Before passing away due to illness at the age of 80 on Friday afternoon, the General Secretary was known for his simple, approachable manner. In this photo, he is seen holding a baby during a visit to Tay An Commune, Tien Hai District, in the northern province of Thai Binh in February 2018.
Photo by VNA
Serving as a National Assembly delegate for five consecutive terms from 2002 until his death, Trong (second from R) consistently made time to meet with voters before and after each parliamentary session to listen to their concerns and answer their questions.
In this photo, he shakes hands and converses with voters at a meeting in Tay Ho District, Hanoi, in May 2015.
Photo by VNA
Nguyen Phu Trong (L) revisits his alma mater, Hanoi’s Nguyen Gia Thieu High School, where he studied from 1957 to 1963, on its 70th anniversary on Nov. 14, 2020, when he was Party General Secretary. The photo shows him presenting flowers to his former teacher, Le Duc Giang.
He recalled the challenging school conditions in which he studied. From fifth grade onwards he had to cross a graveyard and the Duong River to reach school, a trip of dozens of kilometers, he said. Without a clock at home, he didn’t know the time, and so he woke up very early and waited by the river for the ferry.
Twice a week he and a friend taught literacy classes for two hours after school to earn a small fee of six hao (old Vietnamese currency).
“It was a significant amount at that time since the salary of workers and state employees was only 13.5 hao,” he said. “We used this money for living expenses, studying, boarding, and cooking.”
Photo by Viet Thanh
On Feb. 15, 2018, the last day of the lunar year, Trong (C) visited the pedestrian area around Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake, talking to people waiting to celebrate New Year’s Eve in front of the statue of King Ly Thai To. He wished sanitation workers on duty there a happy new year and gave “lucky” money to young children who had gathered around the lake with their families.
When a young child approached him, Trong beamed and lifted the child in his arms for a keepsake photo.
Photo by Giang Huy
Trong and his wife Ngo Thi Man and overseas Vietnamese from various countries and territories participated in the 2019 “Xuan Que Huong” (Spring in Home Country) program and performed the traditional ritual of releasing carp into Hoan Kiem Lake.
Photo by VNA
Trong and his wife pose for a photo on The Huc Bridge in Hoan Kiem Lake after releasing the carp.
During his tenure as general secretary from 2011, and concurrently as president from October 2018 to April 2021, he traveled around the country and engaged with the public there, demonstrating a life devoted not only to political leadership but also personal interactions that reflected his simple and deep connection with common people.
Photo by Quang Vinh
In March 2014, while on work in the central province of Thua Thien Hue, Trong (second from left) visited Hong Ha primary and secondary school in A Luoi, a mountainous district in the southwest of the province that was home to many disadvantaged communes.
Photo by VNA
In November 2017 the people of Thuong Dien cultural village in the northern city of Hai Phong welcomed Trong (in blue shirt), who participated in the National Unity Festival. As the general secretary walked through the village, many seniors and children approached him to shake hands and give flowers. He responded with a bright smile, expressing happiness at the steady improvements in the villagers’ lives, noting their cleaner houses, streets and alleys.
He also gave gifts to six disadvantaged families living in the village.
Photo by VNA
In August 2023, Trong (arm raised) visited the Huu Nghi international border gate in the northern province of Lang Son. There, he listened to the leaders of the Lang Son Border Guard Command describe landmark 1,116 on the border with China and report on import-export activities and immigration through the gate.
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In May 2016 he called on the leaders and men of Naval Region 4 in the central province of Khanh Hoa. There, he sat in the cockpit of a DHC-6 Series 400 Twin Otter seaplane and visited the Ly Thai To escort ship and Kilo-class submarine.
Photo by Van Ky
In August 2014 the general secretary (second from L) visited the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho to review the socio-economic development, defense and security situation there. He emphasized the need for the city to focus on developing infrastructure, high-quality human resources and processing industries linked with commerce, tourism and services to enhance its role as a centrally governed city driving regional development.
During the trip, he visited the shrimp processing plant of Nam Hai Export Foodstuff Company in the Tra Noc Industrial Zone.
Photo by VNA
In March 2016, during extreme drought and salt intrusion in the Mekong Delta, Trong (top row, far right) visited parched rice fields in Giong Trom District in Ben Tre Province to inquire about and share the hardships and losses faced by the farmers.
Ben Tre had declared a natural disaster as the entire province was enveloped in saltwater. In the delta, 353,000 people lacked water for daily use and over 150,000 head of cattle lacked drinking water, 19,000 hectares of rice crop failed and nearly 7,000 hectares of specialty fruit trees and aquaculture areas were affected.
“The central government and local authorities will find every way to help the people overcome these difficulties,” Trong promised.
Photo by Dong Khoi
In April 2017, while on a visit to the Central Highlands, Trong (third from left) and Nguyen Van Nen (right), then head of the Central Party Office and now secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, visited the family of war veteran Dinh Phi (second from left), who was living in especially difficult circumstances in Chu Se District, Gia Lai Province.
Photo by VNA
The following day, the general secretary (C), wearing a traditional ethnic vest, participated in a traditional dance with locals in Kon Tum City.
Photo by VNA
On January 31, 2018, after attending the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Tet Offensive of 1968, Trong visited the weapon storage tunnel used during the attack on the Independence Palace by the late commando Tran Van Lai (Nam Lai) on Ho Chi Minh City’s Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 3. He spoke about the hardships faced by Lai’s family while building and maintaining the tunnel, and inquired in great detail about witnesses’ experiences related to the digging of the tunnel and storage of weapons in preparation for the assault.
In September 2022 Trong made another visit to Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the socioeconomic and security situation and party-building activities with the city Party Committee. This visit came amid the city’s recovery from two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Video by Duc Huy
