Exemplary old age

(Baonghean) - The Vietnamese people have a tradition of "remembering the source of water", respecting and being grateful to grandparents, parents... those who came before them to give birth, raise, build a career, and leave behind many material and spiritual legacies for their descendants.

In our country's history, for thousands of years, there have been countless examples of elderly people, old soldiers with white hair, "white-haired soldiers" who worked and fought selflessly for the cause of building and defending the country. The historic Dien Hong Conference with the participation of elder delegates from all over the country during the Tran Dynasty (thirteenth century) is a beautiful symbol of the patriotism of the entire nation against the threat of invasion. During the national liberation revolution, our Party, headed by the great President Ho Chi Minh, always considered the elderly as an important part of the great national unity bloc. Countless elderly national salvationists, mothers of soldiers, and heroic Vietnamese mothers have devoted and sacrificed for the cause of resistance and national construction, setting shining examples in patriotic emulation movements, serving as models for their descendants to follow. The moral example, style, and personality of President Ho Chi Minh is a model of the most exemplary cultural and humanistic thoughts of the Vietnamese elderly of all time.

After the day Vietnam achieved peace and reunification, especially after the implementation of the renovation policy initiated and led by our Party, the Vietnamese elderly have been united, gathered and organized in the Association of the Elderly. Continuing the tradition of patriotism and solidarity from the past, the Vietnam Association of the Elderly has for more than 10 years united, gathered and played a leading role in carrying out the work of caring for and promoting the role of the elderly, becoming a large and widespread socio-political force from urban to rural areas. The elderly are honored, live happily, live healthily, and live usefully for society. Based on the 1992 Constitution of Vietnam, on July 1, 2010, the National Assembly promulgated the Law on the Elderly, clearly defining the rights and obligations of the elderly, the responsibilities of families, the State and society in caring for the elderly.

This is a concrete manifestation of the humanistic ideology of President Ho Chi Minh, of our Party, and of our regime regarding the elderly, in accordance with the traditional morality of the nation but multiplied to a new level.

Mother's joy. Photo: Le Duc Tho

In 1969, before leaving this world, in his “Will”, President Ho Chi Minh mentioned Du Fu’s poem “People who live to be seventy are rare” - but today, with the rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution, living standards and material life have been improved, and the average life expectancy of mankind has gradually increased. Many countries in the world have organizations for the elderly with different names but all have the task of protecting the elderly. The United Nations General Assembly also decided to make October 1st of each year the International Day of Older Persons.

Thinking about the International Day of Older Persons (October 1), the elderly are happy and excited to see that they are cared for and honored by the Party, the State and the whole society, and see more clearly their responsibilities and obligations to shorten the generation gap, set an example for their children and grandchildren, not hinder their children and grandchildren, not be "trampled". But at the same time, they cannot help but feel sad when reading and hearing news on newspapers, radio and the internet about heartbreaking things: here and there are still elderly people with moral and ideological degradation, speaking and acting without exemplary, here and there are still scenes of children beating, abusing and abandoning their parents...

The elderly in Nghe An are proud to be the ones who have the honor to live in the homeland of President Ho Chi Minh, to see themselves in his noble and close moral example. Thinking about October 1st, our own day, we take more care to build a strong grassroots Elderly Association, first of all, we ourselves live exemplary lives and encourage our children and grandchildren to carry out the Campaign to Study and Follow the Moral Example of Ho Chi Minh, to use our wisdom, experience and strength to implement Resolution 26 of the Politburo on Nghe An, to contribute to building Nghe An into "a good province, a model province" as Uncle Ho always wished - that is the best, most practical way to celebrate October 1st - International Day of Older Persons!

Ngo Duc Tien