Old age but still passionate about journalism

The Board of Directors of the Senior Journalists Club and members exchange experiences in journalism. Photo: THANH CHUNG

Established in late 2003, the Senior Journalists Club (Hai Duong Province Journalists Association) is now 20 years old. Initially, the club had only more than 10 members, now it has more than 60 members. The senior members are over 80, the youngest is nearly 60 but still passionate about journalism and full of enthusiasm for the journalism career.

Many club members are also members of the Provincial Literature and Arts Association, the Vietnam Writers Association, and several Central Artists Associations, creating a lively atmosphere in journalism, literature and art creation. When they were in office, journalists used newspapers to support their writing, accumulating life experiences and materials for future literary works. If they were limited to journalism, the club would have difficulty surviving and developing. Therefore, despite their old age and declining health, with their passion for their profession, the journalism and literary works of senior journalists still regularly appear in provincial and central newspapers and magazines.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020 - 2022, the club's exchange and communication activities have somewhat subsided, but the creative and research work is still maintained. Journalists are still actively writing for newspapers, magazines, and newsletters inside and outside the province. Some journalists estimate that more than 300 works are published each year. The works are in many genres: monographs, political commentary, reflection articles, short stories, poems, music, essays, etc. Some members have their works selected to be printed in a number of books, newspapers, and magazines of ministries, branches, and central associations. Every year, more than 10 works of members participate in the journalism awards of the Provincial Journalists Association, the Nguyen Luong Bang Journalism Award, and the Con Son Literature and Arts Award.

Typically, journalists Nguyen The Truong and Vu Hoang Luyen have maintained and promoted the stable political-social topics for many years, writing in the form of monographs, commentaries, ideological activities, readers' writing, essays, and journalistic memoirs. Journalist Tran Luu Loat has been persistent with the social topics, stories of communes and wards. Journalist Ha Huy Chuong has oil paintings and propaganda paintings selected for exhibitions and won awards from the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Journalist and writer Vu Tuyet May has a collection of memoirs selected for publication in books about teachers and schools. Journalist Nguyen Huu Phach, journalist and poet Ha Cu, journalist Nguyen Thanh Cai, Tieu Ha Minh, Khuc Kim Tinh, Khuc Ha Linh, Nguyen Viet Hien... also regularly have poems and prose published in newspapers, magazines, and special editions, and publish collections of poems and stories that bear the mark, style, and vitality of the people and the land of the Eastern culture in building and defending the Fatherland. Journalist and writer Nguyen Phuc Lai has researched and discovered in the pages of newspapers about high-tech agriculture and new rural construction. Journalist Nguyen Van Trung writes about social topics. Journalist Dinh Le has written pages and images about soldiers in the post-war period. Journalist Pham Chuc with the topic of folk culture is loved by readers...

To have materials and inspiration for writing, the Senior Journalists Club also organized for members to go on field trips, combined with sightseeing tours in some places inside and outside the province. The Club worked with the Kinh Mon City Party Committee to discuss new rural construction, visited typical livestock farms, visited the mountain and cave relics of Nham Duong; went on field trips to Con Son - Kiep Bac, Thanh Mai Pagoda. Exchanged with the Senior Journalists Club of Bac Giang province, visited Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, the historical relics of Yen The, Xuong Giang on the Nhu Nguyet River; visited Mong Cai City, Sa Vy beach - the northernmost place of the Fatherland. Each place the Club visited left good impressions through the pages of newspapers and literature.

In addition to composing journalistic, literary and artistic works, the club also regularly cares about the aspirations, health and connection between members. Every year at the beginning of the new year, the club organizes meetings, creating an enthusiastic, excited and connected atmosphere among members, organizing longevity celebrations for members of silver and golden ages, and cultural exchanges. In the past 5 years alone (2018 - 2023), the Provincial Journalists Association and the club have celebrated the longevity of 24 members. Visited and presented gifts to 35 sick members, mourned 2 members and 7 deceased relatives. These activities have increasingly connected the club members.

In addition to creative activities, the club regularly participates in annual table tennis competitions organized by the Provincial Journalists Association and competes at the Hung Yen Provincial Journalists Association. Journalists: Truong The Dung, Tran Tuan, Nguyen Viet Hien, Dinh Nhan Hoa all won high prizes. In addition, the Senior Journalists Club also participates in exchanges with local clubs such as Thanh Dong Poetry Club (Hai Duong City), Badminton and Table Tennis Club (Nguyen Trai Retirement Club).

The Senior Journalists Club is a common home for journalists, a place to continue nurturing the passion for writing for journalists.

VU HOANG LUYEN
Chairman of the Provincial Senior Journalists Club