The denunciation campaign against former FPT CEO Nguyễn Thành Nam has reached the legislature, with calls for criminal prosecution echoing through the Hồ Chí Minh City People’s Council.
The Latest: On June 19, Trần Thành Trọng, a delegate to the Hồ Chí Minh City People’s Council, urged city authorities to coordinate with Hà Nội Police and the Ministry of Public Security to “review, verify, investigate, and handle the case” regarding author Nguyễn Thành Nam.
- Speaking during the council’s third session—captured in a video published by Hồ Chí Minh City Television (HTV)—Trọng criticized Nam’s book, Chuyện với Thanh (A story with Thanh).
- Currently, no state-run media outlets appear to have reported Trọng’s remarks.
Profile: Trần Thành Trọng, born on Dec. 1, 1973, in Tuy Phước Bắc Commune, Gia Lai Province, is the chairman of the board and CEO of Sáng Ban Mai JSC, as well as vice chairman of the Hồ Chí Minh City Mechanical and Electrical Enterprises Association.
- From July 2021 to June 2025, he served as a delegate to the Bình Dương Provincial People’s Council.
- He has been a delegate to the Hồ Chí Minh City People’s Council since July 2025.
The Details: Speaking “as a Communist Party member and a representative of the people with the utmost respect for President Hồ Chí Minh,” Trọng argued that “if this behavior is a repeated and intentional act, this individual could be subject to criminal prosecution.”
Trọng stated he regretted that the publishing sector had produced the book by Nam, the former CEO of FPT, alleging that it used “inappropriate language” toward Hồ Chí Minh.
- He noted the incident was especially egregious as the city is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sài Gòn–Gia Định being renamed Hồ Chí Minh City.
Furthermore, he cited a video circulating on social media, claiming it showed Nam making “insulting remarks about President Hồ Chí Minh during an internal lecture” and “distorting Hồ Chí Minh’s activities between 1941 and 1945.”
- It remains unclear which specific video Trọng was referring to when he alleged that Nam made insulting remarks. It may have been an interview published by Spiderum, part of a podcast series titled Làm giàu kiểu Cụ Hồ (“Getting Rich the Uncle Hồ Way”), which explored historical episodes from the life of Hồ Chí Minh.
Nam appeared as the guest in all five episodes. When participating in the podcast in 2025, Nam was teaching the course Hồ Chí Minh Thought at VinUni University. Spiderum has since made the podcast unavailable on both YouTube and Facebook.
- Previously, in 2019, Nam received a certificate of merit from then-Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc for achievements in studying and promoting the ideology, ethics, and leadership style of Hồ Chí Minh.
Unable to Contact: Since June 23, Luật Khoa has attempted to contact Nguyễn Thành Nam through his VinUni University email address but received an automated response stating that the “address could not be found.”
- His faculty profile on the university’s website has also been removed and now returns a 404 error.
The Background: The controversy is anchored by Chuyện với Thanh, published by the Writers’ Association Publishing House earlier this year.
- The book is structured as a dialogue between Thanh, a Generation Z student indifferent to history, and his teacher, Thành, who recounts the journey of Hồ Chí Minh—then known as Nguyễn Tất Thành—during his years abroad.
The publication sparked controversy after several veterans accused it of “rewriting history,” “insulting President Hồ Chí Minh,” and “insulting the Vietnamese nation” for presenting an alternative narrative about Nguyễn Tất Thành.
Following the uproar, the Writers’ Association Publishing House apologized and recalled the book on June 10. Five days later, the Publishing Department fined the publisher and suspended its operations for two months.
Thành Phương wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 25, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
