Neighborhood love, compatriotism

(Baonghean) - The Vietnamese people have a tradition of mutual love and support. For generations, the deep affection and affection in the countryside that our ancestors worked hard to build have been preserved and promoted by generations of Vietnamese people. The sayings "neighbors help each other in times of need", "sell distant brothers, buy close neighbors" or "solidarity between religions and non-religious people" have become unique cultural features of the Vietnamese people.

For generations, Vietnamese people have been proud of this, considering it a delicate life skill to educate children's personality. Above all, it is the summation of the good tradition of mutual love and affection of each person. Although Vietnamese villages are poor in material things, they are always full of love and affection. Most clearly, when something happens, whether it is illness or weather change, a funeral or a happy occasion, without the need for the homeowner to invite them, neighbors are always the first to show up to help and share without any calculation or comparison. That is why there is a saying "if you can't finish the food, hang it up; if you can't finish the work, call the neighbors".

However, on the evening of May 22, just because of listening to the instigation and provocation of bad guys, many parishioners surrounded the house of Mr. Dau Van Son - Commander of the Military Command of Nghi Phuong Commune (Nghi Loc) in Hamlet 10 (about 400m from Trai Gao Church - Nghi Phuong), cursed, threatened lives, threw bricks and stones into the house, used gasoline to burn, smashed and damaged many properties, estimated at hundreds of millions of dong. Regardless of the reason, these were cruel acts, condemned by society because at that time, in the house were Mr. Son's wife and children (2 girls aged three and four) and a neighbor who came to visit. For 6 hours while the crowd screamed and smashed, the women, children, and elderly people in the house were scared and hugged each other, hiding behind the door. The people who came to cause trouble did not even let the neighbor go out even though they knew who she was. Mr. Son's two innocent, young children were so scared that they couldn't cry and have suffered psychological trauma up to now.

Sadly, among the extremists who surrounded and caused trouble that night were also neighbors of Mr. Son's family. Instead of stopping them, some of them covered their faces and spoke provocative words. The two subjects who were prosecuted and temporarily detained by the police, Ngo Van Khoi and Nguyen Van Hai, were no strangers to Mr. Son. Nguyen Van Hai's house was even right next to Mr. Son's. Hai's family owned a bakery, and Mr. Son's wife and children often came to buy bread for breakfast. Hai's wife and children also often came to Mr. Son's house to get medicine.

People living around that area said that Mr. Son's family has been practicing traditional oriental medicine for 4-5 generations. Mr. Son's grandfather was a virtuous man, and was grateful to many Nghi Phuong parishioners. In the past, he often treated the poor and did not charge for medicine. Many people were so poor and weak, he even gave them rice to bring home. Mr. Son used to live in Hamlet 2 with his parents. After starting his own family, he moved to Hamlet 10 from 2008 until now.

For many years, Mr. Son's family has lived in harmony and peace with the neighbors. Mr. Son himself, who inherited the family's traditional medicine profession, studied Western medicine in the army, studied Oriental medicine at Nghe An Traditional Medicine Hospital and is always willing to help and share with the neighbors. Therefore, in the recent election of the People's Council delegates, the neighbors around Trai Gao church trusted and elected him with 100% of the votes.

Before the incident on the evening of May 22, Nguyen Van Hai's wife came to buy jujubes to make chicken stew for her first daughter's engagement. On the same evening as the incident, around 9 p.m., Nguyen Van Hai's wife also went into the house to apologize to Son. On the morning of August 30, 2013, when Son was forced by some extremist parishioners to stand for an hour in the hot sun right in front of Nghi Phuong Commune People's Committee yard, Hai's wife could not help but speak up for him and Hai's mother under the pressure of the crowd, only daring to hold banana leaves and stand far away to shield him from the sun. Nguyen Van Hai himself, during his days in detention, also expressed remorse for his actions: "I told my wife to apologize to Son. If anything, the villagers should forgive each other..."

As for Mr. Son's family, although they were both physically and mentally harmed, with the spirit of "neighbors help each other when in need", they did not complain. Ms. Nhung, Mr. Son's wife, also said, "I only hope that the parishioners will understand and live happily and in harmony". As for Mr. Son, he sincerely expressed: "I myself do not request compensation or denounce anyone. I only hope that the people understand that such actions are against the law, so that they do not commit them again. In fact, the people of Hamlet 10, or the people of Nghi Phuong commune, do not have any hatred or conflict with each other, so they have to hurt each other like they did recently. Everyone needs to stabilize production and life soon."

Thus, it can be seen that, just because of the incitement and manipulation of those with bad intentions, wanting to divide the solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics, inciting some gullible and gullible people to cause chaos in security and order, people's lives, disrupting the peace of Nghi Phuong village, causing the good neighborly relationship of the people here to fade away and be damaged. As a result, some had to go to jail, others had to move with their whole family to another place and many consequences happened after that. I think, "as citizens of the same country, as children of the same family", the extremist Catholics in Nghi Phuong and some religious dignitaries and officials should be alert to the "divisive" arguments of bad people. For the sake of neighborliness and compatriots, let's rethink our illegal actions to "bring love to places of hatred, peace to places of conflict, truth to places of error" and contribute to building and strengthening the solidarity between religions and non-religious people that the whole nation has cultivated for generations.

Justice