When I heard the very sad news from the Central Committee for the Protection of the Health of Cadres about the passing of the beloved General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, I sat silently, sad, regretful, respectful, and heartbroken. The image and feelings of the beloved General Secretary; of the kind and decisive President and Chairman of the National Assembly in the not-so-distant past; of the simple, sincere, and close party member Nguyen Phu Trong; of Mr. Trong - a very admirable and dear classmate of us, former students of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University of Science during a difficult time (now Hanoi National University) kept appearing, so fresh it was painful, so sad it was numb.
And, naturally, a few verses in the poem "Remember" composed by poet, writer, musician Nguyen Dinh Thi, evoke the image of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, coming very quickly to mind: "Who is the star missing that it sparkles/ Illuminating the path of soldiers among the cloudy passes/ Who is the fire missing that it is red in the cold night/ Warming the hearts of soldiers under a thousand trees.../...The star in the night never goes out/ We love each other and fight for our whole lives/ The fire in the forest flickers red/ We love each other and are proud to be human".
Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong is a steadfast, creative and excellent theorist of our Party and State.
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| Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong is a steadfast, creative and excellent theorist of our Party and State. |
Star, the flame of knowledge, of theory
Among the highest leaders of our Party and State, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong is the one with clear intentions when choosing the fields of study that he considers necessary for his work. In the article "Some thoughts about working on the Party's political theory magazine", he wrote: "Preparing to finish the 10th grade (today's 12th grade), the school asked me to write down my wishes for what I would like to do in the future and which university I would like to apply to. I did not hesitate to write down my wishes to study folk literature or become a journalist and apply to the Literature Department, Hanoi University of Science"[1]... "I am especially passionate about reading and studying folk poetry, folk tales, and Nguyen Du, Tan Da, Nguyen Binh, To Huu..., poetic souls imbued with folklore. It was no coincidence that in my final year of school, I chose the topic "Folk poetry with poet To Huu" as the topic of my graduation thesis..." ... "With the help and enthusiastic guidance of Professor Dinh Gia Khanh, I successfully defended my graduation thesis with the only absolute optimal score of that course"[2].
The next step, not by choice, but by organization assignment, he worked at the Communist Magazine, as an editor of the Party Building Department, a few years later he was selected as a graduate student at the Faculty of Economics - Politics, Nguyen Ai Quoc High-level Party School (now Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics) and then sent to the Soviet Union as an intern and defended his Associate Doctoral Thesis (now Doctorate) in the Faculty of Party Building, Academy of Social Sciences of the Soviet Union.
He has held the positions of Deputy Head, Head, then Member of the Editorial Board, and was assigned by the Secretariat and then the Politburo as Deputy Editor-in-Chief (1990 - 1991), and Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Magazine (1991 - 1996). From January 1994 to present, he has been a member of the Party Central Committee for the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th terms. From December 1997 to present, he has been a member of the Politburo for the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th terms. He has been assigned by the Central Committee and the Politburo to be in charge of the following tasks: Ideology-Culture and Science and Education of the Party; Standing member of the Politburo; Vice Chairman and then Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council; Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee for the 12th, 13th, and 14th terms.
From May 2002 to present, he has been a National Assembly Delegate of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th terms, of which from June 2006 to July 2011, he was Secretary of the National Assembly Party Delegation and Chairman of the 11th and 12th National Assembly. From January 2011 to present, he has held the important positions of General Secretary of the Party of the 11th, 12th, and 13th terms; Secretary of the Central Military Commission; Head of the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption; President, Chairman of the National Defense and Security Council, term 2016-2021 (from October 2018 to April 2021). He was awarded the 55-year Party membership badge. On July 18, 2024, he was awarded the Gold Star Order by the Party and the State, the most noble order of our country.
Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong is a steadfast, creative and excellent theorist of our Party and State. He often reminds his colleagues to remember the teaching of VI Lenin: "Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement. Only a party that has a pioneering theory to guide it can fulfill its role as a pioneering soldier." He emphasized that it is necessary to proactively raise the theoretical thinking of the Party, promote practical summaries, theoretical research, and promptly provide scientific bases for the formulation of Party guidelines and policies, and State policies and laws. Theoretical research must be linked with practical summaries of development in the fields of politics, economics, culture, society, national defense, security, and foreign affairs; With the construction of the political system, especially the Party building, the building of the socialist rule of law state, and socialist democracy, the new approach and requirements are to synchronously form institutions for national development based mainly on the foundation of science, technology and innovation, and to highly promote the human factor. People are the driving force for rapid and sustainable national development, to escape the risk of falling behind, not to fall into the "middle-income trap", and to successfully achieve the goal of becoming a developed country, following the socialist orientation by the middle of the 21st century.
Until recently, when his health had clearly declined and his physical strength had gradually weakened, the intelligence, enthusiasm, and ambition of Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong remained intact and still shone brightly. He discussed and advised the senior leaders: To serve and contribute to achieving the country's development goals through three important milestones of 2025, 2030, and 2045, what is Vietnam's theoretical development goal?
| Until recently, when his health had clearly declined and his physical strength had gradually weakened, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong's intelligence, passion, and ambition remained intact and still shining brightly. |
And by 2045, when our country becomes a developed country with high income, we will have a complete, scientific and modern theoretical system on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam. It is necessary to identify and unify the goal of developing such theory in order to be determined to strive, work and be creative. Pay attention to studying new theoretical issues of the world; new issues raised by practice; experiences of advanced countries; of the scientific and technological revolution,... Gradually supplement and perfect the theory, build a theoretical system of the Vietnamese revolution in the new period: Building and defending the country, opening up for integration, being a friend, a reliable and responsible partner of other countries, having an important position in the region and in the world.
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General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong talks with delegates attending the National Cultural Conference at the National Assembly House, November 24, 2021. |
Cultural height in both theory and practice, expressed simply but deeply in every thought and action.
Following the great success of the 13th National Congress of the Party, commemorating the 131st birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 - May 19, 2021) and important political and cultural events of the country in 2021, Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Party Central Committee, has an important article: "Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam".
After a general assessment of the world and domestic situation, referring to the issue of culture and people, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong wrote: "We need a society in which development is truly for the people, not for profit that exploits and tramples on human dignity. We need economic development that goes hand in hand with social progress and justice, not increasing the gap between rich and poor and social inequality. We need a humane, united, mutually supportive society, oriented towards progressive and humane values, not unfair competition, "big fish swallowing small fish" for the selfish interests of a few individuals and groups. We need sustainable development, in harmony with nature to ensure a healthy living environment for present and future generations, not for exploiting, appropriating resources, consuming material things without limit and destroying the environment. And we need a political system in which real power belongs to the people, by the people. "The people and serving the interests of the people, not just a wealthy minority. Are those good wishes the true values of socialism and also the goal and path that President Ho Chi Minh, our Party and our people have chosen and are steadfastly and persistently pursuing?"
When talking about building and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized: "We consider culture as the spiritual foundation of society, the endogenous strength, the driving force for national development and national defense; determining that cultural development is synchronous and harmonious with economic growth and progress, social justice is a fundamental orientation of the process of building socialism in Vietnam. The culture we build is an advanced culture, imbued with national identity, a culture unified in diversity, based on progressive and humanistic values; Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought play a leading role in the spiritual life of society, inheriting and promoting the fine traditional values of all ethnic groups in the country, absorbing the achievements and quintessence of human culture, striving to build a civilized and healthy society for the true interests and dignity of people, with the level of knowledge, morality, physical strength, lifestyle and aesthetics are increasingly high. We identify: People hold a central position in the development strategy; cultural development, human development is both the goal and the driving force of the innovation process; education - training and science - technology development is the top national policy; environmental protection is one of the vital issues, the criterion for sustainable development; building happy, progressive families as healthy, solid cells of society, implementing gender equality is the criterion of progress and civilization. Socialist society is a society that aims for progressive, humane values, based on the foundation of the common interests of the whole society in harmony with the legitimate interests of people, which is qualitatively different from competitive societies to appropriate private interests between individuals and groups, therefore it is necessary and has the conditions to build social consensus instead of social opposition and antagonism".
The above are the thoughts and theories associated with profound practices of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on socialism and the path to socialism in Vietnam, in which culture is affirmed to be the spiritual foundation of society, endogenous strength, driving force for national development and national defense; people hold the central position in all development strategies.
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| General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong visited Ms. Dang Thi Phuc in 2005. |
In reality, in the daily life of himself and his family, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong always set an example of learning, training, practicing, going first, doing first and always doing the right thing. Senior teacher Dang Thi Phuc still remembers his 4th grade student Nguyen Phu Trong: "He only wore brown clothes, went barefoot, regardless of winter or summer, because his family was poor."
Teacher Phuc continued: "After leaving school and teachers, Nguyen Phu Trong still arranged time to visit Nguyen Gia Thieu secondary and high schools and the teachers, some of whom were still teaching, some of whom had retired. I remember one recent time, even though he held a very high position, he still came to visit my family. That day, I was preparing dinner in a small, temporary rented house, because my house was under construction, the road to get there was very winding, but he still made the effort to find it."
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| Handwritten letter from student Nguyen Phu Trong to his former teacher before the Lunar New Year 2019 |
On the eve of the Lunar New Year 2019, student Nguyen Phu Trong sent a few lines of letter and a small gift to teacher Phuc and her family: "Dear teacher Dang Thi Phuc! On the occasion of the traditional New Year of the Nation - Lunar New Year 2019, I would like to send my regards to you and your family. I wish you good health and longevity in the new year; wish your whole family peace, prosperity, and many new joys!". I was really touched and proud of my student, so I wrote the poem "The little student of the past" to give to her, to remember the beautiful and dear memories.
During his lifetime, Mr. Duong Duc Quang (Director of the Press Information Center, Government Office) told us, his fellow students, simple and touching stories about his friend Nguyen Phu Trong from the 8th Literature class at the University of General Sciences in the 1960s: "When studying with us, Nguyen Phu Trong studied hard and well, his graduation thesis was excellent, he was admitted to the Party right in school and the teachers wanted to keep him as a teaching staff, but the Study Magazine, now the Communist Magazine, recruited him."
Mr. Quang added: "When he held a very high position, Mr. Trong still attended almost regularly the meetings of the 8th Literature alumni with the teachers who had taught him. Once, he sincerely said: "When you come here, please leave all titles outside this room."
Another university classmate of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, journalist Phan Van Kinh, from Yen Thanh, Nghe An, currently living in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province, told the author of this article a story about his close and beloved friend: "When I was in my third year of university in the Dai Tu evacuation area, Thai Nguyen, I volunteered to go to the southern front as a war correspondent. When he heard the news, Nguyen Phu Trong was very moved and sad. During those days, the classmates went everywhere together. Trong said: "When Kinh left, the class was both sad because we had to part, but also proud because he and a few other friends were able to go to the battlefield, to write hot and current news articles and literary pages."
On the day Mr. Kinh left, his classmate Nguyen Phu Trong walked with him two kilometers from the evacuation dormitory to the bus station to join the training unit. When saying goodbye to his friend, Nguyen Phu Trong had tears in his eyes and hugged him tightly as if he didn't want to let go.
Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Thien, former member of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art, former Editor-in-Chief of the "Vietnam Literature Forum" Magazine, a classmate of the University Literature class, recalled: "We loved and respected each other not because of titles, academic titles, degrees, but because of our loyalty. Our class kept a class reunion every two or three years. Nguyen Phu Trong often came by motorbike when he was young, and later asked the security guard to take him by motorbike. In recent years, his health has declined and, following security regulations, he came by car, but left his car far away and walked in. He told the teachers: "I come here to be your student forever. I come here to be your classmate forever. I hope we will always maintain the teacher-student, friend relationship like in the old days, when there were many hardships and shortages."
Many friends of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong have the same opinion: Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, his wife and children all live a simple, harmonious and sincere life with everyone. When he held his daughter and son's weddings, the family and relatives of both sides discussed keeping it small, simple and frugal, with tea, fruit and cakes, no lavish feasts. Only after the children's weddings did he and his wife send out wedding invitations to a few friends, comrades and relatives.
In early 2018, when receiving the 50-year Party membership badge, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said these heartfelt words: "During the 50 years of being in the Party, I have been educated, trained, and guided by the Party a lot, thanks to which I have been able to do a number of things and gradually mature. However, all that I have done is extremely small compared to the education and training of the Party; the guidance and instruction of my predecessors; the support, collaboration, and help of my comrades and colleagues; the encouragement and support of the people, directly the places where I used to live, study, and work."
The General Secretary always remembers and reminds everyone of President Ho Chi Minh's teachings: Corruption is the act of "stealing public property to make it private property"; embezzlement and corruption are "internal invaders", corruption and negativity are "inborn defects" of power.
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The General Secretary always remembers and reminds everyone of President Ho Chi Minh's teachings: Corruption is the act of "stealing public property to make it private"; embezzlement and corruption are "internal invaders", corruption and negativity are "inborn defects" of power. |
The blazing furnace burns away corruption
Speaking at the National Conference on preventing and combating corruption and negativity on June 26, 2018, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized: "We must fundamentally and systematically prevent violations and shortcomings by Party regulations and State laws. Figuratively speaking, we must "lock power in a cage of mechanisms".
The General Secretary always remembers and reminds everyone of President Ho Chi Minh's teachings: Corruption is the act of "stealing public property to make it private property"; embezzlement and corruption are "internal invaders", corruption and negativity are "inborn defects" of power[3].
In the work "Resolutely and persistently fighting against corruption and negativity, contributing to building our Party and State increasingly clean and strong", General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized that corruption in money and assets can be recovered, but "if there is moral and ideological degradation, everything is lost" [4]. For that reason, the fight against corruption and negativity must focus on attacking its roots, which are manifestations of degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle among cadres, party members, civil servants, and public employees.
This is an important, large-scale, long-term struggle that must become an irreversible trend. The ruling Party and the State that exercise power are always at risk of abusing power, degeneracy, degeneration, and corruption, and are very susceptible to "congenital defects" that threaten the survival of the Party and the regime. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong |
The General Secretary affirmed: This is an important, large-scale, long-term struggle, which must become an irreversible trend. The ruling Party and the State exercising power are always at risk of abusing power, degeneracy, degeneration, and degradation, and are very susceptible to "congenital defects" that threaten the survival of the Party and the regime. The fight against corruption and negativity is an extremely important and urgent issue in building and rectifying the Party and the entire political system, which is highly appreciated by many cadres, party members, and people, and recognized by many international politicians and scholars.
Remember an incident not too long ago, on November 29, 2017, when meeting with voters of Tay Ho, Hoan Kiem, and Ba Dinh districts in Hanoi to report the results of the 4th session of the 14th National Assembly, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sincerely said: The work of preventing and combating corruption and negativity in recent times has been carried out systematically and seriously, achieving some important results, but there is still much to do. We do not just make empty calls, empty ideological education... We must lock power in a cage of mechanisms and laws. When you give power to someone, there must also be a whip, a blow so that they cannot, dare not, and do not want to do wrong, do carelessly... We must go step by step firmly.
The General Secretary often told his comrades: During his lifetime, Uncle Ho was very strict and resolute in examining and handling corrupt, negative, extravagant and wasteful cadres while the country was struggling, and compatriots and soldiers were suffering many losses and sacrifices. The handling of many cadres, including high-ranking and very high-ranking cadres as recently happened, was something no one wanted, even very painful, but it could not be otherwise, it had to be done resolutely and persistently for the common cause, for the strictness of Party discipline, the rule of law of the State, to meet the expectations and trust of the people, for the interests of the nation and people, for the survival of the regime. The General Secretary repeated the folk song: "The superiors are not in the right position/That's why we, the subordinates, are rude".
Historian Duong Trung Quoc said, "When reading the asset declaration of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, I found him to be very honest and clean. His salary is not high, and his savings and assets are insignificant. In addition to the official house as prescribed by the Party and State, he has more than 300 square meters of land in his hometown left by his ancestors."
During his lifetime, former General Secretary Le Kha Phieu commented: "Mr. Trong is a sharp theorist of our Party. He is a true communist, devoted to love and righteousness. He has a kind personality, but is resolute and uncompromising in the Party rectification work to make our Party increasingly cleaner, worthy of being "a public servant, a loyal servant of the people" as President Ho once affirmed."
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| General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on a working trip to the grassroots. Photo: VNA |
That fire, that star shines forever, burns forever
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was very fond of the verses of poet To Huu - the poet he chose for his university graduation thesis more than 60 years ago, when To Huu wrote about Uncle Ho when he passed away: "Fragile cloth shirt, soul thousands of miles / Better than bronze statues exposed on worn paths". The General Secretary said: "Honor is the most sacred and noble thing, resolutely opposing individualism, all for the common cause, that is a true communist!".
He also often recalls a comment by writer and poet Nguyen Dinh Thi in the film "Ho Chi Minh - Portrait of a Man" - Golden Lotus Award at the 9th Vietnam Film Festival in 1990: "On this shirt there is not a single medal. And under this thin shirt there is a heart", very profound, very touching!".
During his time as a student of the 8th Literature class at Hanoi University of Science and during his years as a doctoral student in the Soviet Union, comrade Nguyen Phu Trong always remembered the words of the main character Pavel Korchagin in the work "How the Steel Was Tempered" by Russian writer Ostrovsky: "We can be proud that all our lives, all our strength, we have devoted to the most noble cause in the world - the cause of fighting for national liberation, human liberation, bringing happiness to the people".
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is worthy of being a True Communist, an excellent, exemplary, loyal, and typical student of President Ho Chi Minh and the excellent, exemplary leaders of the previous generation of our Party and our People. We - the cadres, party members, the masses, all Vietnamese people at home and abroad and international friends bid farewell to him, are proud of him, grateful to him, and learn from him!
He is the warm, red-hot Flame, the bright, ever-shining Star, never extinguished!
Associate Professor, Doctor, Writer Nguyen The Ky [5]
[1] Book "Time and Witnesses" (Memoirs of Journalists, edited by Ha Minh Duc), National Political Publishing House Truth, page 488.
[2] Cited book 1, pp. 448,449
[3] Book "Nguyen Phu Trong: Resolutely and persistently fighting against corruption and negativity, contributing to building our Party and State increasingly clean and strong", National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2023, p. 15
[4] Cited book2 (SDD2), p. 16,
[5] Former member of the Party Central Committee, former General Director of VTV. Chairman of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art.
Source: https://baothuathienhue.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/co-mot-ngoi-sao-sang-mot-ngon-lua-do-ruc-khong-bao-gio-tat-143244.html
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