Spending 50 years of his life collecting documents about Uncle Ho
To this day, the house of Mr. Lam Xuan Quang and his wife still contains a large number of pictures, books, and newspapers about Uncle Ho. For Mr. Quang, this is a priceless asset of his life. Every day, the 70-year-old man still quietly cherishes and preserves these sacred relics.
Joining the army at the age of 14, Mr. Quang fought for 5 years in the Southeast battlefield. In the spring of 1969, Mr. Quang had the opportunity to hear Uncle Ho's New Year greetings on the radio. "Uncle Ho's warm and sacred words naturally urged me to do something to show my respect for Uncle Ho," Mr. Quang recalled. And that was also the fate that led him to his passion for collecting documents about Uncle Ho.
He said that during those days, whenever he heard about Uncle Ho, he was there. “Whenever I heard about Uncle Ho on TV, I immediately wrote it down or picked up an article in the warehouse that mentioned Uncle Ho… I kept it all. To me, those were all valuable documents,” Mr. Quang said.
Every time he tells a story about Uncle Ho, Mr. Quang always expresses his gratitude, respect and admiration. For Mr. Quang, each of his teachings is like a compass guiding his life's ideology. "Uncle always teaches us to be "Diligent, thrifty, honest, upright, impartial and selfless". That is the foundation of a new life, the central quality of revolutionary ethics in Ho Chi Minh's moral ideology that I always study and follow", Mr. Quang expressed.
Holding old calendars in his hands, Mr. Quang said: “To learn how to save money as he taught, I used old calendar papers to write down the good sayings that I collected”. And gradually, after 50 years, Mr. Quang has realized his dream, creating a “Ho Chi Minh Space” right in his own house. A place to recreate the historical journey of the nation associated with the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh. He collected all the documents from many sources, mainly through books and newspapers and through his own experiences.
After 50 years of nurturing the idea and collecting documents, in 2018, after renovating the house he was living in, he decided to dedicate a floor to create a personal "museum" about President Ho Chi Minh. "It took me 6 months to build a space containing all the documents and images about Uncle Ho that I had spent so much time collecting, mainly with the desire to convey Uncle Ho's legacy, thoughts, and life to many people" - Mr. Quang confided.
Wish to spread Uncle Ho's legacy to the community
The wish is personal, but the result is for the community. Instead of opening only on special occasions, the personal museum about Uncle Ho is open to the public. Even to keep the stories about President Ho Chi Minh alive and fresh in the space about him, Mr. Quang spends all the time he can to read about Uncle Ho and practice right away.
The reunion between two generations in a special space is the destination that veteran Lam Xuan Quang desired when creating “Ho Chi Minh Space”. Because only when the young generation has the right approach to Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and style, will they perceive correctly and follow Uncle Ho as a natural course of action.
“The radio that played Uncle Ho’s poem that I heard at that time is now the most favorite artifact of my grandchild. So, the love for Uncle Ho was passed down and learning from him was a natural thing in my family,” said Mr. Quang.
At the age of 70, Mr. Quang always wishes to build a "Ho Chi Minh Space" in Ho Chi Minh City - a place to preserve the heritage, life, thoughts and achievements of Uncle Ho.
“I have always cherished this idea throughout my life of learning about Uncle Ho. In that space, we can apply 4D technology to fully recreate images and documents about Uncle Ho. From there, not only the young generation but also international friends who want to learn about him will also have a realistic and vivid image,” Mr. Quang shared.
