BTO – These days, “every inch of land is an inch of gold.” In the countryside, it is very common for farmers to compete over every inch of land. Many people quarrel and even come to blows over encroachment. Land disputes even drive fathers and sons, brothers and sisters to sue one another in court, after which their family ties are as good as severed. In some families, kin turn on kin, with siblings attacking one another over a rice field, a garden plot or other valuable property their parents left behind. In recent years, with little land and many people, land prices have soared. Many people work their whole lives and still cannot afford a plot to build a house, so they resign themselves to living in rented rooms year after year. Their wages are meager, yet every month they must set aside millions of dong for rent. The saying “every inch of land is an inch of gold” is becoming truer by the day, both literally and figuratively.

And yet there are still many people willing to give away the land they own to build schools or sports fields for their commune.

I have been a teacher at Phước Lý Secondary School for many years. I deeply admire the hearts of gold of many local people. Mr. Phan Văn Nghị used to work at the Saigon Tobacco Factory. He has spent billions of dong building schools and repairing roads, giving our commune a fresher face year by year. Though retired, Mr. Ba Nghị still regularly gives money and effort to charitable and social causes.

Phú Thành hamlet in Phước Lý commune used to have no kindergarten. Seeing this, Mr. Nguyễn Văn Thành and Ms. Nguyễn Thị Điệp, both from families of fallen soldiers, volunteered to donate land, and Mr. Ba Nghị put up several hundred million dong to build a spacious kindergarten so the little ones would have a place to learn and play. What is remarkable is that both Mr. Thành and Ms. Điệp still live in difficult circumstances. Had they sold the land instead of donating it, each would have received more than 10 taels of gold. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Thành said: “If I sold the land, the money would be spent and gone. Donating land to build a school leaves a good name behind.”

Truly, the three hearts of gold of Mr. Ba Nghị, Mr. Thành and Ms. Điệp deserve the deepest respect; they will always be a shining example for many people to follow.

From now on, whenever people pass by or mention Phú Thành Kindergarten, they will surely remember them with the utmost respect. May those who live materialistic lives, valuing money above kindness and decency, learn from their way of living for others: people who always live for and give their all to society.

NGUYỄN THANH DŨNG