My father and journalism

That year, while teaching, my mother faced persecution from her superiors and colleagues just because she fought against corruption in her role as the President of the school's Union. A teacher who taught well at the provincial level was suddenly sent to teach far away, was "criticized", and shunned...

My father then went to the authorities to knock on their doors and “call for help”. A literary friend “tipped off” that the Vietnam Law Newspaper was a highly militant newspaper that did not ignore social injustice, so my father went to the newspaper’s representative office at that time located on Tran Dinh Xu Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The journalist who received my father at that time was Nguyen Bich Loan, who, after listening to and reviewing the case file, sent a reporter to verify. The article reflecting the injustice my mother was facing was published with truthful information and valid arguments. Thanks to that, those who did wrong had to look back at themselves, and everything changed for the better for my mother and my family.

From that story, a new opportunity opened up. My father was a dentist but loved literature, often wrote poetry, wrote prose, and participated in local literary and artistic associations. After the incident, he was so moved by the newspaper that he subscribed to the Vietnam Law Newspaper to read and spread it to everyone. After reading the newspaper a lot, he suddenly discovered that... he also had the ability to write articles. My father became a contributor to the Vietnam Law Newspaper, starting with local literary and artistic news.

In 2000, the Vietnam Law Newspaper organized the first writing contest “Glorious Judicial Examples” under the direction of the Ministry of Justice . The contest aimed to discover shining examples of law compliance and active contributions to the community. The character my father chose to write about was Ms. Lam Hong Nhan, a former prisoner of Con Dao with a courageous life of revolutionary activities. In peacetime, despite her advanced age, she was still active in the locality, such as donating land to build schools, participating in the education promotion association, and serving as President of the Women's Union... Throughout her career, she helped many children go to school, many women find jobs, and reconcile and heal many families on the brink of collapse... She received many medals and certificates of merit, including a certificate of merit from the Minister of Justice.

Such an outstanding figure has not been honored by any newspaper article. I still remember, when my father went to write articles, he seemed to have "played the role" of a real journalist. My father bought a camera, went to collect information, took pictures. Interviewed characters, interviewed local leaders... My father's clinic was very crowded at that time, so he could only write at night. At that time, there were no computers, so he had to write by hand, every time he wrote a paragraph, he would read it out loud for the whole family to hear. My mother gave comments, then my father edited and erased... In my memory, that scene was so beautiful and warm.

All his efforts were duly rewarded when my father received the news that his discovery article had won the Second Prize of the “Judicial Mirror” Contest. My father was able to go to Hanoi to receive the award, meet and talk with the Minister of Justice Uong Chu Luu, interact with many veteran journalists, and learn a lot.

It was a proud highlight in the life of my father, a dentist who was successful in medicine but fell in love with writing. The Certificate of Merit from the contest was hung solemnly in the clinic, right behind where my father worked. For many months and years after, my father still told his friends and patients about that honorable award. The memory of the trip to Hanoi to receive the "Exemplary Judicial Award" is one of my father's sweetest memories.

With all that I had witnessed in my family, when I was growing up, journalism was something noble and admirable, and dreams began to form in my mind as a young student. That was also the reason why I chose to take the entrance exam to the Faculty of Literature and Journalism of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City. After graduating, although I had the opportunity to work for many newspapers, I still applied to work for the Vietnam Law Newspaper.

Vietnam Law Newspaper, where I learned my first lessons in journalism: How to write a standard news story, how to take a press photo, how to write notes, reports, how to interview characters, how to listen to people's voices... In 2010, Vietnam Law Newspaper re-organized the "Judicial Mirror" writing contest, I participated and coincidentally, also won second prize with an article about a programmer with many breakthrough initiatives of the Department of Justice of Binh Duong province. My father was very proud at that time that "the son followed in his father's footsteps", he also had the opportunity to once again recall happy memories with the newspaper that he always held in his heart.

Now, my father has passed away. The Certificate of Merit that the Newspaper gave him years ago is still carefully kept by the family next to his precious relics. During his lifetime, my father loved literature and was passionate about writing, but when faced with a choice, he always chose the job of dentist. It was a practical choice, because he wanted my family to be well-off, wanted his children to grow up with the best economic conditions, because “journalism is wonderful but… very poor”.

My father's dream of becoming a journalist had to be buried deep in his heart due to circumstances, but fortunately I was able to continue his unfinished dream. When my father was alive, having a daughter who was a journalist, working at the Vietnam Law Newspaper, was always a great source of pride for him.

In this vast world, there are many talented people who have achieved great things. The story of my father and I is just a drop of water in the vast ocean. However, I believe that this story still has some meaning. A color to add to the vivid picture of journalism, an interesting little story in the history of many achievements of the Vietnam Law Newspaper.

… Fate is something very strange, difficult to explain. 25 years ago, my fate with journalism was sown from a family incident. For 15 years I have worked at the Vietnam Law Newspaper, always trying to improve my skills, determined not to let any temptation bend my pen. I cannot disappoint my father in heaven. I also cannot let down journalism, let down the newspaper that my father and I both love.

Ngoc Mai

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/cha-toi-va-nghe-bao-post552480.html