Pure gold

(Baonghean) - A few days ago, the press reported that a "barefoot" engineer in Bac Can made everyone take their hats off when he invented a medical solid waste incinerator that is much more efficient than machines from developed countries.

A famous German machine manufacturing company offered to buy the copyright of that invention for 300 thousand euros, equivalent to 10 billion VND, but he only agreed to cooperate in production and refused to sell. That is not uncommon nowadays. Because in recent years, the press and public opinion have occasionally been abuzz about the unexpected inventions and creations of our people. Recently, a businessman in Thai Binh built and successfully tested a mini submarine named Truong Sa 1. He proudly wrote on the hull of the ship the words Made in Thai Binh, Vietnam.

Previously, a motorbike repairman in Gia Lam (Hanoi) spent money and effort to build a helicopter. Although not yet successful, it showed positive signs when the machine lifted itself more than half a meter off the ground. If allowed to continue, it will surely be successful. Before that, there was also a "Hai Lua" in the South who built his own helicopter but failed. Those are famous stories, but there are many small inventions useful for life such as: harvesters, mud suction machines, onion slicers, rubber leaf collectors, corn threshers... The strange and very worrying thing is that the owners of those inventions and innovations are only farmers, mechanics, businessmen... and there is not a single scientist or researcher with all kinds of degrees, receiving a state salary and working in a center.This scientific center, that research institute with fullLaboratory and experimental equipment and scientific topics of this level and that level cost from several billion to several tens or hundreds of billions of VND. It should be noted that our country currently has a large number of PhDs. According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training, as of 2013, Vietnam had about 24,300 PhDs, of which 633 PhDs were lecturers at colleges and 8,519 PhDs were lecturers at universities. Yet…

So what is the reason? In the past and even now, people often blame the inadequate funding from the state budget for scientific research, so there are no large-scale products. But if there are no large-scale products, there must be small and medium-sized products to serve life. On the other hand, we have to import almost all machines, from simple to complex. Meanwhile, the worker who makes a medical solid waste incinerator has no funding but still produces products that are superior to those of the great powers. The farmers, motorbike repairmen, and businessmen mentioned above all spend their own money to research and create, and all have products that will last a lifetime.

They do not receive funding from the State for research and they are not paid so that they do not have to worry about making a living but only focus on research, creation and invention like the researchers on the payroll. They "work with their hands, chew with their mouths, and hold their hands while their mouths are full" but they are still better than the doctors who are supported by the State to study and research from beginning to end. It is clear that the businessman who spent money to build the submarine came from passion and national pride with the thought that if foreigners can do it, we can do it too.

The man who makes the waste incinerator or the farmers who make the above mentioned agricultural machines are constrained by life. They want a machine to support their livelihood so that they can produce more products in the same amount of time to improve labor efficiency and earn higher income. From that, it can be inferred that to invent and create, one must have strong motivation. That motivation can only be achieved when there is passion or the urge to make a living. Perhaps our scientists and researchers lack both of these things, so for many years they have not had any significant products. Some people also raise a rather thorny question, perhaps our scientists, researchers, and doctors also have passion and motivation not necessarily from making a living but from their reputation for life. However, they are "powerless" because of limited capacity.

Real knowledge and ability are not the same as degrees. This ability is not without basis in reality. That is why there are cases of agricultural doctors who cannot distinguish between water fern and rice when tested in the field; economic doctors who signed contracts with foreign partners but were still fooled and tricked into importing old machines, outdated technology and then suffered losses. Lack of passion, lack of motivation and lack of ability leads to lack of self-respect. Carrying the name of this or that house but in the end, it is a house… with no garden. Not producing anything that benefits the country and the people. Of course, not all of our “houses” are like that.

Remember, in the working session with the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations on building the intellectual team in the period of promoting industrialization and modernization of the country on August 13, 2011, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong assessed that "The intellectual team is the "pure gold" of the country". Pure gold is indeed precious. But it is only effective when it can promote its precious value and become an important resource in life, creating food, clothing, rice and money, helping the people to be rich and the country to be strong. But pure gold that is just left lying in a chest is just a metal like any other metal.

So, pure gold should not stay in the chest forever!

Duy Huong