The ceremony to commend outstanding valedictorians graduating from universities and academies in the Capital of Hanoi in 2022, held at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam_ Photo: hanoimoi.vn

1. Ho Chi Minh - a genius of the nation and a model of meritocracy

For nearly 100 years, the Vietnamese people who were once subjugated have regained independence, defeated powerful invaders, and transformed from a poor and backward country into a developing nation with an increasingly elevated international reputation, which has earned praise from friends around the world. This is the result of the efforts of the entire people and the Communist Party, in which every sector and every period has produced talents. They are at the center of historical events, the driving force behind the reform movements in political and social spheres. The center of nearly a century of modern Vietnamese history is the genius Ho Chi Minh - the hero of national liberation, the world-renowned cultural figure. His first and greatest contribution was to identify the correct path to saving the country, realizing that the invincible strength lies in the power of the people as a whole, gathering and organizing that invincible strength to liberate the country, regain national independence and build a socialist society, which the leaders, patriots and nationalists before Ho Chi Minh were unable to achieve.

Not only did Ho Chi Minh accomplish many great undertakings, but he was the model in gathering, fostering, and making the best use of Vietnamese talents in each period of revolutionary history. What Ho Chi Minh said and wrote about talents, especially what he could do in this field, was a system of perspectives on discovering, attracting, fostering, utilizing, and treating talents, with very rich and profound abilities. It can be affirmed that Ho Chi Minh’s contributions to development of talent are important and enlightening guidelines for the future generations of Vietnamese revolutionaries.

2. Regarding the talented people, talent and morality must go together, in which virtue must be the root and supersede talent

When speaking about the virtues and talents of people, and officials, President Ho Chi Minh attached great importance to both virtues and talents, which affirms the decisive role of virtue. In his speech at the Second Congress of Vietnamese Students on 7th May 1958, he pointed out: “Having talent without virtue is like a man who is very good at doing business and finance but goes bankrupt, so he can not do anything useful for society, only doing harm to society”⁽¹⁾. Of course, the virtue referred to here is revolutionary morality. It is morality that both inherits the good values in the traditional ethical values of the Vietnamese nation and complements and enhances it in the context of the Vietnamese people in performing their socialist revolution: “Revolutionary morality is that, in any situation, a party member must make the interests of the Party the first priority. If the interests of the Party and the interests of individuals conflict with each other, personal interests absolutely must be subordinate to the interests of the Party”⁽²⁾. The most important value of revolutionary morality is to wholeheartedly and thoroughly serve the revolution and the people, “If you have revolutionary morality, then you will be dedicated to a revolutionary, only then will you be able to lead the masses to bring the revolution to complete victory”⁽³⁾.

The concept of human talent inherently implies a person of high virtue, a person of usefulness to society, a person who always thinks about others and cares for society. In additions, talented people are also people with outstanding performance abilities. However, in the relations between talent and virtue, according to President Ho Chi Minh, talent and virtue must always go hand in hand, exist in unity, and be attached to each other.

If someone only have kindheartedness for others and for society, but you can’t do much to help others benefit and for the betterment of society, then their social impact will also be meager. On the contrary, if someone is talented but unscrupulous, the influence of their actions will be destructive for society. Ho Chi Minh also believed that in that relationship, virtue must be the “root” and be prioritized over talent.

In his speech in August 1959, at the teachers’ political class, he instructed: “Having talent without virtue is wrong. How can one teach others if one has virtue without talent? Morality must come before talent. First of all, children must be taught to love the Fatherland, to love working, to love their compatriots, and to love socialism”⁽⁴⁾.

President Ho Chi Minh himself is an exemplary model of revolutionary morality, he sacrificed his whole life for the country, for the people, for national independence. Therefore, thanks to his personal prestige, he gathered a lot of talented people, many intellectuals who gave up wealth and fortune to follow the revolutionary path and to return to Vietnam to serve the resistance war, build the nation, make sacrifices, endure hardships enter the battle.

From the reality of genius Ho Chi Minh, it can be affirmed that, first of all, the head of the political system must be an outstanding talent, and a person with lofty revolutionary morality. This is the most important principle for any political institution, especially in Vietnam, a country with a moral tradition bearing many universal human values.

3. It is necessary to have faith in the wisdom of Vietnamese people

Ho Chi Minh’s thought on this issue is extremely profound. It is because of our people’s belief in patriotism and determination to regain independence, demonstrated through the heroic uprisings against the French, that the young man, Nguyen Tat Thanh, went to seek a way to salvage the country. On the new day of independence, Ho Chi Minh clearly expressed his belief: “The country needs to be built strongly. The building requires the support of talented people. Among the 20 million compatriots, there is no shortage of talented and virtuous people. But because the government is afraid to listen, does not see, so the talented and virtuous people are unable to emerge”⁽⁵⁾. Our President was absolutely right. Vietnamese talents of that time followed his call, joined the Ho Chi Minh government, and made great contributions to the resistance and nation-building efforts.

In fact, by contact with Western science, many new scientific talents emerged in Vietnam. A generation of scientists and doctors appeared: Tran Dai Nghia, Luong Dinh Cua, Ho Dac Di, Ton That Tung, Tran Huu Tuoc, Dang Van Ngu, etc. It has become a rule in the history of national building and defense in Vietnam, whenever the nation is forced to create a historical turning point for survival or renaissance, talented people appear. Today, in the process of building socialism, leading the country through the developing state to become a modern developed country as specified by the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, new talents will certainly appear.

Talent comes in different forms, depending on the requirements of history. When the country was lost, Vietnam appeared a genius revolutionary Ho Chi Minh and a talented generation of outstanding revolutionaries. When necessary to defend the country, dozens of excellent generals appeared in Vietnam. Today, in the cause of national development, there forms a generation of great scientists, good doctors, talented businessmen, who run regional and world-class economic groups; leaders and politicians of with great leadership stature, macro management skills, promoting internal strength and achieving intelligent diplomacy. The important thing to do now is to create a favourable environment for talents to be discover and actively participate in the construction and development of our country.

4. The necessity for radical policies and effective solutions in the field of talent development

The two required factors that make every person able to develop talent are innate qualities and the necessary social conditions for that person to discover and develop his or her talents. Today, there may be enough prerequisites to build a national talent policy based on science. In discovering talents, policies should be divided into two areas: the education sector and the production sector. Specialized schools within universities and in provinces and cities are worth paying attention to and should be encouraged for development. In fact, the majority of students who win prizes in national and international competitions are students of these educational institutions. Therefore, the education sector also needs to work out specific studies, and at the same time make reasonable policies for the area of schools for the gifted, thereby contributing to forming a cradle of discovering, cultivating, and fostering talent for the country. Of course, not all talents are developed from studying at schools for the gifted, specialized schools only. Normal schools must also take good care of discovering excellent students to foster and create conditions for them to achieve high academic achievements.

In addition to the school sector, talents appearing in the fields of science, technology, engineering, production, and management play a very important role in the national talents; in which, the most notable source of talents are those who were not so prominent when they were are at school, but later at work, in life, and production, they show special abilities. The most obvious sign is that their work makes an obvious impact on society, creating a major turning point in the field where they operate. There are many cases where the talented individuals are the biggest driving force for development, even influencing the areas of training and research, changing the knowledge and principles that have been considered classics. In this regard, it is necessary to apply Ho Chi Minh’s viewpoints that respecting and creating all the needed conditions for outstanding individuals to appear in their field of expertise, overcoming narrow-mindedness, envy, bureaucracy, and omitting the practical values that talented individuals bring about. National talent guidelines, policies, and strategies, including specific regulations and processes in discovering, fostering, and using talents, will be effective solutions to develop Vietnamese talents.

5. It is necessary to understand, trust and create the best conditions for talented people to make contributions

To properly use talented people, leaders must put themselves in the position of talent, thereby understanding what they have to do with the issue of talent. Talented people always want to be thoroughly understood by their superiors. If you feel that your superiors understand you correctly, then talented people will be dedicated and devoted to their work. Remember how touched General Nguyen Binh was when he was assigned by President Ho Chi Minh to command the South Vietnamese army in the early stages of the resistance war against the French colonialists. A leader’s trust is the greatest reward for talent.

Due to the high focus on important work, talented people may have shortcomings in their personal lifestyle and behaviour, some talented people are considered arrogant by everyone. However, it should be considered as “excessive” self-confidence and should still be recognized, as well as creating conditions for them to contribute and adjust their behavior.

Besides being properly understood and trusted, being provided good conditions to work and contribute, remuneration is also an issue sought out by talents. Leaders need to consider meritorious treatment of talented people as a very necessary task, including both material and spiritual. This is because it not only provides conditions and relieves anxieties for talented people to focus on completing tasks, but also confirms the trust and correct evaluation of their personal capabilities.

_________________

Received: February 1, 2023; Revised: February 27, 2023; Approved for publication: March 22, 2023.

Endnotes:

(1), (2) Ho Chi Minh: The Complete Works, vol.11, National Political Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011, p.399, 607.

(3) Ho Chi Minh: The Complete Works, vol.6, ibid, p.360.

(4) Ho Chi Minh: The Complete Works, vol.12, ibid, p.269.

(5) Ho Chi Minh: The Complete Works, vol.4, ibid, p.504.