Happy Tet, Warm Spring

(Baonghean) -Joining the atmosphere of welcoming the Lunar New Year 2015 with the whole country, millions of people in Nghe An province from urban to rural areas, from the highlands to the lowlands had a warm, happy and joyful traditional New Year. Especially, with the participation of all levels, sectors and the whole society following the motto: every family has Tet, the poor households and families with preferential policies were extremely excited to receive meaningful gifts to have a warm and happy Tet...

Bustling Tet holiday

For Nghe An, the year of the Horse has passed with many outstanding marks in the economic, cultural and social fields, which have had a positive impact on the quality of life of the people. During the days of the Lunar New Year of the Goat, walking along the Spring road in our hometown, we felt the joy and excitement on the faces of each person. For Mr. Ho Sy Khai, Tho Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, each Spring brings a new joy. Right in his hometown Tho Thanh, the living standards of the people are improving day by day; village roads and alleys are being built cleanly and spaciously. Therefore, Tet in every house is becoming more and more neat, cozy and truly filled with the meaning of the two words "sum vay". “In the past, life was still poor, and on Tet, we only had a bowl of rice to cook and worship our ancestors. But now, life has become much more prosperous, so Tet preparations are complete and convenient. This year, my children who work in Laos all returned home to celebrate Tet, so the family atmosphere is even more exciting,” Mr. Khai shared.

Life is developing and improving, not only the feeling of those who are attached to their homeland every day, but also of those who are from Nghe An who live far away and return to reunite with their families every Tet holiday. Talking to us, Mr. Nguyen Trong Bac from Binh Duong who returned to his hometown to celebrate Tet excitedly shared: “Every year after returning, I see my hometown changing and developing once again. In particular, Vinh City has developed very quickly, becoming spacious, modern, green - clean - beautiful. The countryside has also changed rapidly, taking on a new rural appearance; the lives of almost every family show prosperity and fullness. Coming back to my hometown to celebrate Tet this year, I am really happy”.

Vinh City residents participate in the New Year's Eve Festival at Ho Chi Minh Square. Photo: HT - TH

Going to Thanh Thuy Border Guard Station (Thanh Chuong), the grass, trees and flowers are blooming in the border area. Welcoming the New Year of the Goat, the officers and soldiers of the Station also have their own joy when at the end of 2014, the unit was awarded the title of Determined to Win Unit by the Border Guard Command. The station commander, Major Nguyen Trung Thanh said: During the Tet holidays, the unit's troops are 100% on duty and ready to fight to firmly ensure border security to serve the people to enjoy the Spring Festival, to celebrate the Tet holiday peacefully and warmly. Although on duty, the care for officers and soldiers celebrating Tet at the border is as complete and warm as at home.

The Lunar New Year 2015 has passed joyfully with much joy and happiness for every family, every person, agency and organization. According to the report on the situation of the Lunar New Year 2015 of the Provincial People's Committee: During the Tet holidays, the preparation of goods for the Tet holiday was thorough, the quality was guaranteed, the prices were generally stable, meeting the people's demand for essential goods, preventing illegal business, counterfeit goods and poor quality goods. Armed forces such as the police, army and border guards proactively planned to increase their forces, ensuring national defense and security in the province, so the political security situation was basically well guaranteed, key targets were absolutely protected; traffic patrols and control forces were increased, preventing congestion. Party committees, authorities and the political system took action and strictly controlled, so the situation of setting off fireworks decreased significantly compared to previous years, especially on New Year's Eve. Food hygiene and safety are good, no epidemics occur in the area. Therefore, people celebrate Tet, enjoy Spring happily, healthily, safely and economically.

On New Year's Eve in Vinh City, many young foreigners were very excited, braved the rain to welcome New Year's Eve and felt the sweet cold in the tropical monsoon land. Joining the crowd waiting for the sacred moment of the New Year's transition at Ho Chi Minh Square, Dustin from the US felt very excited. This year, 29 years old, Dustin is a teacher at a famous English center in Vinh City. During the time the center was on Tet holiday, the young man from the other side of the world decided to stay in Vinh City to feel a traditional Vietnamese culture.

On the night of the 30th of Tet, Dustin had a New Year's Eve dinner with friends and then braved the rain to go to Ho Chi Minh Square. Engrossed in watching folk music shows from Nghe An, the American guy clapped enthusiastically and gave the ok sign to share the joy with everyone. Occasionally, he called, texted, and shared with his friends about the festival in Vinh City. "The first time I celebrated Tet in Vietnam, I felt great. Everyone was friendly, the weather was great, it was raining but not as cold as in the US. I think you guys had a meaningful space right at the foot of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh. This will be an interesting experience in my life" - Dustin shared.

Also at Ho Chi Minh Square on New Year's Eve, a group of young tourists from Australia felt very excited and enthusiastic with the hip-hop and flashmob dance performances of the dance groups. Sitting together sipping beer and feeling the Tet atmosphere in the drizzling rain, the group of tourists said that this was the first time they had celebrated Tet abroad. On the first day of Tet, the group went to explore Vinh City and then went to Uncle Ho's hometown in Nam Dan. Meanwhile, teacher Jammeh, an English expert at Vinh University, learned about the New Year's Eve atmosphere and felt "the most important holiday of the year for Vietnamese people". Before New Year's Eve, she went to the spring flower market, saw the mossy peach branches, and was invited by her colleagues and students to go out to celebrate Tet and have a family meal. Teacher Jammeh said that celebrating Tet in a tropical country for the first time was also an opportunity for her to understand more about the culture, people and hometown of Nghe An, where leader Ho Chi Minh was born...

Warm sharing

In the common joy of the people of the whole province every time Tet comes, Spring comes, it is worth mentioning the joy of poor families, policies, vulnerable groups in society... which are "woven" from the care of Party committees, authorities at all levels and the warm sharing of organizations, individuals, agencies and enterprises. Right before Tet, many working delegations led by provincial leaders visited and wished a happy New Year to poor families, policies, the elderly... in many localities in the province. The gifts filled with affection in each trip of the provincial leaders warmed the hearts of people who still face many difficulties in life. Mr. Quang Van Truong, a resident of Muong Noc commune, Que Phong district, who was infected with toxic chemicals, was moved when his family was visited by Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, who gave him gifts and New Year wishes. He shared: "The attention of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and the comrades in the delegation has helped my family have a more complete New Year's celebration."

It can be said that, in the spirit of: every family has Tet, all levels and sectors have paid much attention to organizing Spring and Tet celebrations for policy beneficiaries, disadvantaged families, lonely elderly people, homeless children, homeless people, and children in especially difficult circumstances. Comrade Nguyen Huu Vinh, Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said: "In the Lunar New Year 2015, in addition to ensuring full benefits and policies of the Central and the province, the District People's Committee allocated over 1.4 billion VND for people with meritorious services. The district organized nearly 20 delegations to visit, encourage and wish a Happy New Year to units on duty during the New Year, policy families, people with meritorious services, the elderly and the poor. In particular, implementing the Appeal Letter for Support for Tet for the Poor of the Provincial Party Secretary, many organizations, agencies, units and individuals in the district have donated nearly 1.2 billion VND to help the poor celebrate the New Year. The district has also proactively distributed nearly 300 tons of rice to 6,214 families to help them celebrate the New Year"...

On the provincial level, during the Lunar New Year of At Mui until February 10, 2015 (ie December 22, Giap Ngo year), 21/21 districts, cities and towns have completed giving Tet gifts to people with meritorious services with a total gift budget of 32,496,750,000 VND. Localities in the province have also supported people with a total of 3,349 tons of rice to relieve hunger, with 77,275 households and 223,267 people receiving the rice, the support level: 15kg/person. The Provincial People's Committee has granted 8,161,400,000 VND to the People's Committees of districts, cities and towns to support 81,614 poor households to celebrate Tet, the support level: 100,000 VND/household. Tens of thousands of elderly people and social beneficiaries have also received Tet gifts. Socialization work to take care of the poor, policy beneficiaries and vulnerable groups in society during Tet has been widely implemented and achieved high efficiency. According to the report of the Provincial People's Committee, the total amount of money mobilized from socialization to visit and give gifts on the occasion of Tet At Mui 2015 is 52.1 billion VND. In total, the budget for implementing regular subsidies and Tet gifts for people with meritorious services and social protection from the State budget and support from organizations, enterprises and individuals during the Lunar New Year At Mui 2015 is 288 billion VND. Of which, the budget for paying regular subsidies for people with meritorious services and social protection is 185.821 billion VND; the money for gifts for the subjects (people with meritorious services, social protection, the elderly, the poor, children in especially difficult circumstances) is 102.169 billion VND...

The Lunar New Year of At Mui 2015 has passed in a joyful, peaceful and warm atmosphere of sharing. We believe that the warm spring atmosphere will create a strong influence for the Party committees, authorities and people in the province to join hands to continue building Nghe An homeland to be more and more prosperous.

PV Group