British historian highlights significance of President Ho Chi Minh’s trip to London

Drayton Court Hotel in which President Ho Chi Minh toiled in the kitchens in 1914 (Photo: VNA)

London (VNA) – President Ho Chi Minh’s three-year tripto London more than a century ago had an important meaning to his revolutionarycareer, British historian John Callow, former Director of Archives,Marx Memorial Library, has said.

Talking to Vietnam News Agency, Callow heldthat London was a destination for Ho Chi Minh after a long journey to many other places because that was known as the workshop of the world. It was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, the centre of the greatestempire in terms of land mass that the world had ever known, and the world's top financial centre. His journey is intensely practicaland a way to discover the politics, the economics and the cultures of verydifferent civilisations, the scholar stated.

He stressed that it was a brave step for Ho Chi Minh to leave his homeland with a desire to learn, to witness with his own eyes the fast changing world, and to see for himself the bases of the imperial power.

The plaque of Ho Chi Minh at New Zealand House (Photo: VNA)

“During his tour, he got a sense of change, a possibility and the power of an organised working class tomake progressive change. He could take certain lessons back home with him tochange the lives and the realities of the Vietnamese people for the better. Butfrom London, he had some weed,” he said.

In Thailand, Nguyen Thi Xuan Oanh, a member of the management board of the HoChi Minh Monument Site in Udon Thani province said PresidentHo Chi Minh is admired and respected among overseas Vietnamese youngsters.

Speaking to Vietnam News Agency in Thailand on the occasion, Oanh said that older generations of Vietnamese community inthe province have worked to maintain Vietnamese language for their offspring,ensuring that they know well about Vietnam and the late President. She expressed her hopethat the Party and State will coordinate with the Vietnamese community in Thailandto teach Vietnamese language to the third and fourth generations of overseasVietnamese in Thailand, thus maintaining and promoting the national traditionin the country.

Ho Chi Minh Monument Site in Udon Thani province (Photo: VNA)

Udon Thani, the largest province in the northeastern regionof Thailand, is hosting the largest number of overseas Vietnamese in Thailand.

President Ho Chi Minh arrived in the province inJuly, 1928. During his stay until 1929, the leader used the name of “Thau Chin”and resided in Nong Bua area, which is near the train station of Udon Thaniprovince today. He then moved to Nong Om hamlet in Chiang Phin commune, Muangdistrict, which is 12km from Udon Thani.

With the support of overseas Vietnamese and locals ofThailand, the leader worked to reinforce the “Hoi Viet Nam Cach mạng Thanh nien”(Vietnamese revolutionary youth union) in the country. Despite his short timein the locality, the President won deep sentiments from the Vietnamese and local communities there. In 2002, the local administration and theVietnamese Association in Udon Thani coordinated to build a 10,000sq.m monumentsite commemorating the Vietnamese national leader.

The“rich and beautiful Vietnamese language” contest draws a large number of Vietnamese students (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, to mark the 132rd birthday of President Ho ChiMinh, a contest themed “rich and beautiful Vietnamese language” was held forVietnamese students in Kazan city, the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. Thecontest aims to create an interesting playground for students to explore thebeauty of the Vietnamese language, thus promoting traditional culture and theVietnamese language among the Vietnamese community./.

VNA