W.Minh Tuan

In Dai Doan Ket newspaper, there is journalist Thai Duy, also known as Tran Dinh Van, who is one of the most prestigious journalists in the Vietnamese press.

He is now retired, nearly 100 year-olds, and still healthy.

During the Vietnam War, he and many other journalists went to the South to work as a war correspondent, participating in battles with the Viet Cong army to get news to write articles, praising the feats of the liberation army.

Journalist Thai Duy has another pseudonym, Tran Dinh Van. Under the pseudonym Tran Dinh Van, he wrote the work Live Like Him-Song nhu anh, about heroic martyr Nguyen Van Troi, and his wife  Quyen.

I remember when I was in high school, I learned this piece. When I joined Dai Doan Ket newspaper in early 1984, I knew journalist Thai Duy-Tran Dinh Van also worked here, I felt very honored to be his colleague.

On the occasion of Tet in 1984, when I had just worked at Dai Doan Ket newspaper for a few months, journalist Thai Duy wrote a famous article titled “Long Dan”-“People’s wish”, talking about the Vietnamese people’s longing for freedom and democracy, about the people’s desire for the party and the state to listen to their voices.

That issue of Tet newspaper sold out very quickly, people crowded together to Dai Doan Ket newspaper headquarters to ask to buy that issue. Indeed, at that time, some of us young reporters did not quite understand the content of this article “Long Dan-People’s Wish” by journalist Thai Duy, but were just happy because we can sold many newspapers.

We set up a newspaper selling table at the beginning of Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, near the headquarters of Dai Doan Ket newspaper, and saw buyers coming crowded to buy that issue.

– Give me old man 1 sheet. Give me old woman 1 sheet. Give me young man 1 sheet. Give young woman 1 sheet. Give me 2 sheets,,,,.

Just like that, newspapers sold out quickly.

From time to time, we had to run into the office and say loudly to Ms. Nga, who is in charge of clerical work, the newspaper’s office:

“Uncle Nga, give us more newspapers. Sold out”.

_Oh really? Why did it sell out so quickly? Every year, the sale is very sluggish, not many fellows come to buy. This year is strange, isn’t it? – Ms. Nga happily handed us a dozen newspapers to sell again. She was also very happy, although she did not understand why we was able to sell the New Year’s issue that year.

Then we sold out the whole stack of newspapers to keep in the office, and all the newspapers were sold down. I was so scared, I kept one sheet to give to my parents to read.

A few days later, my mother and father read the article Long Dan-People’s wish- by journalist Thai Duy, then told me the content. Only then did I sit down and read the horrible article carefully, and I understood why people were jostling each other to buy that issue.

But actually at that time I didn’t really understand, because I just graduated from university, Faculty of Economics and Politics, Hanoi General University, was the most prestigious university in Vietnam at that time, and in my heart still full of faith in the socialist economy, in the bright future of the planned economy, how can people be thirsty for the PEOPLE’s wish, for listening to the people’s voice, for the people dreaming of democracy and freedom? Of course, that PEOPLE’s wish article only hinted, distantly, gently indirectly about democracy and freedom, but did not dare to say it directly.

I don’t quite understand that desire of PEOPLE.

But that was the first good impression of our young journalists with the famous journalist Thai Duy at that time.

A few years later, I remember one time, Dai Doan Ket newspaper held training sessions on journalism, famous journalists of the many newspapers were invited to Dai Doan Ket newspaper to give lectures on how to write a newspaper, experience in journalism in writing articles, on the topic of journalism,,,.

At that time, journalist Thai Duy gave a lecture on “writing in pink”, and “writing the truth“.

Journalist Thai Duy criticized the way of shading writing-in pink color, only writing praises, not daring to write the truth of the press in general, but he also used to write so much pink color articles, and now feels ashamed of the cowardice of his shyness and that of other shading journalists.

We young journalists listened eagerly, but only understood it very little, and after that, there were not many people who dared to write the truth like journalist Thai Duy.

Another time, Dai Doan Ket newspaper invited Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien to our newspaper office Dai Doan Ket to talk.

Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien studied in France for 30 years, then, following the call of Ho Chi Minh, returned home Vietnam to work for the revolution, and was the Director of the World Publishing House.

During that talk, Dr. Nguyen Khac Vien said that Dai Doan Ket newspaper needed to be brave to talk about the “political appeal” of the press.

What is the political appeal? It’s about democracy and freedom. Doctor Nguyen Khac Vien explained that, with a small voice of Nghe An, because he was from the same hometown as Ho Chi Minh in Nghe An.

However, few people dare to follow this advice of Dr. Nguyen Khac Vien. Many newspapers now mainly follow the “robber-kill-rape-long-legged-room sex” appeals, which are both attractive, attract customers, sell newspapers, and are safe.

In fact, the problem is not that there are no people who dare to write, but that, once written, no Editor-in-Chief dares to publish it, for fear of losing his seat.

If you lose your chair, you will lose your rice cooker, and your family will run out of livelihood.

So everyone was silent, but in their heads they thought differently.

A harsh regime makes Vietnamese people living such a lie.

In 1987-1988, journalist Thai Duy began to write a series of articles about “Soldiers on death row“.

During the Vietnam War, the old Saigon government captured many communists, or communist sympathizers, who were in the student movement. Many of these people were sentenced to death by the old Saigon government, some were executed by shooting, some are in prison waiting to be shot.

And fortunately, the war ended in 1975, these “death waiting prisoners” were saved.

But these stalwart revolutionary soldiers, who were willing to sacrifice their whole lives for the party, after being rescued from the prison of the old Saigon government, many – not all – were politically abused, forgotten revolutionary rights, life is extremely meager and poor.

The Revolutionary Government “forgot”, not caring about the poor fate of many Death row soldiers.

Mr. Thai Duy mobilized benefactors to help the “soldiers on death row”, and wrote a series of articles published in Dai Doan Ket newspaper about the plight of “death waiting soldiers”, asking the government of all levels must pay attention to solve.

Many “death row inmates” say that they actually don’t ask for themself, because they understand that “the country is still in poor, trouble”, but they only have one wish to visit Hanoi, the capital of the country, and to visit Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum.

After a series of articles by journalist Thai Duy, our Vietnamese government became interested in the fate of these brave abandoned death row prisoners.

The “soldiers on death row” were gathered, brought to Hanoi, visited Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum, and were subsidized money, fund by the State with necessary social benefits.

Dai Doan Ket newspaper also held a solemn reception for “death row” soldiers.

I met these Death row soldiers at Dai Doan Ket newspaper. Although the correction is late, it is also a good deed by the Party and State of Vietnam for those who have made merit to the country.

And then the policy of awarding the title of “Vietnamese Heroic Mothers” – mothers whose has two children died in the Vietnam War.

The “heroic Vietnamese mothers” were given “Houses of gratitude” by the State, which were built and provided free of charge to Mothers, given savings bank note with several million dong, medicine,,,.

Correction is rather late, but better than never.

Journalist Thai Duy was the first journalist in Vietnam to write about new business models when there was no “renovation” policy in Vietnam.

The most famous is the series on “Long An Mechanism”, talking about how Long An province dared to “break through”, that is, dared not to implement some draconian policies of the State, implementing some policies on its own. encourage economic sectors.

The he wrote about the policy of contracting products to farmers in Vinh Phu, which was initiated by the secretary of the provincial Party Committee Kim Ngoc.

Everywhere, in every society, every country, there are journalists with bad morals, poor qualifications, writing articles that distort the truth, write for money, or cowardly, do not dare to write the truth, mainly write stories of robbery-killing-woman’s legs-long-legs-knees .

But there are also brave, talented journalists who dare to write the truth, dare to take responsibility for themselves, not afraid of threatening forces.

In my opinion, Dai Doan Ket newspaper in Vietnam is one of the newspapers that has had so many talented and brave journalists, such as Thai Duy, Lua Moi, Xuan Thu, Minh Tuan, Quoc Khanh, Nguyen Chinh, Phuong Ha, Tran Thanh Phuong,,,

Journalist Thai Duy always encourages us to learn a lot on our own, not just keep the knowledge learned in universities.

“A journalist with poor knowledge, lack of understanding, will only be the one be asked by others to command,” he told us.

That was my first teacher, and also my greatest teacher in journalism.

I heard that recently, a foreign film crew returning to Vietnam proposed to journalist Thai Duy to make a documentary about his life, but I heard that he politely refused.

Perhaps he thought that his life was not significant enough to make a movie, that there were more people greater than him.

Or maybe he thinks that the Vietnamese people are still poor, backward, and very destitute, even though there have been many successes of Doi Moi, they still have a lot to strive for, so Vietnamese still don’t have much to talk about.

Maybe. ///