Vietnam’s Households Mourn President Trần Đài Quang in a State‑Sadness Show
Picture this: thousands in deep‑black clothes, whispers of incense, hands shaking as they lay wreaths on a cedar‑crowned coffin. That’s what Hanoi looked like on the morning of Sept. 26, as the nation gathered for a farewell that felt more like a circus of grief than a ceremony.
From the National Funeral House to the Heart of the Capital
Headlights of buses, the clatter of rubber tires, and the soft echo of chanting monks guided the procession towards the National Funeral House downtown. Inside, the coffin—wrapped in the tricolor flag—sat under a colossal portrait of the former president, aged 61, who passed last Friday.
- Family members kept vigil at the side, all in black with white headbands, smiling through tears.
- Officials, police, and senior party leaders lined up like a line of drama actors, some weeping on cue.
- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Party Chief Nguyen Phu Trong lit incense, bowed, and hand‑tied items of red, yellow, and white floral wreaths.
The two‑day national mourning period, officially declared on Wednesday, saw all entertainment venues put on pause—all in the spirit of collective respect.
Echoing the Party’s Praise
What the party’s brass said was everything you’d expect: nostalgia for a figure who, since 1980, stayed in the shade of the party’s light and spent four decades smack‑dab inside the country’s security machine.
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh expressed, “He devoted his entire life and made numerous contributions to national revolutionary causes… His passing is a huge loss to our party, state and people.”
Legacy of a Hard‑line President
But President Quang was a knifey‑ish personality: ruthless in suppressing dissent, a chronic facilitator of the crackdown on activists and bloggers that began in 2016. He also tripped the anti‑corruption wheel hard, seeing dozens of former officials and big‑wigs go to jail in two years. Though he headed the Ministry of Public Security and sat in the Politburo, his top‑duty role was largely symbolic.
Analysts are sticking to the script: his death won’t tear through the one‑party state and has likely no shake‑up effect. The leadership remains as steady as always.
The Final Years: Healing, Health, and a “Rare Virus”
President Quang had a stubborn streak: he sought medical help in Japan for a full year before succumbing to a “rare virus,” according to unnamed officials. He was thin and frail in recent weeks but kept working his last days with the same intensity as a marathon runner who refuses to stop.
A local resident named Nga—no, not the “Turtle”—said, “I don’t understand why he had been working until almost the very last day… If he was an ordinary person, he would have a chance to rest and enjoy his last minutes.”
Next Steps: Hometown Goodbye
On Thursday, President Quang will be laid to rest in his hometown in Ninh Binh province, concluding a brief but electrifying period of national mourning. If you’re considering sending flowers, remember the ceremonial etiquette: a red, yellow, or white wreath and a respectful silence.
For a country that prides itself on order and ceremony, this funeral is a short act of emotional drama that brings home the truth: even the biggest state shapes are woven from honest, granulated human moments.
