The touching story of a doctor at the Ho Chi Minh City Patriotic Emulation Congress

At the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Patriotic Emulation Congress (2025 - 2030), the exchange session caused strong emotions with the story of People's Physician - Doctor Nguyen Viet Giap, Director of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Eye Hospital.

At the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Patriotic Emulation Congress (2025 - 2030), the exchange with advanced models brought profound and inspiring stories about silent dedication.

After the exchange, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc shared a very humane information, showing the kindness of Ho Chi Minh City.

From the desire to pay off life's debt

The exchange session was deeply moving with the story of People's Physician - Doctor Nguyen Viet Giap, Director of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Eye Hospital. Sharing about the motivation that has motivated him to dedicate himself for 30 years, Doctor Giap told about his unfortunate childhood.

He was born into a poor working-class family and was soon struck down with a serious illness. "Of the 21 children who were sick at the same time, I was the only one who survived," Dr. Giap recalled.

During the 4 years lying in bed, he deeply understood "the desire to live, the desire to be cared for, to be loved of a sick person". Thanks to the help of neighbors and workers, he always had the feeling that "he owed life something" and was determined to become a doctor.

The most haunting memory was in 1994, when the doctor returned to Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and went to Xuyen Moc district to do charity check-ups. He met a patient who had been blind in both eyes due to cataracts for nearly 2 years. When he asked why he had not gone for a check-up, the daughter standing next to him could only wipe away her tears. The blind father looked up at the ceiling with his white eyes and slowly said: "No money, doctor."

That statement haunted and inspired him to initiate the blindness prevention program of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. To date, the program has provided free examinations to more than 100,000 patients and performed surgeries on tens of thousands of people.

"It is better to light a single match than to curse the darkness"

Another motivation came in 2012, when he discovered that 68% of students at a high school had refractive errors. He met a 7th grade girl with 4 diopters of nearsightedness. She said she had asked her mother for glasses for 2 years, but "her mother said she would only buy them when she had money." Every day, she had to copy her friend's work, "but she had to give her friend a cassava root, a sweet potato, a piece of candy or a pen before she could copy."

Three advanced models in the patriotic emulation movement exchanged at the 1st Ho Chi Minh City Patriotic Emulation Congress (2025 - 2030). From right to left: Dr. Nguyen Viet Giap, Ms. Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh

PHOTO: THUY LIEU

Since then, the "School Eye Care" program was born, screening more than 200,000 students and giving away more than 20,000 pairs of free glasses.

His hospital also maintained the "Bowl of Love Porridge" program for 8 years, providing more than 50,000 free bowls of porridge and milk to elderly patients who were tired after surgery.

Dr. Giap affirmed that all motivations "come from the actual needs of patients." He recalled the saying of the late Dr. Tran Tan Tram (Children's Hospital 1) that inspired him: "It is better to light a match than to sit and curse the darkness."

At the congress, Mr. Giap was also happy to announce that the World Health Organization (WHO) had officially recognized Vietnam as having completely eliminated trachoma by 2025. He urged young doctors to strive to practice medical ethics, such as the recent successful fetal intervention at Tu Du and Children's Hospital 1, to follow Uncle Ho's teaching: "A good doctor is like a mother."

Previously, Dr. Nguyen Viet Giap also proposed that the city support funding to build a mobile eye clinic in the Ba Ria - Vung Tau area. In the launching of the patriotic emulation movement for the period 2025 - 2030, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc agreed to provide funding to help the hospital build a mobile eye clinic.

"This is a very popular policy and very suitable for the humanistic spirit of the city. The city's leaders completely agree to provide funding for the hospital to carry out this very meaningful program and assign it to Ba Ria - Vung Tau Eye Hospital to implement in the coming time," said Mr. Duoc.

Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc agreed to the policy of funding the construction of a mobile eye clinic in the Ba Ria - Vung Tau area.

PHOTO: THUY LIEU

Beautiful flowers in the patriotic emulation movement of Ho Chi Minh City

The Congress also had an exchange with Labor Hero - People's Artisan - Chairman of the Board of Members of Minh Long 1 Company Limited, Mr. Ly Ngoc Minh. Mr. Minh shared his journey of more than 50 years of working in the ceramic industry with the philosophy "a product has value not only in its tangible part but also in the cultural value hidden inside".

From the collection "Vietnamese Soul", "Son Ha Cam Tu", "Dong Son Bronze Drum" to "Bleu de Hue Lotus", each product of Minh Long 1 is infused with his passion to preserve the soul of national culture, bringing Vietnamese ceramics to the world .

"Quintessence from the land, sophistication from the Vietnamese people", Mr. Minh summarizes his professional philosophy, which is also a message of pride and aspiration to spread Vietnamese culture.

Ms. Vo Thi Trung Trinh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center, shared about the journey of innovative thinking in building digital government. According to her, the goal of digital transformation is not only to apply technology, but also to bring technology into life, so that people can access public services "anytime, anywhere".

The "Digital Citizen" application, administrative virtual assistant, or digital solutions in healthcare, education, transportation, etc. are helping Ho Chi Minh City move closer to a modern, transparent, and service-oriented government model.

"Our motivation comes from the image of uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, and union members volunteering to bring technology to every home and every person. Those are the small bricks that build a livable digital city," said Ms. Trinh.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-chuyen-xuc-dong-cua-vi-bac-si-trong-dai-hoi-thi-dua-yeu-nuoc-tphcm-185251025150955457.htm