Sentenced to prison for a moment of impulsiveness, the man once mistakenly escaped poverty thanks to being “in love” with lotus

While serving a prison sentence in Thua Thien – Hue, witnessing an old mother having difficulty walking but still traveling long distances to visit her children, Huynh Minh Hai promised himself to be determined to return to society when he returned to society. .

After the unseasonal rains in late March and early April damaged lotus, Huynh Minh Hai (SN 1981, Dai Hiep commune, Dai Loc district, Quang Nam province) was busy with planting a new crop. . Looking at the “massive” farm in the middle of the vast fields, few people know that he was once caught in the law, had to go to prison just for a moment of impulsiveness.

At the age of 14, when his friends still went to school with books, he “got away” from books. Dropped out of 9th grade, Hai followed his friends to play around. Later, he learned to cut hair and opened a small shop in the commune. However, that was not a stepping stone for him to enjoy doing business, but on the contrary, it pushed Hai further.

“Having income from haircuts, I started playing more, drinking parties forgot the date and gradually neglected work …”, Mr. Hai recalled the past.

Then the worst also came, in 2014, while “crossing” with his comrades, he suddenly received a call from an unknown number. The first few sentences, Hai knew that the caller had the wrong number, but the other end of the line constantly threatened and cursed at him. Having a little yeast in his body, Hai “asked” for this person’s address and then went to find the other party to “count the book”.

“The person who dialed the wrong number is also a person in the commune. As soon as I turned off the phone, I invited another friend to run to find them to beat. Foolish youth, lack of thought, plus being drunk, so I couldn’t control it …”, Hai narrated and said that the victim was broken ribs by him and his friends, broken spleen, collapsed lungs … seriously injured. Waking up tomorrow morning, Hai began to feel regret but it was too late. Hai received a 2-year prison sentence for intentionally causing injury, and his friend was no better when he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

There were only two children in the family, so when Hai served his sentence at Binh Dien prison (Thua Thien – Hue province), only his mother was left in the countryside. His mother is not well. She injured her leg due to being hit by war bombs as a child.

Years in prison, witnessing his old mother’s difficulty in walking, and having to carry rice and packed rice from Quang Nam to Hue to visit him, Hai regrets a lot.

“Watching that scene, I couldn’t help but feel sorry, I couldn’t hold back tears at night when I thought of my mother, that prompted me to return to my salary when I could integrate into the community …”, he shared.

In 2017, Mr. Hai was released from prison to the joy of his mother. However, when he went out on the street, he still couldn’t avoid the discriminatory and alienated eyes of everyone because he was a “guy returning from prison”. Despite everything, in him at this moment was an honest determination to do business. However, “what do you do” is a big question for a person just released from prison like him. “Just got out of prison, so I didn’t know what I had to start a business with, at that time everything was surprised …”, he recalls.

With the encouragement, sharing and dedicated help of the authorities and police of Dai Hiep commune at that time, Mr. Hai was leased 2.7 hectares of water surface and 6 sao of land. In addition, he was also given the opportunity to do business by the commune until the end of the year to pay the land rent.

Starting to work, Mr. Hai renovated the lake to grow lotus and then released the fish into combined farming. Cotton and lotus leaves are sold by him to spa shops in Da Nang. As for the rented land, he renovated it to grow bananas and coconuts.

“If the weather is favorable in any year, the farm can collect 150 million dong after deducting costs. In the countryside, he is mainly engaged in farming, so his income is very high,” said Mr. Hai, adding that his future plan is to develop eco-tourism and recreational fishing. However, those two require large capital, so he is trying to do it step by step.

Despite the determination to return the salary, sometimes in society, it is impossible to avoid collisions. However, he must always tell himself to restrain himself, not to let the slip in the past recur.

“A few days ago, someone entered the lotus pond to steal fish. Words back and forth, it seemed that the two sides had rushed into a fight. If I was as impulsive as before, I would probably be back in prison by now. But now I have to remind myself that I cannot go back to the same path…”, the experienced man confided.

Mr. Do Thanh Cang, Chairman of Dai Hiep Commune People’s Committee, said that when Mr. Hai returned to the locality, the commune supported a lot, from borrowing from policy banks to leasing land to grow lotus and raise fish. Currently, Mr. Hai is working as an eco-tourism model, initially successfully attracting many visitors.

Do not blame him for having a bad past, in 2019, Hai should be a husband and wife with a woman of the same age. The joy is doubled when up to now, the two have had their first son together.

Son Tung