Part 6: Cooperation - necessity and premise

Dong Thap people

Updated date: 02/13/2025 10:36:20

DTO - Despite the common disadvantages of individual farmers, Vietnamese people in Dong Thap cooperate amicably with each other. The living environment and production conditions have partly created this valuable virtue. Besides personal and common interests, people here voluntarily unite based on mutual trust. This characteristic will be an important prerequisite for diverse and open cooperation in socio-economic development in the new era.

Not only clean production, but now people in Tam Que Hoi Quan (Tan Thuan Tay, Cao Lanh City) also produce organic fertilizer to water mango trees, which has helped them reduce production costs by more than 50% (Photo: MN)

>> Part 1: Patriotism - the source of prosperity

>> Part 2: Solidarity - natural and pure

>> Part 3: Honesty - shines forever

>> Part 4: Self-reliance - the basis of independence and adaptation in the new period

>> Part 5: Hard work - the foundation of creativity

To put it simply, cooperation is working together, helping and supporting each other in a job or a field for a common purpose. The spirit of cooperation comes from voluntariness, equality and for a certain benefit. To cooperate well, people must be sincere and trust each other. Sincerity or sincerity, sincerity means being honest and truthful. Trustworthy means being trustworthy, being able to rely on, being able to rely on. In general, cooperation has a long history and is a human characteristic and because of its benefits, people cooperate. Whether they like it or not, to survive and develop in society, people are forced to cooperate and need to cooperate. It is easy to see that, no matter which continent they live on, people all recognize the benefits of cooperation. The Russian proverb says: "Together we can weather the storm". The German proverb says: "The efforts of one individual are complementary; An individual's effort is addition; a team's effort is multiplication. An African proverb says: "One single pillar is not sufficient to build a house." An Indonesian proverb says: "Sugarcan and lemongrass grow in dense clumps." A Mongolian proverb concludes: "Neighbors are connected at heart and share a common destiny." A Vietnamese proverb speaks of a trend: "Buy with friends, sell with partners."

Due to natural and social characteristics, Vietnamese people in Dong Thap live in harmony, solidarity and simplicity, "honest as a dog". In the opinion of a few people, honesty and simplicity are considered weaknesses and disadvantages. But in fact, "gentle as a piece of land" is a precious asset of mankind and the foundation of cooperation. It is a manifestation of the holiness of sincerity. Thanks to that advantage, Vietnamese people in Dong Thap have quite natural connections and cooperation in all their activities. To reclaim new lands, conquer barren fields and make a living in the vast floating country in harsh weather conditions, they are forced and want to connect to coexist and develop together.

Along with the historical ups and downs of the nation through the wars against invaders, they were trained in a sense of community responsibility. When the country was at peace and entered the "Doi Moi" period, Dong Thap people were trained in "Production Solidarity Groups", step by step "contracting" in the increasingly developing production, business and service environment. From here, they "harvested" the lesson of cooperation to promote start-ups at the national and international level. And that was an important premise for the community of people in the land of pink lotus to firmly step into a new journey.

However, due to natural conditions of separation, manual labor methods and the custom of “each family has its own light”, in some places, individuals or a few people behave in a way that separates themselves, isolates themselves, and even competes unfairly. In some cases, they cheat, “advertise sheep’s heads but sell dog meat” to gain benefits for themselves; “break promises” and cancel contracts for immediate benefits in each transaction.

In recent years, negotiations between businesses (traders) and farmers have seen many cases of breaking contracts, or delivering (with) products of poor quality compared to the agreement. In many cases, advertising assets for sale at unbelievably good prices to attract buyers and customers has left them "empty-handed" because of "taking the bait"; "debt traps" with low interest rates and no need to mortgage loans are not uncommon; some restaurants and supermarkets have mixed cheap fish with high-quality fish; some hotels advertise low prices to attract customers while increasing other revenues in the name of "arising"... The cognitive basis of these behaviors is selfishness, "self-interest at the expense of others", "whoever dies, who cares". Even though they are just "worms", they will destroy the image of the community, the national tradition of "the healthy leaves cover the torn leaves" and hinder the development trend of mankind in the new era - global cooperation.

In the new stage of development of the world, both objectively and subjectively, people are forced to connect and bond with each other more than ever. The Arabian proverb says: “If you want to walk fast, walk alone; If you want to walk far, walk together”.

Vietnamese proverbs point out the power of cooperation: “One tree cannot make a forest. Three trees together make a high mountain”. Accordingly, sincerity and trust will be the leading indicators in human relationships. The objective basis of sustainable cooperation is benefits and its “soul” is sincerity and trust. People are sincere in both words and actions and thanks to that, they trust each other. Like many countries, Vietnamese education teaches generations to respect promises and trust. They remember the sayings: “Nhất ngôn ký xuất, tứ mã nan truy” (One word spoken, four horses cannot catch up), “Words are as sure as nails driven into a post”. Once a “promise” or “agreement” is made, it must be fulfilled even if it means loss. Dong Thap people have both faith and sincere practice in cooperation.

Cooperation is inevitable and beneficial to human beings. Except for a few individual activities for specific purposes, cooperation creates strength and sustainable development. Human beings are gradually becoming more aware of the value of cooperation. Instead of “lose-lose” competition, people are moving towards “win-win” cooperation. Dong Thap people have the prerequisites for friendly cooperation to cultivate a harmonious community based on solid, diverse, rich and open interests in an integrated world.

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Source: https://baodongthap.vn/chinh-tri/ky-6-hop-tac-tat-yeu-va-tien-de-129198.aspx