Beautiful flowers in the capital's flower garden

Every time he read the newspaper or listened to the radio and discovered examples of good people and good deeds, he asked for verification so that he could award him the badge. He said: “Using examples of good people and good deeds to educate each other every day is one of the best ways to build the Party, build revolutionary organizations, build new people and a new life.”

Central and Hanoi city leaders with delegates at the Conference to commend advanced models, good people, good deeds and honor "Outstanding Capital Citizens" in 2024. *Photo: Viet Thanh*

Implementing his teachings, the Hanoi Party Committee issued Directive No. 04-CT/TU, dated March 28, 1992, directing the movement "Good people, good deeds". Since then, the city has issued and supplemented the Regulations on considering and awarding the title "Good people, good deeds" 5 times; and issued and supplemented the Regulations on considering and awarding the title "Outstanding Capital Citizen" 2 times.

Over the past 30 years, the emulation movement and the examples of "Good people, good deeds" have become a tradition and a unique beauty of the capital Hanoi. Every year on October 10 - the anniversary of the Capital Liberation Day, Hanoi City organizes the awarding of honorary titles to collectives and individuals with outstanding achievements in the emulation movement of labor, construction and development of the capital: Examples of "Good people, good deeds". And since 2010, the city has also awarded the title of "Outstanding Capital Citizen" to those who have made particularly outstanding contributions to the cause of building the capital.

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To prepare for the book BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS, introducing good people and good deeds in 2025, the Hanoi City Emulation and Reward Committee asked me to write articles for the book. At first, I was a bit hesitant. There are many stories I encounter every day in the capital that could be put into a book. But what will I choose to write?

I am not an expert, a Hanoi scholar like the famous writers and researchers who have written pages imbued with love for Hanoi. But I am fortunate to have lived in the capital for more than 50 years. That journey of more than half a century coincided with the important events that took place: the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi and the unification of Hanoi - Ha Tay. In 2024, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital, I was honored to be awarded the title "Outstanding Citizen of the Capital" by the city. To me, it is more like a continued assignment than an honor or reward. And the fact that the City's Emulation and Reward Committee asked me to write an article is truly a way of assigning a task.

Although I am not an expert, not a Hanoi scholar, I am a person who loves Hanoi very much. Love has always had a power, an inner urge. Sometimes I secretly thought, if someone invented a tool to measure the love for Hanoi in each person's heart, my love index for Hanoi would not be low. Fortunately, that love has been tested in my daily work during the 10 years of living and dedicating to the cause of building and developing the Capital. Those 10 years are not only measured by the length of time like normal years, but also by opportunities and "once in a thousand years" events: Organizing the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi and organizing and operating the apparatus to implement the merger of Hanoi - Ha Tay. There are so many things to do during the 10 years of a Capital that is bustling with construction and development day and night. The results of the efforts and hard work of the Party Committee and the people are large, beautiful, majestic works, worthy of a Hanoi that is changing and growing every day: the National Convention Center, the National Assembly House, modern new urban areas, large and beautiful roads and Thang Long Avenue contributing to expanding the stature of the Capital. And the Thanh Tri, Vinh Tuy, Nhat Tan bridges... stretching across the historic Red River, realizing the aspiration of the Dragon flying of King Ly Cong Uan since the capital move a thousand years ago...

And also during the time Hanoi organized the Great Ceremony, the title of OUTSTANDING CITIZEN OF THE CAPITAL was proposed and approved by the city's leaders to honor citizens who had made outstanding achievements, representing examples of GOOD PEOPLE, GOOD DEEDS honored every year on the occasion of October 10, the Capital Liberation Day.

Every year, the city will select and honor 10 people, representing all walks of life. During the selection process, the city leaders always remind the Emulation and Reward Committee to pay special attention to selecting and recommending workers and direct producers.

In 2012, a delegate, a worker of the Hanoi Environmental Sanitation Company - Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, was honored by the city. After being honored, not only the collective of workers where she works every day were happy and excited because of her worthy choice, but also the people living in the same neighborhood were happy and proud of her.

Recalling that memorable memory to talk about one of the very simple, everyday but noble beauties of the Capital: The beauty that honors the workers who always love and wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to the cause of building and developing the Capital Hanoi.

I have lived here for more than half a century, but my love for Hanoi is longer than the time I have been a citizen of the capital Hanoi. I have loved Hanoi since my school days, receiving poems, songs, and heroic historical pages written about Hanoi.

"Even if it is not fragrant, it is still jasmine,
Even though not elegant, still a person of Trang An".

In the most general sense, the beautiful words and meanings of the above verse are used to praise the elegant and refined beauty of the people of Trang An - Hanoi. Praise the eating habits, the living habits, the beautiful figure, the appearance and the character and soul of the people of Hanoi. Praise the beauty in life, activities and daily behavior. The people of the capital are always beautiful in the eyes of everyone. Like jasmine, they must be fragrant. The beauty of the people of Hanoi is the product of a process of historical and cultural accumulation. It is both an inevitable formation and a characteristic of the capital. Those beauties are also the result of training and preservation in daily communication and behavior. Doing anything in the capital requires everyone to behave civilly and politely.

And the hidden meaning in that song, along with the compliment, is also a piece of advice, a message (from the meaning), that Hanoians, the people of the Capital need to preserve their character, speech, and language to be worthy of the elegant tradition of the people of Trang An. Hanoians, the people of the Capital must be worthy of everyone's compliments so that Hanoi will always be a beautiful image, a mirror for the whole country.

There are many ways of expressing and commenting on the historical tradition, culture and people of the Capital: “Hanoi, a thousand years of civilization”; “Hanoi, where the soul of mountains and rivers has settled for a thousand years”; “Hanoi, the heart of the whole country”; “Hanoi, culture, heroism, peace, friendship”; “Hanoi, sacred and gallant”; “Hanoi - Capital of conscience and human dignity”… and many other extremely proud words of praise for the Capital Hanoi.

Hanoians are elegant and gallant, but that does not mean they lack the qualities of indomitability, indomitability, and heroism. Vietnam’s history is a history of extremely heroic and long-lasting resistance wars against foreign invaders to protect national independence. Throughout its long history, Hanoi has made many glorious achievements: “The country has fought two times, the stone horse has fought / The mountains and rivers have been built for thousands of years”. Then the days of “Hanoi is determined to die so that the Fatherland can live”; Hanoi, for twelve days and nights in 1972, created a Dien Bien Phu in the air that awakened conscience and shocked humanity…

With each passing day, living in the heart of the capital, I understand and love Hanoi more. We must understand, cherish, and be very responsible for our work and the people of Hanoi to fully feel what we need to know and do for the capital Hanoi. And we must have a certain level of experience to understand the land and people of Hanoi. There are many things that people can feel, but to write, to say it in words, in words as a nominal definition is not easy at all.

As the national political and administrative nerve center, a major center of culture, education, economy and international relations of the country, the work in the capital is both numerous and difficult. Hanoi is "close to the sun" and has many experts and scientists. The top looks up, the bottom looks down. "The top looks down, the people look up". And especially because of the sophistication, gentleness and carefulness of Hanoians, Hanoi must always look ahead and behind in everything it does. "Hanoi cannot be in a hurry". That saying is like a folk saying, a summary containing profound and deep implications and advice. It does not come from comments and assessments recorded in speeches and articles of leaders or famous people, but from comments and conclusions of the masses. The philosophy of the people has always concluded "Haste makes waste", "If you want to be fast, you have to be slow".

To be successful, one must be careful, especially in big and difficult tasks. That is one of the very typical characteristics of Hanoi culture and people. In all work, Hanoi people do not accept carelessness, haste, or sloppiness. Hanoi people do not easily accept copying the experience of any other place. Hanoi people are always gentle and elegant when expressing their likes and dislikes.

Those understandings and feelings have helped me a lot in handling daily work in the capital Hanoi. Hanoi always needs a culture of listening and selection. Everything needs to be methodical, systematic, and scientific. Philosophically speaking, it is a process of quantitative and qualitative transformation. Development in nature as well as in society is sometimes sequential and progressive and sometimes leaps and revolutions. A leap and revolution always contain within it accumulations and maturity in quantity.

Hanoians always know how to combine the past, present and vision towards the future. Hanoians, in all their work, always aim for high requirements, both sophisticated and perfect. Hanoians have both self-respect and self-esteem but also a spirit of learning and learning.

No wonder the food, clothing, and accommodation of Hanoians are as delicious and beautiful as anywhere else! They are all rustic dishes or dishes displayed on feasts and banquets; they are all vermicelli, cakes, pho, noodles... Even the popular culinary dishes "Thanh Tri rice rolls, Quan Ganh rice cakes"... as people often hear. But anyone who has ever enjoyed them will feel that these delicious dishes can only be found in the capital.

I heard an Ambassador who has lived in Vietnam for many years make a very subtle comment about the culinary culture of Hanoi people: "Hanoi has absorbed the quintessence of the two most wonderful cuisines in the world, Chinese and French cuisine, plus the talent and sophistication in the culinary culture of Hanoi people." That is a comment, a compliment from someone who understands and loves Hanoi very much - our thousand-year-old capital.

More than 50 years ago, the first time I went to the capital, I heard my female classmates from the original “36 streets of Hanoi” talking to each other. Sometimes they would chirp and laugh, but it never seemed to be noisy or boisterous. I don’t know who they studied with, or when they studied with, but now, they are all in their eighties, and every time we have a class reunion, even amidst the noise of laughter and chatter from so many people, I can still hear the clear, gentle voices of my friends who were born and raised in the 36 streets of Hanoi.

We are living in the era of science and technology with miraculous leaps in development - the 4.0 era, the era in which artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly participating in human activities, but I believe that artificial intelligence has never been and will never be able to replace the spiritual beauty of Hanoi people. Entering the new era with the whole country, Hanoi still carries within itself its inherent characteristics, both traditional and modern. Those are the beauties that bear the identity of our heroic, cultural capital.

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Every year on October 10, the anniversary of the Capital's liberation, Hanoians encounter the seasons of "Good people, good deeds", "Outstanding citizens of the Capital" flowers honored by the city. Like the bright flowers blooming in everyday life. Walking on the streets of the Capital, every season, every day we encounter beautiful flowers. Like the lyrics of the song Hanoi Twelve Seasons of Flowers: "In January, peach blossoms bloom... In February, Bauhinia flowers are everywhere... The late winter yellow mustard flowers along the riverside are brilliant...".

Following Uncle Ho's advice, the Party Committee and people of the Capital always strive to cultivate good people and good deeds so that Hanoi is always worthy of being a fragrant flower garden of the country.

Pham Quang Nghi
Former member of the Politburo,
former Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee,
Outstanding Capital Citizens 2024

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nhung-bong-hoa-dep-trong-vuon-hoa-thu-do-718929.html