By KTT | Aug 26, 2015
Opposition against massive constructions of memorials to late President Ho Chi Minh has been on the rise among Vietnamese people, mostly intellectuals in the context the country’s budget is tight, not adequate for recent hikes in salaries for laborforce.
A group of some 140 intellectuals, religious figures and activists signed an online petition urging the communist authorities to cancel a plan for 14 large and costly monuments dedicated to late President Ho Chi Minh, who is revered by the party as the father of the nation.
The move comes as Vietnam prepares to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Independence Day on Sept 2, when Ho Chi Minh declared national independence.
“We – Vietnamese civilians and independent civil society organizations who sign the petition seriously require the state to urgently cancel those Ho Chi Minh statue projects, bearing in mind the nation’s limited budget and the risk of increasing the deficit and provoking more social insecurity,” showed the petition.
The signatories include Dr Nguyen Quang A from the Civil Society Forum, Pham Chi Dung from the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vietnam, Chu Hao who serves as Director of the Tri Thuc Publishing House, and the Catholic Bishop Paul Nguyen Thai Hop who heads the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of the Vietnamese bishops.
They say the new monuments will cost from hundreds of billions of dong to thousands of billions of dong each, and will be funded by the tax payer. The country is under public debt burden worth $110 billion.
The costly projects “not only stand in total contrast to the conditions of extreme poverty of people but create lucrative chances for greedy officials to embezzle public funds. This is an unforgivable crime,” said the petition.
Ho Chi Minh is revered as something of an austere holy man by the Communist Party of Vietnam and people are encouraged to study and follow his moral leadership. The Ho cult has been stepped up in recent years with more and more statues being approved across the country.
Controversy flared earlier this month when officials in the impoverished northwestern province of Son La approved a VND1.4-trillion ($64 million) project to build a Ho Chi Minh statue and complex, including a square and a lake.
Local experts said that the government should build public facilities such as health care centers and schools to improve people’s lives rather than waste much money building Uncle Ho statues.
In fact, people no longer believe in the Communist Party and meaningless cement statues.
Statistics by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed that the number of buildings and statues dedicated to the late president hit more than 300, including the biggest located in Hanoi—Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Each construction takes up dozens of hectares in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide.
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August 26, 2015
Vietnam Intellectuals Protest Massive Constructions of Ho Chi Minh Statues
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
By KTT | Aug 26, 2015
Opposition against massive constructions of memorials to late President Ho Chi Minh has been on the rise among Vietnamese people, mostly intellectuals in the context the country’s budget is tight, not adequate for recent hikes in salaries for laborforce.
A group of some 140 intellectuals, religious figures and activists signed an online petition urging the communist authorities to cancel a plan for 14 large and costly monuments dedicated to late President Ho Chi Minh, who is revered by the party as the father of the nation.
The move comes as Vietnam prepares to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Independence Day on Sept 2, when Ho Chi Minh declared national independence.
“We – Vietnamese civilians and independent civil society organizations who sign the petition seriously require the state to urgently cancel those Ho Chi Minh statue projects, bearing in mind the nation’s limited budget and the risk of increasing the deficit and provoking more social insecurity,” showed the petition.
The signatories include Dr Nguyen Quang A from the Civil Society Forum, Pham Chi Dung from the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vietnam, Chu Hao who serves as Director of the Tri Thuc Publishing House, and the Catholic Bishop Paul Nguyen Thai Hop who heads the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace of the Vietnamese bishops.
They say the new monuments will cost from hundreds of billions of dong to thousands of billions of dong each, and will be funded by the tax payer. The country is under public debt burden worth $110 billion.
The costly projects “not only stand in total contrast to the conditions of extreme poverty of people but create lucrative chances for greedy officials to embezzle public funds. This is an unforgivable crime,” said the petition.
Ho Chi Minh is revered as something of an austere holy man by the Communist Party of Vietnam and people are encouraged to study and follow his moral leadership. The Ho cult has been stepped up in recent years with more and more statues being approved across the country.
Controversy flared earlier this month when officials in the impoverished northwestern province of Son La approved a VND1.4-trillion ($64 million) project to build a Ho Chi Minh statue and complex, including a square and a lake.
Local experts said that the government should build public facilities such as health care centers and schools to improve people’s lives rather than waste much money building Uncle Ho statues.
In fact, people no longer believe in the Communist Party and meaningless cement statues.
Statistics by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed that the number of buildings and statues dedicated to the late president hit more than 300, including the biggest located in Hanoi—Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. Each construction takes up dozens of hectares in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide.