Discussion '65 years of Uncle Ho's stilt house in the Presidential Palace Area'

On May 17, at the President Ho Chi Minh Relic Site at the Presidential Palace, a scientific seminar took place with the theme: "65 years of Uncle Ho's stilt house in the Presidential Palace Area".

The event was held to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Uncle Ho's residence and work at the stilt house in the Presidential Palace (May 17, 1958 - May 17, 2023); the 133rd birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 - May 19, 2023).

Photo caption — Uncle Ho's stilt house in the President Ho Chi Minh Relic Site - Presidential Palace. Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA

In his report at the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Van Duong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh Relic Site at the Presidential Palace, emphasized: The seminar is an opportunity for delegates, scientists, and relic management officers to research, exchange, and honor the great contributions and great career of President Ho Chi Minh to the struggle for national liberation and independence and freedom for the Vietnamese people; to supplement documents about the stilt house and historical events during the time he lived and worked here; to deepen the affection and concern of the Party and the people for Uncle Ho... The seminar is also an opportunity for those working in the preservation, maintenance, and promotion of the value of the Stilt House Relic to exchange, share, and draw lessons in the work of preserving and promoting the value of the Stilt House Relic and to improve the quality of service for visitors better and more effectively. At the seminar, the delegates had many opinions exchanged, discussed and analyzed, clarifying the position, role and importance of the Stilt House Relic in the Ho Chi Minh Relic Complex at the Presidential Palace; assessing the current situation and proposing solutions to improve the collection of documents, materials and artifacts, in order to serve scientific research, preserve and promote the value of the Stilt House Relic better and better... Some opinions focused on improving the quality of management and conservation of the Stilt House Relic; the issue of applying science and technology to the conservation and promotion of the value of the Stilt House Relic in the current period...

After the resistance war against France, in October 1954, President Ho Chi Minh returned to Hanoi from the Viet Bac resistance base. In mid-December 1954, he began to move to live and work in the Presidential Palace area. After the first 4 years, he lived and worked in the small house of an electrician serving the Indochina Governor-General's Palace. Many times the Party Central Committee proposed to build him a new house to live and work better, but he refused. In March 1958, during a visit to Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province, he saw many changes in the village, many new stilt houses, and the people's lives were gradually improving. He was very happy and told comrade Vu Ky: many times the Party Central Committee suggested to build him a new house, according to him, a small house should be built on the other side of the pond, in the style of the Viet Bac people's house. Fulfilling his wish, after more than 1 month of construction, the stilt house was completed on May 17, 1958. Immediately after that, Uncle Ho officially moved to live and work here. Although the house was simple and modest, it was the place that was closely associated with President Ho Chi Minh's life in the last 11 years of his life (1958 - 1969). Here, in his position as Party Chairman and President, he thought day and night to work with the Politburo to set out strategic guidelines and policies for the Vietnamese revolution, continuing to lead the people to overcome difficulties and challenges to carry out two strategic tasks: building socialism in the North, fighting to liberate the South, moving towards national reunification, actively contributing to the struggle for peace, national independence, democracy and socialism in the world. Also here, President Ho Chi Minh wrote many works of theoretical and practical value with ideological significance bearing the mark of the times such as: "Revolutionary Ethics" (1958); "Absolutely Secret Document" (1965), "Appeal to fight against America to save the country" (1966)... Currently, the Relic Site has become a "red address", a "practical school" for organizations, unions, and the masses to visit, research and study.

Phuong Ha (Vietnam News Agency)