Abandoning the custom of giving New Year greetings to leaders: When the Prime Minister and Government members set an example

At the Government meeting in November 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc once again requested that “no New Year greetings be given to the Prime Minister, Government leaders, and leaders of ministries and branches”. He also requested that “provinces not come to Hanoi to celebrate the New Year”, “the same goes for localities”.

"The Government needs to set an example, each member of the Government must strictly implement the Prime Minister's instructions," Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized exemplary actions.

For many years now, on the days before the Lunar New Year, there has been a scene of local officials traveling hundreds, thousands of kilometers to Hanoi, lining up at their homes or offices to “wish a happy new year” to their leaders or their family members. Over time, it has become a custom, “coming up again and again”. The “custom” has gradually transformed into something “bad”.

Every year during Tet, people giving gifts causes traffic jams.

It is called “bad” because it is no longer isolated, but increasingly common, becoming a syndrome that is heavily materialistic, with a strong smell of market economy of exchange and trade. Most of the money and gifts are taken from the budget, from embezzlement of projects, project percentages, and even from cutting down on workers’ income.

It is called “bad” because, at the end of the year, officials at all levels should focus more on the grassroots, focusing on directing and operating production and business, serving the people and businesses more. Neglecting that necessary and decent work, they compete to do “reverse flow” work, wasting time and public funds, causing traffic volume at the end of the year to increase dramatically, and making people more skeptical about the integrity and impartiality of the current cadres.

For the people, the custom of "New Year's greetings" by officials at the end of the year is only beneficial to a group of officials, not to the people or the country. Morally, on these occasions, the people who deserve to receive attention, New Year's greetings, and gifts must be those who have contributed, people in areas affected by natural disasters and floods, and poor families. Repeating this custom, a group of officials easily take it for granted that this is a source of salary and benefits that they naturally receive and enjoy, while the people easily feel abandoned.

For the head of the Government, the custom of officials giving New Year greetings to leaders is causing a lot of trouble and needs to be eliminated.

This is not the first time the head of the Government has asked his subordinates not to give New Year greetings, gifts, bribes or red envelopes to their superiors during the New Year. Last year and the year before, the head of the Government reminded local officials not to return to the capital to celebrate the New Year, and not to use the budget to give bribes or gifts to Government leaders and leaders of ministries and branches.

Reiterating this message on the occasion of the upcoming Lunar New Year, the Prime Minister wants to affirm the spirit of a serving Government, an honest Government must start with specific tasks. The act of wishing leaders a happy new year under the guise of “traditional customs” actually wastes time, money, and tarnishes the image of integrity of officials. It is not uncommon for cases of taking advantage of “happy new year” and “lucky money” to easily bribe, divide benefits, and strengthen group interest relationships.

For a long time now, there have been a few officials who, after the public Lunar New Year, have received this much lucky money and New Year gifts and voluntarily paid them into the public treasury. Recently, a pioneering Ministry has also announced the results of an inspection of officials receiving money and gifts during the New Year, with a conclusion that could not be more beautiful: There was no case of receiving gifts or money above the permitted amount!

Information about events like this often makes people “surprised”, and quickly disappears in the daily flow of “information highway”. People really do not understand what quantitative standards to use to measure “below the allowed level”, or “above the allowed level”, and how to force officials to tell the truth about the amount of money and gifts received during holidays, birthdays, and promotions?

People always expect honesty and self-awareness from officials, so that more and more leaders will refuse to accept, or proactively disclose the amount of money and gifts given and pay them into the public treasury. But, it is rare. Once it is a source of great benefits hidden in a cover that is quite safe for both the giver and the receiver, it is difficult to let go.

While waiting for a legal document with detailed and quantitative regulations, in each specific space and time, whether officials are allowed or not to give and receive gifts, the Prime Minister, at the Government meeting in November 2017, frankly "requested localities not to return to Hanoi to celebrate Tet", "not to wish the Prime Minister, Government leaders, leaders of ministries and branches a happy new year". That is a clear and directive message. Thus, of course, officials are required to comply and not to violate it.

On the part of the head of the Government, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized exemplary actions and setting examples, first of all by each member of the Government, headed by the Prime Minister.

There have been many lessons about the spirit of setting an example, saying what you do, of the leaders of the Party and Government. The highest leader of the Party over the years has resolutely and persistently set an example of integrity, which is why when launching the fight against corruption, he has received the people's sympathy and support, achieving many results. The head of the Government in his current term has persistently set an example of saying what he does, being truly open-minded, making all relationships healthy, encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity.

Once the Prime Minister and members of the Government set an example of not accepting money or New Year gifts from officials, officials will no longer have an excuse to maintain this unpleasant "custom". Thus, the people and business community will have more faith in an honest Government, a serving Government, a creative Government.

According to Vietnamnet.vn