Building culture, elegant and civilized Hanoi people

Former Politburo member, former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi: Directive No. 30-CT/TU (Directive 30) on "Strengthening the leadership of Party committees at all levels in building elegant and civilized Hanoians" demonstrates the consistent viewpoint and determination of Hanoi City in building and developing culture and elegant and civilized Hanoians. It is a persistent process to build the culture and people of Hanoi that both have the unique beauty of the Capital and are representative of the culture of the Vietnamese people.

Some people say that from a certain perspective, the culture of behavior is deteriorating, but others say that Hanoi culture has recently undergone remarkable changes: Culture has developed in depth, creating both material and spiritual values ​​for the people. Therefore, Hanoi leaders are very interested in developing culture, building elegant and civilized Hanoians. Could you please tell us your opinion on this issue?

- In recent years, the strong socio-economic development of Hanoi is clearly shown in all the indicators and figures achieved. The life and living standards of the people have been raised and improved a lot. However, in the process of socio-economic development, expanding international cooperation and exchange of Hanoi, besides the positive aspects and progress that need to be promoted, there are also worrying signs of decline. Many people even believe that there is a decline in culture, morality and spirit. And this decline is not only in Hanoi.

For example, if we observe the lifestyle, the way of living, the communication, the behavior of the people of Hanoi in the past compared to today, there have clearly been changes; there are both positive and negative changes. The older generation feels that there are many values ​​worth preserving in the behavioral culture of the people of Trang An that have faded. Sometimes the elegance is no longer as it was in the past. Partly because the market economy has pressures that make people chase after material values, values ​​that can be measured, can be consumed, can be purchased... So sometimes we do not pay much attention to spiritual cultural values, or people consider them secondary, to have them or not to have them. Besides, there are also inevitable and natural changes in terms of population. In the past, Hanoi had only a few hundred thousand people, but today, both the inner and outer city have nearly 9 million people, and tens of millions of international tourists...

The task of building elegant and civilized Hanoians is a regular task but always has topical and urgent significance. In many Congress terms, the Hanoi Party Committee has set out target programs on building culture and building people. Sometimes it is Program 04-CTr/TU of the Hanoi Party Committee on "Developing social culture, improving the quality of human resources in the capital, building elegant and civilized Hanoians in the period of 2016 - 2020"; at the 13th Congress, the Hanoi Party Committee issued Program 06-Ctr/TU on "Developing social culture, improving the quality of human resources in the capital, building elegant and civilized Hanoians in the period of 2021-2026". In February 2024, the Party Committee issued Directive No. 30-CT/TU on "Strengthening the leadership of Party committees at all levels on building elegant and civilized Hanoians". Directive 30 affirms the way of thinking that is both inherited and supplemented, perfected, demonstrating the new political determination of the Hanoi Party Committee to create new results in a task of special importance. When I was still working, I also told my colleagues in the press: "Hanoi may not necessarily be the leader in economy, but it must be the leader in culture" - that opinion was agreed by everyone.

During his term as Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, he and the City Party Committee issued many important Programs and Resolutions on cultural development and building elegant and civilized Hanoians; how do you evaluate the contents and tasks of Directive 30 in the current period?

- Directive 30 has stated quite fully the tasks that need to be done. In the 9 tasks mentioned in the Directive, it can be summarized into 3 important contents: First: Must be aware of the importance and great significance of the cultural issue and the issue of building people in general. For Hanoi, it is to build elegant and civilized Hanoians. People are the creative subject, the subject of building a strong Capital in terms of economy, culture, national defense and security; it must represent the cultural tradition of the Capital and represent the tradition of the country and people of Vietnam.

Content 2: This is an extremely important task. In the Party's documents or speeches of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, it is always emphasized: We build and develop the economy but at the same time we must attach importance to cultural development and human development. Those two cannot be separated. Economic development creates material resources to build culture and people; but in turn, the human factor has the initiative to promote the process of economic development of Hanoi in particular and the whole country in general.

Content 3: These are the specific tasks that all levels and sectors need to perform. In short, the entire political system must participate. Including specific forces: such as the intellectual team, scientists who play a core, central role, both implementing and leading this process. Besides that, there are levels, sectors, and forces. From the Youth Union, Associations, and the Fatherland Front, all must participate because all the subjects of these units are people, all are organizations operating in the capital, so they must have the responsibility to participate.

In addition to major work programs, Hanoi also issued specialized resolutions, such as Resolution No. 09-NQ/TU (Resolution 09) of the City Party Committee on "Developing cultural industry in the capital for the period 2021-2025, orientation to 2030, vision to 2045". With Resolution 09, Hanoi is the first locality to issue a specialized resolution on cultural industry. In your opinion, what is the basis for Hanoi to confidently promote the development of cultural industry?

Cultural industry refers to industries that produce artistic and creative products, tangible or intangible; through the exploitation of cultural values ​​and products and services of intellectual, social and cultural significance, both to satisfy the needs of enjoyment, entertainment, and raising people's awareness and to gain economic benefits. In the world, the development of cultural industry is taking place strongly, is a trend and gradually becomes an important driving force to promote the economic and social development of countries.

In Vietnam, the Government has approved the Strategy for the Development of Vietnam's Cultural Industries to 2020, with a Vision to 2030. In December 2023, the Government also held a National Conference on the Development of Vietnam's Cultural Industries. This clearly demonstrates the role and importance of the cultural industry. Meanwhile, compared to other provinces and cities in the country, Hanoi is a locality with many advantages, in terms of resources and implementation conditions such as: Access to cultural exchanges earlier and more promptly, performing activities and cultural enjoyment needs of the people are also diverse. These are favorable conditions for Hanoi to promote the development of cultural industries.

Many people still believe that the effectiveness of cultural development policies cannot be measured in 1 or 2 years; it takes many years. Could you please give some assessments of the changes in Hanoi's culture in recent years?

That's right, culture is always something that permeates deeply and lasts a long time. Hanoi City leaders always value, correctly perceive, and pay great attention to building and developing culture. This is reflected in investment resources for cultural development, construction works, preservation and promotion of heritage values, and artistic activities in the area. In addition to receiving compliments, Hanoi City leaders also receive criticism and suggestions to increasingly improve cultural development. Specifically, the city has taken measures to handle uncivilized behaviors, but at the same time, it also commends and rewards typical individuals and groups in cultural development, building elegant and civilized Hanoians. Therefore, Hanoians are changing in a healthy, civilized direction, from bus culture, communication culture in public places, etc.

Hanoi is the only city in the country to develop a set of two codes of conduct for civil servants, public employees, and workers and a code of conduct in public places. After more than 8 years of promulgation and implementation, it is clear that these two codes have brought positive results. If the criteria are built too idealistically, they cannot be put into practice. Explaining too much so that people cannot remember is also not advisable. The code needs basic guiding criteria, setting out necessary and important standards for civil servants and citizens of Hanoi. These two codes have practical value, they are accepted by everyone in life and are a measure to adjust behaviors. Hanoi Radio and Television Station has daily "Beautiful and not-so-beautiful Hanoi". In addition, the work of preserving and promoting heritage values ​​has also made remarkable progress. Hanoi has preserved many valuable heritages, creating many destinations for people and tourists...

According to you, what should Hanoi do to effectively implement the guidelines and viewpoints in the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the direction of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the 2021 National Cultural Conference, in order to further improve the effectiveness of cultural development and build elegant and civilized Hanoians?

Directive 30 was issued to implement both the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the extremely important guiding ideas from the 2021 National Conference on Culture, in which the speech of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is like a platform on culture in the new period. It both speaks of the importance of culture and the valuable experiences of the Party and the country. In the process of building and defending the Fatherland, the cultural factor is extremely important. After the successful resistance war against the US to save the country, General Secretary Le Duan concluded: We defeated the US first of all by winning in culture. And the third issue, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong pointed out the tasks in the coming time when building an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity. These are very specific and comprehensive tasks. The Standing Committee of the Hanoi Party Committee issued Directive 30, meeting all of those important requirements.

Thank you very much!

10:45 12/03/2024

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/xay-dung-van-hoa-con-nguoi-ha-noi-thanh-lich-van-minh.html