Dried fish and…wooden fish

(Baonghean) - I am extremely impressed with the wooden fish that the Provincial Party Secretary just chose as gifts for the overseas Vietnamese in Nghe An in the recent Binh Than 2016 spring meeting. The wooden fish is not simply a story of thriftiness, but more than that, it is a symbol, a cultural constant of Nghe An's character. A unique, smart and sophisticated choice. Turning something that even some people have felt self-conscious about into a source of pride.

Nghe people have Nghe qualities, qualities that have never been mixed, born from the Lao wind and white sand, which seem to be hidden not only in each Nghe people but more than that, we can also feel it from generations of leaders of our province.

Illustration photo.

During his time holding the important responsibility and leading position of his province, he had time to leave behind hundreds of memories, each story has something very… Artistic. A sharp, dedicated, upright, honest, decisive and simple cadre. We are talking about him, former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Truong Dinh Tuyen.

Going back in time, exactly 16 years ago, the Central Committee sent him back to the people of “Wood Fish” in a rather chaotic context. He quickly grasped the practical situation and made a series of decisions, bringing the whole apparatus into the work cycle. People immediately recognized the image of a simple secretary.

The story goes that the Secretary's "private residence" was just a dormitory room that was always cluttered with books, documents, and especially always smelled of dried fish, a food that he still loved when he was away from his wife and children because it was convenient and... economical. To this day, the traders at Quan Lau market still have not forgotten the image of Mr. Tuyen with his pants rolled up, flip-flops, riding his bike to the market to buy food to cook gradually. On rare weekends, if he had no meetings, he would take the train to Hanoi to "find" a meal with his wife.

He had a habit of going to the base alone by motorbike taxi without prior notice. That was why he had many times “caught red-handed” the bureaucracy of the district and commune where he went. As a leader, it could be said that he had made a “reform” in the way of arranging and using cadres. The viewpoint of “no forbidden zones” had been applied by him since those days. In less than 3 years, he had dismissed a series of district Party Secretaries, including his close fellow countrymen.

However, he is a man of his word and is very forgiving. In the case of a trading company director who showed signs of “bad debt”, he did not hesitate to suspend his work to collect the debt despite interference from all sides. After finishing the job, he reinstated him, a strong but humane decision of his. At the Party Congress of mountainous districts, he invited everyone to get on the same 16-seat car for convenience. When going to a restaurant to eat, he was always the one to take out his wallet to pay because: “My salary is higher than yours”. There are many stories about him. Each story carries the flavor of the Lao wind and white sand of his homeland.

Every cadre has its own movement, his 3 years in Nghe An were 3 years of changes. The important thing is that his Nghe An-style working style really spread. His decisive leadership and adherence to the grassroots level breathed life into the province's civil servant apparatus.

The lessons on handling cadres are imbued with strictness but also full of humanity. The daily conduct of a high-ranking cadre is exemplary. People respect him, obey his orders as if accepting the right thing. No one holds grudges against him even if their personal interests are affected in some way. That is who he is, that is what he left us. His style, a style crystallized from the people of Go fish!

Comrade Truong Dinh Tuyen's simple meal and his management style at that time were beautiful stories. The country has changed a lot, in the era of the Internet and Facebook, no one requires cadres to eat dried fish and ride bicycles to reach the people. But wherever you are, whatever your position, whatever you are doing, please do not forget that you still have a pride, the homeland of the Wood fish. The character of the Nghe people must live forever on Nghe land and be nurtured in Nghe cadres. The gift from the Provincial Party Secretary at the beginning of spring is like sending a message, like a reminder.

Nguyen Khac An