The story of a man who is always busy with other people's business
(Baonghean.vn) - In Thai Hoa town, if you ask about Mr. Cao Huy Chung, almost everyone will know him. He is a simple, straightforward man who is always enthusiastic about taking care of "common people's" affairs with rare kindness.
The ordinary
“Normal” was probably the most repeated phrase in my conversation with Mr. Cao Huy Chung (born in 1974). He talked about the work he did with composure, as if it were a matter of course, as if everyone would do the same…
For many years, Thai Hoa residents have been familiar with the image of Mr. Chung carrying tools such as rakes, hoes, shovels, wheelbarrows, brooms, gloves... to clean up the streets, dredge sewers, and collect trash from lakes... Not minding the stench and dirt, thanks to his cleaning and placing signs prohibiting dumping, many black spots of spontaneous dumping in the town have been eliminated. It was also Mr. Chung who has persistently cleaned up trash in the town's lotus pond for many years; recently, he called on organizations and businesses to collect duckweed for the lotus pond, bringing a clean landscape to this project.
Explaining his special interest in landscape and environmental issues, Mr. Chung said: “People are not aware of environmental protection, so they litter very carelessly, and the sanitation workers cannot handle it. I decided to clean up the trash myself, first to make myself and everyone feel comfortable when enjoying the cleanliness and freshness, and secondly, I want to change people's habit of littering.”
Due to the nature of his work, he has to travel a lot, so if he accidentally encounters dangerous potholes on the road, he also takes on the task of “patching the road” or putting up warning signs. Going to many places and meeting many people, Chung has developed a “reflex”: asking and getting information about families and cases in difficult circumstances. If possible, he will spend all his money to support them immediately; if necessary, he saves the address to share with other benefactors.
During the Covid-19 outbreak, he proactively bought disinfectant and sprayed it in crowded public places such as bus stations, ATMs, etc. When the market was short of masks, he searched for masks to buy and distribute free masks to people. Receiving calls for help from quarantined families, he went out at midnight to buy necessities to spray disinfectant and distribute them for free to strangers.
During the periodflash floodIn 2022, he personally used his own money to rent a crane, a loader, and brought food to the most affected areas to support people for 10 consecutive days.
With the view that life is about sharing, Mr. Chung always puts himself in a position of being ready to help people anywhere, anytime.
In case I cannot help myself, I will seek help from others. Many times I persuade suppliers to give discounts and incentives for difficult situations. No one wants to be in a situation where they have to beg, no one wants to be tired and busy, but if I do not help, I will feel very guilty and uncomfortable.
Mr. Chung cannot remember the cases he has helped, cannot count the charity programs he has participated in, cannot count the value he has given... "I had a difficult childhood, lacking in love because my parents broke up, was abused, collected scrap metal to make a living in a foreign land, was cheated out of all my money by friends... Looking back on those years, I feel that I am now very lucky, having the health to work, having a family to love. Because I do not want anyone to go through the hardships and sorrows like I did before, I will try to help everyone to the best of my ability" - Mr. Chung confided.
“Light up” kindness
Among the stories about Mr. Chung, the story of him placing free ice buckets in densely populated areas was once mentioned by the people of Thai Hoa town as a funny anecdote.
It is said that during the hot summer, Mr. Chung bought and placed free ice buckets in crowded areas of the town. At each location, he “invested” in an umbrella, a table, a water bottle, an ice bucket, and left his phone number for people to call when they ran out of water. The “project” had just been put into operation for a few days when both he and the people were shocked by the problem of theft. Some places had their umbrellas taken, some had their ice buckets taken, some had their water bottles taken… Feeling sorry for him for losing both time and money, many people advised him to abandon this idea. But no, Mr. Chung was determined to carry out his plan.
He said: “Whatever they take today, I will buy a new one tomorrow to replace it. If it continues to be taken, I will continue to place orders until the thief gets bored and doesn’t want to steal anymore, until their awareness improves”...
After a while, his strange persistence finally won. People stopped stealing and those free water coolers became a proud feature of Thai Hoa town for a long time. It was not until the Covid-19 pandemic that Chung stopped this model to limit the spread of the disease.
His somewhat "stubborn" kindness did not change just one or a few people. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa Ly - Vice Principal of Nghia Duc Primary School, Nghia Dan shared: “I met Mr. Chung when I posted an article calling for help for my students 6 years ago. After reading my article, Mr. Chung shared and contacted me to help this student. He told me that if I had any difficult circumstances, I would let him know, and within my ability, he would support me to some extent. And he did exactly as he said. For the past 6 years, he has supported many orphans and disadvantaged students. Every Mid-Autumn Festival and Tet, he proactively prepared thoughtful gifts for them. That thoughtfulness is also shown in many other volunteer and charitable activities. He is never afraid of hardship, always takes care of every little thing, always thinks of others and is willing to sacrifice his own interests. We learn and are inspired by him a lot.”
In Chung’s charity and volunteer activities, a special character often appears: the boy Cao Huy Hoang (commonly known as Cu Teo) - his son. In addition to going to school, Teo follows his father to clean up trash, fill potholes, and give charity gifts to people in difficult circumstances... Since learning to ride a bicycle, Teo has been “trained” by his father to collect scrap at places near his house. This scrap will be sold for money, and by the end of the month, all the money will be used to buy instant noodles and necessities to give to people in difficult circumstances.
If those situations are close, Teo will go by himself, if they are far away, Chung will take him. Witnessing this activity gave me the idea of building a charity fund from scrap for my school. Accordingly, students can collect scrap paper, put it in the common basket at school, when it is full, sell it to get money to buy rice for orphans.
Also from Mr. Chung's sharing and appeal, many philanthropists, businesses and individuals have joined in carrying out many meaningful and practical charity programs for the community. His actions have also spread and positively influenced many people, typically the habit of cleaning and beautifying the landscape in the area. Many people think that a person who spends a lot of his time doing charity work, helping people... must be very rich and free. For Mr. Chung, that wealth lies in kindness. From his kindness, he has ignited and spread a lot of kindness in everyone./.
