That question immediately created much debate. Some opinions suggest that this is too broad an issue, beyond the scope of a student's essay. But if viewed from a broader perspective, this is not just a question for an exam. This is a question that any nation that wants to rise up must face: How to create people with sufficient capacity to lead development?
It is noteworthy that this question is not unfamiliar to the nation's history.
Nearly 600 years ago, famous scholar Than Nhan Trung carved on the first doctoral stele at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam a few words: "Talented people are the vitality of the nation".
After many centuries, the question in today's Literature exam questions actually returns to an old issue: How can a nation produce outstanding people?
The only difference is that, in the past, talents were expected to help the country build and defend the country. But today, talents need to create knowledge, technology and new values in a globally competitive world.
Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk are not just wealthy or famous individuals. What makes their stature is their ability to create products, technologies and changes that have influence beyond national borders. But behind each outstanding individual is never just personal talent.
Behind Steve Jobs is an ecosystem that encourages creativity. Behind the world's leading technology companies are education focused on independent thinking, investment capital for new ideas, and an environment that allows people to experiment, fail, and redo.
A society cannot expect to have great creators if it is afraid of different thoughts. A country cannot expect to have breakthroughs if it only encourages safety, promotes working according to patterns and values qualifications more than practical ability. Because creativity always starts with the question: "Why not?".
Looking back at history, successful countries are often countries that know how to change as times change. Japan in the Meiji Restoration chose to learn science, technology and modern organizational methods to quickly rise up. South Korea, from a poor post-war country, invested heavily in education, science and industry to become a developed economy. Their common point is recognizing that people are the decisive resource.
Today, competition between countries is no longer just about resources or territorial area. It is a competition for knowledge, technology, innovation capacity and the quality of human resources.
If the 19th century was the era of steam engines and industrialization, then the 21st century is the era of artificial intelligence, big data and core technology. Vietnam is facing a great opportunity, but also a great challenge. We have a dynamic young generation, capable of quickly accessing world knowledge. But to turn potential into real strength, it is important to build an environment that nurtures creativity.
The question "how to have the Steve Jobs of Vietnam" should therefore not be simply understood as waiting for a genius to appear. It is a question about how we educate children today. It is a question about whether society encourages young people to pursue new ideas or not. It is a question about whether we accept people who dare to be different from the majority.
And more broadly, it is the question of how a country prepares for the future.
The lines "Talents are the vitality of the nation" at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam are also a reminder of the responsibility of each era: to know how to find, train and value people who are capable of bringing the country forward. A strong nation is not only because it has many resources, but because there are people who know how to turn knowledge into strength. A nation that wants to go far cannot just look at the achievements of the past, but must continuously create new values for the future.
The question today is not whether Vietnam can have Steve Jobs or not. The more important question is: Can we build an environment for such people to have the opportunity to appear? Because history always belongs to countries that know how to prepare for a new era before that era comes.
