National Pride Should Be Aroused

During the recent 10th National Party Congress, international press gave plenty of praises to the economic achievements of Viet Nam after 20 years of Reform, saying that Viet Nam is an “emerging tiger” of Asia.

National Pride Should Be Aroused ảnh 1
Ha Noi welcomes the 10th National Party Congress (Photo: V.H)

Viet Nam can be proud of this. But we should not be self-satisfied. Just consider what Mr. Jordan Ryan, former UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam, has said: “Viet Nam needs 20 years to narrow the gap between it and other Southeast Asian countries”.

Frankly, we should admit that after the victory on April 30, 1975, bureaucracy along with the subsidy system was a drag on the development road, pushing the country to a serious socio-economic crisis.

Only after the sixth National Party Congress did we find the way out. The next three congresses helped the country totally overcome the crisis. The party’s policy of Reform was a prerequisite for such success.

However, the achievements would be much greater if the young generation, which makes up 60 percent of our labor force, could realize the so-called ‘national pride’ and the shame of citizens of a poor country so as to make more contributions to the cause of national construction for the target of ‘wealthy people, strong country and equal, democratic and civilized society’.

Although it is agreed that there exists quite a big part of outstanding youths who are determined to overcome hardships in academic endeavors, there are still a larger number of juvenile citizens who live only for enjoyment, being the burden to their families and the whole society.

Once again, the roadmap to drive Viet Nam out of poverty was pointed out by the 10th Party Congress: “Viet Nam will grow out of underdevelopment by 2010, and become an industrialized country by 2020”. The young generation will act at the lead on this roadmap. To do so, they should be taught about the national pride and should strive like their ancestors who sacrificed their lives to liberate the country and to get it out of poverty.