National cultural rendezvous
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Member who is a National Assembly Deputy working full-time at the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society - said that the greatest value of the plan is not in adding another anniversary day in the year but in a new approach to culture. Instead of seeing culture as a field that needs to be cared for and supported, the plan sets out the requirement to unlock, organize and promote cultural resources to serve development.
He said that for many years, culture has always been mentioned as the "soul of the nation", the soft power of the nation. However, for culture to truly become a driving force for development, those values need to be transformed into specific action programs, going into social life and directly impacting people.
“Vietnamese Culture Day, therefore, should not be simply understood as adding another anniversary in the annual calendar. This must be a national cultural rendezvous; an opportunity for each Vietnamese person to look back at themselves in the flow of history, in the way of life, language, customs, heritage, lifestyle, morality, aspirations and civic responsibility” - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son analyzed.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son, the important thing is not to bring traditional activities intact online, but to retell the story of Vietnamese culture in the language of the times, both close to the young public and maintaining depth and identity.
To make November 24th truly come into life
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son said that the biggest challenge for Vietnam Culture Day is how to make November 24th not become a ritual or short-term movement. The vitality of a cultural day is not determined by the scale of the stage or the number of programs organized, but lies in the level of participation of people and the positive values it creates in community life.
A cultural day is only meaningful when people see themselves in it, participate in it and are proud of it. If Vietnam Culture Day only stops at rallies, slogans, reports, and illustrative performances, it is very difficult to create long-term vitality. Culture is born from life, nurtured in life and only is sustainable when it returns to serving life" - he said.
From that perspective, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son proposed that it is necessary to grant more proactive rights to localities, schools, residential areas and communities in organizing response activities. These can be very close programs such as book reading festivals, heritage experience spaces, local historical storytelling, gratitude to artisans or digital content creation contests about culture.
He also emphasized that promoting cultural values needs to be linked to tourism development, cultural industry and creative economy. However, exploiting culture for economic development does not mean commercializing at all costs. Heritage only truly becomes a resource when properly preserved, the community benefits and cultural identity is preserved.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son affirmed that the ultimate goal of Vietnam Culture Day is not only to honor the past but also to contribute to building values of behavior in modern life.
Cultural pride is not only pride in the past, but also living more decently today: Civilized behavior in public places, preserving Vietnamese, respecting heritage, protecting the environment, building happy families, nurturing compassion. When culture becomes a daily way of life, November 24th will truly have a spreading power" - he expressed his opinion.
When Vietnam Culture Day becomes a festival of the people, of pride and responsibility, culture will no longer stand on the sidelines of development but truly become an endogenetic source of strength for the country in the new period.
