Dreams, responsibilities and enthusiasm: Youth contribute to realizing the goals of developing a prosperous and happy country in the era of growth

Students of the Diplomatic Academy at the Workshop on Applying Ho Chi Minh's Thought on Building a Young Generation of Vietnam for Comprehensive Development in the New Era, 2024. (Source: HVNG)

Dream big

There is a saying: People must have dreams in life. The bigger the dream, the farther we can go. Young people with their youth and aspirations, we have many dreams. But are our dreams big enough? Luckily for Vietnamese youth, we have an example of big dreams: President Ho Chi Minh .

President Ho Chi Minh was a man with a big dream - a great dream: The dream of liberating a colonial nation and bringing the nation out of slavery, becoming free people, having a prosperous life. He once said: "I have a desire, an ultimate desire, which is to make our country completely independent, our people completely free, everyone has food to eat, clothes to wear, everyone can study".[1]

A dream so great that it seemed hopeless, seemingly impossible to realize in the dark night of despair of colonial life, of slavery. Many efforts of patriotic movements, of many previous generations of patriots had failed, were bloodily suppressed. The path to save the country fell into a deadlock. But Uncle Ho still dreamed and persevered with his dream, and together with the nation realized that great and mighty dream.

Today, our people have another great and grand dream: The dream of building a prosperous and happy Vietnam. The Resolution of the 13th Party Congress identifies three major goals in national development: (i) By 2025, the 50th anniversary of the complete liberation of the South and national reunification: To be a developing country with modern industry, surpassing the low-middle income level; (ii) By 2030, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party: To be a developing country with modern industry, high-middle income; and (iii) By 2045, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: To become a developed, high-income country. These are major goals, reflecting the great dreams and aspirations of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Party, to bring the country and the people into the era of national development.

For young people living in the era of international integration, we go out into the world and the world comes to us, the vision and dreams of young people are also broad along with the process of international integration of the country. We do not only see the development of our own country. We also see the development of the wider world, prosperity and better things outside, and that nurtures a big dream of young people: The dream of realizing prosperity for this land of Vietnam and happiness for the Vietnamese people. Who among us - the young people - does not have a dream of being a citizen of a prosperous, happy, powerful Vietnam, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world's great powers? The characteristic of youth is always having great ambitions and lofty dreams. Without that, how can we be called young people?

Great responsibility

For young people, contributing to the realization of the nation's great dream is not only a dream but also a responsibility. In each era and each stage, young people have their own responsibility to the Fatherland and the nation.

Throughout history, generations of Vietnamese youth have fought heroically, sacrificed heroically, and sacrificed themselves for the independence of the country and freedom of the nation, and have become heroes forever remembered by the Fatherland and the people - those whom Uncle Ho called "youth heroes".[2] This has created an extremely glorious and proud revolutionary tradition of Vietnamese youth. Our youth today must live and work to continue that glorious and proud revolutionary tradition of previous generations of youth to be worthy of being "heroic youth of a heroic nation" as President Ho Chi Minh said.[3]

Furthermore, we, the youth, were born in the Renovation period - the period when the country began to develop - enjoying the achievements of economic and social development built by the previous generation. We were born and grew up in the period when the country was most developed as the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress affirmed: "Our country has never had such a foundation, potential, position and international prestige as it does today."

The current generation of youth is living in the best period, studying in the best conditions, and living in the best conditions compared to the history of the Vietnamese people and country. That poses a great moral responsibility for Vietnamese youth in continuing and contributing commensurate with what the previous generation of the country has brought to the youth. As Uncle Ho once said: “The previous generation of revolutionaries took charge and built the foundation for the youth to move forward. Today, our youth must also strive […] to contribute all the intelligence and strength of the youth to the cause of building socialism.”[4]

There is a saying that “ don’t ask what the Fatherland has done for us, but ask what we have done for the Fatherland ”. The Fatherland has really done too much for us - the current youth. With what the previous generation has given to the youth, the youth need to ask themselves “what have we done and will do for the Fatherland today”.

High blood pressure

Faced with the task of realizing the country's major goals according to the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress, the question is what union members and youth need to do. President Ho Chi Minh once said, "Young people do small things." In general, youth do the work of youth. Everyone can do something useful, just need to do the right thing that suits their abilities. Union members and youth in each social position only need to do their job well. Each person has a job; each person doing their job well is contributing to the development of the country. President Ho Chi Minh once said: "Our youth need to understand that: Whatever job, if you try to overcome difficulties and complete the task well, it is glorious and heroic."[5]

But if we simply do good deeds, can we realize our big dreams? One of the most important things for young people is to maintain a strong and high level of enthusiasm, to strive to compete in their studies and work. The flame of enthusiasm must burn and always burn. Enthusiasm is an endless and extremely powerful source of spiritual motivation, motivating young people to strive, strive more, and strive continuously, surpassing their own limits, becoming more and more perfect and doing better and greater things.

Youth of Diplomatic Academy participate in the source-returning activity in Ha Tinh, Summer 2024. (Source: HVNG)

To me, President Ho Chi Minh had a fierce and ever-burning flame of enthusiasm. An example of steadfastness and perseverance for decades and his entire life with his dream despite many difficulties, challenges, and imprisonments. He once said: “When I was young like you, the world situation and the situation in the country were very dark […] Therefore, I and the youth at that time were oppressed and exploited like all other compatriots. Heartbroken because the nation was enslaved, I traveled to many foreign countries, did many jobs to make a living, lived to find a revolutionary path.”[6] That was the flame of enthusiasm: “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.” That was the flame of enthusiasm: “Rather sacrifice everything, but never lose the country, never become a slave.” That passion turned a great dream that seemed impossible to realize into a glorious historical reality for the nation.

In conclusion

We, the union members, the youth, study and follow the example of President Ho Chi Minh: We do not accept mediocrity. We do not accept a Vietnam that is slower than the world, we do not accept a youth with poor expertise, poor skills, living a life of vagrancy, "having it is fine, not having it is fine". We want to live a life with an ideal - the ideal of the nation and the Fatherland.

Therefore, we, the youth union members, need to nurture a big dream, taking the nation's dream as our own dream and ideal, remembering the glorious responsibility of Vietnamese youth and with a strong revolutionary enthusiasm, burning brightly, never fading. So that we can truly live in our youth, truly live in our ideals and be worthy of being "the victorious vanguard in the cause of building a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic and prosperous Vietnam".[7]

---

[1] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works , Volume 4, p. 187.

[2] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works , Volume 5.

[3] As above, p. 164.

[4] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works , Vol. 13, p. 92.

[5] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works , Volume 13, p. 91.

[6] Ho Chi Minh Complete Works , volume 10, p. 436.

[7] As above, p. 92.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/uoc-mo-trach-nhiem-va-nhet-huyet-thanh-nien-dong-cong-hien-thuc-hoa-cac-muc-tieu-phat-trien-dat-nuoc-phon-vinh-hanh-phuc-trong-ky-nguyen-vuon-minh-314599.html