Bùi Văn Quỷa, 68, of the district’s Đông Lai Commune, shows a local resident how to play a gong in Mường ethnic cultural identity.—Photo laodong.vn

HÒA BÌNH — Bùi Hồng Thanh, 70, of Phú Cường Commune, Tân Lạc District, in the northern mountainous province of Hòa Bình, has 15 years of experience in disseminating and encouraging local people to obey laws and eliminate outdated customs.

Thanh said most people in the commune were ethnic Mường. Some of them still followed backward customs.

“The most difficult thing is how to make them understand the benefits of complying with laws and know that what consequences are if they violate the laws,” he added.

He has coordinated regularly with the local administration to disseminate the law on marriage over the past time.

Therefore, many cases of child marriage had been prevented, contributing to changing local people's awareness of child marriage.

He also often reminds local people to obey traffic safety laws, not to participate in gambling and alcohol abuse, but to focus on economic development to improve their daily lives.

Thanh was among reputable people selected by local people in the commune since 2008.

He has participated in disseminating activities, mobilising people to eliminate outdated customs and obeying the Party's policies and guidelines as well as the State’s laws since then.

Bùi Thị Hảo, a resident of the commune’s Vìn Bái Village, said thanks to regular dissemination of laws, she and local people in the village had greatly improved their understanding.

“We are now aware of obeying the law when participating in traffic and avoiding social evils," she said.

Lý Thị Hương, another resident in the commune, said the number of child marriages had been reduced after local people learned about the consequences of the practice.

Like Thanh, Bùi Văn Quỷa, 68, of the district’s Đông Lai Commune, was also among reputable people of the district.

He was a good example in mobilising local people to implement the Party’s guidelines and policies as well as the State’s laws.

He voluntarily donated 350sq.m of his family’s land to build roads and 250 sq.m to build irrigation systems. He mobilised 30 households to donate a total of 2,500 sq.m of their land to build the local irrigation system and road.

Bùi Đức Phương, chairman of the People's Committee of Phú Cường Commune, told Lao động (Labour) online newspaper that Thanh was a reputable and very enthusiastic person in the commune.

Thanks to his contributions, Thanh was awarded a certificate of merit by the People's Committee of the commune for his outstanding achievements in the local emulation movement.

Bùi Tiến Lực, head of the district’s Ethnic Group Office, said that reputable people had now become the core force to support authorities at all levels to disseminate and mobilise ethnic groups to strictly comply with the Party's policies and guidelines, and the State's laws. — VNS