Keep the home, spread love
Vietnamese Family Day (June 28) is an opportunity for each family member to reflect on themselves, cultivate family ties, and be filled with love. In 2025, Vietnamese Family Day will be celebrated with the theme "Happy Family - Prosperous Nation".
Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Ms. Quach Thi Cuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism about the results, concerns and orientations in the work of building cultural families in the province.
PV: Madam, many people refer to Vietnamese Family Day as a “symbolic” milestone rather than a real one. How do you perceive the true meaning of this day, especially in the context of many changes in lifestyle and family relationships in society today?
Ms. Quach Thi Cuong:More than two decades ago, the Government decided to make June 28th every year Vietnam Family Day - a milestone reminding each of us of our role and responsibility in fostering family happiness. In my opinion, this is a day of profound significance. Through many generations, Vietnamese families have always been the place to preserve and pass on core values, such as love for the homeland, national pride, tolerance, filial piety and the will to overcome challenges. It is from the warm family that these qualities are cultivated, nurtured, creating the unique cultural identity of our nation. Despite many changes in society, I always believe that the core function of the family - the foundation for forming personality, morality and ideals in life - will never change.
This year, Vietnam Family Day continues to carry the theme “Happy Family – Prosperous Nation”. The slogan seems simple, but it contains a profound message: family is the cell of society, the foundation for a strong country. A country cannot prosper if each family is weak and lacks love. On the contrary, when each home is truly a place to nurture happiness, love and responsibility, then that is also the time when society develops sustainably, humanely and more fairly.
In Nghe An – a land rich in historical and cultural traditions, family work has always received special attention. In particular, Resolution No. 05 of the Provincial Party Executive Committee issued in 2016 clearly demonstrated the determination to build Nghe An people and cultural families – meeting the requirements of development and integration.
I feel proud to witness many families and clans in this land together preserving and promoting traditional ethics: “When drinking water, remember its source”, “Respect your elders, give way to your juniors”, nurturing love and mutual support through each generation. From that solid foundation, happy and progressive families have been and are contributing to building Nghe An homeland to become more developed, rich in identity and more sustainable in the future.
PV: To maintain a warm family in modern life, many policies and support from the State are needed. In Nghe An, can you share the outstanding results in the work of building cultural families in recent times?
Ms. Quach Thi Cuong:Over the years, as a permanent agency on family work,Department of Culture, Sports and Tourismhas closely coordinated with sectors and localities to promote communication on building happy families on mass media to spread messages of love, sharing and connection between family members. In particular, each occasion of launching movements such as "Family of 5 no, 3 clean", "Family of learning", "Clan of learning" ... is an opportunity to encourage everyone to learn, practice the virtues of diligence, studiousness and appreciate family values.
In addition to communication work, we also focus on organizing many diverse and practical activities such as: writing contests on family topics, cultural and artistic competitions between families, seminars on parenting skills, elderly care, etc. This is not only a healthy playground, but also a forum for families to meet, exchange and share experiences, thereby contributing to spreading the good values of Nghe An family traditions.
At the grassroots level, localities in the province have proactively integrated family work into patriotic emulation movements and programs to build new rural areas and civilized urban areas. Thanks to that, many cultural family models have emerged and developed widely in villages and hamlets. The whole province currently has hundreds of such effective models, along with more than 1,000 clubs and community groups actively participating in family building work. In particular, thousands of hotlines and trusted addresses have been established at the grassroots level, contributing to timely receiving and handling cases requiring support. Thanks to such synchronous participation, awareness of prevention and response to domestic violence has been increasingly raised, contributing to a significant reduction in violations in family life. By the end of 2024, the whole province had 737,186/851,151 households recognized as Cultural Families - reaching a rate of 87%.
PV: In the trend of integration and development, Vietnamese families also face many challenges. In your opinion, besides the above results, what limitations and shortcomings are there in family work in Nghe An that are worth noting?
Ms. Quach Thi Cuong:We need to clearly recognize an important fact: “The more modern family values are, the more they need to be built on a traditional foundation”. That is not a contradiction, but a complement to each other. The good news is that people's quality of life is increasingly improving, along with the emergence of new challenges in family life. I realize that today's young generation is easily caught up in individualistic lifestyles, lacking connection with the family. Many traditional moral values such as filial piety, respect for grandparents, parents, loyalty in marriage, etc. are showing signs of fading. Some families are even lax in educating their children, making it easy for children to fall into the unhealthy pleasures of urban life. Conflicts between generations, between parents and children are therefore occurring more and more - and this is a reality that is present in many families in Nghe An.
Another issue that we are particularly concerned about is the state ofdomestic violenceand social evils penetrate the very cells of society. In fact, in recent times, public opinion has been shocked by many cases of child abuse and violence against women right in their own homes. This is not only the pain of each family, but also a common concern of the whole society.
The reasons are both objective and subjective: From limited awareness of family law among a segment of the population, to limited resources for domestic violence prevention at the grassroots level - lack of specialized staff, lack of funding, lack of timely information. On the management side, we have tried to implement many solutions, but we still cannot cover and promptly handle all situations. Detecting, intervening and resolving domestic violence cases at their root still faces many obstacles.
We have achieved many positive results, but clearly there is still a lot of work ahead. From building a culture of behavior in the family to preventing and handling deviant behaviors, all require the cooperation of the whole society. Only then can we realize the great goal set by the Party and the State: "Peaceful family - happy society".
Ms. Quach Thi Cuong - Deputy Director of Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism
Reporter: Could you please tell us, in the coming time, what tasks and solutions will the Department and local authorities focus on to continue promoting family work, both building cultural families and preventing domestic violence?
Ms. Quach Thi Cuong:First of all, we will continue to promote propaganda on all media channels - from traditional press to the internet and social networks - to raise people's awareness of the important role of family in social life. Specifically, the Department will coordinate to implement activities on occasions such as International Day of Happiness (March 20), International Family Day (May 15), especially Vietnamese Family Day (June 28) and Action Month for Gender Equality and Prevention of Domestic Violence. Through this, people will also better understand related policies and legal regulations such as the Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence, the Law on Gender Equality, the Law on Children, etc.
Along with communication, we will continue to promote movements to build cultural families. At the same time, we will also focus on preventing and combating domestic violence by expanding models that combine moral education and prevention of violent behavior. We call for the establishment of more peer groups and clubs for women and people in difficult circumstances - so that they have a place to connect, protect themselves and share problems in life.
In addition, every year, the organization honors and rewards exemplary families – whether it is a compassionate couple, a studious family, or a multi-generational family that maintains traditional family traditions. These shining examples will contribute to spreading positive energy in the community, reminding everyone that “love and sharing” are always core values that are respected by society.
And above all, I think that each individual also needs to raise their own awareness. No matter how practical a program or movement is, if each family member does not truly change from within, the effect will only be superficial. I often remind my own family that: parents and children - all must learn to "respect - equality - love - share". When these values are nurtured in each home, it is a solid foundation to spread to society. And from there, we can realize the great aspiration of "Happy Family - Prosperous Nation".
PV: Thank you for the interview!