Phan Memorial House - A meaningful socialized project

(Baonghean) - The project is the heart and gratitude of generations of teachers and students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted towards the great patriot of the nation. And more than that, it has created a strong influence for generations of former students of Phan Boi Chau School to bond with each other, unite more, creating a continuous flow of gratitude, towards the roots of future generations to show gratitude to their ancestors.

The memorial site of the patriot Phan Boi Chau in Nam Dan town is a historical relic ranked at the national level by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) since 1992. However, due to limited resources of the cultural sector as well as Nghe An province, while the number of historical and cultural relics that need to be restored and built is large, over the years, despite several restorations and constructions, the relic is still very simple.

In early 2015, a group of former students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted, when they came to burn incense to pay respect to Mr. Phan at the Memorial Area, were very concerned about this. From there, they discussed and agreed to launch a campaign among students of all generations of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted to contribute to the construction of the Phan Boi Chau Memorial House right on the grounds of the Memorial Area.

Here, in addition to the thatched house where Phan Boi Chau was born and raised, which is still preserved and maintained, other structures such as the exhibition house and functional areas have not yet been invested in and built. In particular, until 2015, at the Memorial Site, there was still no memorial house, a place for visitors to burn incense in memory of the patriot Phan Boi Chau when visiting this place. Because visitors could not burn incense at the small altar of Phan Boi Chau in the thatched house for fire prevention reasons.

According to the initial calculation of the group of former students of Phan School, the project would cost about 1.5 to 2 billion VND, which is not a small contribution. But they believed that this right and meaningful work would certainly receive the support of generations of former students. And the campaign was opened on many communication channels, to all courses of the school from the specialized system to the students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted.

The movement quickly received support and attracted many other groups to participate in addition to students of all generations. First were the teachers who are teaching at Phan School, then the parents whose children are studying at the school. There were groups that contributed greatly to the project such as Traffic Construction Corporation 4 with 200 million VND; the group and teachers of Phan School contributed more than 100 million VND, former students of courses 6, 9, 11, 12, 14, each course contributed from 50 - 200 million VND...

Phan Boi Chau Memorial House in Nam Dan town.

Phan Boi Chau is considered the founder of the Vietnam - Japan friendship and the symbol of this friendship. Therefore, the campaign attracted the participation of the Vietnam - Japan Association of Nghe An. The Association contributed 100 million VND to the construction of the Memorial House. Many leaders of Nghe An province and central ministries, departments and branches of Nghe An origin, when learning about this campaign, enthusiastically supported it, stemming from their respect for Mr. Phan Boi Chau and from the acts of former students of Phan Boi Chau School...

Within just 6 months, there were more than 400 donations with nearly 1.5 billion VND collected. Mr. Ho Duc Phoc, at that time the Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, also directly campaigned to help former students, at the same time, he also directly participated in the steps from approving the design to finding a location for the Memorial House. On the occasion of the construction of the Memorial House, he wanted to re-plan the Memorial Area to be suitable for the terrain and worthy of the people's merits and admiration for Mr. Phan. Based on the direction of Mr. Ho Duc Phoc, the Memorial Area was re-planned and in the near future, the construction items will be built and arranged according to this new plan. The Memorial House is the first item to be built according to the new plan, overlooking the Lam River.

The construction process of the Memorial House has also received the attention of the leaders of Nghe An province and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Although the design and planning had to be revised many times and many state management procedures had to be passed, in the end, the most satisfactory design designed by the Department of Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism was unanimously approved, meeting the requirements of aesthetics and architectural suitability of the entire Memorial Area.

The memorial house consists of a three-room, two-sided building, with a beautiful and strong ironwood frame, brick walls, a fish-tail tile roof, green stone steps, and Bat Trang terracotta tile floors. The structure of the house is in the traditional four-roof style of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty. The construction unit is Truong Xuan - Nghe An Investment, Construction and Trade Joint Stock Company, whose director is Mr. Hoang Duc Hung, a former student of the 26th class of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Mr. Hung said that the construction of this project was not for profit, but came from his heart for Mr. Phan and also from the hearts of his fellow students; and he paid meticulous attention to every detail. Sometimes, he had to replace several groups of workers for one item. Therefore, the project was initially expected to be completed within 3 months, but it took nearly a year to complete.

Mr. Bang Hong Hien - Deputy Director of Nghe An Electricity, Head of the Mobilization Committee, confided that until now he could truly breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that the project was completed and beautiful "beyond expectations". The project is both spiritual, historical and cultural, if it did not meet the requirements, it would not only be a mistake to the spirit of Mr. Phan Boi Chau but also a mistake to the hearts that had contributed. He confided that during the mobilization process, there were times when he thought that if he could not raise enough funds, he would have to consider the option of using "house money" to make up for it. But there were still many hearts that admired and respected Mr. Phan Boi Chau who responded enthusiastically beyond expectations...

Mr. Phan Thieu Cat, grandson of Mr. Phan Boi Chau, currently living in Canada, when he heard that the Phan School Alumni Association was campaigning to build a memorial house for his grandfather, was very touched and grateful for the hearts of the alumni when launching this campaign. Although he is old and lives abroad, during the process of building the memorial house, he often traveled back to Vietnam and contributed part of the funding for the construction of this project. At the same time, he was always present at all important events from the groundbreaking ceremony, groundbreaking to the inauguration ceremony which will be held on the 29th day of the 9th lunar month, the 76th anniversary of Mr. Phan Boi Chau's death.

On October 29, 2016, the 29th day of the 9th lunar month, the anniversary of the death of the patriot Phan Boi Chau, the Memorial House was solemnly inaugurated. The project is the heart and gratitude of generations of teachers and students of Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted towards the great patriot of the nation. And more than that, it has created a strong influence for generations of former students of Phan Boi Chau School to be closer together, more united, creating a continuous flow of gratitude, towards the roots of the descendants to show gratitude to their ancestors. Following the memorial house, in the coming time, other items in the memorial area will continue to be built so that this place becomes a solemn spiritual address, contributing to educating revolutionary traditions for today's and future generations. And this will also be an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world and international friends to visit when returning to the homeland of President Ho Chi Minh.

My Ly