Public opinion has many conflicting opinions about the 10th National Congress of Vietnamese Writer that has just taken place, but few people notice the important thing is information from the Party’s official speakers such as the People, the People’s Army, the People’s Public Security reporting on this congress does not have an obligatory familiar phrase with congresses and sub-societies of the political system from the commune, ward to the central level. Why is that? Has the congress emitted some signal that displeases the leadership?
„Great success,“ „Great success,“ and „End of victory“ are stereotypical phrases that must be included on the headlines of the congresses whether it’s the bonsai festival or the religious or decorative associations. The more important the organization of the congress is, the more literal the word must respect. The Writers‘ Association is soldiers on the cultural front, always being interested in leading by the Party, no joke. The Writers‘ congresses always have at least one Politburo member even a member of the Party Secretariat or General Secretary participating in directing. This meeting was attended by Mr. Vo Van Thuong, Politburo member and head of Central Commission for Propaganda and Education, Nguyen Khoa Diem, a former member of the Politburo, secretary of the Party Central Committee, head of the Committee of Thought and Culture. ; Nguyen Dac Vinh, member of the Central Committee, deputy chief of the Party’s Central Office. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a congratulatory flower basket. It was so solemn that congress was not a brilliant success!
Writers congress, journalists banned
The most powerful Nhan Dan newspaper gave brief news „Closing the 10th Congress of the Vietnam Writers Association.“ The Cong and Nhan dan (People’s Police) newspaper also reported neutral: Launching the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers Association for the 10th term. The Government newspaper reported: Poet Nguyen Quang Thieu was elected as the president of the Vietnam Writers Association. … The leaders did not praise, the newspapers below all posted similar general news. Particularly for the two newspapers, one of the Young Communist Delegation, the right arm of the Party not only did not praise the congress but also alarmed like a coup. The youth of Ho Chi Minh City’s Youth Communist Delegation wrote „Writers‘ congress closed with the press, Mr. Huu Thinh withdrew from the new term executive committee.“ The Tien Phong newspaper of the Central Youth Union also published “Chaos in voting for Writers‘ Association, Mr. Huu Thinh twice asked to withdraw from the Executive Committee.”
What happened in this writer’s congress? The danger of the peaceful evolution of the reactionaries? No! Members, famous and radical writers such as Nguyen Ngoc, Pham Xuan Nguyen, Tran Manh Hao … have voluntarily left the association for a long time. The past four terms of the Writers Association have been peaceful, obedient and well-funded under the humble management of the poet Huu Thinh.
According to media reports on the right side, Congress still took place in close leadership, with a separate conference for party members. Particularly careful, Congress banned journalists (even the mainstream press). Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, “Only a few press agencies are invited to attend the congress but are only allowed to attend the closing session tomorrow, November 25. In today’s important session all reporters were stopped at the door. The delegates are congress writers who have portrait photo stickers for control. Many writer delegates attending the congress were surprised by the news that journalists were not allowed to attend.”(1)
It is funny that the Organizing Committee stipulates this but forgets one thing that most of the writers carry two or three cards on their backs, the journalists and writers are still on the way to attend and inform and images of the congress were still spilled out on social networks.
Not listening to Thuong, just taking pictures with Thuong
The secret part of the congress was reported by the state-controled media from a distance, solemnly and solemnly through the golden-molded instructions.
“The Head of the Central Propaganda Department directed writers to continue making a significant contribution to the cause of national construction and defense, in the fight against corruption and degeneration of political ideology and religion.”
The Executive Committee of the Vietnam Writers Association of the new term must also contribute to the review of Vietnamese literature half a century after the reunification of the country, promote national harmony, and build great national unity through literature, promote a healthy democratic life, continue to protect traditional cultural values and create new human values for society; continue to create the image of the country and Vietnamese people in the world through literature.”(2)
Writer Nguyen Quang Vinh, Facebook page owner Khoai Lang Truong Thon, the official delegate of the congress had a series of very lively, stylish, witty reports on the progress, atmosphere of the conference, specifying the progress of this long, secret session is as follows:
“On the chairperson’s desk, Mr. Huu Thinh was speaking about something which audience cannot hear only sure that Huu Thinh was speaking, because standing on the podium, the sound was mainly speaking by delegates tingling stories, talking passionately, and laughing freely.
Then there was a big man, went on the podium for a speech that the audience can hear some but lose others. In general, he roughly praised the writers, praised the literary works serving the country, then as a speech process, ‘we hope that next term, will… ”
If you do not say it, everyone knows that „big man“ is Mr. Vo Van Thuong, head of the party’s Central Commission for Propaganda and Education. But during his six reports about the event, writer Nguyen Quang Vinh only once officially mentioned the name of Mr. Thuong when the congress was closed: At the end, suddenly the hall was full, everyone laughed, many people chuckled mouth interrupted. Though there was an incident, it turned out people were taking photos with Mr. Thuong. Like taking photos with leaders is probably a Vietnamese feature that the world is difficult to follow.
The delegates left the hall and moved quickly to a place for a dinner party.
So happy so the Congress forgot to make closing mark. No problem. 5 more years.”
Turns out the secret of the conference was there. The direction of the party was not heard, the election story was mixed like a market, everyone wanted to finish voting to go out to chat, the leaders were only paid attention to hunt and take pictures like a strange thing in the fairs. exhibition or as famous actors after the show.“ (3)
Nguyen Quang Vinh’s wobbly vision from within the writer’s congress is somewhat asymptotic to the point of view of writers who did not attend the congress.
Didn’t attend because he could not hear the Party speak
Writer Vo Dac Danh is stuck with COVID in the US, but if he is not stuck with COVID, he will definitely not attend this congress, but the instructions of Mr. Thuong he did and did better than anyone else.
He has a series of articles about anti-corruption, in which only one article „Letter to poet Tran Manh Hao“ attacking four ministers at the same time as a result of revoked journalist card. In the current news, he has a pen on Thu Thiem Land (posted on Facebook and broadcast on YouTude) with grim human destinies, a hundred times more truthful than the French colonial regime. (4)
Contributing to building the country, in 2019, with only the article titled „The Unwilling Saigonese,” he mobilized social resources to build more than 100 rural bridges.
Regarding national harmony, Mr. Huu Thinh sent a letter inviting Vietnamese artists residing abroad to have an unsuccessful meeting, but Vo Dac Danh, the son of a Vietnamese heroic mother, still hangs around every day with Do Trung Quan. Catholics migrated to the US, to chat with Dinh Quang Anh Thai, write a Little Saigon newspaper …
From the US, Vo Dac Danh shared his heart about the writer’s congress on Facebook with a smile: „… In 2003, I had my journalist’s card confiscated for crimes against the government, poet Le Chi told me to go in. Writers Association to have anything at least can be defended. I thought that I made an application to join the writer’s association. In 2008, I was recognized as a member of the Vietnam Writers‘ Association, and felt less cold in my back. But in 2013, writer Nguyen Quang Lap was arrested without reason for 6 months, and the writer’s association did not speak up to intervene. Since then, I became disappointed, feeling that this association is not worth anything. There was a writer’s congress, they gave each member a round-trip flight ticket and was given VND2 million for others in Hanoi, but before receiving the money and the plane ticket, the members had to gather to listen to Ba Dua’s speech.
That day, with poet Do Trung Quan, drinking at the embankment of Nhieu Loc canal, Quan said that if he could give a ticket for money, he also wanted to go to Hanoi to meet his friends, but he had to listen to Ba Dua and it is not worth. So I and Mr. Quan gave up the tickets and did not go. A few days later we heard that at that time the writers were cursing at each other, even worse than the wet market.“
Also on the Facebook page of Vo Dac Danh, poet Do Trung Quan, author Que Huong, Phuong Hong, shared, “I was kept under a guard against publishing for nearly 10 years by order of a three-man race, without any impeachment documents. The Writers’ Association and the Journalists‘ Association were silent as if anyone spoke up for the members who even obeyed his order to isolate me well now is a criminal. The widow, according to Trang The Hy, shook her sleeve „I go somewhere else to play!“ and “Freedom is what you choose (5)
Freedom to compose in the direction of turning literature into garbage
More seriously, with more logic, writer Tạ Duy Anh, the only writer who dares to write about the crime of Dong Tam deadly incident, also looks at the writer’s congress through laughter with the article „Why the laughing is hated?“
Tạ Duy Anh posed the problem “I have found that the rulers in the totalitarian regime are very allergic to humorous works, no matter what it is about. Just being funny is so obnoxious and scary?
Why? Why are the works that bring laughter readers being hunted, prevented, and disabled everywhere, every time so harsh and harsh? It turns out that when I watch TV, I realize that all programs, although very serious, such as anniversaries, meetings, visits, speeches … all contain elements of humor, the clown element. Any face that appears is capable of laughing, if the viewer has a little understanding of him or her, and then puts it next to what he or she says. How can it not be funny, when a certain grandparent with empty knowledge, even misspelled writing, speaks so eloquently about supernatural things, about the age of wisdom, about the half-century vision? How could it not be funny, when in a certain hall, on banners, slogans, on gait, serious gestures … essentially acting, doing games, nothing sacred both…. ”
Writer Ta Duy Anh sent a message to his colleagues‘ with enthusiastic words „When the Writers‘ Congress is carried out, where I am not present because of fear of the noise, I want to tell my colleagues that we have the big mistake in allowing political morality (let alone social morality) to degrade seriously, is the environment that nurtures greedy, corrupt, ignorant, lying officials … because of the lack of mockingly. Evil, evil can only be repelled with laughter. Drive them insane, face day by day with their sleazy, to the point of dancing.
And by the way, I also want to add: The so-called freedom of composition oriented, not only ludicrous but also threatens to turn contemporary literature in the country into a giant pile of trash. contain it all.” (6)
Congress revealed the nature of Writers Association
Summarizing writer Nguyen Quang Vinh’s witty perspective on the chaos in the conference space, the contempt of Vo Dac Danh and Do Trung Quan, the frustration of Ta Duy Anh before the imposition and deception of with artists and literature, the 10th Congress of the Writers Association has been successful. It truly reveals the essence of this Association, as writer Vu Huu Su wrote “Call the right name: the Writers‘ Association is the association of those people praising the rulers!“ He concluded painfully. “A congregation was born for potty purposes, and it has a perfect potty. Not only that, but it also encourages and exhorts so that millions of young people „can turn nature into electricity, steel“ to plunge into death. And that is also a crime.“ (7)
Perhaps this is the reason why the Party and the media on the right side have stripped the „brilliant success“ of the writer’s congress. The chaos of the writer’s congress can be seen as a protest. Those who are obedient and loyal to the Party are seen as puffers. Enthusiasts stand out with disdain. Its budget comes from people’s taxation for useless works but praising the communist rulers.
1-https://tuoitre.vn/dai-hoi-nha-van-dong-cua-voi-bao-chi-ong-huu-thinh-ru…
2-https://tuoitre.vn/ong-vo-van-thuong-hoi-nha-van-phai-thuc-day-hoa-hop-d…
3- https://www.facebook.com/nvNguyenQuangVinh
4-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6nGRdf4Zeg&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0S3…
5-https://www.facebook.com/dacdanhmientay
6-https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1160946631
7-https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012513496781
*The article does not show the views of Radio Free Asia
Thoibao.de (Translated)
