Nguyen The Son - The man facing the past
On the afternoon of January 27, Nghe An electronic newspaper reported the opening of the Huong Thien car wash facility of those who have made mistakes by reporter Vu Toan. To help readers understand better, we would like to introduce a portrait article by reporter Tran Hoai about the director of this facility.
(Part 1: Fallen steps)
Part 2: Facing the past to become a good person
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Nguyen The Son |
The couple got off the Eastern bus station with nothing. During the day, Son worked as a porter, bus conductor, and coffee waiter, earning only 100,000 VND per day. At night, Son went to study IT and English. Gangsters from Nghe An heard that Son had brought his wife and children to the city, which was facing difficulties, so they came to give him money and invited him to "do business". Son refused. One day, while serving coffee to customers in a shop, he met D.D (a notorious drug lord across Vietnam). He quietly finished his coffee, rolled up a 100 USD bill, and put it in the cup. Son returned it. D.D said: "This is your tip!". Son frankly said: "The shop owner does not allow employees to receive tips from customers. Take it back. Let me live my own way." That night, after work, Son had to take his old phone to the pawn shop, got 80,000 VND, and gave it to his wife to buy rice...
There were times when Son absentmindedly thought: why don't I work for them for a few days, earn some money to support my family, and then think about it later. But Son knew that once he got involved in it, he would never be able to get out. Prison, jail, and even the death penalty were inevitable. Moreover, he would no longer have the chance to fulfill his dream of continuing to go to university.
Having a driver's license, Son applied for a job at a state-owned company. Because Son refused to do the "greasing" procedures, the head of the company's organization department "tortured" him. But in the end, Son was recruited to drive for the board of directors. Then Son attended a part-time class at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law. Life was okay. When the company Son worked for switched to equitization, there was internal disunity and fighting among the staff. Son was "assigned" by the head of the organization department (who did not like him) to "eavesdrop" on the conversations of the board of directors while traveling in the car. Son flatly refused, so the head of the department created an excuse to fire him.
Son filed a lawsuit, and he won. Many of his colleagues in the company who were fired in similar situations as Son asked him to help them sue. He collected evidence, completed the documents, and acted as a representative to claim their legitimate rights. After finishing his work, he submitted his resignation. Then Son took an exam to work at a travel company.
After a year of managing a team of 12 employees, he was appointed by the CEO as the CEO. In this position, he discovered that there were illegal issues in the company. He stayed up three nights to write a report warning of the risks and sent it to the CEO. Both times he sent the report, he received a terrifying silence. He again submitted his resignation.
And surprisingly, all 12 of Son's colleagues also resigned from the travel company. Son wondered: If all 12 colleagues lost their jobs because of him, what would happen to their family life?
So, in early 2008, Son gathered them together, joined with two other shareholders to establish Golden Light Tourism Joint Stock Company (headquartered at 8A 1C1, Thai Van Lung, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). Currently, the company has 4 domestic tours every day and 8 international tours, business is progressing smoothly...
Son recounted the difficult days: One time, Son's mother-in-law was seriously ill and had to be taken to Ho Chi Minh City for treatment. Out of money, Son had to borrow two million VND to buy medicine for his mother. On the way back, Son discovered two robbers on a motorbike snatching a woman's handbag. Son immediately accelerated and chased after them, weaving through alleys and following closely behind the robbers. Son's driving skills forced the two robbers to stop in a dead-end alley, facing Son. They pulled out knives. Son knocked one of them down, the other backed into a corner.
Son said: “Leave your bags and go, otherwise I will call and arrest you and hand you over to the police.” Son opened the bag, inside there was about 200 million dong brand new. The robbers had left, the alley was deserted... Son trembled, he touched his back pocket, there was still 2 million dong borrowed, the daily interest rate was up to 10 percent.
Son clicked his tongue: “Maybe I should “eat” this money, who would know? I’m in such a miserable situation!”. But then Son thought: “Maybe this woman is like me, borrowing money to do something important?...”. Until he stood in front of the gate of Binh Thanh District Police Station, the thought of “eating” the money still lingered. But then Son overcame himself and handed over the entire amount of money to the police officers.
A few days later, a military officer with the insignia of the military prosecutor's office came to find Son at the security room of the company where he was working. Son was panicking, thinking what wrong he had done to make the law enforcement and military come looking for him? But it was Lieutenant Colonel Tran Minh Son - at that time an officer of the Criminal Investigation Department of Military Region 7, the husband of the woman whose handbag was snatched by robbers, who came to thank him. And from then on, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Minh Son became Son's sworn brother. Whenever life was difficult, he was encouraged and helped by Lieutenant Colonel Son.
Another time, Son spent money to buy a camera, a tape recorder, took an express train across the North and South, investigated the "prison food and car robbery" restaurants, and provided newspapers with enough information to bring this painful issue to the public. Son also wrote many articles reflecting and fighting against negativity, expressing the wishes of the people in the neighborhood, and sent them to a familiar journalist.
The newspaper published it, Son saw the other journalist's signature under his article. Son decided to end the relationship. In 2007, when the press reflected people's anger about fake gasoline causing damage to motorbike pistons, while the authorities were "waiting for time to inspect", Son himself sought to clarify.
Once, when he stopped by a motorbike repair shop on Pho Quang Street (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City), he saw a crowd of people waiting to have their tires repaired. He immediately conducted an experiment by asking the motorbike taxi driver to go to the Petrolimex gas station to buy two liters of gasoline and pour it into a bucket.
Drop a newly bought piston into a bucket of gasoline and soak for 5-10 minutes. When taken out, the piston rubber gasket was not deformed. After that, Son asked someone to suck out the gasoline in his car (this gasoline was bought from another place) and put it in a new piston. The rubber part on the piston was deformed and swollen. From here, he concluded that the motorcycle piston was damaged because of fake gasoline. That night, he sat down to write the article "Experiment on the sidewalk".
Recently, he wrote an article called “Tears from a Volleyball Dream” about the miserable situation of Nguyen Thi Lan in Vinh city with the dream of becoming a volleyball player, published in Tuoi Tre newspaper. The article was noticed and shared by readers, and thanks to that, Lan had the opportunity to realize her dream.
Son confided to me: "Now, I can fulfill my dreams, which is to help prisoners rebuild their lives."
For many nights, Son could not sleep, he wondered: “In Cua Nam Ward, Vinh City, there are many people who have been released from prison, in similar situations to mine. There are families with two or three members, both the father and several brothers were in prison. After leaving prison, they faced discrimination and hatred from the community. They have no jobs, sooner or later they will easily go to prison.
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Son guides how to wash motorbikes and cars at Huong Thien facility. |
It's a vicious cycle." So Son discussed with his wife, took out a part of the budget to set up Huong Thien car wash right in his garden. He mobilized and gathered inmates in the ward to send them to vocational training, to train them in working skills. The income was divided in the ratio of 8/2. The workers got 8 parts, the remaining 2 parts were used to pay for electricity and water.
Despite doing charity work, Son still encountered many difficulties and was harassed by some people in authority regarding administrative procedures. However, the experience of a bruised and bitter life taught him a lesson: Be calm, pursue your goals to the end, and never give up. Son looked up documents and legal texts as a basis for debate and to defend his correct viewpoint.
Huong Thien facility is Son's second "work". In 2008, Son chose two people who had been in prison many times and were in the most difficult circumstances to help, Mr. Hung and Mr. Vuong. Son's way of helping was to hold hands and show them how to do things after lending them money. After having enough money, Son took his two friends to buy two motorbikes. After buying them, he took them to Vinh market to get acquainted with the shop owners, asking them to pay attention to helping by hiring them to transport their goods.
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Nguyen The Son's family |
After finishing the work, Son bought two piggy banks so that each day his two friends would put in one-third of the money they earned. “We have to do this so that my two friends will be aware of paying back the capital so that I can continue to lend to other inmates,” Son said, adding that he would work directly at the Huong Thien facility for about 20 days, after which he would go to Ho Chi Minh City to manage the operations of the Golden Light Company and implement another project – the “Construction Materials Taxi” project, which also creates jobs for those who have completed their prison terms and have the opportunity to start their lives over again.
Son said: “I just want to tell everyone: never discriminate against or avoid people who have made mistakes. Because that will kill them. Be close to them, encourage them and help them have a chance to be a good person.”
On January 25, 2010, Huong Thien facility opened at No. 1, Lane 1, Dao Tan Street, Block 3, Cua Nam Ward, Vinh City.
Son and his fellow inmates rolled up their sleeves to wash the car. The tattoos, carvings, and even the rough scars on their arms were submerged in the white foam. The cool, clear water was helping them wash away the dust of life!
Article and photos: Tran Hoai