Building a cultured family: Focusing on improving quality.

(Baonghean) - The family is the basic unit of society; only when families are peaceful and happy can society be good. Therefore, in recent years, the movement to build culturally exemplary families has received strong support from the people. To effectively implement the movement and combat the "pursuit of quantity" mentality, localities throughout the province have been striving to find many effective and innovative approaches.

Open and democratic evaluation

We visited Hung Dao, one of the localities considered strong and stable in cultural movements, most notably the movement to build "Culturally Advanced Families" in Hung Nguyen. In the spirit of building new rural areas, Hung Dao has truly flourished: village roads and alleys are paved with clean, beautiful concrete, and schools are well-equipped… But the most encouraging thing in Hung Dao is that, in addition to focusing on economic development with main industries such as restructuring crop and livestock production, maintaining and developing auxiliary industries, and expanding family farms… almost every family is dedicated to raising well-behaved and academically successful children, caring for their grandparents and parents, and contributing to charitable and humanitarian work.

Awards were presented to outstanding exemplary cultural families at the provincial level. Photo: My Ha

We visited the family of Mr. Tran Van Nhien (85 years old) and Mrs. Tran Thi Dan (77 years old) in Hamlet 5B. As one of the exemplary cultural families of Hung Dao commune for many years, Mr. Nhien's family currently has three generations living together harmoniously. Mrs. Tran Thi Dan said: To maintain harmony in dealing with her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, she always prioritizes unity, love, and respect. In the family, the father and mother must always be a shining example for their children, treating them equally in even the smallest matters. In the countryside, it's not just about family, but also about relatives and neighbors. "It's better to have close neighbors than distant relatives," and neighbors are always there for each other in times of need, sharing joys and sorrows, offering timely encouragement. According to Mr. Tran Van Nhien: Building a cultured family is not about titles or certificates of merit from the commune or district, but about preserving family traditions, maintaining a prosperous and happy life, and laying the foundation for the children.

I don't know about other places, but in Hamlet 5B, every time the "Culturally Exemplary Family" award is given out, families receive sincere feedback from their neighbors. Families with unruly children, families where the father still gambles, families lacking harmony... all are brought up based on criteria for a serious evaluation. To avoid favoritism among neighbors, in addition to comments and assessments, the hamlet's leadership committee also organizes a secret ballot to demonstrate democracy and transparency in the awarding process.

In a conversation with Mr. Le Quyet Thang, a cultural officer in Hung Dao commune, it was learned that: “In recent years, the movement to build culturally exemplary families has truly changed people's lives. Social evils have decreased, many successful economic models have emerged, families are paying more attention to their children's education and upbringing, and many families maintain harmonious coexistence of 3-4 generations. Every year, on the National Unity Day, Hung Dao organizes cultural and sports activities, and honors outstanding culturally exemplary families. This is an opportunity for families to interact and reflect on their efforts throughout the year. The process of recognizing or revoking titles is conducted openly and democratically. This allows the voice of the people to be heard, ensures fairness, and provides a basis for the organizing committee to decide whether to recognize or revoke the title of Culturally Exemplary Family.”

To promote the building of culturally exemplary families in particular and other movements in general, officials in Nam Cat commune (Nam Dan district) not only have responsibility but must also be truly dedicated and concerned about the movement. Mr. Vuong Hong Thai – Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Cat commune – frankly stated: The commune's leadership's viewpoint is not to chase after formalities, but to select exemplary individuals with a widespread influence. Therefore, in the selection of the title of Culturally Exemplary Family in particular, and other movements such as culturally exemplary villages, culturally exemplary clans, etc., Nam Cat has implemented a very systematic approach with many creative methods. For example, in the evaluation of culturally exemplary families, from the beginning of the year, the commune organizes propaganda through loudspeakers and in meetings so that people understand the spirit, content, purpose, and meaning of registering and building the title of Culturally Exemplary Family. Then, they guide people to voluntarily register from the hamlet level based on the criteria of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The hamlet is responsible for reviewing, finalizing the list, and submitting it to the Steering Committee for the "All People United in Building a Culturally Rich Life" movement in the commune. Throughout the year, the hamlet and commune steering committees will coordinate to monitor the activities of the registered families. At the end of the year, they will review the registered list to determine which families have achieved the criteria, which have not, and in what aspects. A detailed analysis will be provided so that families can learn from their experiences; those who have achieved the criteria should continue to develop and maintain them, while those who have not should strive to improve. With this approach, the percentage of culturally exemplary families in Nam Cat consistently remains above 80% per year. Importantly, after achieving the title of "Culturally Exemplary Family," the commune organizes a ceremony to honor each family, aiming to set an example for other families. Only in this way can the title of "Culturally Exemplary Family" have a widespread impact and be well-received by the people.

For the title to be sustainable

The "Culturally Advanced Family" movement has become one of the important annual initiatives of Party committees, government agencies, departments, and mass organizations at all levels. It has become a comprehensive and widespread emulation movement, receiving widespread support from cadres, Party members, and the general public. This has fundamentally changed people's awareness of building a civilized lifestyle and cultural life within the community. To date, the percentage of culturally advanced families in the province has reached 76%, with a target of 79% by the end of 2014. Specifically, in the period from 2007 to 2013, over 60,000 families in the province were recognized as outstanding culturally advanced families at various levels. However, it cannot be denied that in recent years, the process of evaluating and recognizing "Culturally Exemplary Families" in many places has been largely 형식적인 (formalistic), with many unreasonable and inconsistent issues, leading to low persuasiveness. Some evaluations are too strict, while others are too lax, resulting in a significant disparity in the percentage of recognized "Culturally Exemplary Families".

Ms. Hoang Thi Quynh Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, affirmed: To ensure the sustainable development of the "Culturally Advanced Family" movement, the Department will focus on directing relevant sectors and localities to strengthen propaganda efforts, ensuring that all levels of the population fully understand the important position and role of building culturally advanced families; identifying the building of culturally advanced families as one of the core contents of the "All People Unite to Build Culturally Advanced Families" movement at the grassroots level, and as a task for the entire political system. Simultaneously, it will preserve and promote the good values ​​of family traditions while simultaneously absorbing the progressive values ​​of modern families, and even more importantly, fostering love for the homeland and country in each family member. The evaluation process for the "Culturally Advanced Family" title needs to be conducted seriously and according to established standards. Building a cultured family must be linked to other movements, such as building a cultured neighborhood or community. We must fight against, prevent, and strictly punish violations that erode family values; eliminate outdated customs in social life and social evils occurring within families. Only then will the quality of cultured families in particular, and the movement to build a cultured life in general, yield sustainable results. Ultimately, the core of the title "Cultured Family" is for each family to live in harmony, unity, warmth, and happiness, contributing to building a civilized and modern society.

­Thanh Thuy