Happy Tet, Warm Spring

(Baonghean) -Joining in 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 policy families were extremely excited to have received meaningful gifts to have a warm and happy Tet...

Bustling Tet holiday

For Nghe An, the year of Giap Ngo 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 At Mui, 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 built clean and spacious. Therefore, Tet in every house is more and more neat, cozy and truly filled with the meaning of the word reunion. “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 have all returned home to celebrate Tet, so the family atmosphere is even more exciting,” Mr. Khai shared.

The development and improvement of life is not only the feeling of those who are attached to their homeland every day, but also of the children of Nghe An who live far away and return to reunite with their families every time Tet comes and Spring comes. Talking with us, Mr. Nguyen Trong Bac from Binh Duong who returns 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, spacious, modern, green - clean - beautiful. In the countryside, it 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 Party at Ho Chi Minh Square. Photo: HT - TH

Going to Thanh Thuy Border Guard Station (Thanh Chuong), the grass, trees, flowers and leaves 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 and welcome the New Year in peace and warmth. Although on duty, the care for officers and soldiers to celebrate the New Year at the border is as complete and warm as in their hometown.

The Lunar New Year 2015 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 thoughtful, quality was guaranteed, prices were generally stable, meeting the needs of essential goods for the people, preventing illegal business, trade of fake 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 have occurred in the area. Therefore, people celebrate Tet and 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 hemisphere 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 his friends and then braved the rain to go to Ho Chi Minh Square. Engrossed in watching folk music shows from Nghe An, the American boy clapped enthusiastically and gave the ok sign to share his joy with everyone. Occasionally, he called, texted, and shared with his friends about the festival in Vinh City. "This is the first time I've celebrated Tet in Vietnam, I feel great. Everyone is friendly, the weather is great, it's raining but not cold like in the US. I think you have 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 flash mob 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, looked at the mossy peach branches, and was invited by her colleagues and students to go out to celebrate Spring, celebrate Tet, and have a reunion meal. Teacher Jammeh said that celebrating Tet for the first time in a tropical country is also an opportunity for her to understand more about the culture, people and homeland 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, policy beneficiaries, 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 businesses. Right before Tet, many working delegations led by provincial leaders visited and wished a Happy New Year to poor families, policy beneficiaries, the elderly... in many localities in the province. The emotional gifts 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 Eve."

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 children, and those in especially difficult circumstances. Comrade Nguyen Huu Vinh, Chairman of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee said: "In the 2015 Lunar New Year, in addition to ensuring full policies and regimes 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 Happy New Year to units on duty during the Tet holiday, 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 donated nearly 1.2 billion VND to help the poor celebrate Tet. The District also proactively distributed nearly 300 tons of rice to 6,214 families to help them celebrate Tet in time"...

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 hunger relief rice with a total of 3,349 tons of rice, with 77,275 households with 223,267 beneficiaries, 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. The socialization work to take care of the poor households, policy beneficiaries and vulnerable groups in society during Tet has been widely implemented and has 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 the regular subsidy regime, Tet gifts for people with meritorious services, 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 gift money 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 At Mui 2015 has passed in a joyful, peaceful and warm atmosphere of sharing. We believe that the warm spring love will create a strong influence for the Party committees, authorities and people in the province to join hands to continue to build Nghe An homeland to be more and more prosperous.

PV Group