Poet Tu Mo works as a journalist

Although he was a civil servant, he still dreamed of pursuing a literary career. Later, writer Nhat Linh loved him and invited him to work and became a valuable collaborator writing for Phong Hoa and Ngay Nay newspapers in the Tu Luc Van Doan group.

The newspaper's editorial office at 80 Quan Thanh Street (Hanoi) initially had 5 people, two of whom, Hoang Dao and Tu Mo, were civil servants. Tu Mo was the Secretary of the Department of Finance, while Hoang Dao was a Court Clerk, so they both took care of office work and the assigned newspaper work. Editor-in-chief Nhat Linh assigned each person to take on a specific task. For example, the "Upstream" column was managed by Tu Mo, specializing in satirical and critical articles.

Once on a field trip to Trung Ha (Son Tay), he saw a car with two people running behind it, holding an umbrella over the hood. Knowing that they were corrupt officials, when he got home, Tu Mo wrote a satirical article:

Sometimes pick up the big guys

He drives a modern car.

Four half-human half-monsters

Run after carrying an umbrella to cover the hood of the car.

There was a time when Tu Mo was threatened by the Director of the Department of Finance to be dismissed and imprisoned, and forced to promise not to collaborate with the press again. In September 1940, Japan invaded Indochina and then staged a coup against the French. The newspaper Ngay Nay resumed its publication. Tu Mo again used his pen to attack the authorities.

Since the Popular Government came to power in France, press activities in Vietnam have been more open. Journalists have been able to breathe easier. Tu Mo not only wrote satirical poetry but also lyrical poetry.

As the business of Ngay Nay newspaper grew, Nhat Linh built his own printing house and no longer had to outsource printing. To celebrate this event, the newspaper published the following couplet to respectfully inform its readers: “Ngay Nay, ngay nay, in house, in house”.

It was a rather difficult couplet, no one could answer it, but readers all over the country were very happy.

When the national resistance war broke out in 1946, Tu Mo followed the Ministry of Finance to the Viet Bac resistance zone, and shortly after that, he switched to cultural and artistic work. From then on, the pen name Tu Mo became Combat Pen. The column "Upstream" has become the column "Resistance Smile". Occasionally, when he went on business trips, he met poets The Lu and Xuan Dieu, who had worked for Phong Hoa and Ngay Nay newspapers - the official mouthpieces of Tu Luc Van Doan. They happily chatted and reminisced about the past.