack of knowledge and skills in financial and banking management.

In Vietnam, not only children but also adults have limited financial knowledge due to many reasons, leading to financial risks.

"As a mother of two school-age sons, I understand that in a busy life, children who want to grow up need to have access to basic financial knowledge and understand the value of money, whether they are dependent on their parents or independent later on. From there, they will learn to love work, overcome difficulties, love to study, live responsibly and with ambition...", Ms. Thuy Sen said.

Cover of the book "Be smart with money - Avoid worries".

The biggest difficulty for the author is to convey knowledge about finance and banking in a way that anyone who reads it will see themselves in, easy to understand, easy to apply, rich in humanity and education to move towards good things.

Folk songs, proverbs, idioms, traditions, culture, and national history have helped her convey financial and banking knowledge in a simple, easy-to-understand way to readers.

Throughout the 280 pages of the comic book, there are nearly 100 folk songs, proverbs, and idioms appearing interwoven in the introduction of each story or the witty, intelligent dialogue of the characters.

Author Le Thi Thuy Sen - Director of Communications Department, State Bank of Vietnam.

"Only spend on things that are really necessary."

"Do while you're well, save for when you're sick" (Spending needs to be frugal to prepare finances for the future)

"Giving each other gold is not as good as showing each other the way to do business" (You should set aside some money or borrow capital to invest and do suitable business).

"If there is heaven, there must be me" (You should spend an appropriate amount of money to take care of yourself, such as money for health, travel, etc.).

"A person who does not study is like a gem without polishing" (Should spend money to invest in education, study to increase self-worth, be diligent and love to work).

"Even if you build a nine-story stupa - It is not as good as saving one person" (We should spend an appropriate amount of money to contribute and support the community and society).

"My greatest wish and reward is that the book is well received by readers and spreads good values ​​in the community. Through this book, I hope parents will have more resources to share financial and banking knowledge with their children," said Ms. Sen.

MSc. Le Thi Thuy Sen is Director of the Communications Department of the State Bank of Vietnam, member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union.

She has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of finance - banking, communications, deposit insurance, and is a consultant for the TV programs Smart Money - VTV3 Channel, Vietnam Television, and Key Treasurer - VTV1 Channel, Vietnam Television.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/van-hoa/buc-thu-tham-tinh-me-trong-truyen-tranh-tai-chinh-kheo-khon-voi-tien-20231211091811625.htm