To give the country a chance to become a dragon
(Baonghean.vn) - It seems that no one can say for sure when the word "dragon" appeared in the national language; even more so, no one dares to affirm that they have seen a dragon, but it is spoken of with respect, and is the desire of many people.
According to the Vietnamese Dictionary (Social Sciences Publishing House 1977): Dragon is an imaginary animal with a snake body and legs, symbolizing the authority of the king in the feudal system... So, it is possible that the "dragon" appeared in the feudal period. Yes! To see the "dragon's face", to be invited to the "dragon throne", to hear the "dragon's words"... is a great honor. The interesting thing is that the backward feudal system in our country ended a long time ago, but the dragon is still... "tenacious" and seems to be increasingly flourishing.
The legend of “fish jumping over the dragon gate and turning into a dragon” is an old story! More recently, on the eve of Spring more than half a century ago, on the missile sites protecting Thang Long - Hanoi, “dragons” flew up in succession, twisting the necks of flocks of arrogant flying fortresses, heralding an era of peace for the country. And today, the world is still amazed by Asia, where a series of countries have “turned into dragons”!
So the dragon, from a symbol of the king, has become a symbol of strong rise, of qualitative change, creating extraordinary miracles. On Spring Day, we should only talk about jokes, but knowing how to look straight at the truth is the first factor to create change, bringing new joy. Therefore, on the threshold of the Year of the Dragon, it is worth mentioning an unhappy comment that many people knew before: "Vietnam missed the opportunity to become a dragon...". Yes! After the country's reunification and on the threshold of the new millennium, many people hoped that Vietnam would soon "become a dragon"!...
To be fair, over the past decades, despite the global economic crisis and the frequent natural disasters from the North to the South, although the imperfect mechanism still caused many obstacles, Vietnam still had outstanding achievements:The role of Vietnamhighly regarded in the world, the economy is growing quite well, rice exports are ranked first and second in the world, millions of tons of gasoline and oil from Dung Quat Factory have been released to the market for "our people to use our oil"... So, why has Vietnam still not been able to "become a dragon"?
Knowing how to self-reflect is a good sign. Think about it, if people are always “overjoyed”, always smiling and raising their glasses “100%” to celebrate victory, they will surely become subjective, drunk and think that snakes are… dragons! If we are “annoyed” and know how to self-reflect, it means we are not satisfied with the present, so we are determined to find a “breakthrough” to overcome. At that time, we understand that we have not “turned into a dragon”.
Suddenly remembering, "dragon's words" in a Dragon year more than two hundred years ago - in 1820 - King Minh Mang, as soon as he ascended the throne, wrote the Proclamation:“I have heard that if the path is open, the country will be in order, if it is closed, the country will be in chaos… People want to see the image, they must rely on a good example, the king wants to listen to his mistakes, he must wait for his subjects to speak frankly. So, I authorize all civil and military officials in the capital from the fourth rank and above, outside, the officials of the cities, camps, and towns to think and try to compete with each other to report whether the fault lies with me… You all should point out my mistakes directly, without any need to be respectful, all the shortcomings of the government, the suffering of the people, all should be reported together. I will personally examine and choose to correct them…”
At that time, no one had ranked which country had “turned into a dragon”, but was it thanks to the strict “dragon’s words” (the king’s words) that favored honest people and hated flatterers that our country under the Minh Mang dynasty was stronger than all other dynasties of the Nguyen dynasty. Even feudal kings were like that, let alone revolutionaries today, why are they afraid to look straight at the truth, to know their “mistakes”, to correct the “flaws” that are constraining and weighing down many aspects of social activities.
President Ho Chi Minh - a young man from Nghe An who left to find a way to save the country from Ben Nha Rong in 1911 to the year of Nham Thin 1952, in the midst of the fierce resistance war, resolutely pointed out:“Corruption, waste and bureaucracy are enemies of the people, the army and the Government.”
On the threshold of the Spring of Giap Thin 2024, recalling the above teaching of President Ho Chi Minh is very meaningful. The very evils that he wisely pointed out 72 years ago are still causing obstacles that have had a significant impact on Vietnam's inability to "transform into a dragon".
To “become a dragon”, one must be light and graceful to fly. A common reality of the world, when a country is still “heavy” with corporations holding a pile of national assets but doing business at a loss; the annual growth figure also includes the “burden” of foreign debt and “public debt” and then the huge “private debt”, including countless concrete blocks of real estate that do not know when the bubble will burst…; and not only that: there is also the burden of the budget to pay salaries for the cumbersome and overlapping “apparatus”, thencorruptionWith all the myriad of strings attached, how can one take off and become a dragon?...
Although it is too much to discuss, we believe that with the Resolutions that have continuously enlightened us over the years, in the process of continued implementation, we will find a "breakthrough" to gradually remove the "burdens" so that the country has the opportunity to "become a dragon".
“Hey! Spring is here!”… The song, the call of Spring, the Spring of the Year of the Dragon, urges us to seize the opportunity to “become a dragon”. A country that is proud to be “the descendants of the Dragon and the Fairy”, with the capital Thang Long - Hanoi with a thousand years of civilization, with the immense Mekong Delta always full of alluvium…; all of these are not just names expressing the desire to “become a dragon”, but they are all material and spiritual foundations full of vitality, solid “launching grounds” for us to hope that “the dragon will fly up”!
On the eve of the year of the Dragon 2024.
