Letter urging President Truong Tan Sang to help save student Nguyen Phuong Uyen arrested by the Police

help2Ho Chi Minh City, October 20th, 2012 

Letter Seeking Urgent Help 
To: The President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Mr Truong Tan Sang 
First of all we send our greetings and wishes of good health to you.
We are the students of The University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh City – Address: 140A Le Trong Tan, District Tan Phu, HCM City.
We are writing this letter to request your help in releasing our friend Nguyen Phuong Uyen who is from Ham Thuan Bac, Binh Thuan and is a board member of the Youth Commitee – Class 10CDTP1. 
At 11 am on the 14th October 2012, our friend Nguyen Phuong Uyen was arrested by a group of about 10 policemen from Ward Tay Thanh and from District Tan Phu. They took her away and said they needed her to clarify a few things about the leaflets she posted against the invading China. But until now she had not come home. Her parents and paternal grandmother had come to the police office of Ward Tay Thanh and of District Tan Phu to ask for her release but the police denied having arrested her. At the present time, her parents are gravely concerned for her safety. They are both hard-working, honest peasants, and are very poor. Her father, Mr. Nguyen Duy Linh, has used up all the money the family had to go knocking door to door asking for help from all government departments, but his pleas were not answered. Her mother has cried so much from missing her.
We beg you, Mr. President Truong Tan Sang, to please speak up to help her and her family. Nguyen Phuong Uyen is a good person; she is well loved by all of her friends and teachers. She was always the first to join in different charity events organized by the school. We beg you please to pity the difficult situation her family is in, consider the feelings of a father and a mother of a missing child, and to intervene with the police so she can be released immediately.
Regarding what Phuong Uyen did (posting the leaflets against Chinese invasion), it was all motivated by the patriotic love of a youngster. Being young, one would always display a clear and straightforward mind and attitude, albeit sometimes a bit hastily, always wanting to test oneself and so at times suffering certain falls in life. However, despite whichever way it was portrayed, we always believe that deep down inside, Phuong Uyen carried the essence of what you had once given to us and to our people, on the National Day, September 2nd, 2012: “We have to feel shameful to our ancestors, our national heroes regarding our weaknesses, our faults that had prevented us from the progressing as a nation. Feeling ashamed is not to feel weak, not to lose our determination but to try twice, three times harder, to continue marching forwards with confidence, with traditional pride to build prosperity and longevity of our nation.” 
The reason we write to you is because we believe that only you can help our friend. We had read on the newspapers and on the webpages of different government departments, recounting the meeting between you and the voters of District 4 HCM City. You had spoken so simply, yet so profoundly that we students were deeply touched when hearing how determined you were to be against the complicated issues of our society; these days major corruption has been and is still very much present in the few government officials with poor Revolutionist ethics. It is very fortunate for the people of Vietnam that there are still many officials in the governing body, like you, who are working hard to uphold justice and righteousness. We read what you said on the news:
“When retiring to my hometown, I will give back the state house to the Communist Party. It is only a small house, 51 m square, when I retire I will definitely not take an inch of public land”, “Today I am determined to make such announcement.” 
“The people have given me a task so I have to complete it, if I feel that I cannot do so then I should withdraw (from government).” 
“If we are too weak to do it then we should send in a request for retirement to the Party, we should then withdraw to allow more courageous people to step up to do the work.” 
We truly admire you a lot, a leader who has responsibility towards the people. What you said was worthy for us to follow. With such intergrity, charity, and patriotism, please intervene urgently to help our friend Nguyen Phuong Uyen so that she can be quickly released back to her family, classmates and teachers. She is in her final year of study, so her school work is very important for her future. We, all the students and family, miss Uyen a lot. We look forwards to receiving your help.
Lastly, we wish you good health always so that you can continue your work against corruption and to bring what is best to our people and our nation.
Students of the University of Food Industry, Ho Chi Minh City.
Students of the Class 10 of the Department of Food Industry.
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