Thoughts of a Chairman of the Elderly Association in Nghe An: 'As long as we have strength, we will continue to contribute'

On the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons (October 1, 1991 - October 1, 2023), Nghe An Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Pham Hong Chau about the role and mindset of the elderly in the new era.

Reporter:How do you evaluate the role and position of the elderly in the protection and development of the country through the ages? As an elderly person, what can you say about your aspirations to work and contribute in the new period?

Mr. Pham Hong Chau:The elderly are a prestigious class of people with an important role in the family and society. They are the ones who give birth to and raise children, shape their personalities, develop the race, and educate the young generation on the ideals and good cultural and ethical traditions of the nation.

Speaking about the role and position of the elderly, I would like to quote the words of beloved President Ho Chi Minh. He once affirmed: “The responsibility of the elders and the mission of the country are truly great. The prosperous country is built by the elders. The country exists thanks to the help of the elders. When the country is lost, the elders save it. When the country collapses, the elders support it… The elders call, the people respond; the elders do, the people follow.”

Regarding the will and aspiration to work and contribute to building the homeland and country, not only the elderly but also every Vietnamese citizen has that aspiration. As for the elderly in the present era, it is exactly as the 18 golden words that the Party has awarded: "The older the age, the higher the ambition, setting a shining example for the cause of building and defending the Fatherland"...

Personally, I always keep in mind that “as long as I have the strength, I will contribute”. I retired in 2013 after 43 years of work (including 8 years in the army, fighting in the battlefields of Quang Tri and Laos; 35 years working in Hung Phuc commune in the positions of Secretary of the Youth Union, Committee Member, Chairman of the People's Committee, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee, and Secretary of the Commune Party Committee). After 3 years of retirement, in 2016, the Party organization assigned me to be the Chairman of the Commune Elderly Association. As a Party member, I always carry out the assigned tasks.

In fact, not many people want to take on the role of Chairman of the Commune Elderly Association for many reasons. But I personally feel very happy, because I still feel healthy and intelligent, and want to contribute to the common cause; I feel very honored to be trusted... From then on, I continued to devote all my enthusiasm and responsibility; always being exemplary and dedicated to building the association and movement in my commune.

Reporter:When taking on the responsibility of "carrying the prison and the whole village" as an elderly person, did you set any goals to strive for?

Mr. Pham Hong Chau:Over the years, the Elderly Association of Hung Phuc Commune has been highly appreciated by all levels and sectors for its work in building the association organization, contributing to the movement in the commune and the district in general. It should be added that before I took on the task, the Elderly Association of the Commune was already a strong organization.

When I took on the new assignment, I kept in mind that: To perform the task well, first of all, I must be a tall tree with good standards in words and actions, in accordance with the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's laws and local regulations; must truly "live happily and healthily". I myself need to be more innovative so that the association movement and the position of the elderly in the commune can be raised and become more prominent.

From this mindset, I have come up with some new ways such as promoting the gathering work, bringing all the elderly in the commune to participate in activities in a disciplined manner; building monthly, quarterly, and annual action programs for the association with specific activities; improving the quality of association and branch activities.

Together with the elders in the Commune Elderly Association, I have built a number of meaningful movements and programs. Since 2016, we have built the "Elderly Meal" Program. Accordingly, on October 1st every year, in each family in the commune, children and grandchildren will prepare a cozy family reunion meal to invite their parents on the occasion of the International Day of the Elderly. This program has become routine and has practical significance in caring for the elderly.

Since 2018, we have launched a movement for children to support the “Repaying Parents’ Gratitude” Fund. Specifically, in families where parents do not have a salary, children save and send their parents at least 2 million VND each year so that their parents have money to spend… Next, we also built a fund to support the elderly, by calling on benefactors and sponsors to support the fund. This fund is for helping the elderly over 80 years old. In addition, every year on October 1, the elderly will receive a gift worth 300,000 VND.

Along with that, the Elderly Association of the commune has also promoted the movement of the elderly doing business. The association will visit each elderly household that is still in good health and has economic difficulties to encourage them to rise up and increase production and business; listen and see if the elderly households have any wishes or suggestions so that the association can raise the issue with the Party Committee and the government for support. Through production and business activities, the elderly have become exemplary workers for their children and grandchildren...

In April 2023, we just counted that the whole commune had 11 elderly people who were good at doing business, many of whom had an income of 250 million VND/year.

The Elderly Association of Hung Phuc Commune has also made many efforts and attempts in contributing to the construction of the new countryside. The elders in the association have performed well the two assigned tasks of encouraging their children and grandchildren to participate in donating working days, donating land for road construction and building welfare works.

For families who were not really enthusiastic about participating, the elders came to their homes to analyze and clearly say, “In the past, generations of fathers and brothers used to say, ‘If the car had not passed, the family would not regret it.’ Now, the Party and the State have brought the road to their homes… why not support it?”… Now, Hung Phuc has become a commune that has met the advanced new rural standards.

Reporter:In the 7 years of performing the tasks of the association at the grassroots level, what do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the elderly today? What should the Party, the State and the whole society do to continue to do a good job of caring for the elderly?

Mr. Pham Hong Chau:Regarding the strengths of the elderly, beloved President Ho Chi Minh said very clearly: “For the elderly, although their health is not as good as when they were young, they have basic strengths, which are: They have a passionate and profound patriotism; the older they are, the higher their ambitions; they accumulate a wealth of knowledge, experience, and skills; they have high credibility”… I find that his comments are completely correct.

In terms of limitations, through the years of working for the association, I have noticed that the elderly today have two inherent weaknesses. Firstly, as we age, our health becomes weaker, our intelligence is no longer sharp, and so is our memory. Because our ability to work is reduced, the position of the elderly is also gradually weakened. To overcome this, each elderly person needs to train themselves to improve. The association has also made many efforts such as organizing forums and playgrounds for the elderly to exercise, participate in culture and arts. However, this is an inevitable problem of the law of "birth, aging, illness, death".

The second weakness is the slow grasp of new information and technology. It must be said that modern society has developed rapidly; the elderly are gradually falling behind and becoming lost in the 4.0 industrial era.

To help the elderly in the current period, I think that the issue of care and nurturing has been paid much attention by the Party, the State, all levels, sectors and localities. However, there are still issues that need to be proposed for change, that is, we need to pay more attention and create more favorable conditions for the operation of the Association of the Elderly, especially in terms of funding. For example, now the Chairman of the Association of the Elderly in the commune, the Head of the Association of the Elderly in the village, hamlet and village have a salary and allowance regime, but the Vice Chairman of the Association of the Elderly in the commune and the Deputy Head of the Association of the Elderly do not. The operating budget of the Association of the Elderly in the commune is very limited, only 2-3 million VND per year for operations...

Another problem is that there are currently elderly people who participated in the war to protect the Fatherland, but when they return to their hometowns, they lose the necessary documents to prove and enjoy the regime. We need to evaluate and help them enjoy the benefits they deserve... In addition, there are also many elderly people who are sick, lonely, and have no place to rely on, the community should also have more support and assistance for these vulnerable groups.

Finally, we need a way to help the elderly raise their awareness, keep up with the times so that they can raise their status and have a voice to help educate their children and grandchildren. Maybe, that is to have more training programs, disseminate knowledge. Or separate programs broadcast on radio and television every Saturday and Sunday. Through training, dissemination of knowledge, and watching programs, the elderly can understand more about current events in general and new technology in particular.

Reporter:As you said, the elderly also need to constantly train themselves to improve and live a useful life. So what do the elderly need to train themselves?

Mr. Pham Hong Chau:The first,Elderly people need to practice to improve their spirit. That is, we must try to live happily and healthily; we must regularly practice physical exercise, physical activity, health care, and folk dancing. Physical fitness and health are the prerequisites at this age.

MondayThe elderly need to promote the spirit of solidarity, which is solidarity within the family, clan, residential community, and association; increase exchanges in all aspects to avoid confinement and feelings of loneliness.

Tuesday, need to build personal reputation through standard words and actions; regularly learn and accept new things to keep up with the movements of the times, avoid falling behind in terms of knowledge and thinking.

WednesdayAs an elderly person, we need to be close to and in harmony with our children and grandchildren. We need to accept our mistakes; put ourselves in the context of our children and grandchildren to see problems and events from which we can have a common voice. We should not impose our old thinking on our children and grandchildren; we need to be friends, comrades, and teammates with our children and grandchildren; especially we need to trust the younger generation.

Final, the elderly must raise awareness and responsibility to foster the traditions of the family, clan, homeland, and country for their children and the younger generation. This fostering must be done through vivid visualization, that is, through specific actions of the individual, creating habits for their children and grandchildren. They must know how to find vivid stories to tell so that their children and the younger generation can be self-aware and take the right actions.

Reporter:Thank you for this interview!

Nghe An currently has 430,810 elderly people, accounting for 12.134% of the province's population. This is a very large and powerful force. In recent times, Nghe An elderly people have been participating and making many positive contributions in many fields, from science, technology, socio-economics, contributing to maintaining national defense and security in each residential area and locality. In particular, in many movements such as new rural construction, site clearance in localities in recent times, with prestige in the community, clan, family, the elderly have made great contributions in propaganda, mobilizing people and descendants to agree and support, always striving to fulfill the province's task of building and protecting the Fatherland and homeland.

Regarding economic development, every year about 50-55% of the elderly directly participate in labor, production, business and services. In the movement "Elderly people participate in good economic activities, period 2018-2023", the whole province has honored more than 2,200 good economic models at all levels. These models have created jobs for thousands of workers, contributing to hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and legitimate enrichment... Every year, more than 10,000 elderly people achieve the title of good production at all levels.