The style of respecting people by Ho Chi Minh

In spite of being the Head of the Party, the President, a supreme leader of the Party and the people, and a widely influential figure amongst international friends, Ho Chi Minh had never considered himself to be a great leader;  always been a stranger to personality cult; shown humility and honesty with himself, other human beings and his job; devoted himself single-mindedly to national independence and freedom and the people’s happiness. Those represent his style of respecting the people and his lifelong love for the nation and the people.

1. The style is a crystallization of ideology and morality

In response to weighty responsibilities entrusted by the people with absolute confidence in and endless reverence for the Head of the State, he wrote a thank-you letter to the National Assembly and his compatriots, and regarded himself as a front-line soldier at the compatriots’ command, rendering a single-hearted service to the Homeland and the people with no regard for fame and wealth. In the letter, he expressed how he felt about the responsibilities in straightforward words “I will render a single-minded service to the compatriots when being entrusted with weighty responsibilities. But when the compatriots ask me to retire, I will be willing to. I will build a small house by a stream and hang out with the elderly and children, plant flowers, go fishing, and recite poems with a total disregard for fame and wealth. Over the course of my whole life, I voluntarily have zero interests in fame and wealth”. It illustrates a democratic ideology of respecting and loving the people, and moralities of industriousness, thrift, integrity, uprightness, public-spiritedness, and selflessness and putting public affairs first by Ho Chi Minh.

His greatness and nobility during his life and revolutionary cause, first and foremost, stem from the motive for the nation and the people to find “a revolutionary path” to liberate the former and the latter from slavery and abject poverty, gaining independence for the Homeland and freedom and happiness for the latter. That motive inspired him to sacrifice his private life and devoted his entire life to national revolutionary cause. It is indicative of pure morality and a clean private life, for he epitomizes human philosophy and ultimate selflessness. There is a great harmony and consistency in his work style and conduct that bespeak his humility, honesty, and simplicity. Those are evidenced by both his daily routines and the way he made policies of paramount importance to “domestic affairs” and the survival of the nation and the Party through thick and thin.

His ideological consistency is expressed through a tight grasp of isms”, “thorough revolution”, and “relentless pursuit of the rights and benefits of a majority of the people”, and genuine independence and freedom. The moral consistency is expressed through the qualities of being tough on oneself and tolerant towards others, and lifelong pursuit of four virtues, namely industriousness, thrift, integrity, and uprightness, which defines how a revolutionary is. That is also a case for a moral, civilized, and genuine revolutionary Party. Those fine qualities of the Party have crystallized into an action motto of “being firm in objectives, flexible in strategies and tactics” and a match “in words and actions”. Only doing so enables the Party to win the people over so that the latter will put their staunch confidence in the former.

The style is an expression and a crystallization of his ideology and morality. The application of the style is just an intrinsically cultural need, and thus “the style constitutes a human being”. When it came to leadership and management work, Ho Chi Minh had possessed grand vision; closely combined theory with practice; drawn up highly theoretical predictions and assessment; and encapsulated the truth from scientific analyses and creative observations, and a correct grasp of practice. In particular, in terms of the art of using people, Ho Chi Minh had precisely chosen a person and assigned him a suitable job, and truly respected his talents and personalities; therefore, he had made full use of his creativity for the sake of the nation and people’s interests. There is a close combination of reliability and respect, and love, tolerance, and strictness in the art and style of using talented people by Ho Chi Minh. Those have crystallized into daily and humane cultural values in his style. He transformed our forefathers’ thought on staying close to the people into democracy and the exercise of democracy and honesty into industriousness, thrift, integrity, and uprightness. It genuinely brings new life into the style of respecting the people by Ho Chi Minh.

2. Ho Chi Minh’s style of respecting the people - from theoretical awareness to practical actions

According to Ho Chi Minh, there is nothing more precious than the people in the sky and there is nothing more powerful than the power of the people’s solidarity in the universe. He affirmed that democracy was the people’s most precious property, and the wide exercise of democracy acted as a master key to every task and challenge. Therefore, he realized early on a driving force for democracy’s development. According to Ho Chi Minh’s work entitled “Mass mobilization” (1949), “Ours is a democratic country. Our regime is a democratic one. All interests are for the people. All rights belong to the people, and all power and forces lie in the hands of the people”. According to Ho Chi Minh, rights and obligations are inseparable, and interests and responsibilities go hand in hand. Since the people are the masters, the President, cadres, public and government employees are all faithful servants. He had paid special attention to the people’s true interests and power. Independence, freedom, and democracy become useless when the people of an independent and free country still suffer from hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and backwardness. Only when the people are adequately fed and clothed are they aware of freedom and democracy. Hence, it is a must for us to make the people be fed, clothed, housed, and educated. In order to protect the people and democracy, he had always paid due regard to the people’s inspection and supervision over every cadre, party member, and public servant’s conduct. According to Ho Chi Minh, only when we rely on the people do we build the strong and clean Party, and only when we genuinely exercise democracy do we fight bureaucracy and corruption; no matter who they are, we must strictly punish corrupt people to tightly maintain the laws and discipline. Those statements have shown us how particularly crucial it is to build a strong and clean democratic republic and ruling Party. Thus, his style of respecting the people stems from a democratic foundation and the people’s enhanced role and power, and the responsibilities of cadres and public servants towards the people.

In order to translate the style of respecting the people into practice, Ho Chi Minh always had educated and cultivated his cadres whilst setting an example to the others by himself. He said “we must unleash and develop the people’s strength and take care of the people, and know to save the people’s strength at the same time. Every note and grain of rice we consume come from the people’s blood, sweat and tears, so we must practice thrift if we spare a thought for them. Embezzlement and corruption offences are synonymous with stealing the people’s properties and those who involved must be strictly penalized with a no-holds-barred approach in accord with the State laws and the Party’s Charter. He also explained that “the countrymen pay taxes so that the Government has the coffer to pay for public servants. Hence, being lazy and irresponsible is tantamount to deceiving the people”.

In addition to the strict enforcement of the laws, great importance must be attached to moral education and upholding conscience, responsibility, honour, and dignity for everyone, first and foremost cadres and party members, especially leading ones. It must be remembered that “the people, not officials are the masters”, and “officials are the people’s pubic servants, not revolutionary mandarins”. He had always shown exemplary working style and conduct to apply his style of respecting the people. “It is a must to stay close to the people and rely on their forces. Nothing can be done if we detach ourselves from them no matter how capable we are”. Given the style of respecting the people, Ho Chi Minh had devoted himself to public affairs, the exercise of democracy, the promotion of unity for the sake of success and great success. There are scores of examples that bespeak Uncle Ho’s sentiment, affection, and sacrifices for the people. Those truly bear out his style of respecting the people.

When reading “the Declaration of Independence” at Ba Dinh Square on 2^nd, September 1945, he stopped to ask his compatriots “Do the compatriots clearly hear what I said”. He was afraid that the compatriots in Hanoi could not hear his accent from his native land of Nghe An. During the first session of the Provisional Government’s meeting on 3^rd, September 1945, he asked governmental ministers to skip a meal every 10 days to save rice for the poor, and he pioneered that practice. Shortly after the session had wrapped up, he wrote a letter to the compatriots, saying that the Provisional Government began meeting with the people with questions sent to him in advance for his preparatory response. Unlike any other presidents, President Ho Chi Minh wrote a letter to his compatriots, calling for their assistance in seeking talented people for national development shortly following the advent of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He stayed close to the people through fact-finding visits so as to grasp their aspirations and wishes in their daily lives. He demanded that the work of propagation and commendation be conducted in a precise and dexterous fashion for the sake of optimal effectiveness. Even when on his deathbed, he only spared a thought for the people “we can not leave without the people” and “the only thing I regret is that I can not serve the Homeland and the people further and longer”.

It is hard to adequately portray Ho Chi Minh’s style of respecting the people through his teachings and deeds, which is truly a spiritually precious asset by the Party and the people. Studying and emulating Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and lifestyle enable us to better understand the value and meaning of his style of respecting the people for the time being.