Young people change their Facebook profile pictures to express their sorrow over the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

Without any prompting, and voluntarily, a large number of young people using Facebook changed their profile pictures to black and white to express their grief and sorrow over the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Many posted simple, everyday, and intimate photos of the General Secretary interacting with the people, as a way of expressing their condolences for a humble and approachable leader of the Vietnamese nation. Alongside these were short poems and heartfelt expressions of emotion.

In particular, many young people have reposted the General Secretary's frequent quote: "Life is lived only once, so live it meaningfully; what good is having a lot of money, you can't take it with you when you die. Honor is the most sacred thing."
 

The internet is virtual, but the feelings are real.

Regarding his actions of using black and white images on social media, Nguyen Viet Anh, a student at the Foreign Trade University, affirmed that he wasn't following a trend but doing it out of genuine emotion.

"The General Secretary was like a grandfather to me, calm, upright, yet warm and loving towards the younger generation. I watched the news and saw that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong not only left behind great achievements for the development of society and the country, but more importantly, he conveyed many thoughts and feelings to us young people. Now that he has passed away, I wanted to do something to show my respect and gratitude to this great leader, so I changed my profile picture to black and white. It's a simple action, but the feelings in my heart are genuine."