Village headman, nearly 60 years old, strives to join the Party.
Nguyen Nguyen•March 12, 2026 11:16
The first Party awareness training course organized by Dai Dong commune after the administrative reorganization recorded a participant nearly 60 years old. That was Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai, Head of Hamlet 5A in Dai Dong commune. He is also a leading example of successful economic development in the locality.
Village head excels at economic development.
Among the candidates for the People's Council of Dai Dong commune, term 2026-2031, is Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai. Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai is running as a non-Party member. This is his third consecutive term as a candidate for the commune-level People's Council (currently, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai is a representative of the People's Council of Dai Dong commune, and previously, he was a representative of the People's Council of Dung town - former Thanh Chuong district).
In early March 2026, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai, along with other candidates for the People's Council at all levels, held numerous meetings with voters in seven villages within the commune to campaign for election. During this process, most voters were familiar with candidate Nguyen Tien Ai, as he is currently the head of Village 5A in Dai Dong Commune and has served as village head for ten consecutive years. Notably, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai is also known to people both within and outside the commune for his successful commercial porcupine farming in Dai Dong Commune. His porcupine farm is considered one of the largest in Central Vietnam, and his porcupine products are purchased by customers in Nghe An province and many other provinces and cities.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai's porcupine farm receives orders from customers in many provinces and cities. Photo: Nguyen Nguyen
When we visited Mr. Ai's porcupine farm, we met two groups of customers from Tan Ky commune and Ha Tinh province who came to buy porcupines. According to the customers, they have been regular customers for many years, frequently buying porcupine breeding stock from Mr. Ai's farm to raise. The quality of the breeding stock is very good, and Mr. Ai is dedicated to guiding and transferring techniques and experience in porcupine farming to achieve high commercial efficiency.
Throughout the process of breeding and selling porcupine breeding stock to customers, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai has strictly complied with all legal regulations regarding wildlife farming, from care and record-keeping to coordinating and supervising related activities, contributing to the protection of biodiversity and preventing violations of the law in this field. Each time the porcupines reproduce or are sold as breeding stock or for commercial purposes, Mr. Ai fully reports to the local Forest Protection Department as required by regulations on monitoring breeding and farming activities.
Within an area of only 700 m²2Mr. Ai has thoughtfully arranged 250 cages for breeding and raising porcupines for commercial purposes. His farm consistently maintains 150 breeding porcupines and approximately 120-150 commercial porcupines. To achieve this success, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai has accumulated 14 years of experience in porcupine farming, experiencing many ups and downs.
With an area of only 700 square meters, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai arranged 250 cages to raise nearly 300 hedgehogs for breeding and commercial purposes. Photo: Nguyen Nguyen
According to Mr. Ai, porcupines are easy to raise, their food is readily available in many rural areas, and their selling price is very high compared to other livestock. Along with selling breeding porcupines and commercial porcupines, the process of caring for them and harvesting their quills also brings in a considerable income. Porcupine meat is popular in the market, so Mr. Ai is planning to expand his farming operation. Mr. Ai also helps many poor households raise porcupines by providing free support, advice, and technical guidance, selling breeding stock on installment plans at reasonable prices, and readily allowing many households to defer payment for breeding stock without interest.
Besides successfully raising porcupines, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai's family has expanded into several other businesses and become a successful producer and businessman in Dai Dong commune. Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai has been honored as an exemplary model of successful production and business at the provincial level and has received numerous certificates of merit from various levels for his outstanding achievements.
Having achieved economic stability for many years, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai's family has also been a pioneer in contributing to the community and fostering neighborly solidarity. During harvest seasons, when unfavorable weather conditions occur, Mr. Ai and his son use their family car to transport rice from the fields to their homes for many households free of charge for fuel, vehicle, or labor. In recent years, his family has sponsored the construction of street lighting and provided 100% of the electricity costs for several roads in Hamlet 5A. His family also pays for all the electricity for lighting at the two community centers, serving the recreational activities of the villagers.
Officials from Dai Dong commune discuss sustainable household economic development with Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai's family. Photo: Nguyen Nguyen
Determined to strive to join the Party
In mid-January 2026, the first Party awareness training course organized by Dai Dong commune after the administrative reorganization recorded a nearly 60-year-old participant, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai - Head of Hamlet 5A, born on September 25, 1966.
Many might wonder why an exemplary village head, a long-serving elected representative who has excelled in his duties, and a model of successful production and business, has not yet joined the Party? The reason is not that Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai lacks ambition, but rather stems from his large family and the lingering restrictions imposed by existing regulations.
As the village head and a representative of the commune's People's Council, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai has, for many years, been considered by the Party branch for nurturing this outstanding individual into the Party, proposing that he attend a Party membership orientation class. However, upon review, strict regulations regarding Party membership for individuals with many children have not been implemented, as Mr. Ai has five children, which previously constituted a "violation of population policy." Nevertheless, since March 20, 2025, the Central Inspection Committee has issued Guidance No. 15-HD/UBKTTW, amending and supplementing some contents of Guidance No. 05-HD/UBKTTW dated November 22, 2022, on the implementation of Regulation No. 69-QĐ/TW of the Politburo on disciplinary action against violating Party organizations and members. Accordingly, Party members who have a third child will not be subject to disciplinary action. The Politburo also agreed on the principle of amending Party regulations and laws related to population policy, including not disciplining Party members who have a third child or more, while affirming that there will be no retroactive application of disciplinary measures to cases that have already been dealt with.
Following the Central Committee's directive, cases of large families like Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai's have a chance of being considered for Party membership. Therefore, the Party cell of Hamlet 5A, Dai Dong Commune, proposed to the Commune Party Committee to approve the participation of Hamlet Head Nguyen Tien Ai in the Party membership training course at the beginning of 2026.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai (second from the right) - Head of Village 5A, completed the Party awareness course in mid-January 2026. (Photo courtesy of the archives)
Comrade Tran Dinh Dinh - Secretary of the Party Branch of Hamlet 5A, Dai Dong Commune, added: Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai has made many contributions to the development of the hamlet over the past decades. As the hamlet head, he has effectively implemented resolutions of the Party branch and higher levels into practice, contributing to improving the lives of the people in the area.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai mobilized the people and thewell-off families and children who have moved away from home to work and become successful.He donated tens of billions of VND to build transportation infrastructure, irrigation systems, and other public works in the area. Mr. Ai's family also took the lead in sponsoring and contributing to the development of the village. Notably, in each village head election, he consistently received high trust from Party members and the villagers. Throughout the implementation of his duties, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai always demonstrated absolute faith in the Party's leadership and closely coordinated with the Party committee in all village tasks.
Speaking about his determination to strive for membership, Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai shared: “I earnestly desire to join the Party; because of my absolute faith in the Party. In my family, my father (who has passed away) was a veteran Party member. Of my five children, three are Party members, and all members of my family always faithfully implement the Party's guidelines, policies, and laws of the State, always placing their full trust and love in the Party.”
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I myself earnestly desire to join the Party, because of my absolute faith in the Party."
Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai
Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai also shared more about the achievements he and his family have made, which include building unity and consensus among family members; constantly learning, improving awareness, accumulating experience; and especially receiving guidance and encouragement from the local Party committee, government, and political and social organizations.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Ai was born on September 25, 1966, and is 60 years old this year. According to the Charter of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Vietnamese citizens aged from 18 to 60 (calculated by month at the time the Party branch considers admission) may be considered for Party membership. Those over 60 may be considered if they meet the health and capacity requirements, as decided by the Party committee directly under the Central Committee.
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