12:24 13/01/2011
Associate Professor Nguyen Van Hong was born into a family of Confucian scholars who had been teachers for generations. His hometown is in Thanh Hoa province, a poor but studious region – a land rich in culture and history that has produced many talented individuals in both literature and martial arts. He often confided in his students:My hometown is very poor, and because of that poverty, I had to study hard and learn in order to survive."Once, he expressed to his father that he did not want to continue the family's teaching profession. The father looked at his son for a long time and then said:My child, society and times may change, and social positions may also change. Only the title of teacher will never disappear. It is a beautiful and noble profession."With just those words, teaching became his destiny, his lifelong calling."