A television show on May 18 night featured President Ho Chi Minh'spatriotism, desire for peace, strong will and readiness to sacrifice forthe dream of liberating Vietnam from colonialism.

The show, intended to mark the 125th birthday of the national hero, wasbroadcast live from Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi and Kim Lien Village in thecentral province of Nghe An, where the President was born.

It included talks with foreign and domestic researchers, war veteransas well as recorded meeting with scholars in Britain and France. Varioussongs, dances by local and foreign artists were sprinkled throughoutthe show.

"He came here to learn, to read and to studyEnglish. He started earning money clearing snow. His friends said hishands became swollen after hours of shovelling snow. He worked with thinclothes." These were the words used by John Callow, director ofArchives at the Marx Memorial Library in London.

Audience were shown a small room in the basement of the Carlton Hotel inLondon where Nguyen Ai Quoc worked as a pastry cook in 1913. He used towrite new English words on his arms to learn while working.

"It is hard to know how many books he read in two years in the UnitedKingdom. We know for sure that he came here to learn, not to earn aliving," noted Len Aldis, general secretary of UK-Vietnam FriendshipAssociation.

Lady Borton, an American scholar, said inhis first 10 years travelling abroad, Ho Chi Minh met many difficultiesbecause he was totally alone.

Borton said sheappreciated Ho Chi Minh's extraordinary capability to be able to selecttalented people and combine them. "He always thought about his people,not about power for himself," she said.-VNA