Promising young Vietnamese faces: 'Youth is about commitment and dedication'

Don't think about danger.

PV:Congratulations to Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi for his "double" achievement when he was just included in the list of 10 Promising Young Vietnamese Faces and Outstanding Young Faces of the entire army in 2021. I read his personal achievements and was quite surprised because he is very young and has not worked in the industry for 5 years?

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:Immediately after graduating from the AcademyBorder GuardI was assigned to the position of Team Leader.Drug prevention- Muong Ai Border Guard Station (Ky Son). This was really a huge pressure for me at that time, because as you know, I was very young at that time, I may have been well-educated, had good theory but the reality was "multifaceted".

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi graduated from the Border Guard Academy and is currently working at Keng Du Border Guard Station (Ky Son). Photo: NVCC

Besides, from the perspective of brotherhood, even though I am a superior, sometimes I am only the same age as the children or grandchildren of the uncles who have worked for many years. Therefore, I have to work and learn from the experiences of my senior comrades, both in life and in work.

My major also has its own characteristics, because social evils are very complicated at the border. Meanwhile, the awareness level of a part of the people is still limited. During the work process, one of the contents that we have to regularly carry out is propaganda and dissemination of the law. But due to its own nature, we cannot mechanically propagate but must be flexible, eat and live with the people, and propagate to the right target. Fortunately, although the place where I live is mainly Mong and Kho Mu people, I am a local, so my work is becoming more and more favorable.

The characteristics of border guards are that they are often stationed in remote, difficult, and dangerous areas. Photo: Hai Thuong

PV:In addition to difficulties in experience, age and other objective reasons, what are the complicated problems in the fight against drugs in mountainous areas?

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:As I have shared, applying the knowledge learned from books and notebooks is extremely difficult. In the early days, when my expertise was still limited, I mainly followed my brothers and could not avoid worries when facing drug criminals for the first time. Drug criminals are often very reckless and have hot weapons, so when fighting this type of crime, if you do not have courage and good health, it will be very difficult to complete the task and sometimes affect your life.

Until now, Ky Son district is still a hot spot for drugs and there are many complicated cases. To fight this type of crime, it is inevitable that there will be losses and sacrifices. It is worth thinking about that among drug criminals, there is a large number of people who, due to limited awareness and difficult economic conditions, are easily lured and bribed into committing crimes.

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi mobilizes people to voluntarily hand over weapons, explosives, and homemade guns. Photo: Hai Thuong

PV:In his personal record, there are many telling numbers about the drug cases that he and his teammates have achieved. But surely behind those very proud achievements, there is a lot of sweat, hard work, and even loss and sacrifice. What other burdens are there on the shoulders of a border guard soldier... that we cannot list?

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:When choosing this job, not only me but all my teammates certainly thought about the dangers. But when directly facing criminals, we only think about work, think about having to solve the case successfully. Of course, when facing this type of dangerous crime, we will not be reckless but need to handle it bravely, maturely, anticipate possible situations to minimize casualties and safety must be the top priority.

The more difficult it is, the more you must have dreams and aspirations.

PV:He grew up in one of the most remote villages in Nghe An and to this day life there is still not free from hardship. His memories of his school days are certainly not without hardship.

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:I grew up in Cha Nga village, My Ly commune,Ky Son district. When I was a child, there wasn’t even a kindergarten where I lived. We went to primary school in a small school right in the village. I still remember that the school had 5 classes but only 2 teachers, one of whom was in charge of 2-3 classes. The classrooms back then were just a few bamboo mats. To facilitate teaching, teachers had to punch a hole in the mat so they could run back and forth between classes to keep up with their lessons.

Over the past years, Nghe An Border Guard has implemented "3 together" with the people in the border areas to maintain peace in the border highlands. Photo: Hai Thuong

We children grew up in that environment, many of us were quite vague about our future direction. At that time, our family's biggest goal was that I could go to vocational school or gain knowledge and experience so that when I grew up, I could manage my life.

When I was in middle school, I was able to go to the main school in the center of the commune. But because our house was far away, we students still had to stay in people's houses. The distance home was very far, we had to walk from 6am to 2pm. So, we could only go home during the summer, Tet or holidays.

PV:Listening to your story, I can clearly imagine the hardships of students in remote areas. Maybe that is why, instead of going to school, many students drop out to earn money, get married early and continue the vicious cycle. As for you, during your high school years, were there any difficulties that made you give up?

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:My best memory during my years at My Ly Secondary School was when Mr. Tran Binh Minh (at that time, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee) came to school and I and some other poor students who overcame difficulties were awarded a scholarship worth 500,000 VND. That was the largest amount of money I had at that time and I kept it for the entire school year, not daring to spend anything on myself... Perhaps, from those small concerns, we had the motivation to try harder and I began to think about my future. When I went to secondary school, I also studied better, became a class monitor, was recognized as an excellent student of the school, an excellent student of the district.

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi was awarded at the 2021 Promising Young Faces of the Army Commendation Ceremony. Photo: NVCC

After finishing junior high school, I passed the entrance exam to the provincial Ethnic Minority Boarding School and I had 3 years to go to Vinh to study “in a miniature military environment”. This was also the first time I learned about IT and got acquainted with computers. We were all ethnic minority students, living in difficult circumstances, so the teachers loved us very much and always encouraged us to try our best. I never thought about dropping out of high school, but I was often sad because my friends could go home during the holidays but I couldn’t because my house was too far away, and I didn’t have enough time to travel such a long distance. Contacting my family was also very rare because there was no phone signal at that time.

PV:I would like to ask you again about your decision to choose the Border Guard. Looking back at your achievements now, do you think it was the right decision and how have the years of military service changed you as a person?

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:Most high school students are emotional when choosing a major or career. But I am not, because since the second and third grades, I have been familiar with the image of border guards. They came to our village to propagate and popularize the law, and show people how to develop the economy and prevent and fight social evils. I liked that image and that urged me to decide to study in the Border Guard. I liked it so much that when I applied for university, I only registered for one school, the Border Guard Academy. Later, my father was afraid that I would not pass, so he forced me to register for a teacher training school. However, on the day of the exam, I only applied to one school and when he found out that I passed, my father slaughtered two pigs for luck because he was so happy.

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi and his teammates at Keng Du Border Guard Station - checkpoint, border management, border protection and Covid-19 prevention and control. Photo: Hai Thuong

The years of studying in the military environment also trained me a lot, although the training intensity at school was very intense. Personally, I was used to holding a hoe and a shovel since I was a child, but there were times when my hands were swollen due to physical training. After 4 years of training at school, I found myself much more mature and thoughtful.

PV:Talking about youth is talking about dreams and aspirations. Youth must also be associated with the desire to contribute. And at the age of 27, it seems to me that you have done this very well?

Lieutenant Luong Van Loi:I feel very surprised because in the past time, I have been recognized by leaders at all levels and awarded many titles. Receiving this result, I also love my job more and have never felt happier like this. I also tell myself to try harder to not disappoint the trust of my superiors, teammates, and colleagues. I also know that this is not only my achievement but also the achievement of the whole team and unit.

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi (far right) at the Gala ceremony to honor outstanding young Vietnamese faces. Photo: NVCC

From past experiences, I also see that, no matter what the circumstances, if we really try, are willing to endure hardships and sacrifices, we will be recognized. But more importantly, we need to have aspirations, have direction, have dreams, and if we do not try to learn, improve, and throw ourselves into life, we will not have the opportunity to contribute our youth and will not be able to escape our circumstances.

PV:Thanks for this conversation!

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi - Captain of the Drug and Crime Prevention Team (Keng Du Border Guard Station, Nghe An Border Guard) is a Basic Emulation Soldier for 3 consecutive years (2019-2021).

In 2021, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, the Border Guard Command and the Central Youth Union for his outstanding achievements in performing tasks participating in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the same year, he received a Certificate of Merit fromCentral Youth Unionfor outstanding achievements in the work of the Youth Union and youth movement in 2021; Certificate of Merit from the People's Committee of Nghe An province for achievements in 2021; commended by the Command of Nghe An Border Guard for outstanding achievements in implementing the peak emulation campaign to welcome the election of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels, term 2021-2026.

Senior Lieutenant Luong Van Loi was voted Promising Young Vietnamese Face and Outstanding Young Face of the Army in 2021.