Pham Thi Hong Hoa, one of ten citizens honored by the government Wednesday for their stance against corruption

The government should protect whistleblowers to encourage others in the fight against corruption, said Pham Thi Hong Hoa, one of ten citizens honored by the government Wednesday for their stance against corruption.

Hoa has not got her job back and the company is yet to pay her lost wages.

War veteran Nguyen Van Vuong, who was also recognized at the ceremony by the anticorruption steering committees of the central government and the Hanoi municipal administration, said, “At the beginning [of the fight to expose the misuse of public land in the Buoi Ward of Hanoi’s Tay Ho District], many Party members stood on the sidelines. Residents also knew of the misuse but no one dared to speak out.”

The 80-year-old Vuong persevered, bringing the matter up at meetings of the ward’s Party unit from 2001 to 2005. Finally, four members joined him in his fight.

Hoa said newspapers played an important role in the fight against corruption. “When I had evidence, I sent it to many agencies, including newspapers. Their stepping in gave me many advantages in the fight.”

Le Thien Long, who had fought to expose wrongdoings of the Agriculture Materials Corporation’s former General Director Tran Van Khanh for years, said the anti-corruption fight needs both courage and “brains.”

“If the fighters cannot judge, analyze, and synthesize [details], they are likely to fail,” he said.

Collecting evidence is one of the most important tasks. For this, it is necessary to look for other people who share the same thoughts and purposes, he said.

“Sometimes I received documents like a spy, meeting at a coffee shop or on the way to the office, others pretended to drop a bag and I took it,” he said.

Long also said that the fight against corruption must be backed by sincere motives. “If you say nine true things and just one false thing, nobody will believe you.”

A spam message offers songs available for download with fees through SMS. The inflow of such messages to mobile phones has increased drastically, and network providers have been unable to check them or act against the violators.

Reported by Kap Thanh Long