I will never forget memories of 5 years being secretary to veteran journalist Tran Lam.
(VOVworld) - Journalist Le Truong Kien, a retired VOV staff member was secretary to veteran journalist Tran Lam. Here’s his article about his memories of his boss.
I was secretary to the President of the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission from 1982 until 1987. These five years left me with unforgettable memories.
The followings are some stories about my boss:
As my secretary, you don’t have to quit being a reporter
In 1982 when I was an agriculture reporter for the Voice of Vietnam, myself and other reporters for the Vietnam Television accompanied the President of the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission Tran Lam to Vinh Phu where he attended the provincial Party Congress at which he was chosen to attend the 5th National Party Congress. It was a great honor.
He told us to observe the Congress, interview as many key provincial leaders as possible and conduct field trips to find the “exit” (a common word among senior officials and Tran Lam) from midland-mountain provinces, which was experiencing forestry development. I tried to follow his advice and wrote a series of articles to be broadcast on VOV. Lam then instructed me to shorten my articles to just two parts.
The 5th National Party Congress elected Lam to the Party Central Committee.
An official from the Personnel Department of the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission met me and told me about Lam’s idea of me becoming his secretary. I was happy but worried because I had majored in Chemistry at the University of Technology and did not attend any formal training course in literature or journalism; after nearly 10 years of being employed by VOV, I hadn’t written much so I wondered if I could help as his secretary; I found it a huge task.
I told Lam, he smiled and said: Just be my secretary, you can still be a reporter.
He allowed me from time to time to return to my former work place to accompany other reporters to cover agricultural matters just as before. Whenever he was on a trip abroad (mainly to the Soviet Union), he never forgot to tell me to go and write articles and be back in the office the day after his departure and the day before he returned.
Back in the office, he always brought me gifts, even gifts for my children who were at the same age as his grandchildren. He asked me about my articles and showed me which parts were ok, which parts were not and how to make the issue more relevant. My journalistic thinking really found an “exit” every time after receiving instructions from him.
I was his secretary in a totally different way to any other senior official. He did not travel much and if he had to, he did not need his secretary to accompany him to write down what he said. He prepared all the papers himself, particularly the documents he sent to the Party Central Committee. He said writing was one way of training and that talking was easier than writing. He could talk all day about a topic he liked yet it was interesting for others to hear. Maybe he trained himself since the early days of VOV when the infrastructure was scarce and most of the radio programs were presented “live” by others like him.
When it was about writing, he said it required more concentration and time until the writing was coherent and concise.
Step by step I realized that if I continued what I was doing, I would not fulfill my responsibility as his “secretary” because I could not understand his instructions and the basics of the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission. I talked to him and he allowed me to attend more meetings and accompany him on some trips at home. I felt that my boss made it easier for me to be both secretary and reporter in a more secure way.
The Vietnam Radio and Television Commission was suddenly dissolved and Tran Lam became Editor-in-chief at the Voice of Vietnam. My work as secretary was not much. He sent me back to my former job as a reporter. Each time I wrote a story, I remembered and tried to follow his advice.
Looking for documents to return to the party central committee, salary and bear gall found
As a member of the 5th Party Central Committee and President of the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission, Lam had to process many papers and documents, many of which were highly classified. After each quarter, the Office of the Party Central Committee asked him to return the documents he received for archiving. If any document was missing, the Office kept requesting it until it was returned.
Whenever I received a document, I wrote it down in a notebook and marked it “classified” or “highly classified” before putting it on my boss’s desk. After reading, he kept the conventional documents in his file cabinet or gave them to me to deliver to functional units to process. I was gradually getting used to the work and it was easy for me to retrieve the documents.
After reading the “classified” or “highly classified” documents, he summoned leaders of the functional or relevant agencies to deliver the message and in some cases lent them the documents for further study. This concerned me most because it would be difficult for me to retrieve those documents.
Every month, Lam gave me the key to the filing cabinet in his office to rearrange and supervise the files for me to be prepared in case the Party Office requested any files back.
Once when I was trying to find a document requested by the Party Office, I was surprised to find an envelope with my writing that said “salary of Mr. Lam”. I opened the envelope and there was Mr. Lam’s first monthly salary payment (the monthly salary was paid every two weeks at that time). Unfortunately, that sum of money could not pay for anything because Vietnam had changed its currency the month before! It turned out that Mr. Lam had placed the envelope I gave him on some files on his desk and then put other files on top and kept them in the filing cabinet.
I returned the worthless envelope to him. He was surprised for a few seconds and then laughed: “How come I forgot my own money! Mrs. Y suffered a budget deficit!”
On another occasion, when I was rearranging the files, I found another envelope with my handwriting on it, “dried bear gall”. I remembered that some officials from Thuong Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province, had had a working session with Mr. Lam. One of them stood in front of my desk, gave me a dried bear gall and said: “This is as precious as gold, please give it to Mr. Lam.” Idid not know why he did not just give it to Mr. Lam himself. I put the gall in an envelope, wrote the content on the outside and carefully placed it on Mr. Lam’s desk. I did not expect to find it among the files!
This time I personally gave the gall to Mr. Lam.
Some times later, my mother fell off and hurt her leg. I remembered the dried bear gall and asked Mr. Lam for it because it could help ease my mother’s pain. He thought for a while and said he did not remember anything about the gall and would ask Mrs. Y about it. Unfortunately, Mrs Y did not have it.
I felt sorry for my irresponsibility and promised to myself not to repeat any thing like that again.
Unexpectedly given housing space by the boss
My wife was an accountant for a chemical installation company and at that time husbands were supposed to live in the house provided to the wife. Consequently our living space depended on her company’s projects. When I was Mr. Lam’s secretary, we and our daughter lived in a makeshift house near the Vinh Tuy construction site.
All of a sudden, our house was acquired for land clearance. We did not know where to find shelter.
I was thinking of talking to Mr. Lam but did not dare to because I remembered once an official from the Commission had entered his office and after a while I heard the loud voice of Mr. Lam: “I undervalue you for asking me for a salary rise”. I understood that he did not like those who asked him for favors.
That morning, I came to the office and asked Mr. Lam for permission to quit my job. He asked why I wanted to quit. I told him about my circumstances and having no place to stay. With sympathy, he thought for a while and said: “Go and ask Mr. Xuan Luong to come here”. (Xuan Luong was Deputy Head of the Office of the Vietnam Radio and Television Commission).
Mr. Lam then allowed me to quit. I followed Mr. Xuan Luong to the Local Department at 35 Nguyen Dinh Chieu street. I stayed in a warehouse temporarily. Later I was given an apartment at 128C Dai La (Vong intersection) and then moved to Giai Phong street in one of the most beautiful apartments in Hanoi in 1991.
I felt the compassion of Mr. Tran Lam in this cozy house.
Tearful farewell party
When my boss Tran Lam retired, I was moved and wrote a poem for him.
THIS IS THE VOICE OF VIETNAM
(To Mr. Tran Lam,
read at his retirement ceremony, 1987)
I have nothing to give you
except my honest words
I hope you understand these touching moments
Of the many years of our boss-employee relations
It has been more than 40 years
You have been associated with the echoing sounds
Conquering the space with radio waves
“This is the Voice of Vietnam”
Enduring numerous difficulties
of the early days of national construction
of the threats the enemy poses
still proud “This is the Voice of Vietnam”
Reform-the need of a new historical period
a new task for radio broadcasting
VOV has become a burning awl
Goodbye to brothers
these days
you retire…
Still thinking about tomorrow
At the window of the second floor on Quan Su
Will stone flowers or ephemeral flowers be blossoming?
And this room… without your presence
Just set your mind at rest because the bamboo shoots have developed
Together they have grown up
The waves will advance
To glorify 40 years of traditions.
Don’t bother at all
Because of the painful words sometimes
That: radio has words only
The quintessence goes to the sky
Our mind is at ease but our lives in pain…
This moment of farewell, let’s confide
Accept my honest words
Please understand these touching moments
Of the many years of our boss-employee relations…
I read this poem, gave it to Mr. Lam and burst into tears. He took it and embraced me. He was moved for a few seconds and consoled me with his familiar laughter: “Don’t cry, I’m not dead yet!”.
This was the first and only time I was embraced by my boss. Until now I can still feel the warmth of his arms!
Hanoi, June 2012
Le Truong Kien
(Former Secretary of Tran Lam)