Little known things about the "livable land" Hung Tan

Although not chosen as a pilot unit for the district's new rural program, the entire Party Committee and people of the commune still determined to do it and did it very successfully. Next, the entire political system of the commune and the people unanimously agreed to achieve the goal of becoming a model new rural commune; being the first commune to build and implement an anti-waste project with very simple but highly effective tasks; 100% of households in the commune have a flagpole in front of the gate... and many other things are happening here that make the people excited and proud.

A corner of Hung Tan commune. Photo: Dao Tuan

"A livable countryside"

In autumn, the sky is clear blue, the sun shines like gold on the fields. From the commune, I can easily recognize the Hung Tan countryside by the red flags with yellow stars flying high above the foliage and bushes. I stopped my car when I suddenly saw a man in his 60s, wearing a pith helmet, pulling a pulley to lift the flag to the top of the pole.

Seeing the visitor holding a camera, he guessed that he would be asked a question, so he said: "I'll change the flag to make it look nicer." His name is Ngo Duc Hoan, living in Hamlet 3. Mr. Hoan said that every house in Hung Tan commune has a flagpole in front of the gate. This is a policy of the Commune Party Committee and is very much supported by the people. Previously, every holiday, every family hung the flag, but some families hung it low, some hung it high, some hung it on the top of trees, fences, very messy, even offensive.

Mr. Ngo Duc Hoan - Hamlet 3 Hung Tan hung the flag on the occasion of the Nghe Tinh Soviet Day September 12. Photo: Dao Tuan

To unify the people, the commune proposed a model of a 9m high steel pipe pole, the base of the pole was built of concrete with a ratio of 50x50, the flag was raised and lowered by a pulley. The commune also supported each household with 100,000 VND to encourage and motivate the people. So in just a short time, there was no family in the commune that did not erect a flagpole.

"What is more important is that we honor our homeland and Fatherland in a worthy and true way, in accordance with the national spirit" - Mr. Ngo Duc Hoan said.

“A livable countryside” is what Mr. Hoang Van Lai - Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Tan commune proudly affirmed to me when talking about Hung Tan commune. “For many people in the area and me personally, this is a livable countryside. Why? Because Hung Tan not only has peaceful villages, a clean environment, kind people but also the average income of households reaches nearly 50 million VND/person/year. The commune no longer has poor households, the number of fairly rich households accounts for over 60%”. The Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Tan commune also said that 9/9 hamlets of the commune have achieved the title of cultural village since 10 years ago, of which the first hamlet achieved cultural status 17 years ago.

Flags fluttering in Hung Tan village. Photo: Dao Tuan

Located in the middle of Hung Nguyen district, Hung Tan commune has a total natural area of ​​480 hectares, of which 267 hectares are agricultural cultivation areas. The whole commune has 1,050 households with 4,000 people living in 9 residential hamlets. The commune party committee has 282 party members, operating in 12 party cells and this is a unit that has achieved Clean and Strong status for 15 consecutive years. Hung Tan commune was also awarded the title of "Heroic Unit of the People's Armed Forces" for the first time in Hung Nguyen district in 1998.

Particularly implementing the National Target Program for New Rural Areas, Hung Tan commune was not selected by the district to lead the pilot program, but with the high determination of the Party Committee, government and people, the commune reached the new rural area goal in 2014, being the first commune in Hung Nguyen district and the second in Nghe An province to be recognized as meeting the new rural area standards. Regarding this, Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Tan commune Hoang Van Lai said that the new rural area program aims to renew the appearance and life of rural people, serving the interests of the people, so we must be determined to do it. The good news is that all the people of Hung Tan are unanimous in implementing it. And we are even more proud when Hung Tan commune reaches the new rural area goal the earliest in the district but does not owe the budget.

Flag-raising ceremony at the beginning of the week

Mr. Hoang Van Lai said that many localities may be choosing the economic sector as the focus for development goals, but in Hung Tan it is "a bit different". "Only with culture can there be economy and the commune follows this point of view" - Mr. Hoang Van Lai, who held the position of Chairman of the Commune People's Committee for 13 years and Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Tan Commune for 9 years, affirmed.

To realize the pioneering cultural policy, the Commune Party Committee has developed thematic resolutions and the People's Committee and political and social organizations have implemented them. It will not be strange if every Monday morning, all cadres and civil servants of the commune, including 80 people, gather at the commune headquarters yard to participate in the flag-raising ceremony. In the summer at 6:45 am, in the winter at 7:15 am, everyone participates in the first ritual of the week. The flag-raising ceremony first of all shows love for the homeland, then for the commune leaders to check the results of work, assign tasks for the week and monitor the number of troops.

"When participating in the flag-raising ceremony, each person automatically becomes aware of their sense of responsibility towards the collective and the people, thereby working hard and contributing" - an official of Hung Tan commune shared.

Only allow salty wedding party for 1 child

“The livable countryside” Hung Tan is also the first commune in Hung Nguyen to build an anti-waste project. This project has very practical regulations for rural life, focusing on weddings, funerals, longevity celebrations, etc.

Regarding weddings, the project stipulates that families with two children are only allowed to organize the feast and invite guests on the wedding day, while the other child will organize a tea and cake party to welcome guests. This regulation was thought to be opposed by many people, but in reality, it is very much supported. According to the people, every day, especially during the wedding season, red invitations are sent from all the villages above and below, if you do not go, you cannot go, if you do go, you must give a few hundred thousand dong, rural life is not abundant...

Do not bring banners to funerals or longevity celebrations.

Next is the funeral, the commune's anti-waste project "forbids" people in the area to bring banners to visit the deceased. "A family with a deceased relative receives at least 10, 15 banners, sometimes even hundreds. It's very wasteful. While according to rural customs, banners must be hung in the house for two and a half years, then have to be nailed haphazardly on the wall, and staked to hang the banners. This does not make the family less sad and is very offensive. If friends have a heart, instead of visiting with banners, they should use that money to pay condolences to the deceased so that they can collect it later to build a cool mausoleum for the ancestors" - Mr. Hoang Van Lai shared and said that each family with a deceased person can only hang one banner of the family. This regulation is also applied similarly to longevity celebrations in Hung Tan commune.

Not only that, Hung Tan commune has long built and implemented environmental projects and every Saturday, the commune mobilizes all people in the commune to join the Green - Clean - Beautiful Sanitation Day; the commune also organizes for people to plant flowers on both sides of the commune and hamlet roads, up to now the whole commune has planted 4,500m² equivalent to 4.5km

Economics and more

From the perspective of culture coming before economy, the Party Committee, government and people of Hung Tan commune have transformed the life of a purely agricultural countryside.

Implementing Directive 08 of the Provincial Party Committee on land consolidation and plot exchange, Hung Tan commune has focused on land conversion and effectively directed many economic development projects.

The commune has built 5/9 fields with high income from 200-250 million VND/field/year. With the aquaculture project, the commune has taken advantage of fallow areas and ineffective rice production areas to switch to aquaculture. Thanks to that, Hung Tan commune now has 170 farms with efficiency 2-3 times higher than rice.

In addition, from a purely agricultural land, Hung Tan commune has now planned 60-70 hectares specializing in producing purebred varieties with about 200 households participating. The rice varieties grown are mainly high-quality varieties such as: AC5, Thien Uu 9... Also from the source of produced rice, Hung Tan people have formed a wine-making craft village that has been recognized by the province with the participation of about 60 families.

Hung Tan people in harvest season. Photo: Dao Tuan

When it comes to economic development in Hung Tan commune, we cannot ignore the role of the labor export project. Through the project, up to now, 500 workers in Hung Tan have gone to work in other countries. Every year, on average, 45-50 workers participate in labor export and the commune also assigns departments to find markets to send people if needed.

Before leaving Hung Tan, Mr. Hoang Van Lai also told me that the commune had petitioned the district to "ask" for a model new rural program. He shared: "Recently, people in many hamlets have requested to upgrade the traffic roads. The concrete road has been 5m wide for a long time, but people said it needs to be made more beautiful, the roadbed must be thicker. In response to that request, the commune mobilized resources, supporting each hamlet with 50 million VND, many households also contributed money, the largest household contributed up to 30 million VND. People volunteered."