Commune Party Secretary Bui Tien Sy at the groundbreaking ceremony for a project to help Ngoc Chien recover from the aftermath of Typhoon No. 3.

"To gain the people's trust, you must be with the people."

Seemingly afraid we wouldn't understand, he explained further: "In Ngoc Chien, our commune officials only meet in the early morning for a quick briefing on work, then everyone goes back to the villagers, except for meetings and resolution briefings, when we're all present. It's the same every day. Well, let's go back to the village and discuss the work at the same time, shall we?" "Wow, this commune secretary seems interesting," we thought to ourselves as we followed Secretary Sy back to the village. "This is Phay village. The villagers are actively expanding the roads within the village, aiming to turn it into a tourist village, so the roads must be clean and spacious," Secretary Sy pointed ahead. "That man in the blue shirt is Lo Van Thoa, the Vice Chairman of the commune, closely monitoring the construction with the village officials. If any difficulties arise, the Vice Chairman will directly resolve them. We've already assigned specific tasks like that."

That's how our first meeting with Sy went two years ago. We accompanied the young, dynamic Party Secretary through many villages in Ngoc Chien commune, and he surprised us time and again.

Upon inquiry, Sy recounted: "Previously, I was the Chief of the Muong La District Party Committee Office. Then, when implementing the policy of rotating cadres to grassroots levels, in 2019, I volunteered to come here. Ngoc Chien was still a very difficult commune in the district at that time because it was very far from the center." "So you've only been here for a little over three years, how come you seem to know this area so well?" we asked. Sy smiled: "If you count it that way, it's about 20 years, gentlemen." It turned out that since 2004, after graduating from the Literature and History Faculty of Tay Bac University, Sy had been working as a teacher at Ngoc Chien Secondary School. Unexpectedly, this remote and difficult area of ​​Ngoc Chien became the environment where the young teacher honed his skills and demonstrated his abilities and character. After three years at the school, in 2007, teacher Bui Tien Sy had the honor of becoming a Party member. His superiors also recognized the young teacher's abilities, so in 2009, Bui Tien Sy transferred to the District Labor Union and in 2011 became Vice Chairman of the District Labor Union. After a while, he was appointed Chief of the District Party Committee Office, and in 2019 he "went to work at the grassroots level." While he said he was going, for Sy it was actually a return to Ngoc Chien, the land he had chosen as his second home when he was just 20 years old, in his role as a teacher. Then, throughout his journey of dedication and striving, he took on the leading role of Secretary of the Commune Party Committee.

Fairy tales from specific stories…

It would be difficult to list everything that Secretary Sy has done for Ngoc Chien, but if we had to mention the greatest achievement, it would be summed up in a few words: "dedication to the people." Immediately upon assuming the position of Secretary of the commune, Sy established 15 working groups, each comprised of Party members from the Party committee, government, and mass organizations. Ngoc Chien has 15 villages, with each group responsible for one village, with the specific goal: "Saturday to be with the people." Every month, on the last Saturday of the month, members of the working groups visit their assigned villages. Party members in the groups work directly with the villagers, eating and living alongside them. In the context of village life, the group members act as "propagandists," disseminating the Party and State's policies and guidelines to the people. Being with the people also means understanding the situation in each village, listening to their thoughts, aspirations, and suggestions, and then discussing and finding reasonable solutions with them. Based on the specific circumstances of each village and household, the task force will work with village officials to develop a plan of tasks and implementation measures for the following month and for each quarter.

Thanks to their concrete, thorough approach and especially their close connection with the people, the residents of Ngoc Chien have great trust in the officials and are voluntarily and actively involved in projects to clean up and beautify their villages.

For example, when the road through the village was widened from less than 2 meters to 6-8 meters, the land of the households was inevitably affected. But this was a spontaneous project, so there was no compensation budget. Therefore, they had to rely on the people to voluntarily donate land. To get the people to donate land, Party members and officials had to set an example. Then, the roads were widened and improved, solar-powered streetlights illuminated the entire village at night, crime decreased, public order and security were stabilized, and the people felt safe. In this way, step by step, when "the Party's will aligns with the people's will," the socio-economic development of Ngoc Chien became inevitable.

Every time I return to Ngoc Chien, I realize even more how abundant the creative energy of the commune's Party Secretary is. I was particularly impressed by the socio-economic report that Secretary Sy gave me. Instead of the usual administrative jargon, the report consisted of detailed bullet points, such as the transportation policy: "Establish propaganda teams to mobilize the people to donate land, clear traffic corridors, and build concrete roads…" followed by the number of kilometers of road already built and the implementation plan for each route. Another section on economic policies stated: "One: Assign the Vietnam Fatherland Front of the commune to mobilize efforts to eliminate temporary housing, eliminating at least 5 houses per year (but in reality, the number of temporary houses eliminated reached nearly 20 households/year). Two: Promote and encourage the raising of large livestock; to meet this goal, the area of ​​elephant grass (for livestock) must increase significantly each year…" Then there are the cultural and tourism targets with 20 tasks, and the environmental target with 5 tasks… Clearly, coherently, and in detail, when conducting inspections, they simply use the assigned data to compare with reality, specifically down to the section of wall or fence where pebbles taken from the stream are used instead of the dry, unsightly brick walls. Specifically, they specify which flower color matches the color of the stones in the flowerbeds, and even small things like not setting up food and drinks (a long-standing custom) when offering condolences at funerals, which is both economically detrimental and a waste of time and effort.

It is precisely because of this meticulous and detailed approach to every task that Ngoc Chien's appearance has changed day by day.

The remnants of Typhoon No. 3 (Yagi) caused damage throughout the Northwest region, and Ngoc Chien also suffered heavy losses. However, Ngoc Chien was also the fastest-recovering locality thanks to the dynamism of its Party Secretary. On his personal page, Mr. Sy announced the local situation and updated the damage to each household. And instead of asking for anything, he announced that the most needed thing was cement. In a short time, thousands of tons of cement were sent to Ngoc Chien as aid. Most of the donors came from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and other provinces and cities. They were tourists who had visited Ngoc Chien before, who loved the scenery and the people… so when Ngoc Chien faced the natural disaster, these tourists could not stand idly by.

When we saw the tons of cement that he had collected from the generosity of his friends and sent to Ngoc Chien, Secretary Sy did something that touched us deeply: Each cement donation, regardless of which construction project it was used for, had a plaque printed with the benefactor's name and a thank you note. No donor wants their name recorded when they send cement. But the way the recipients express their gratitude to their benefactors inspires trust and emotion. And I understand that this is a very compassionate way of behaving from the head of the Ngoc Chien commune Party committee. Just like him, more than five years ago, he volunteered to come here, from his position as Chief of the District Party Committee Office, to this poor, remote, and isolated locality to help Ngoc Chien become what it is today.

Ngoc Chien has now become a shining example for Son La and the Northwest region. This is Bui Tien Sy's way of showing gratitude to the land of his youth, where 20 years ago, the education graduate from Thai Binh province began his life's journey and became attached to the Northwest, working with the local Party committee and people to build a "fairytale land" called Ngoc Chien!

Thanks to his enthusiasm and dedication, the commune secretary, Bui Tien Sy, has secured much support from the community for Ngoc Chien. In the photo: The inauguration of the Nam Nghiep school (in the highest village in Vietnam), funded by students of Nghia Dung Karate-do.