"Fighting waste must become a culture in the entire Party, the entire army, the entire people, the entire society, permeating every Party member, every family, every citizen" - Dr. Nguyen Viet Chuc, Deputy Head of the Advisory Council on Culture - Society, Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front emphasized when talking with reporters of Dai Doan Ket Newspaper.
Reporter: Sir, as a party member and a voter, how do you personally evaluate the current anti-waste campaign launched by General Secretary To Lam?
Dr. Nguyen Viet Chuc: Many people think that waste is very big, much bigger than corruption. Therefore, in the current period, fighting waste must definitely go hand in hand with fighting corruption and negativity. Therefore, the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption and Negativity has added the function of fighting waste to the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, Waste and Negativity.
Although we have the Law on Practicing Thrift and Combating Wastefulness, waste still occurs in many places, right before our eyes. In Vietnamese folk songs, there is a saying: “Don’t leave your fields fallow/Every inch of land is worth an inch of gold,” but in many places, fields are still left fallow, which is extremely wasteful. Waste is terrible now, for workers, 1 million VND is precious, yet many projects worth thousands of billions of VND lie “shelved” year after year.
Earning 1 coin and then wasting 1 coin, having 10 coins and wasting 9 coins, how can you rise up? Besides wasting material and money, there is also a bigger waste of opportunity and time. These are two things that can never be regained when lost. Lost opportunities cannot be regained, and time can never be repeated. So, how can we rise up in the new era?
Not only ourselves but also the world is expecting from us. We must make the most of our efforts to develop the country, to make up for the difficult times. Vietnam has set the aspiration to become a developed country with high income by 2045. There are still 20 years left. Very fast! If we do not prepare well from today, by 2045 we will not be able to realize the dream and aspiration of our entire Party, people and army. That is a dream and aspiration of a thousand years, we have overcome difficulties, then eliminated hunger and reduced poverty. Therefore, the Party and State leaders have directed that by the end of the first quarter of 2025, we must complete the streamlining of the organizational apparatus. By the end of 2025, temporary and dilapidated houses must be eliminated. Each goal and each task has been set with specific programs and timelines. And this is also the period when we must save everything, not allowing any more waste, including material, opportunities, and time.
General Secretary To Lam once shared that he felt impatient about waste, with prime lands and projects worth thousands of billions of dong left unattended without anyone taking responsibility. What do you think about this issue?
- Causing waste is a crime and must be punished. Fighting waste must be understood as a very big issue that General Secretary To Lam strongly warned about. Therefore, every citizen must be responsible and cannot "outsource" it to the State. There must be a sense of saving from every citizen and every family. Young people must understand and know how to save, earn 1 dong and know how to spend 1 dong. Not to do it in a "short-term" way. Then we must save our health and strength to build the country. We must save everywhere, every time, every place, every situation in the whole society, family and each individual, in the whole Party, the whole army and the whole people. Only then will fighting waste bring great efficiency in economic, social and cultural activities, national security and defense.
Many people say that fighting waste is difficult, but no matter how difficult it is, it must be done. Those who do not do it must take strong measures. General Secretary To Lam once asked: "If prime land is wasted like that, there must be someone responsible, right?". That means the head of our Party has raised the issue of who must be responsible for that, not that the land is wasted without anyone taking responsibility. This issue must be investigated to the end to see who is responsible, what is the cause, and who is responsible?
Corruption is considered a national disaster and is despised, the issue of anti-corruption has been included in the curriculum to form a culture of integrity. So is it time we need to form a culture of anti-waste, sir?
- That's right! President Ho Chi Minh once taught: diligence, thrift, integrity, impartiality. "Diligence" is an important factor because one must be diligent and hard-working, that's why our ancestors have a saying: "Rich does not come to those who sleep at noon/Noble does not come to those who are drunk all day long". Besides "diligence", one must be "thrifty", because if one earns 10 dong but spends 9 dong, or even 15 dong, meaning one must borrow more to spend, how can one be rich? Our ancestors have summarized for thousands of years that "diligence" and "thrift" are extremely important.
We must build a lifestyle image that meets modern requirements, especially educating young people to know how to save and not be wasteful.
Sir, at the recent voter meeting, many voters told the General Secretary that we must resolutely fight waste. But to make that determination a reality, we need the participation of the entire political system?
- At the voter contact meeting of General Secretary To Lam, I had a direct discussion with the General Secretary. The General Secretary gave a very practical example, old things but old things must still be done. It is like a doctor treating a patient but not curing the disease, when transferring the patient to you and you say that the other doctor cannot cure the disease, then that person must take responsibility and you will not treat it anymore. That is not acceptable. As a doctor, when there is a patient, you must treat it. Here, the "patient" is no longer an individual but "the disease of the whole society". If this person cannot be cured, the other must continue to treat it, and you cannot blame each other and avoid responsibility.
The above example of the General Secretary shows that each cadre must be responsible, and the responsibility of others will be considered later. The project lasts for many years, there are stories from the previous term that cannot be resolved in this term. We must do something to resolve the work of the previous term and our own. No matter what, we must take responsibility for ourselves and not blame the previous term. The General Secretary is inspiring the whole society in a new era, the era of the Vietnamese people's rise. Therefore, fighting waste is extremely important in this term and requires the joint participation of the whole society.
To fight waste, we must first promote the role of leaders and the example of party members at all levels, sir?
- For party members, everything must be an example, not just fighting waste. In addition, the law must be clear, the projects must be strict but also open, not to be stuck, lose opportunities, cause difficulties and have to "run". In the current period, the Front must initiate and play a great role in the fight against waste. Now the Front can step in to monitor and criticize society to see who is wasting? Where there is waste, point it out to see who is wasting it. The Front's monitoring and criticism of society plays a very important role. The Constitution and the law clearly state the functions and tasks of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels, so that role must be promoted, the people must be united to detect and point out "this place, that place", "Mr. A, Mrs. B" causing waste so that the Party and the State know the information and can handle it.
Thank you very much!
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/xay-dung-van-hoa-chong-lang-phi-10297575.html
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