During the war, I worked as a boatman, taking soldiers across the river so they could go and fight. Later on, I became a land administration officer for the district.
Back then, I was actually selected to study in the Soviet Union, together with Vũ Khoan, who later became Deputy Prime Minister. But at the time, I thought I should wait just one more day so I could officially join the Party before leaving. And then, well, I lost my place.
Oh, those were really poor times. We were so poor that we had to mix cassava and sweet potatoes with rice just to have enough to eat. It was really hard. We didn’t even have proper clothes to wear. Sometimes, we had to cut up sacks and even old flags just to make something to wear.