Trusted and elected village head at the age of twenty, maturing through the ranks of the Party and traversing diverse grassroots-level leadership posts, he has consistently regarded the people’s trust as the definitive gauge of a cadre’s responsibility. Today, having stepped down from public office, he continues to dedicate his strength to his homeland, ensuring the values he cultivated endure across the community.

Part 1: Becoming a village head in his twenties

At twenty years of age, amidst the nation’s arduous post-war years, the young man Cứ Chừ Tú was entrusted by the villagers of Tìa Ló with the leadership of their hamlet. Maturing from the heart of the people, he was seasoned through service, admitted into the ranks of the Party, and assigned progressively larger responsibilities. Whatever post he assumed, the lodestar guiding his entire life remained the simple yet profound principle of “Taking the people as the foundation” under Hồ Chí Minh’s thought, for every endeavor of a cadre must ultimately originate from the people, by the people, and for the people.

The village entrusts leadership to the young

Some lives seem bound by a historic rendezvous with their homeland from the very beginning. For Village Elder Cứ Chừ Tú, May 7, 1954, was such a day. The moment he let out his first cry was the moment the nation inscribed a brilliant golden milestone into history - the Điện Biên Phủ Victory, bringing the long-term war of resistance against French colonial rule to a triumphant close. From that decisive benchmark, the life of the Hmông youth Cứ Chừ Tú was inextricably entwined with Điện Biên, where he spent almost his entire journey serving, dedicating his labor, and building his homeland.

Time slipped away, and young Cứ Chừ Tú grew up amidst mountains and forests, witnessing the village transform and acquainting himself early with communal affairs. At the age of twenty, when many young men in the village were still contemplating their personal paths, Cứ Chừ Tú earned the trust of the Tìa Ló community to serve as village head. Remembering those early days on the job, Tú recalls mixed emotions of joy and anxiety: being trusted by the villagers brought both excitement and worry, as village affairs were extensive while he was young and lacked experience. He resolved that since the people placed their faith in him, he had to strive to execute his duties well, asking predecessors about unfamiliar tasks and working side by side with the villagers. From that unassuming conviction, he began learning how to be a true cadre - not standing above the people to give orders, but walking alongside them in labor; relying not on age or office, but on dedication and tangible results to repay the trust conferred upon him.

That was how the story of the twenty-year-old village head unfolded: a young person assuming collective duties and teaching himself how to shoulder burdens. Grassroots-level work revolved around concrete assignments: mobilizing villagers, settling emerging conflicts, safeguarding solidarity, conveying policies and directives, and working alongside residents to untangle everyday hardships. When full assemblies were required, village meetings were convened. When an issue involved a single household, he visited their home directly. When residents struggled to understand a policy, he explained it with patience. Mountain tracks, household verandas, and family hearths became the first classrooms where the young village head learned his earliest lessons in grassroots-level public administration.

Recalling the twenty-year-old village head of that era, Hờ Nhìa Di, a resident of Tìa Ló village, Pu Nhi commune, remembers most vividly Tú’s industriousness, approachable demeanor, and sense of duty toward public matters. At that time, despite his young age, Tú never shunned difficulty or long journeys; whenever villagers required assistance with hamlet business or family matters, he showed up. Even when duties demanded long travel over rough paths, he went without hesitation. Villagers cherished him for his unpretentious conversations and his earnest determination to see through every task he undertook.

In a village, the prestige of a leader is built through routine daily acts. Residents observe whether a cadre shows up when the collective is in need, accepts difficult responsibilities willingly, listens patiently, and explains unfamiliar issues thoroughly. More importantly, they watch whether a promise made is upheld through concrete actions. To Cứ Chừ Tú, the seemingly minor responsibilities of a village head back then served as his foundational school, teaching him how to stay close to the people, understand their needs, and work for their benefit.

From the position of village head, he was assigned to serve as Deputy Chief of the commune Police, and subsequently Chief of the commune Police. Each new post enlarged his scope of responsibility while drawing the young cadre closer to the lives of the populace. These roles entailed trips across every locality, home visits with individual families, listening to personal stories, and joining the grassroots-level to resolve emerging local disputes. Over the years, these experiences crystallized into a simple conviction that guided his entire career: to mobilize the people effectively, one must first understand them; to secure consensus, one must first know how to listen.

Tempered by the Party, trusted by the people

At the age of 34, Cứ Chừ Tú was honored to be admitted into the ranks of the Party. For a cadre who matured from the grassroots level, this represented not only personal pride but also a milestone that deepened his consciousness of public duty. If public trust was previously a vote of confidence in a dedicated village head, becoming a Party member bound that trust to his responsibility before the organization and the people. Consequently, every word and deed had to be weighed against the collective interest of the community.

Cứ Chừ Tú recalled that his entire extended clan was overjoyed upon his admission into the Party, while he felt an even heavier weight of responsibility. Earlier, the villagers trusted him as a village head; as a Party member and cadre, that responsibility expanded, requiring him to place the people first in whatever he undertook. That was also how he conceptualized the role of a Party member: not standing before the masses in authority, but leading the way in public endeavors; not merely speaking for the people to hear, but acting so the people believe.

Vàng A Hờ, former Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of the former Điện Biên Đông district, recounted that as a person close to the villagers, whenever someone did not understand a policy, Tú would explain it meticulously until it was clear. On days of torrential rains and flash floods, Tú traveled back and forth repeatedly to conduct outreach. Seeing him act earnestly and labor untiringly, the villagers placed absolute trust in him.

Public trust is forged through concrete deeds, through a cadre prioritizing collective interests and standing beside residents during hardship. Cứ Chừ Tú was such an individual. That was how a cadre forged at the grassroots-level understood his mission. Hồ Chí Minh’s thought consistently emphasizes the primacy of the people, regarding them as the root of revolutionary endeavors. For Tú, that lesson was practiced directly through decades of living and working amidst the community - not through high-sounding declarations, but by listening to the people, joining them in resolving collective matters, cherishing consensus, and safeguarding the trust they conferred.

Many years have elapsed, yet the trust of the Tìa Ló villagers in Village Elder Cứ Chừ Tú remains as intact as in those earliest days. That enduring faith provides the clearest answer to why, at the age of twenty, a young man was entrusted with the community’s affairs. It was not due to seniority or an official title, but because of the way he lived among the villagers, accepted tasks, and pursued them to completion. Trust, after all, does not stem from words; it is cultivated over decades through steadfast responsibility and tangible accomplishments.

Subsequent years carried the young man Cứ Chừ Tú to higher offices and greater duties. Yet before becoming a top grassroots-level leader with 12 years as Chairman of the commune People’s Committee and 20 years as Secretary of the commune Party Committee, he was once a twenty-year-old youth trusted by the village of Tìa Ló. And it was in that very village that cadre Cứ Chừ Tú learned the most important lesson of his life: staying close to the people to understand them, relying on the people to execute work, and taking the people’s trust as the ultimate measure of responsibility.