VietNamNet Bridge – One of the philology exam questions requested students to comment about the brave action of Nguyen Van Nam, who rescued five children in Nghe An province in May.

The action of Nguyen Van Nam, a secondary school students in Nghe An province, of sacrificing himself to rescue the five small children from drowning in May 2013, remain the hot news on local newspapers.

Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training has its reason to request the high school finals examinees to comment about the action and praise the courage of the brave student.

However, Vietnamese students have made different comments about Nam’s action, showing their different viewpoints on the matter.

Tran Bao Ngoc, a student of the Education Continuation Center in district 1 in HCM City, wrote in her essay that it is necessary to encourage the actions which may lead to the losses or injuries. Nam could save the lives of the five children, but he had to sacrifice himself, causing the great misery to his parents and relatives.

Phuong Linh, a 12th grader of the Chu Van An High School, one of the most prestigious schools in Hanoi said that though Nam should be praised as a hero, she does not think that other students should follow his action.

“I did not write in my exam paper that Nam should be seen as a good example for the youth to learn,” Linh said.

However, Linh admitted that she could not write down in the essay what she really thought about Nam’s actions.

“I believe that we should die just to save the lives of others, because our lives are also as precious as the others.’ However, I was afraid that my real thoughts would be not exactly what the Ministry of Education and Training expects. Therefore, I only gave vague conclusion about the issue,” Linh said.

“What the Ministry of Education and Training expects,” in the thoughts of Linh, is worlds to praise Nam courage his sacrifice. However, Linh does not think that Nam acted the right way. And if she reveals the thought, she might get bad marks for this.

Vu Cong Minh, a 12th grader of the Vietnam-Germany High School in Hanoi, while believing that rescuing people in emergency cases is the behavior everyone should conduct, wrote that Nam should have sought the assistance from others to rescue the small children, rather than sacrificing himself.

“It was too dangerous to try to save the five children in this case. Nam should not have chosen such a dangerous way,” he said.

However, Dang Phuong Linh from Nguyen Huu Huan High School believes that when trying to rescue the five children, Nam did not have much time to think about what was the best way in this case. The only thing Nam thought he needed to do was to try to save the children while waiting for the help from someone else.

“If everyone thought of pros and corns before they joined the revolution, there would not have been a liberalized country Vietnam,” she commented.

Phong Dang – Le Huyen