How to avoid having to "apologize to the people"

The heated protests in Thu Thiem, Ho Chi Minh City have somewhat cooled down when the Government Inspectorate announced its conclusions on violations there and key leaders of the City publicly apologized.

However, the public is concerned that right after the apology, the government will take positive, receptive actions, not half-heartedly, not mechanically, to return the legitimate benefits of the people here. And moreover, not only Ho Chi Minh City but also other localities should not let a similar Thu Thiem and similar apologies continue to arise.

A Thu Thiem resident speaks at the city's voter meeting.

It can be said that the fact that a representative of the city government publicly apologizes to the complainants is very rare in similar cases across the country.

"Very rare" is because the "power ego" has been deeply ingrained in a part of officials with positions and power.

It is rare because of the "term mindset" and the perception of a number of officials that, due to the policy mechanism, at most it is the collective fault, not their own fault. Then, when the term ends, the case, no matter how intense or "hot" it is, will be transferred to the successor.

Another extremely dangerous cause belongs to the culture of those in power when they think that: having to publicly apologize to the complainant means admitting mistakes and shortcomings, publicly revealing to the public the weakness in management and administration; that in the process of their work there is a "black mark", they must apologize to the people.

From that awareness, over the past decades, not only in Thu Thiem, many officials with power and authority have forgotten their responsibilities, been indifferent to the hardships of people whose land was confiscated, and tried to "hide" mistakes and shortcomings in order to "dilute" the responsibility between the collective and the individual.

And the violations that occurred in Thu Thiem were only clarified after the Prime Minister's strong direction and the complaints became fierce, becoming a "hot spot".

On behalf of the leaders of all periods, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said "apologizing to the people from the bottom of his heart" on October 18, which is also the first step in implementing the Conclusion of the Government Inspectorate, which has been recognized by the people of Thu Thiem.

However, what the people expect most is that this “sincere apology” must be implemented resolutely, not half-heartedly, in the spirit of openness, listening and dialogue. Because the people of Thu Thiem have been filing complaints for many years not just to receive an apology and even less to wait in disappointment as promised in each meeting with voters.

One thing that needs to be done immediately after the apology is to strictly handle the organizations and individuals who have committed violations and make it public so that people know.

More importantly, not only Ho Chi Minh City, but other localities should also consider this a lesson to prevent vested interests from growing whenever there is a project; no more “Thu Thiem villages in the heart of Hanoi” of people complaining; no more indifferent officials to the hardships of people whose land has been reclaimed.

So that the "heartfelt apology" of government leaders becomes a "governing culture" when making mistakes with the people and must have the value of an honorable promise of those who are entrusted with power by the people; to clearly see their responsibility before the legitimate interests of the people./.