District 5 is located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh city and associated with the formation and development of Chợ Lớn and the 300-year history of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh city. Over the years, with the effort by the Party Organization, authority and people in the area, the district has achieved a comprehensive development in the socio-economic, cultural, defence, and security fields. Since 2018, there has been no poor household in the district and it has reached the targets two years earlier than the deadline set by the city. As the district is the city’s commercial and service hub, it attracts a larger number of people from our country and others. As a result, in addition to advantages, the district faces the risks of political and social instability as well as the complex developments of crime and social evils. Moreover, as Chinese people make up 35% of the district’s population, it is particularly difficult to encourage this group of people to follow and implement the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy on national defence and security. Against that backdrop, the District Military Command (DMC) has proactively cooperated with committees and sectors in advising the District’s Party Committee and People’s Committee on various measures for directing and performing the military-defence task properly. In this regard, the work of defence and security education has gained notable achievements which have contributed to consolidating defence and security, maintaining political security and social safety, and facilitating the district’s rapid, sustainable development.

Col. Phan Van Tien addressing the conference to review the defence-security education work

First of all, the district has enhanced the all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and direction, the entire political system and people’s synergy, and the DMC’s core role in counselling, inspecting, and guiding the performance of the defence-security work. The DMC has heightened its role as the Standing Agency of the District’s Council for Defence and Security Education and proactively cooperated with committees and sectors in advising the District’s Party Committee and People’s Committee on grasping and executing the 10^th Politburo’s Directive 12-CT/TW, the Law on Defence and Security Education, and plans and guiding documents by the Municipal Council for Defence and Security Education as well as on developing and promulgating many directives and guiding documents on this work. Doing so has helped achieve unity in the all-level party committees and authorities’ leadership and direction as well as raise cadres, party members, and the people’s awareness towards the defence-security education work. The district’s party committees, authorities, sectors, and unions have strengthened their leadership and direction over the performance of the defence-security education work in accordance with their areas’ particularities. Notably, the district has paid due attention to consolidating the Councils for Defence and Security Education at all levels and using the results of defence-security education as a criterion for cadre appointment according to the Central Organization Commission’s Regulation 07-QĐ/BTCTW. As a result, it has encouraged the involvement of the entire political system and people, overcome the signs of slackened leadership and direction, and prevented the assignment of the defence-security education work to the military and public security offices only, thereby making a positive change in this work and raising its quality and effectiveness.

Second, the district has diversified defence-security education courses and aligned the defence-security education work with the responsibility of offices, units, and localities. This is an effective measure which has helped promote the proactiveness of sectors and localities to ensure the quality of this work against the increasing number of defence-security education learners. To that end, the DMC has advised the district on frequently reviewing and dispatching cadres from the 3^rd group to attend the courses on defence-security education held by the city and well organizing the courses for cadres from the 4^th group at each level in the area. To achieve the effectiveness in this work, the district has classified groups of learners and organized courses according to sectors, clusters, and areas. For example, the Division of Economics, War Invalids and Social Affairs has been asked to cooperate with the District’s Political Training Centre in providing courses for cadres of private enterprises while the District’s Vietnam Fatherland Front has been required to cooperate with the DMC in organizing courses for prominent individuals within the Chinese community and the Cham community. Moreover, the district has directed clusters of wards to hold courses for the 4^th group of learners who are cadres and party members. In the process, the district has arranged the courses properly according to groups of learners. For instance, educational cadres and teachers would learn on summer vacation while learners from enterprises would study in low season. Doing so has helped increase the number of learners, save the cost, and enable learners to both work and attend their defence-security education course. By adopting active, synchronous measures, since 2009, the district has sent 239 cadres from the 3^rd group to attend courses held by the city and organized 76 courses for 9,236 cadres from the 4^th group, 11 courses for 1,255 business managers, and 42 courses for 4,120 learners from other groups, while directing schools in its areas to provide defence-security education courses for over 380,100 students.

Third, the district has actively updated and renewed the content and form of defence-security education in accord with each group of learners and each area’s particularities. Grounded on the standard program under the Circular 38/2014/TT-BQP by the Ministry of National Defence on defence-security education and higher echelons’ direction, the DMC has advised the District’s Council for Defence and Security Education on supplementing a number of special topics relating to local military-defence task, security, and crime prevention and control. In addition to the standard program, the DMC has counselled the building and supplementation of several special topics, such as private economic sector development, Homeland protection, particularly the defence of seas and islands. As for the key cadres, the district has organized full-time courses and extra-curricular activities, such as visiting the military units moving forward to modernity, the models of combined economic development and defence-security consolidation, and the defensive zone exercises. At the same time, it has directed localities and sectors to flexibly integrate defence-security education into councils’ meetings, people-political-party conferences, refresher courses, defensive zone exercises, and natural disaster prevention and control, search and rescue drills for cadres, party members, and union cadres in the areas. As for students, while actively recruiting, training, and standardizing a contingent of teachers of defence-security education, making investments in equipment and teaching aids, and further holding defence-security education contests, the districts has directed schools to closely combine teaching with field activities, such as visiting museums, historical sites, and military units stationed in the area, hearing war veterans talking about traditions of the country and the Vietnam People’s Army. Doing so has helped students to improve their knowledge, qualities, personality, a sense of discipline, love for their hometown and country, and responsibility for the Homeland construction and defence. Moreover, on a yearly basis, the DMC organizes defence-security education courses for hundreds of young people at conscription ages, who have yet to serve the Military, which contributes to raising citizens’ responsibility for the military service and Homeland protection.

Fourth, importance has been attached to disseminating and providing defence-security knowledge for all people widely and deeply. Notably, the district has disseminated knowledge of defence and security to the Chinese people in its area. The people in this community are closely bonded with one another and always maintain a particular culture. Thus, to raise the quality of the work of defence-security propagation and dissemination, on an annual basis, the district holds one or two courses for prominent, prestige persons of houses and residential areas and trains them to be active communicators. In the district’s area, there are 12 Chinese clubs where the Chinese people organize meetings and maintain their traditional culture. The all-level authorities and the DMC have frequently closely cooperated with these clubs’ boards in propagating and disseminating knowledge of defence and security and launching patriotic emulation movements within the community. Besides, the DMC has directed the local armed forces to combine the implementation of the mass mobilization work, “gratitude” movement, military policy, and patrol operation with the work of encouraging the Chinese community to follow the Party’s guidelines and the State’s law and policy. By taking those active, synchronous measures, the district’s people have promoted the strength of the national great unity block, fostered economic development, and actively taken part in performing the military-defence missions, maintaining security, and building safe, self-management quarters and residential clusters.

The notable achievements in the district 5’s defence and security work have been highly appreciated by the Municipal Council for Defence and Security Education. That has provided a solid foundation for the district to build a firm “posture of people’s hearts and minds” and created a favourable condition for boosting the socio-economic, cultural development, consolidating defence and security, building a civilized, modern city, and meeting the requirements for the Homeland construction and defence.

Col. Phan Van Tien, Standing Member of the District’s Party Committee

Commander of the DMC, Deputy Head of the District’s Council for Defence and Security Education