Thai Hoa Town: Efforts to build a vibrant cultural life at the grassroots level.
(Baonghean)Visiting Dong Hieu commune on a weekend reveals the vibrant atmosphere of cultural, artistic, and sports activities in the area.
The commune's FM loudspeaker system blared with newly composed folk songs and melodies – vividly staged to promote the Party and State's policies and guidelines, such as combating social evils, discouraging third births, and the humanitarian blood donation movement. At all 14 village cultural centers, the village art troupes actively practiced their songs, dances, and routines. On the sports fields, the cheers of the spectators and lively commentary filled the air. Mr. Tran Van Hong, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, led us to Dong Minh cultural village – a small village with seven volleyball courts and six art troupes (each with 20 members) – and recounted the development of the commune's cultural movement.
A practice session of the Dong Hieu commune folk song club. Photo: Sy Thanh.
Mr. Hong said that in 2008, the folk singing club he and his friends founded was chosen to be the nucleus of the commune's cultural movement. The folk singing club quickly grew from 7 to 25 members and achieved many high achievements in various performances. More importantly, the folk singing club model stimulated and encouraged cultural, artistic, and sports movements in the hamlets, and the movement to build a cultural life in residential areas.
After four years, Dong Hieu has achieved many remarkable successes: 11 out of 14 hamlets have been awarded the title of Cultural Village, and the commune is aiming to become a Cultural Commune by 2015; 86% of households have been awarded the title of Cultural Family, and 55% are awarded the title of Sports Family; the commune is no longer a hotspot for social vices, and the poverty rate is only 3.15% (the average for the town is 6.2%). In 2011, Dong Hieu was awarded a certificate of merit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for its outstanding achievements in organizing cultural and sports activities in the locality.
Not only in Dong Hieu, but also in Thai Hoa Town, the construction and development of an advanced culture rich in identity has been carried out synchronously and actively. After Thai Hoa Town was established, the Party committees and authorities from the town level to the grassroots continued to thoroughly implement the resolution on developing grassroots cultural life, thereby creating a transformation in the awareness and actions of Party committees, authorities, mass organizations, officials, Party members, and all strata of the people.
Many good and creative practices have emerged, spreading among all strata of the population, such as storytelling competitions about President Ho Chi Minh; cadres, Party members, and the people studying and researching "President Ho Chi Minh's speech to cadres, workers, and local people at the Dong Hieu State Farm"; and mobilizing exemplary families to strictly adhere to village regulations and conventions, participating in building cultural families, cultural villages, and cultural units. Cultural and artistic activities and sports movements have been promoted in all wards and communes, with the emergence of many types of clubs such as: Health and Fitness Clubs, Poetry and Chess Clubs, Domestic Violence Prevention Clubs, Clubs Against Having a Third Child, Folk Song Clubs, Gong Clubs, etc. The town, in coordination with the Provincial Management Board of Historical Sites and Scenic Spots, has conducted an inventory of over 30 historical and scenic sites in the wards and communes, gradually investing in their restoration. Implementing the preservation and promotion of gong culture associated with folk singing, folk songs, and folk dances of the Tho ethnic group; effectively maintaining the folk singing club; planning the Lang Vac archaeological site conservation area associated with ecotourism with a total area of 155.94 hectares; and the memorial area commemorating President Ho Chi Minh's visit to Dong Hieu commune with an area of 97,038 m2…
Mr. Pham Quang Toan, Deputy Secretary of the Thai Hoa Town Party Committee, said: The achievements in implementing Resolution No. 5 of the Central Committee (8th Congress) on building and developing an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity in the town over the past period are an important foundation for the town to continue promoting the building of a civilized lifestyle, cultured families, effectively implementing economic and social development policies, and uniting towards building Thai Hoa town into a center of the Northwest region of Nghe An province.
Thanh Chung
