Nhon Mai Border Guard Station Chief: Close to the people, understand the people to gain their trust and love
On the occasion of the 66th anniversary of Border Guard Tradition Day (March 3, 1959 - March 3, 2025) and the 36th anniversary of People's Border Guard Day (March 3, 1989 - March 3, 2025), Nghe An Newspaper had a conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong, born in 1972, from Nghia Dan, currently the Chief of Nhon Mai Border Guard Station, Tuong Duong district.
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The Chief of Nhon Mai Border Guard Station (Tuong Duong District) is affectionately called "Godfather" by the border guards and villagers. He is a person who always tries to mobilize and call for civil works for the villagers. He is a chief who is close to the people, understands the people and is loved by the people. Every place he has worked at during his career has left behind good and deep feelings.
On the occasion of the 66th anniversary of Border Guard Tradition Day (March 3, 1959 - March 3, 2025) and the 36th anniversary of People's Border Guard Day (March 3, 1989 - March 3, 2025), Nghe An Newspaper had a conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong, born in 1972, from Nghia Dan, currently the Chief of Nhon Mai Border Guard Station, Tuong Duong district.
Thanh Nga(implementation) • March 3, 2025
PV:As the Chief of Border Guard Station, guarding the border and protecting the security of the Fatherland's sovereignty markers, can you explain more about your role and responsibilities?
Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong:Since joining the army, I have always clearly recognized my responsibility, been absolutely loyal to the Party, devoted to the people, upheld the spirit of revolutionary vigilance, been intelligent and brave, overcame all difficulties and hardships, and excellently fulfilled the task of protecting the socialist regime, protecting the Party, the State, and the people, and firmly defending every inch of the sacred land of the Fatherland.
Border guards are also an active force participating in building and consolidating the grassroots political system, developing the socio-economy, contributing to building a strong national border defense, building a peaceful, stable, friendly, cooperative and developed border; managing and protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security. Besides, I am always aware that consolidating and strengthening the great national unity bloc, building a solid "people's heart position" is the decisive factor for the victory of the national border protection cause.
Nhon Mai Border Guard Station - where I work - is responsible for managing a border line of more than 28km, and at the same time managing 2 communes Mai Son and Nhon Mai with 1,431 households/6,868 people, with the Kinh, Thai, Mong and Kho Mu ethnic groups. As the Station Chief, I lead the unit to coordinate with the local authorities and Lao border protection forces to do a good job of ensuring security and order in the border area. In addition, I also direct the unit to actively support and help the neighboring country in border management, contributing to strengthening and fostering the long-term friendship between Vietnam and Laos.
With the belief that: “The station is home, the border is the homeland, the people of all ethnic groups are brothers and sisters”, my comrades and I always try to make the “home” at the border of the border guards warm and happy. Along with that, I always consider the villagers as brothers and relatives, we must be responsible and close to the villagers in all circumstances. When the villagers are happy, we are happy together, when the villagers have difficulties, we share them.
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Therefore, soldiers in green uniforms must always carry out the motto of “3 sticking, 4 together”: Sticking to the unit, sticking to the area, sticking to the policies and guidelines; eating, living, working and speaking the same language as the people. With that motto, we always build a tight work schedule, taking the people as the criteria for activities, for us each person is a “living milestone”, if the people are happy, the border area will be stable.
PV:It is known that,During business trips to the villages, seeing that the ethnic minorities in the border areas still faced many difficulties and poverty, he connected and called on businesses and philanthropists to support and help the people with everything from rice bowls, blankets, clothes to housing, clean water, bridges... Can you tell us more about these meaningful activities?
Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong:In every place I was stationed, I always kept in mind that I would bring the best life to the people there, always paying attention to what the people lacked and then finding ways to mobilize and call for help, hoping that the people would have a more fulfilling life. When I first arrived in Nhon Mai, the people here often had to wade across the stream, in the summer it was still bearable, but in the rainy season, trading and traveling were extremely difficult and arduous. Especially for young children, every time it rained, their journey to school was extremely difficult, many times facing many dangers.
In the 3 years since I became the Chief of Nhon Mai Border Guard Station, my colleagues and I have called on donors to build 3 bridges in the 2 communes where I was stationed, with a total value of 3.3 billion VND. The day the bridge was inaugurated was also the happiest day for the people here. Now, people no longer have to wade through streams, and can easily trade whatever they raise or plant to earn more income and invest in their children's education.
The bridge was built but it still could not completely solve the difficulties of the people here, because around me there are still many families living in temporary houses, leaking before rain. I directed my colleagues to survey and make a list of households in real difficulty to call on benefactors to support the construction of charity houses that are sealed above and sound below. And in 3 years, 29 houses were completed, with the initial support of about 50 million VND/house, plus the working days of the soldiers and villagers, many families have had decent houses to stabilize their lives.
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With the responsibility and spirit of always bringing the best things to the people, I also mobilized to drill water wells for schools, supported hundreds of practical gifts during holidays and Tet for people in difficulty; supported students under the Program "Helping children go to school" and the Project "Military officers help children go to school" along with many programs aimed at students in difficult areas such as: "Warm clothes in the borderlands"; "Border moon - Full moon festival", "Border dormitory"; built a combined military-civilian-medical livelihood model... With the livelihood model, the most important thing is that we create awareness among people to work together and build together, so the results they receive will be many times more valuable.
PV:Of all the livelihood models that you and other philanthropists and volunteers support for your fellow countrymen, which model do you like the most?
Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong: There are many good models that I have called for and implemented with my fellow countrymen, creating practical livelihoods, helping people to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. The model that I like the most is "Nursery for sowing green seeds, greening the border". This model provides free seedlings to ethnic minorities, helping to develop sustainable household economies in border communes. Thereby, raising awareness among people from planting forests, changing ineffective traditional farming practices to new production methods, contributing to improving the ecological environment, minimizing climate change, and increasing income.
The model has an area of 400m², supported by Global Green Seedlings Company with seeds, fertilizers and technical care instructions, to implement the Prime Minister's Project to plant 1 billion trees in the period of 2021 - 2025. On the day of launching the model, we were supported with 4,000 seedlings of various types such as canarium, black star, and humpback... worth 30 million VND. From the supported seedling sources, we have instructed people on how to grow and fertilize so that the number of seedlings grows well, gradually covering the forest area, contributing to flood prevention, limiting flash floods and landslides in the rainy and stormy season. Since establishing this model, people have been aware of working together and enjoying together, and the initial results have been certain.
PV:To have the proud achievements like today, you must have gone through a process of hard training and struggle?
Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong: Since I was a teenager, I have loved the color of the soldier's uniform, especially the color of the border guards guarding the borders of the Fatherland. Through newspapers, radio and even my father's films (he is a film industry employee), I always felt that the border guards are brave and loyal. And from those days, I always promised myself to become a soldier serving in the army. I thought that my childhood dreams would change when I grew up, but no, when I finished grade 12 and passed the entrance exam to Hanoi University of Science, now Hanoi National University, I still couldn't stop thinking about my childhood dream. So I put my books aside and joined the army. After completing the training period, I passed the entrance exam to the Border Guard Academy, after many years of training, I returned to work at the Nghe An Border Guard with many ambitions and a desire to contribute.
Having held many positions, from team-level cadre to Tam Quang Border Guard Station Chief and now Nhon Mai Border Guard Station Chief, in every position assigned by the organization, I am determined to complete the assigned tasks well. In every workplace, I always wholeheartedly help my comrades and teammates, wholeheartedly join the collective in building a strong and comprehensive unit. Wherever I am, I also promote the exemplary pioneering role of a cadre, party member, and border guard soldier, always staying close to the locality, actively mobilizing people to well implement the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's policies and laws.
PV:What do you think when many people say that border guards always suffer many disadvantages?
Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong: Having chosen to be a border guard, we have to accept sacrifices. We cannot be near our parents, wives and children during holidays and Tet, cannot be with our families when we are tired or need warmth to share, and cannot take care of big and small things in the house. My family is in a rather special situation when both my husband and I work in the Border Guard, but each of us is in a different unit and live more than 300km apart. My wife is currently working at the Military Medical Department, Logistics Department, Nghe An Border Guard Command, and I am in a base unit and am rarely at home, so the burden of the family falls entirely on my wife's shoulders.
For me, to be able to shoulder both the Fatherland and the family, the most important thing for a border guard is to know how to balance and prioritize the most important things at every moment. Therefore, when the border area is peaceful, when the border people have a happy life, that is when I can feel most secure to return to my family.
PV:Thanks for this chat!
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