Fake certificates are not rare in Vietnam, in fact, the forgery market is so rampant that one official with a borrowed diploma to ascend the career ladder claimed that he thought it was no big deal.

In essence, using a fake certificate means lying about one's background. But buyers can definitely choose how they want to make up their lies, from buying a fake certificate to borrowing one. According to Dan Tri's reporter Pham Tam, head of the Organization Department of the Vi Thanh municipal committee in Hau Giang Province, Le Thanh Nhan, had used a borrowed diploma to climb to power.

Le Thanh Nhan borrowed a secondary school diploma from a man named Le Hoang Nhan to apply to several education courses. Nhan borrowed the diploma after failing to sit his school leaving exams due to bad scores. When it was required to advance his career, he borrowed the certificate to apply for a high school continued education programme and later a university course in law, and in his political and administrative career. He explained that he only wanted to improve his knowledge and expertise to better serve his position.

Nguyen Van Y, deputy head of the inspection commission, said that Nhan thought borrowing a diploma was minor issue and had not been thinking carefully. When being asked about the punishment, Y said it would have to be decided on by collective vote.

Let's give Nhan praise for his vocabulary. He said he only 'borrowed' the diploma even though he could never return it to the owner as the diploma needed to be submitted with his resume. He lied about his background then simply said that he had not thought out the consequences very carefully.

How terrible! It's dangerous when a 44-year-old man, who has climbed to the position of a head of the human resources department, still claims he was incapable of thinking carefully. It's not only a danger for him but also for the whole system.

With his position, Nhan has power to influence to see who is promoted, who should be transferred and affect the development of Communist Party activities in his locality. Whoever is in Nhan's position has responsibility to screen test the staff. There's no place for deception as it can affect the daily work and the party’s reputation.

If Nhan discovered someone also used fake diploma to get promotion, would he kick that person out of the race? And if he did, would he feel guilty as he himself used someone else's diploma to get promotion?

Nhan's claim to think the issue is 'simple' is ridiculous. Fake certificates are becoming a national epidemic and if everyone thinks like Nhan, Vietnam will become a heaven for fake certificates soon. There's supply when there's demand and the demand is high as the police has been dealing with numerous cases in recent times.

On one surprise note, even though Nhan's wrongdoing is clear as day, his punishment is being suspended to wait for a collective vote. Then what? The result probably only be self-criticism or a reprimand.

We need clear and specific rules and punishments for this wrongdoing. Nhan can be dismissed from his post and the punishment can be a deterrence, and better yet, we will not have to wait for collective vote.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong also said that the hands that were already dirty could never be used in the fight against corruption. Then what are the authorities of Hau Giang Province waiting for? They should immediately deal with someone who already has dirty hands.