Young people must have ideals, live beautifully, be kind to themselves, to others and to the environment.

Young people should be given confidence and aspiration in their own efforts to rise up, thereby creating value for themselves and their families.

'Thanh niên phải có lý tưởng, sống đẹp, tử tế với mình, với người và môi trường'

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hoi believes that young people must constantly renew themselves by updating their knowledge and life values. (Photo: NVCC)

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hoi, Chairman of the Green Living Practice Club (Ho Chi Minh City), an environmental activist who was awarded the Vietnam Environment Award by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (July 2022) talked about young people like that.

During these March days, sharing more about nurturing a beautiful lifestyle, cultivating knowledge, and forming a green lifestyle among young people, Mr. Nguyen Ba Hoi affirmed: Youth is the most beautiful age, full of energy. This is something that cannot be argued. And we can see that, in this age, people are also given the most conditions to study, develop themselves, and create a foundation for advancement and contribution to the country and society in the future.

Therefore, I think, young people should be given confidence and aspiration in their own efforts during their vibrant youth period to rise from small to large goals, thereby creating value for themselves and their families.

So, in your opinion, how important is learning for young people?

My generation and my peers (8x) were born in a time when the country was still facing difficulties. Many people, in many places, could not even afford to eat, so education was often a more distant goal. But at that time, whoever made an effort to go to school, nurtured the will and determination to study, would change their lives.

I remember, back then, I grew up in a poor rural area of Phu Yen province, studying one session a day, and helping my family with farm work and herding cattle the other session. Books and learning tools were really poor, but I loved to learn and diligently studied from the stubble and the farmer's garden. The only belief at that time was that studying was the only chance to escape poverty.

Then, I went to university, left my hometown for Ho Chi Minh City, and it has been 22 years now. A big step that changed my life from studying. Studying has helped me become richer in knowledge. Actually, that is the important thing because with knowledge, you will have the stability to establish yourself and your career.

Therefore, learning is important and always necessary in every era. Nowadays, technology develops rapidly and continuously, so we need to learn more and more to avoid being eliminated. Modern society requires people to learn for life, learn every day. Young people need to recognize this so as not to be negligent, become dependent on artificial intelligence (AI), become a tool of AI instead of using it for their work.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hoi in environmental activities. (Photo: NVCC)

As you said, today's era has too many challenges for young people?

That’s right. Not only are there challenges in technology but also in lifestyle, love, ideals, and other skills. Never before have young people felt so confused about shaping their lifestyle as they do today. They don’t love deeply and tend to live individually, too independently, leading to… fear of love, fear of getting married, fear of having children.

They are less idealistic in service and focus only on personal feelings, are ready to quit or change jobs, have too little patience to listen and improve, and commit for a long time.

They are good but also arrogant about their abilities to the point that many of them are arrogant about the connection between the older generation and themselves, which leads to certain conflicts. Somewhere, there are people complaining that Gen Z does not cooperate well at work with colleagues and bosses, which is certainly not an isolated incident.

I personally observe young people and am always willing to listen, learn and adapt to the circumstances of my work. Luckily, I have good partners from work to community and environmental activities.

If young people still have negative aspects, they certainly need to be "hit" to realize and correct themselves. What we need to do is to be able to connect with them because after all, they will also be more or less influenced by us, the previous generation, not to mention inheriting.

I think, different generations should not judge each other harshly but should see each other's strengths and weaknesses to reconcile and cooperate to develop, which will help the relationship become easier.

As an expert and environmental activist, what advice do you have for young people in this work?

As I shared, I am fortunate to collaborate with young volunteers who love environmental activities and green living. Every week or every few weeks, I go with the volunteers to pick up trash, release aquatic species into suitable environments, or plant trees.

Personally, I see that young people have a deep awareness of their own consumption. They live greener because they understand that their lifestyle has a direct impact on themselves and future generations.

I think young people must have ideals, live beautifully, be kind to themselves, to others and to the environment. At the same time, they must constantly renew themselves by updating knowledge, life values, especially nurturing noble ideals, then surely you will succeed.

Thank you very much!

I choose to live beautifully

Nguyen Minh Tien Dat during a humanitarian blood donation. (Photo: NVCC)

I like the saying "Intelligence is a gift, kindness is a choice" and I choose to live a kind and beautiful life within my ability. As a young person, I think living beautifully means studying as best as possible, participating in volunteer activities, not getting lost in online games, or degenerating into a hedonistic and decadent lifestyle.

As a young person, I take to heart the advice in a song, "Don't ask what the Fatherland has done for you, but ask what you have done for the Fatherland today."

Young people who are not mentally strong and lack ideals are easily tempted by temporary pleasures and superficial glitz, which will make them pay the price and regret later. In fact, when choosing to live beautifully, young people like us are also choosing to "wear armor" to protect ourselves safely. Being grateful and being filial to grandparents and parents is also a beautiful way to live. I believe that the more grateful we are, the happier we will be and the more we will strive to give more than we expect to receive.

Nguyen Minh Tien Dat (born in 2003, final year pharmacy student, studying in Hanoi)

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