(Illustrative photo: Uncle Ho working as a kitchen assistant on the ship Amiral Latouche-Tréville upon leaving the Fatherland to seek a way to save the country (June 1911).
Article source: President Ho Chi Minh with the jobs he undertook during his journey to save the nation, Government News, published on June 4, 2021 (online).)
In my previous post, I mentioned an OKR of having many high-ranking leaders as alumni of Hanoi – Amsterdam High School. That post drew some criticism from various readers for being pipe-dreamy and unrealistic. Thus, I would like to share a few pathways to achieve this OKR.
To have Amsers alumni as high-ranking leaders (such as Politburo members, Central Committee members, and leaders of Ministries and Departments), there are several approaches:
1) The best approach is to actively recruit/invite the children and grandchildren of current leaders to study at Hanoi – Amsterdam High School.
Global statistics show that major politicians often come from “prominent lineages”; the phenomenon of “the king’s child becoming king” is very real. This is no different from the higher probability of a doctor’s child becoming a doctor, or an athlete’s child pursuing sports. Children of political families are exposed to the political environment, the mechanics of power, networks, mindsets, and social relationships from an early age, so their probability of continuing down that path is usually much higher than that of others.
Why can Hanoi – Amsterdam High School do this while many other schools find it very difficult?
It is not simply a matter of being a school for the rich or a top-tier private school. The most difficult and precious assets are Ams’s reputation and the fact that it is a public school.
No matter how good a private school is, many high-ranking leaders remain hesitant to send their children there due to potential reputational costs associated with high tuition fees. Meanwhile, with a public school, that issue hardly exists because, in principle, it remains a state public school with almost negligible low tuition.
At the same time, only a school like Hanoi – Amsterdam possesses sufficient reputation, symbolic power, and “elite legitimacy” for leaders’ children to enroll and feel far prouder than attending a private school. This is something that no deep-pocketed private school can build easily. (In Ho Chi Minh City, we have the CIS and SSV International School Systems, which are very top-notch in both facilities and training, yet we ourselves recognize that we stand no chance of competing to invite students of political background compared to a premier public school like Hanoi – Amsterdam).
Reputation of this kind takes decades, if not centuries, to form. It is the accumulation of history, tradition, alumni, academic achievements, social standing, and public perception of that institution.
2) The second approach is to change how politics is taught at Hanoi – Amsterdam High School, starting with a mindset shift.
Many people hypothesize that the most “impressive” Hanoi – Amsterdam alumni usually only reach the Deputy Minister level rather than Minister because they do not know how to flatter and dislike flattering. Thus, they ultimately settle for being technocrats—that is, becoming skilled experts.
Under that hypothesis, perhaps because teachers at Ams carry the spirit of “the Northern scholar” (sĩ phu Bắc Hà) and are unaccustomed to flattery, they cannot teach their students how to “flatter.”
However, even if this assumption holds true, in my view, it represents a flawed perception. People who know how to “flatter” are actually often individuals with very high soft skills or EQ. They understand human psychology. They know how to leverage the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. They know how to swallow their ego to achieve greater objectives. And often, that is no longer mere “flattery,” but political skill and the capacity to manage interpersonal relationships.
Therefore, we need to change both the teachers and the teaching methods. We must teach realistic lessons about politics, power, and how the system operates, rather than merely teaching in the style of “Northern scholars” who only possess “petty vanity” with massive egos (I myself am vain and have such an ego). That mentality ultimately makes one suitable only for working as an employee or a senior expert.
We must teach students to have grand ambitions, high EQ, the capacity for patience, the ability to bide their time, the skill to build networks, and the drive to pursue long-term goals like Uncle Ho (working as a kitchen assistant, waiter, manual laborer, trader, and remaining willing to write very humble letters to leaders of major nations to save the country). The curriculum must also shift in a more practical direction.
3) The third approach is to encourage debate and engagement in political life from an early age.
If Hanoi – Amsterdam High School maintains strong debate clubs, invests heavily in subjects related to politics, philosophy, and national governance, and regularly invites current or retired leaders to lecture/share on the importance of political engagement to inspire students, the probability of producing major political figures in the future will be far higher.
This is also fully within the reach of the school’s leadership, and I believe many retired leaders and politicians would be more than willing to support Hanoi – Amsterdam High School in this endeavor.
4) The fourth pathway is to leverage the spirit of the alumni network.
Many elite schools around the world are powerful not only because of educational quality, but also because of an extremely strong alumni network. Predecessors pull successors forward. Successful individuals uplift the next generation.
If Ams’s alumni network is strong enough, united enough, and influential enough, the likelihood of major figures emerging in politics, business, and society will be significantly higher.
Currently, the Ams alumni network is already very strong through HAO (Hanoi – Amsterdam Alumni Organization). Wherever you go, if you meet the Ams community, fellow alumni will help you wholeheartedly. However, after all these years, this network remains largely voluntary and has not been systematically developed from the school’s side. If the school leadership resolves to implement this, it is by no means difficult.
This article is merely exploratory. Implementing the above actions does not automatically guarantee achieving the OKRs; however, these strategies will significantly increase the probability of producing high-ranking political leaders among the school’s alumni. And of course, a far more concrete and long-term action plan is required. I believe Ams is fully capable of doing this with its existing social capital assets and brand, alongside the already substantial political determination of state leaders.
Nguyen Quoc Toan
