The most precious gift for President Ho Chi Minh.

75 years - the call to emulation by Uncle Ho still resonates.

This June marks the 75th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's Call for Patriotic Emulation (June 11, 1948 - June 11, 2023). 75 years have passed, but his call for emulation remains as valuable as ever, always a rallying cry, inspiring and motivating the Vietnamese people to strive in emulation, contributing their strength and resources to the cause of building and protecting the country. On this occasion, the Newspaper & Public Opinion presents a series of articles: 75 Years - The Enduring Resounding Call for Emulation by President Ho Chi Minh.

The emulation movement aims to "help overcome all difficulties and enemy conspiracies to achieve final victory."

In August 1945, the August Revolution succeeded, ending nearly 100 years of colonial rule by the French and Japanese fascists on the S-shaped land of Vietnam. On September 2, 1945, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the first workers' and peasants' state in Southeast Asia, was established. Vietnam, which had previously been unknown on the world map, became a free and independent nation, its working people liberated from slavery and suffering, becoming citizens of a free and independent country.

Lesson 1: The most precious gift for Uncle Ho (Figure 1) — President Ho Chi Minh cordially met with delegates attending the National Congress of Heroes and Emulation Fighters in the agricultural and labor exchange sectors in Hanoi on May 23, 1957. Photo: VNA

But alongside that immense joy were countless arduous challenges: internal enemies, external invaders, famine, and illiteracy. Building a government to protect the achievements of the revolution was a situation of "a thousand pounds hanging by a thread." This difficult context demanded above all else the will and determination of the people. Recognizing this, and to encourage and motivate the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army to successfully carry out the protracted, all-encompassing, and people-to-people resistance war, following President Ho Chi Minh 's initiative, on March 27, 1948, the Central Committee of the Party issued a directive launching the patriotic emulation movement, which stated: "The purpose of patriotic emulation is to ensure that the resistance war is won quickly and reconstruction is achieved swiftly."

On June 1, 1948, President Ho Chi Minh signed Decree No. 195 establishing the Patriotic Emulation Movement Committee, headed by Comrade Ton Duc Thang. The Decree, consisting of six articles, stipulated the establishment of Patriotic Emulation Movement Committees from the central level down to the regional, provincial, district, and commune levels, as well as the composition of these committees and their assigned tasks.

On June 11, 1948, to commemorate the 1,000th day of the Southern Vietnam resistance war, President Ho Chi Minh issued a call for patriotic emulation, launching a nationwide patriotic emulation movement to encourage compatriots and soldiers to uphold the tradition of patriotism, carry out urgent tasks against hunger, illiteracy, and foreign invaders, and contribute resources and labor to the cause of national construction and defense. "In this way: the resistance war will certainly be victorious. National construction will certainly succeed." According to him, patriotic emulation would help us overcome all difficulties and enemy conspiracies to achieve final victory.

A powerful and persuasive call to action.

According to many researchers, President Ho Chi Minh's Call for Patriotic Emulation is truly a powerful and persuasive "proclamation," written in a concise, clear, and succinct style that is easy to understand, remember, and implement. The language is clear, simple, and unadorned, containing many profound ideas about patriotic emulation. Within a relatively small vocabulary, President Ho Chi Minh comprehensively addressed the issues that needed focused guidance and organization for the implementation of a patriotic emulation movement, from its purpose to its role, significance, requirements, content, methods, forces, results, and widespread impact.

Lesson 1: The most precious gift for Uncle Ho (Figure 2) — President Ho Chi Minh's call for patriotic emulation.

Right at the beginning of the Call to Action, President Ho Chi Minh stated: “The purpose of patriotic emulation is: to eliminate hunger, illiteracy, and foreign invasion.” With just 10 words, President Ho Chi Minh went from a profound analysis and assessment of the three “calamities” —hunger, illiteracy, and foreign invasion—that threatened the survival of the newly established, fledgling revolutionary government, to proposing three urgent tasks that needed to be addressed: eliminating hunger, illiteracy, and foreign invasion. President Ho Chi Minh also clearly stated that the focus should be on eliminating hunger first to ensure the people's well-being, emphasizing that “to accomplish great things, one needs a full stomach.” Next, the focus should be on eliminating illiteracy to ensure that “the entire population is literate,” only then can they engage in productive labor and fight foreign invaders. Once they have food and literacy, they will have the strength to quickly defeat the French colonialists.

Following the objective is the "method of emulation." President Ho Chi Minh stated it specifically and concisely in eight words: "relying on: the strength of the people, the spirit of the people, to create: happiness for the people."

Regarding the target of the emulation movement, President Ho Chi Minh clearly stated: "Anyone, whether scholar, farmer, worker, merchant, or soldier; whatever work they do, must compete with each other." He demanded that emulation be carried out with urgency and efficiency, not just to do things quickly without paying attention to quality, but to do them quickly while ensuring good quality, and at the same time create more wealth for society – "doing things in abundance."

In particular, in his appeal, President Ho Chi Minh immediately reminded everyone of: “It is the duty of every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of their profession—whether scholar, farmer, worker, merchant, or soldier—to compete with one another”; “Every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of age, gender, wealth, or social standing, must become a fighter on the front lines: military, economic, political, and cultural. Implementing the slogan: “All people resist, all-encompassing resistance. In this patriotic emulation movement, we are simultaneously resisting and building the nation.” Thus, the force for emulation is vast, without distinction of background, age, or profession—“regardless of age, gender, wealth, or social standing”… Everyone has the responsibility to participate in the emulation movement in all fields with the spirit of both resisting and building the nation. He affirmed: “In short, everyone is competing, everyone is participating in the resistance and building the nation. The movement is vibrant.” "The patriotic emulation movement will take root and spread throughout all aspects and all strata of the people."

Finally, President Ho Chi Minh emphasized the "achievements" of emulation as follows: "The entire population will have enough to eat and wear. The entire population will be literate. The entire army will have sufficient food and weapons to kill foreign invaders. The entire nation will be unified and completely independent. Thus, we will achieve: National independence. People's rights and freedoms. People's happiness."

Also on June 11, 1948, President Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter commending many exemplary individuals such as soldier Tran Van Dien, a "hero who fought landmines"; Mr. Nguyen Van Dan, " an elderly man who still diligently studied and passed the exam, ranking first among the elderly" ; Ms. Pham Thi Phuong, who actively participated in the adult literacy program; and Ms. Pham Thi Ty, who came second in the national language exam.

A year later, on June 11, 1949, in an interview with a reporter from the newspaper Cuu Quoc, in response to a question about the people's celebration of his birthday, President Ho Chi Minh said: “ The most precious gift to me is the reports of achievements in the Patriotic Emulation Movement, such as: soldiers and militia competing to kill the enemy; compatriots competing to increase production and study; government officials and mass organizations competing to improve their working methods; landowners competing to reduce land rent and donate land; women competing to volunteer to contribute funds to the resistance; children also enthusiastically competing; people in enemy-occupied areas competing in the resistance in a quiet but glorious way; and overseas compatriots also competing in the resistance in many forms.” He added: “But I am sure that this gift is only a small part; if our compatriots and soldiers continue to strive, I will receive a much bigger gift, a gift called: the complete victory of the General Counter-Offensive.”