FPT's pioneering culture appears in every step of the "Connecting Journey" - the relay race that just established 2 Vietnam records.
On a day in April, Ms. Phung Thu Trang - Head of FPT Telecom's Communication Department had a lunch appointment with Mr. Dinh Tien Dung - FPT Television Creative Director. Mr. Dung came up with a bold idea to organize a cross-country relay race with the participation of FPT employees nationwide. And if it is real, this will be the first time Vietnam has a relay race organized throughout Vietnam for 31 days in 28 provinces with a total length of 2,600 km with the participations of 3,000 FPT employees. The race starts from August 5 at Lang Son Friendship Port and ends on September 4 in Ca Mau.
The idea is doubted by many people because there has never been such a different and ambitious event. But when listening to the presentation of the idea, Mrs. Chu Thanh Ha - Chairman of FPT Telecom liked the idea right from the first sentence. "Many people think that running 2,600 km is a crazy idea, but the more difficult it is, the more we like," said Mrs. Chu Thanh Ha before the relay race.
From the idea to reality is a big change in thinking. From being apprehensive, most people turned into excited. The project team was established to turn that crazy idea into reality, to become a pride and to affirm that FPT can do an unprecedented job. The preparation phase is very urgent when the project team only has 2 weeks to do the survey and to prepare for next steps.
After many worries and excitements, on August 5, Mrs. Chu Thanh Ha departed at km 0 at Lang Son Friendship Port to begin this historic journey. On that day, the crazy idea came true. The organization board may feel relieved temporarily before getting ready to welcome the long journey ahead with countless untold hardships and difficulties.
FPT staff from the organization board to the employees across the country hold their breaths in every step of the way with different emotions: excitement, suspense, and waiting, etc. The journey brings the flag to many FPT headquarters in all regions: FPT Cau Giay, FPT Complex or FPT Tan Thuan, etc. And then, on September 4, FPT people were happy to see the flag flying in Ca Mau cape. In that sacred moment, everyone was touched. And "Connecting Journey" has officially been set 2 records: “The longest running relay” and “The largest number of athletes in Vietnam”.
There will be no record without a pioneering environment
During three decades, FPT has always been the pioneer in connecting technology in Vietnam with the world. That pioneering spirit started from the founders and became the genome that FPT generations inherited, creating a corporate culture with the pioneering spirit on top.
"Connecting journey" is the representative of the spirit “Be the pioneer” of FPT, showing the enthusiasm of an enterprise with 30 years of age: dare to challenge all limitations, do not accept the old way of thinking, dare to dream and to explore. “Connecting” here means to connect people with the same pioneering spirit to create a strong resonance and to overcome all challenges to make a record.
The participants in the journey had to face all weather conditions when they run in the burning sun of the Central, get thermal shock but still feel excited when running from the Central Highlands to the Southern region to deliver the FPT flag to teammates, then run in the heavy rain when reaching Ca Mau.
They also need to challenge all terrain when in 31 days, FPT people had to cross through dozens of small and large passes with steep and winding ramps and through soft sand dunes, making it harder and requiring more energy.
Even so, the FPT flag is still flying in each person’s hand and the legs of every FPT athlete are always moving forward.
Set a record to recall the old one
Not only is a running record, “Connecting Journey” is also a reenactment of the journey connecting the North-South cable route in 9 months and 10 days instead of 2 years, a record set 7 years ago thanks to the spirit of dare to challenge your limits of FPT. The project requires a lot of efforts to perfect, challenge the spirit of overcoming difficulties of the deployment team when having to pull more than 1,800 km of cable from North to South, across all terrain. Today, when FPT people run through the land of Nine Dragons, they are reminiscent of the day when FPT became the first enterprise in Vietnam to successfully pull the cable across the Hau River, completing the effort to bring a seamless connection to all Vietnamese people. It was the old record that inspired FPT staff to set this record and to overcome countless difficulties to write a beautiful story on each kilometer of the journey.
The journey connecting team spirit across all regions
Chairman Truong Gia Binh once affirmed: "FPT respect individuals, innovations and teammates. This is an unrivaled spirit that brought many successes to FPT. This spirit is the spirit of FPT. If losing it, FPT will no longer be FPT”.
Teamwork spirit lies in the organization and the cooperation of idea, event, logistic, media, and human resources teams, etc. with enthusiastic people who do not manage day and night, rain and sun. Teamwork spirit is when the Central region lack of people, FPT staff from all regions has travelled hundreds of kilometers to come to support. Teamwork spirit lies in the moment the two athletes meet and deliver the flag, they look each other in the eyes of faith and give each other tight hugs.
At the end of the "Connecting Journey", we will remember the moment when FPT Chairman – Mr. Truong Gia Binh received the flag from FPT telecom CEO Hoang Viet Anh as well as the records. But these moments will fade away and the records will be broken. The most meaningful and unchanging things are the enthusiasm, innovative spirit and teamwork strength created by the spirit "Be the pioneer" of an enterprise that just hit the 30 mark.
