On September 9 the Inspection Commission of the Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee said that it had to ask for additional grant of state funding to pay its debts to restaurants, where its guests were received. It was reported that this agency owed restaurants and hotels more than VND300 million ($15,000).

There is a saying in English: No free lunch, which implies that when you receive a gift or favor from others, you have to return their favor.

There are different purposes of “receiving guests”. To determine the nature of this, only insiders know. 

However, if an official has a business trip, he is paid by the state so the host agency does not have to pay for his trip anymore. If he joins a meal with the hosts, the official must buy the meal for himself. This may be funny, but it's something we need to do.

We should not consider it as a small thing because major corruption starts from the very small concept at the beginning. In terms of work, it is clear. Socially, the subordinate and the superiors are equal.

The subordinates, if they are qualified and talented, they don’t need to please his superiors in order to win his favor.

Of course, if in a society with rampant corruption and collusion, the promotion will be influenced by group interest. This is exactly what we need to speak up.

Back to guest reception at state agencies, some argue that giving warm reception to guests, who are superiors, is normal. But this thinking is protested by the majority.

They said if that  is considered normal, society will be difficult to develop normally.

Yet others said, welcoming dining activities can help make relations between superiors and subordinates closer. Why do the relations between them need to be close? At work, people only need close relations when they need to rely on each other to create factions. Obviously, if the thinking about work is unclear, when public and private are mixed, public tasks will be affected.

Also, officials drinking and eating at restaurants together can create a bad precedent and cause waste to the state budget.

The local media has reported that some state agencies became debtors to restaurants because of overspending for guest receptions and had to ask for additional grants from the budget from the central government.

Vietnam is still a poor country, where many people are struggling with life so the country needs to reject public spending for guest receptions.

Doan Bao Chau