What is the secret of the "9 hours"?
“…I travel a lot by car, and when I see young people on the street talking to each other, I think: if only they knew that these are their happiest days…
Do you know what troubles me as President? I don't have enough time!”
I was moved when I heard these words in Seoul during the head of state's dialogue with our compatriots.
Time is running out for the journalists who came to cover the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan, for our entire delegation, and, as we now realize, for our President as well.
Imagine, Seoul is 4 hours ahead. When it was 6 a.m. on September 15 in Uzbekistan, the head of state was already holding a meeting at the National Assembly of Korea.
I caught the words our President said while saying goodbye to the Speaker of Parliament: “We have a lot of work to do, I have to wake up at 4 a.m.”
The meaning of “we have a lot of work to do,” in my opinion, is this: the President's work schedule until noon includes 1 meeting, 1 reception, a speech at the Uzbekistan-Korea business forum with 200 participants, a document signing ceremony, a launch ceremony for 5 new joint projects in the regions of Uzbekistan, and tête-à-tête meetings with 10 Korean chaebols (large diversified family business conglomerates). At the same time, people gathered in another hall, about 50 compatriots living and studying in Korea were waiting for a meeting. Even if you just read this list, let alone stand at the head of these tasks, you would say “wow.”
I hear the talk of serious people in suits: “Maybe we should cancel the meeting with our compatriots? Let's tell them not to come, they need to prepare for the summit, they haven't even had lunch yet.”
We are witnesses to the fact that they work without lunch, especially abroad, where events follow one another. The President tries to talk to as many people as possible. “I want to bring more benefit to my country,” says the President.
When you have to talk to a huge number of people in one day, give instructions, and read speeches — the “non-stop” mode takes its toll: the President sometimes apologizes for his sore throat and says half-jokingly, half-seriously: “They don't even give me water.”
The audience consists of young people. There are scholarship holders of the “El-yurt umidi” foundation, and those who have “already taken root and flourished” — having started a business with $50, today they are importing goods from Uzbekistan, or scholars who started by teaching the Uzbek language to 7 Korean students and are now teaching more than 70 students a year.
The President explains the details of the visit to them, talks about why he came to Korea, how our relations are developing, and what support can be provided to the citizens here. He listens to the proposals of about 10 young people.
The protocol service approaches the leader several times and reminds him: “9 hours have passed.”
But the head of state continues the dialogue. We, the journalists, try to solve the puzzle. Have 9 hours passed since they started working non-stop, or are there 9 hours left until an important event begins?
At the meeting, Elena Chuyanova, who is conducting research in Korea, mentions the “hurry-hurry” culture: 빨리빨리 문화 (ppalli-ppalli munhwa). That is, the condition for not falling behind progress is to conquer time, not only “physically” but also “spiritually.”
This culture that developed Korea is similar to our President's principle of “hurrying without haste.” It is a dream of building an Uzbekistan that does not lag behind the times.
"Do not waste a single minute of your time. 5 years will pass, 10-15 years will pass. Who will lead Uzbekistan? You. Yes, homesickness is painful. Let the pain for the motherland be an incentive to learn more, serve the motherland with devotion."
The day spent “on one's feet” for 9 hours still does not end. On September 16, the Central Asia-Korea summit will take place, and now the President will go to prepare his speech and initiatives.
When the leader rests — the answer to this question remains a mystery for the entire delegation for now.
“I torture myself, I torture you too,
I will not leave you alone until you work, a 40-million-strong nation is looking at us. We must make them satisfied.”
I don't know the secret of the 9-hour “non-stop,” but its goal is exactly this.
