“We have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of good people.” – Martin Luther King, Nobel PrizePeace in 1964.
Yes, I remembered the above quote by Martin Luther King, right after reading, listening, watching, and knowing that a group of school officials and teachers were being smeared and terrorized by people from a financial organization, even though they had nothing to do with it or were related to it.
Remember the above quote by Martin Luther King, because what happened to them was really scary. How could they not be scared when they – school administrators, teachers who only knew pens, chalk, lesson plans to pass on knowledge to generations of students – often had to receive phone calls from strangers who called to insult, curse, and threaten the lives of themselves and their loved ones. Or every time they opened their personal Facebook account, they saw their portraits cropped, attached with insulting posts, and derogatory comments of all kinds of evil…
As Mr. Nguyen Trong Giap, Principal of Yen Thanh 2 High School said: "They constantly call to harass and threaten. They call several times a day, regardless of the time, with many different phone numbers. Every time they answer the phone, they yell and threaten with obscene words." Or the exchange of Ms. Ngo Thi Hien, Principal of Yen Thanh 2 High School.Phan Dang Luu Secondary School: “Almost every day, I receive 4 to 5 phone calls demanding debt, even during lunch break. Every time I pick up the phone, they yell and curse. They say this and that about the principal. I am very shocked”… Even the head of the province’s education sector, National Assembly delegate, Professor and Doctor Thai Van Thanh could not avoid trouble. He confided: “This is not the only case, I have been in trouble many times. They hang up, call, text, send emails…, very annoying. I have also reported it to the police.”
Remembering the words of Martin Luther King, because I know this terrible incident did not just happen a few days ago. This terrible truth has not only been spoken out by many officials and teachers in the press. Even the Department of Education and Training, because of similar incidents related to officials and teachers, since the beginning of January 2022, has consulted law enforcement agencies and issued Document No. 159/SGD&DT-CTTT to the Departments of Education and schools in the area. In this document, the Department of Education and Training warns about the "matrix" set up by black credit organizations and the "tricks" of lending money through social networks, so that officials and teachers know and avoid becoming victims. At the same time, teachers are also instructed to "behave" appropriately: "In case loan sharks use photo collages, defame, slander on social networks, email boxes..., demand payment of debts they did not borrow, or force them to transfer money... promptly notify friends and relatives, at the same time report to the agency, unit and file a complaint with the police...".
Because the incident happened more than a few days ago, it made me ponder Martin Luther King's words even more, feeling that the education sector and the abused officials and teachers are still alone?
But I believe this situation will not happen again!
It is impossible that, because a teacher's husband (or wife) is in debt and late in paying his debt, the lender has the right to use tricks to suppress, threaten, and slander dozens of colleagues and the school's Board of Directors to pressure them to collect the debt. It is impossible that, because a teacher is in debt and late in paying his debt, the lender has the right to use tricks to pressure, slander, and threaten the school's leaders, the Department of Education, and the Department of Education and Training.
Articles 155 and 156 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) clearly stipulate the crime of humiliating others and the crime of slander. Acts of slander, defamation, humiliation, and threats against officials, teachers, or any individual in society (there is information that many officials, civil servants, and public employees in other fields are also in this situation), regardless of the subject or organization, are violations of the law.
Maybe today, they still exist. But if they violate the law, they are bad, evil, and sooner or later society will condemn them. They must be severely punished by the law, and eliminated!
