There is no doubt that I am happy because the 60th birthday of our publication is truly an impressive milestone that many other Vietnamese publications have never recorded. 

However, VNP’s 60 years closely linked with a generation of correspondents who are of the same age as the magazine and thus they will have retired during the grand celebration this year and therein lies the sadness. 

Like their predecessors, their contributions to the magazine over the years have been fully acknowledged and well preserved along with the magazine’s development.

More than 20 years ago, when I came to VNP, I was warmly welcomed by those correspondents who were born the same year the magazine was first published. They were sent to study journalism in Russia and Germany and became the magazine’s first trained reporters. In later years, they were known as the “golden generation” at VNP.

 

 

When I was at journalism school, I learned their names and heard many stories about them. That’s why I was very happy working with them and receiving their daily assistance. Now that I have matured and hold the flag that they turned over to me to continue developing the magazine, they have left the office and left me missing them!

Over the past 60 years, VNP recorded numerous achievements, but faced untold hardships. It was awarded the Independence Order, 3rd Class in 1994, 2nd Class in 2004 and First Class in 2009, which acknowledged the notable and enduring contributions of the magazine’s generations of employees.

It is hard to count the magazine’s eminent leaders but just to name a few there are Dao Duy Ky, Ngo Duc Mau, Le Ba Thuyen, Do Phuong, Le Quoc Trung, Le Phuc, Vu Khanh and Nguyen Vinh Quang. They are truly the talented editors who steered VNP to overcome the difficulties and hardships for more than half a century.

As of September 2014, VNP has a younger contingent of correspondents full of enthusiasm, just like their predecessors. They no longer have to use rolls of film when taking pictures. There is no need to develop the film and print out photo samples, for their layouts. Instead, they use modern digital cameras which help them complete their assignments in the most efficient way. At the office, they can download the pictures onto their computers, click a mouse and select the best images for publication.

 

I’ve witnessed the fast changing styles at VNP over the past years, during which I became well aware of the difficulties that our older colleagues had undergone, as well as the challenges that the high-tech digital age is posing for our younger correspondents.

With societal and technological advancements and the passage of time, those changes are unavoidable.

Sixty years has truly been a long journey full of pride embraced by generations of VNP staff, who have written and brought to life, the pages for the magazine’s glorious history.