That is a passage in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 of the United States that President Ho Chi Minh included in the Declaration of Independence read at Ba Dinh Square on September 2, 1945, the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Happiness is a value belonging to human rights, of natural origin. But at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the French colonialists invaded Vietnam, turning our nation into a nation that lost its country. History set an objective requirement to find a path to liberate the nation, liberate the class, liberate people, and build a new society without oppression, exploitation, and injustice. Or in the simple and easy-to-understand way of President Ho Chi Minh, wanting to own and realize happiness is not naturally obtained, but must be through "the pursuit of happiness", implementing the revolutionary struggle "to reclaim unity and independence for the Fatherland, freedom and happiness for the People".
In the first meeting of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, September 3, 1945 - just one day after President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence, 6 urgent tasks were outlined. The first task is to eliminate the hunger evil, "how can we make the people prosper?". The second task is to launch a campaign to eliminate the illiteracy evil, because "a stupid nation is a weak nation". The third is to "organize general elections with universal suffrage as soon as possible". The fourth is "to re-educate our people" so that all people enjoy the freedom of an independent Vietnam. The fifth is to abolish unreasonable taxes. The sixth is to issue a declaration of freedom of belief and religious unity, gathering a large number of dignitaries and followers of religions wholeheartedly devoted to the cause of national salvation and construction".
President Ho Chi Minh clearly stated some points in the letter sent to the People's Committees of provinces, districts and villages (October 17, 1945): "Today, we have built a Democratic Republic of Vietnam. But if the country is independent but the people do not enjoy freedom and happiness, then independence has no meaning.
At the first meeting of the Committee for Research on Planning for National Construction (January 10, 1946), He explained: "We have fought for freedom and independence, but if the people just die of hunger and cold, then freedom and independence will do nothing. The people only know the value of freedom and independence when they are fed and dressed enough".
Saying "Freedom" and "Happiness" refers to people who enjoy full material and spiritual life cared for by the Government and each person who knows how to seek legitimate pursuits. "Freedom" and "Happiness" are the most basic, minimum in President Ho Chi Minh's words is "everyone has food and clothing, everyone is educated"; people from places where they eat, wear, and are educated to places where they eat well, dress beautifully, have a prosperous and dedicated life...
Happiness and freedom of the People are one of the strategic goals in the Party's revolutionary line, expressed throughout from the First Political Platform (1930) to the Platform for building the country in the transitional period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011). This is also one of the important tasks of the process of going up to socialism, all levels of government not only care for people, bringing a prosperous material life to the people, but also creating all conditions for people to develop comprehensively, to work, to contribute and to enjoy the fruits of their labor. That is the great meaning of a prosperous, free, and happy life for each citizen.
The journey to freedom and happiness for the people and the nation is a long, arduous journey but also recognized by great milestones. That is the Dien Bien Phu Victory "famous in five continents, shaking the globe" in 1954, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign to be completely victorious, the country to return to one strip with the Great Victory of Spring 1975 reunifying the country, the journey of renovation since the 6th Party Congress in 1986 to now, it has been 40 years...
The slogan "Independence - Freedom - Happiness" written under the Vietnamese National Name for more than 80 years has not changed the content and presentation form: Connecting 3 words that cannot be separated, as conditions and purposes of each other. It is both a goal and a task, the rights of "all Vietnamese compatriots, regardless of gender, old or young, rich or poor, religion or race, to unite to maintain independence and seek free happiness".
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Each period of history, the people's aspirations for happiness are different. If in the early days of the country's establishment, the concept of people's happiness was simply "food and clothing" fully, then when society developed more, the aspirations for happiness were also expressed in the people's right to mastery.
From the 13th National Party Congress, the phrase "happiness" appeared with high frequency, expressed in all contents of the Document. Happiness and prosperity of the People are the goals of the Party and the entire political system. When determining the overall goal, the 13th Party Congress Document affirms "Promoting the aspiration to develop a prosperous and happy country, promoting the will and strength of national unity combined with the strength of the times".
At the 14th National Congress, the Party's viewpoint once again affirmed the consistency and determination in development orientation: "All guidelines and policies of the Party and State must truly originate from the needs, aspirations, legitimate rights and interests of the People; taking the happiness and satisfaction of the People as a measure and striving goal".
General Secretary To Lam in his speeches, repeatedly mentioned the goal of happiness for the People. Immediately after being elected as General Secretary of the Party Central Committee on August 3, 2024, General Secretary To Lam emphasized the persistence and application, creative development of Marxism-Leninism, Ho Chi Minh's ideology, the goal of national independence, socialism and the Party's renovation guidelines; ensuring the highest national and ethnic interests; wholeheartedly serving the Fatherland, serving the People, taking the happiness of the People as joy and meaning of life; fully and deeply caring for the people's lives.
At the session on November 25, 2025 of the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly on the policy of investing in 2 important programs, the National Target Program on modernization and improving the quality of education and training in the 2026-2035 period and the program "National Target on health care", "population and development in the 2026-2035 period", General Secretary To Lam stated the reality that the current National Target Programs have too many goals, leading to overlap, spreading, and dispersing resources, and it is not clear who will be in charge of completing the goals, the General Secretary suggested that in this National Target Program, clear goals must be set. For example, with the health sector, it is necessary to clearly state what specific results have been achieved in examining and taking care of people's health in the 2025-2030 period. In which, it is necessary to focus on primary health care, putting preventive medicine work first; setting a goal of definitively eliminating infectious diseases in the next 5 years, such as tuberculosis and malaria...
The General Secretary also proposed to fundamentally solve diseases; radically solve non-communicable diseases by controlling the environment, air, drinking water and especially food safety and hygiene. If these problems are not solved, building more hospitals or training more doctors will not fundamentally solve the problem.
General Secretary To Lam also mentioned solutions to implement the goals of investing in infrastructure, hospitals, and medical equipment. For the team of doctors and medical staff, it is necessary to standardize professional qualifications, improve medical ethics and strictly handle individuals who damage prestige and affect the team of doctors in general.
Regarding the policy of investing in the National Target Program for modernization and improving the quality of education and training in the period 2026 - 2035, General Secretary To Lam mentioned the current inadequacies in teacher staffing, arranging school sites and investing in school facilities... From there, he requested to proactively staff teachers according to regulations on the number of students/class (20 - 25 students) instead of "asking" staff. Mentioning the reality that in many highland communes there are only 5-6 students but there is still one school site with enough teachers and facilities, causing waste. Therefore, the General Secretary requested agencies to calculate to gather students to schools that meet standards, even rent vehicles to pick up and drop off students will be more effective than maintaining many small school sites.
General Secretary To Lam also set out requirements for standardizing the facilities of the school system, especially prioritizing the solidification of schools in 248 border communes. Emphasizing that schools must meet the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training, ensuring comprehensive student education, for example, mountainous students also need to learn to swim to prevent drowning during rain and floods, need to have swimming pools in schools and must have foreign language and informatics classrooms.
General Secretary To Lam especially noted that it is necessary to change the view of the concept of the national target program on health or education, but it is not a private matter of each ministry and sector, but must be the effort of the whole society to join hands in implementing and deploying synchronously to bring practical efficiency to the people.
It can be said that General Secretary To Lam's direction is also a specific requirement to concretize the conditions to bring more happiness to the people.
The Politburo has also issued many strategic Resolutions taking the people as the center, taking the happiness of the People as a measure to evaluate effectiveness. These are Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW on breakthrough development of education and training focusing on innovating thinking, mechanisms, and policies to improve quality, towards the goal of bringing Vietnamese education to advanced regional level by 2030; Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW "On some breakthrough solutions, strengthening the protection, care and improvement of people's health"; Resolution 80-NQ/TW on developing Vietnamese culture...
These are Resolutions associated with people's enjoyment rights: The right to access knowledge and learning; the right to health assurance and the right to absorb cultural and spiritual values.
A typical event is the lightning-fast construction of schools in land border areas, creating a knowledge fence for children and people in the border areas of the Fatherland.
On March 19, one day before International Happiness Day (March 20), the groundbreaking ceremony and groundbreaking simultaneously took place at 121 inter-level boarding schools, corresponding to 121 land border communes in 17 border provinces and cities.
Speaking at the central bridge point located at Dong Dang Primary and Secondary Boarding School, Dong Dang commune, Lang Son province, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that in all stages of the Revolution, the Party and State always paid much attention and investment to the development of education and training in the border region.
Schools are not only places to teach and learn, but must truly become a warm "second home" for children; ensuring good conditions for eating, living, living, hygiene and food safety so that parents are assured when entrusting their children" - General Secretary To Lam said.
The construction of schools in the land border area is a clear proof of the Party's consistent viewpoint: All policies and decisions must be directed towards the people, taking the people as the center, and taking the satisfaction and happiness of the people as a measure.
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Resolution of the 14th Party Congress has put forward many contents related to caring for the happiness of the People in the period 2026 - 2030. Regarding society, the Resolution sets out targets: Human Development Index (HDI) strives to reach about 0.8; average life expectancy from birth to about 75.5 years old, of which healthy life expectancy reaches at least 68 years; the proportion of agricultural labor in total social labor decreases to below 20%; the proportion of trained labor with degrees and certificates reaches 35 - 40%. The poverty rate (according to the multidimensional poverty standard for the period 2026 - 2030) maintains a decrease of 1 - 1.5 percentage points/year. Strive to belong to the group of 40 countries with the highest happiness index.
Regarding the direction of national development in the period 2026 - 2030, the Resolution of the 14th Party Congress also clearly stated "Continuing to strongly innovate thinking, promote strategic breakthroughs, build a new development ecosystem, ensure the view of taking development for stability, stability for promoting development and constantly improving people's lives and happiness; focus on comprehensively and synchronously completing the rapid and sustainable development of the country, in which the political system is key, the economic system is the focus, and other institutions are important".
It can be said that happiness is not the destination, but the whole journey. Every citizen today is inheriting the happiness of an independent, free, peaceful and stable country. That is the foundation for each citizen to continue to seek happiness at a higher level in the country's development process, with the aspiration for prosperity and wealth.
