"Combating wastefulness must become a culture throughout the Party, the army, the people, and society, permeating every Party member, every family, and every citizen," emphasized Dr. Nguyen Viet Chuc, Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Council on Culture and Society, Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, in an interview with a reporter from Dai Doan Ket Newspaper.
PV: Sir, as a party member and a voter, how do you personally assess the anti-waste campaign launched by General Secretary To Lam in the current period?
Dr. Nguyen Viet Chuc: Many people believe that waste is enormous, far greater than corruption. Therefore, in the current period, combating waste must definitely go hand in hand with combating corruption and negative practices. Consequently, the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption and Negative Practices has added the function of combating waste, becoming the Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption, Waste, and Negative Practices.
Although we have a Law on Practicing Thrift and Combating Waste, waste still occurs in many places, right before our eyes. A Vietnamese folk saying goes: "Oh, don't leave the fields fallow/Every inch of land is worth its weight in gold," yet in many places, fields are still left fallow, a tremendous waste. Waste is terrible now; for a worker, one million dong is precious, yet many projects worth trillions of dong lie idle year after year.
If you earn one dollar and waste one dollar, or have ten dollars but waste nine, how can you ever thrive? Besides material waste and money, there's an even greater waste: the waste of opportunities and time. These are two things that, once lost, can never be recovered. Opportunities, once lost, cannot be regained, and time never repeats. So, how can you thrive in this new era?
Not only we ourselves, but the world also has expectations of us. We must seize every opportunity to develop the country and make up for past difficulties. Vietnam has set the aspiration to become a developed, high-income country by 2045. There are only 20 years left until then. Time flies! If we don't prepare well from today, we won't be able to realize the dreams and aspirations of our entire Party, people, and army by 2045. These are age-old dreams and aspirations; we have overcome hardships and eradicated poverty. Therefore, the Party and State leadership have directed that by the end of the first quarter of 2025, the organizational structure must be streamlined. By the end of 2025, all temporary and dilapidated houses must be eliminated. Each goal and task has been set with specific programs and timelines. And this is also a period where we must save everything, avoiding waste, including material resources, opportunities, and time.
General Secretary To Lam once shared his frustration about the wastefulness, noting that prime land and multi-trillion-dong projects are left idle without anyone taking responsibility. What are your thoughts on this issue?
- Wasting resources is a crime and must be punished. Combating waste is a very serious issue, as strongly warned by General Secretary To Lam. Therefore, every citizen must take responsibility and cannot simply leave it entirely to the State. A sense of frugality is needed from every citizen and every family. Young people especially need to understand and practice saving; every dollar earned must be spent wisely. They shouldn't live a life of "living beyond their means." They must also conserve their health and energy to build the country. Saving is essential everywhere, at all times, in all circumstances, throughout society, in families, and for each individual, within the Party, the army, and the entire population. Only then will combating waste yield significant results in economic, cultural, social, and national security activities.
Many people say combating waste is difficult, but no matter how difficult it is, it must be done. Those who don't act must face strong measures. General Secretary To Lam once asked: "With such valuable land being wasted, someone must be held accountable, right?" This means the Party leader raised the issue of who should be held responsible, not that the land is being wasted without anyone taking responsibility. This issue must be thoroughly investigated to determine who is responsible, what the causes are, and who is accountable.
Corruption is considered a national scourge and is despised; the issue of combating corruption has been included in the curriculum to foster a culture of integrity. So, isn't it time we started cultivating a culture against wastefulness, sir?
That's right! President Ho Chi Minh once taught that we must be diligent, thrifty, honest, and selfless. "Diligence" is a crucial element because it requires hard work and hard labor; hence the saying: "Wealth doesn't come to those who sleep in the afternoon / No prosperity comes to those who are drunk all day." Besides "diligence," we must also be thrifty. If you earn 10 dong but spend 9, or even 15, meaning you have to borrow more to spend, how can you become wealthy? In Vietnamese culture, accumulated over thousands of years, "diligence" and "thrift" are extremely important.
We must build an image of a lifestyle that suits modern demands, especially educating young people to be thrifty and avoid waste.
Sir, during the recent meeting with constituents, many voters expressed to the General Secretary that we must resolutely combat wastefulness. But for that determination to become a reality, it requires the involvement of the entire political system?
- During General Secretary To Lam's meeting with constituents, I had a direct discussion with him. He gave a very practical example, an old but still necessary task. It's like a doctor treating a patient who doesn't recover; if the patient is referred to you and you say the previous doctor couldn't cure them, that doctor is responsible, and you stop treating them. That's unacceptable. As a doctor, when you have a patient, you must treat them. Here, "patient" is no longer an individual but "the illness of society as a whole." If one doctor fails to cure the patient, another must continue the treatment; you can't blame each other or evade responsibility.
The General Secretary's example shows that each official must take responsibility, while the responsibility of others can be considered later. Projects that have dragged on for many years, and issues from the previous term that haven't been resolved in this term, are unacceptable. Action must be taken to address the problems of the previous term and one's own. Whatever the outcome, one must accept responsibility and not blame the previous term. The General Secretary is inspiring the entire society in a new era, a new era of national progress for Vietnam. Therefore, combating waste is extremely important in this term and requires the joint efforts of the entire society.
To combat waste, we first need to promote the role of leaders and the exemplary conduct of Party members and officials at all levels, sir?
- For Party members, setting an example is crucial in everything, not just in combating waste. Furthermore, laws must be clear, projects must be rigorous but also flexible, avoiding bottlenecks, missed opportunities, and the need for bribery to get things done. In the current period, the Fatherland Front must play a significant role in the fight against waste. The Front can now participate in monitoring and social criticism to identify who is responsible for waste. Where is the waste occurring? The Front's monitoring and social criticism play a very important role. The Constitution and laws clearly state the functions and duties of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels, so that role must be promoted. It must unite the people to detect and point out instances of waste, such as "Mr. A, Ms. B," causing waste, so that the Party and State are aware and can take action.
Thank you very much, sir!
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/xay-dung-van-hoa-chong-lang-phi-10297575.html
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