Every day, Nguyen Tuyet Nhung waits patiently until 7 p.m. for her children and grandchildren to return home from school and work, and the whole family gathers around the table. Sharing a meal and talking about their day is a habit that Nhung's family tries to maintain, even though her husband has passed away.
"These days, my children are either busy or have their social interests, and I feel that dinner time is the only moment for family interaction," she said, adding that family culture is a very important factor in building a civilized society.

Mealtime is essential for family interaction. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

It is also a concern of Hanoi city authorities.

According to Do Dinh Hong, Director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, there are still uncultured behaviors in life, and families also face challenges in strengthening the bond between family members.

The capital's family value system and the Hanoi people's moral standards are undermined in today's society. Faced with this situation, it is very important to restore the family value system and the standards of elegant and civilized Hanoi people in modern life.

The Hanoi Party Committee has issued Program No.06 on Developing Culture, Improving the Quality of Human Resources, Building Elegant, and Civilized Hanoians in the Period of 2021-2025", which defines the cultural development and building standards of Hanoi people as the essential and regular tasks of the whole political system, contributing to the sustainable development of the capital.

According to Director Hong, the department has been putting in place a program to build a civilized lifestyle and cultured families for many years. Protocols on civilized weddings and funerals, codes of conduct in public places, and building office culture have contributed to preserving and promoting the family value system and building standards for the people of Hanoi.

The city has also taken many solutions to preserve and promote cultural values.

Vice Chairman of Hoan Kiem District People's Committee Nguyen Quoc Hoan.

As the core district of Hanoi, Hoan Kiem people have always valued polite treatment, especially good manners among family members. Through many changes, ups and downs, these basic values are still preserved and further spread.
Vice Chairman of Hoan Kiem District People's Committee Nguyen Quoc Hoan said: "We have built many movements to spread family values and the standards of elegant and civilized Hanoi people. At the same time, we encourage new models in building modern lifestyles and continue to advise regulators at all municipal levels to enforce the family value system and the standards of elegant and civilized Hanoi people."
Luong Dinh Hai, former director of the Institute of Human Research under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said that Hanoi is the first locality in the country to bring this issue to discussion, contributing to raising awareness among agencies, departments, branches and people about preserving and developing culture and shaping the value system of citizens.
"It is necessary to analyze and clarify the value system and typical cultural standards of Hanoi people among the hundreds and thousands of good cultural values that have existed since ancient times. From the past to the present, practical and effective solutions have been proposed to consolidate and spread them," Hai said.

Former director of the Institute of Human Research under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Luong Dinh Hai contributes solutions to build a cultured lifestyle for the people of Hanoi at a meeting held in Hanoi last week.

According to Le Van Binh, Deputy Secretary of  Phu Xuyen District Party Committee: "Building the family value system and cultural standards of Hanoi people is an important task at a time when the city is going through many alien influences."

According to Binh, to preserve traditional culture along with the task of building elegant and civilized Hanoi people, it is necessary to carefully survey the current state of urban culture and people's behavioral culture to get an understanding of people's needs and behaviors.

"I think we need to raise awareness of family values and build typical criteria for civilized and elegant Hanoi people," he said.