Former Minister Vo Hong Phuc, after nearly ten years of retirement, was inspired to write a memoir - published by the Writers' Association Publishing House in June 2023, recounting his years as a politician, with many interesting details.
Vo Hong Phuc wrote: “Old age often remembers old stories. I remember the time I cycled to the houses of my uncles and aunts scattered throughout Hanoi to invite them to death anniversaries and family gatherings. I remember the street loudspeaker more than 60 years ago calling 17-year-old boys to get up and exercise at 5am, but I am still scared. I also think about the words about smart cities, smart urban areas, the 4.0 era. It feels like I am in a dream/ Please let me be happy in the dream of old age”. Many of the stories he told were new to me, stories about contacts with foreign politicians; stories about parliamentary activities. A discussion about his memoirs took place in Hanoi, with quite interesting exchanges of opinions about his life as a politician.
Vo Hong Phuc was born in Tung Anh village (Dong Thai) Duc Tho, Ha Tinh, a land of outstanding people. It is also the hometown of Party General Secretary Tran Phu; the birthplace of Phan Dinh Phung, two patriots Phan Anh, Phan My and Hoang Cao Khai... Dong Thai people went to the North to establish Thai Ha village (Dong Thai in Hanoi), next to Dong Da mound - the burial ground of Qing invaders. Vo Hong Phuc was intelligent from a young age, after primary school followed his father to Hanoi, became an excellent high school student, good at natural sciences, but knew Tang poetry like water; graduated from Hanoi University of Science and Technology with honors.
With the style of “báo ngữ” and “speak without words”, Võ Hồng Phúc expressed his memoirs: “Báo ngữ” means daring to speak, speaking loudly, speaking correctly, speaking accurately, responsibly – the listener must be shocked (!). Only with intelligence, understanding, and knowledge can one “speak without words”. “Speak without words” means speaking without a text, not endlessly “chewing” a pre-written text. At the congress forum, officials A and B were invited to speak, the dignified ones went up to the podium, raised their glasses to read the pre-written text in a bound document bag. When it was Võ Hồng Phúc’s turn to go up to the podium, with both hands in his pockets, he “speak without words” briefly, concisely, logically, and citing real-life evidence. When he finished speaking, the congress applauded loudly. On the parliament floor (Vô Hồng Phúc had been a National Assembly delegate for 10 years), dozens of times he took the podium, not once did he read a pre-written text.
The former Minister - politician told many funny, sad, and tearful stories (kind of like jokes but true) about officials who read documents written by secretaries but acted like slaves to the documents, not understanding anything about them, misreading spelling, and confusing the time and location of events.
Mr. Watanabe Michio is a senior Japanese politician who has contributed to the connection of friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, and has a close relationship with Vo Hong Phuc. They became close friends because they had two things in common: "violent speech" and "nonsense". Once, when Watanabe Michio came to Hanoi, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Do Muoi (later General Secretary of the Party) received a distinguished Japanese guest, Vo Hong Phuc and the Minister of Foreign Affairs also attended. Vo Hong Phuc's memoir: It is true that two people with the forte of "violent speech" and "nonsense" met each other. They talked openly, comfortably, and closely on all aspects of economics, history, culture, and society; after the meeting, work related to the relationship between the two countries continued to be implemented...
Interesting stories about “violent speech” and “speaking nonsense” drawn from the memoirs of Vo Hong Phuc, according to experts Pham Chi Lan, Ho Quang Minh; Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Trong Dieu; former Deputy Minister Truong Van Doan; linguist Nguyen Duc Dung “If you are not good, do not have knowledge, do not understand, do not have depth, do not have life experience, do not have responsibility, you cannot “violently speak” or “speak nonsense”.
Ut Mui Ne does not mean to praise one-sidedly, Vo Hong Phuc is a perfect person. What needs to be said, being a cadre, being a politician who knows how to “speak boldly”, “speak nonsense”, is well-versed in the work, and is specialized is very necessary. Cadres and politicians need to self-study, self-train, always accumulate and improve knowledge to be able to master their own work. In the era of knowledge economy, digital economy, digital society, “speak boldly” (have opinions) and “speak nonsense” are really welcome and encouraged…
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