Village head Mac Tien Quang

(Baonghean)Ban Moi, Thanh Son commune (Anh Son district) is a highland village located 30 km west of the Anh Son district center. The village has 142 households and 643 inhabitants, all of whom are Thai ethnic people..

Although it's called Bản Mới (New Village), the locals no longer remember exactly when it was established. They only know that in the past, the village was poor, and the people practiced nomadic farming, refusing to settle down and cultivating land, so their lives were very difficult.

Prior to 2000, the poverty rate in the village was consistently high (80-90%), and the children often dropped out of school after only completing primary education. One villager persistently went to each family to persuade them to end the slash-and-burn farming practice and change their way of life and livelihood. That man is village head Mac Tien Quang. He is 65 years old and served as the Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Son commune for many years. After retiring in Moi village, he was trusted by the villagers and elected as the village head and Party branch secretary.

Deeply concerned about the poverty of the villagers, he realized that 168 hectares of natural land remained unutilized for production. He convened a village meeting to discuss and replan the agricultural land. He encouraged the villagers to reforest the barren hills with acacia and eucalyptus trees, while converting the alluvial plains to sugarcane cultivation. His family pioneered the application of scientific and technical methods, planting 2 hectares of sugarcane and 5 hectares of acacia trees. The sugarcane and acacia trees have brought his family an income of 50-60 million VND per year.

Not only did he help the villagers develop economically, but he also cared for their cultural life, regularly visiting each house to campaign for the elimination of outdated customs in weddings and funerals, and to maintain the traditional brocade weaving; he also encouraged families not to have a third child so that they could focus on their children's education and prevent them from dropping out of school. For many years now, the village has seen no more cases of children dropping out of school. Comrade Lo Anh Hong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Thanh Son commune, said: "Village head Mac Tien Quang is a highly respected and responsible person among the people; he is greatly admired by everyone!"

Diep Anh