In a situation of lack of hospitals and schools directly serving the needs of people across the country but the government does not pay attention. However, recently, the poor district of Duc Tho, Ha Tinh, spent more than VND200 billion ($8 million) of people’s tax money to buy flags, make slogans, build a welcome gate, to celebrate the 120th birthday of Tran Phu, the late General Secretary of the Indochina Communist Party.
The Electronic Information Portal of the People’s Committee of Ha Tinh province, reported on April 10 “The provincial Party Secretary inspected the preparations to celebrate the 120th birthday of General Secretary Tran Phu.” The news said that to celebrate the 120th birth anniversary of the late General Secretary Tran Phu (May 1, 1904-May 1, 2024), Secretary of the Ha Tinh pProvincial Party Committee Hoang Trung Dung went to inspect the work prepared in Duc Tho district.
Accordingly, the embellishment, repair, environmental cleaning… at the General Secretary Tran Phu relic site has been implemented by Duc Tho district and related units, with a total cost of over VND200 billion.
Up to this point, Duc Tho district has hung 332 banners and slogans, 48,913 Party and Fatherland flags, 16,530 red flags, 218 banners, 19 large-sized panels, 852 posters; built 26 welcome gates on main roads and added 122 other tasks.
The public believes that, while most Vietnamese people are still struggling to make ends meet, these are useless, wasteful, impractical, and meaningless jobs for the people.
Through research, it is known that Tran Phu (1904-1931) was a Revolutionary, the first General Secretary of the Indochina Communist Party at the age of 27, and an “excellent student” of Ho. Chi Minh. He was once taken by Ho to study and receive political training in China and the Soviet Union. After returning home, he worked secretly, then was arrested by the French colonial government and sentenced to death.
Social networks have been awash with opinions that disagree with, and even criticize, the government and Ha Tinh Party Committee bBecause Ha Tinh and Nghe An are still poor provinces, every year they are on the list of “asking for rice to relieve hunger” from the central government. Yet, the provincial leaders are still willing to spend tens to hundreds of billions of dong on useless and ostentatious things, such as building monuments, making welcome gates… and now there is also the anniversary of the late leader’s birthday!
There is an opinion that Tran Phu is a man famous for his reactionary ideology – “kill all the rich and intellectuals.” Ha Tinh’s leaders should have considered it a shame and forgotten that name. But they are proud and celebrate his birthday with great fanfare!
Facebooker Nguyen Tien Dung in a status titled “Kinh Hoang/Aghast” wrote:
“The poor Duc Tho district (Ha Tinh) spent more than VND200 billion to buy flags, banners, slogans, and build a welcome gate to celebrate the 120th birthday of General Secretary Tran Phu. It is impossible to understand the mentality of the local leaders.”
And Dr. Chu Hong Quy exclaimed:
“Seeing that Nghe An picks up secondhand statues and holds a grand ceremony, Ha Tinh was also very upset.
Also today, Nghe An exiles doing hard labor in Taiwan are donating small amounts of money to bring two fellow Nghe victims back to their hometown for burial, after two tragic deaths in several consecutive days. One person died due to a fall while fleeing from police pursuit, Nguyen Quang Hung, born in 1986. One person died suddenly due to overwork, Hoang Ngoc Hai, born in 1992.
Can Tran Phu’s soul have peace when his desire to liberate labor has not been fulfilled, even after nearly a hundred years?!”
There are many opinions asserting that in the past 48 years, Vinh city, Nghe An province, has not been able to build a single public school. Up to now, in the entrance exam for Nghe An province’s high school system in 2024, the number of high schools in the province can only meet 1/3 of the needs of students graduating from junior high school, due to the lack of schools and missing class. If it does not build a square or erect a statue of Lenin, how many schools can we build with this budget?
Journalist Dung Nguyen said:
“In Ha Tinh, it’s the same, VND200 billion in flag money can build 4 spacious schools… But they know very well, how much will they have in their pockets. Duc Tho is a poor district, every year it has to carry a basket to beg, everyone knows.”
Public opinion sees that the policy of building a monument is purely meant to serve the Party’s propaganda work. But leading officials also have a lot of “kickback” and this is the driving force for them to find ways to hollow out the budget with showy projects.
So, why do Party leaders always say, “Besides the people’s interests, the Party has no benefits?”./.
Tra My – Thoibao.de
