The MAG Vietnam Vol 8 April 2017 | Page 33

Local Interest Hồ Chí Minh's Birthday May 19, 1890- 2017 Hồ Chí Minh’s birthday is celebrated in Vietnam as a public holiday. H o Chi Minh was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman who later became Prime Minister and then President of the Democratic Republic of Vi- etnam. Ho Chi Minh meaning ‘he who enlightens’ is credited as being the founder of the Viet Minh Independent Movement in 1941 establishing communist control in part of Vietnam. This former president who was instrumental in winning free- dom for the people of Vietnam is a popular and worshipped national figure. The City of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in his honour. The Birthday of Hồ Chí Minh is a very important national holiday for all of Vietnam especially in Ho Chi Minh city. Hồ Chí Minh Birthday Traditions and Activities: A delegation of state leaders led by the party general secre- tary lay wreaths at the mausoleum to celebrate his birthday. Representatives of the ministries of national defence, public security and the Hanoi authorities and a crown of local peo- ple also join in the tribute to Hồ Chí Minh. There are candle vigils taking place throughout the country and especially in his birthplace in Kim Lien Village of Nghe An. It is a day when everyone from young kindergarten chil- dren to middle-aged housewives commemorates and shows respect to the Great Father of Vietnam. The MAG Vung Tau 33