Arts in spotlight as youth mark millennium

Young people will hold many activities from art performances to
exhibitions and street festivals across the country on Oct. 8 to
celebrate the 1,000 th birthday of Hanoi.

At a press
briefing in Hanoi on Oct.5, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union
Central Committee said celebrations will start in Hanoi with an incense
offering ceremony at the King Ly Thai To statue in Hanoi and an art
performance of 3,500 children and young people of Hanoi and 65 young
foreigners around the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi.

The programme will
continue with a performance of drums and clarinets as well as singing
and dancing at the same time in Hanoi , the central city of Da Nang
and Ho Chi Minh City .

Also in the morning of the day 1,000
children will draw paintings following the theme “I love Hanoi ” around
the Hoan Kiem Lake , while performances of songs and dances will
take place at universities, colleges and senior high-schools
nationwide.

As part of the programme, an exhibition of photos and
objects will be held around Thien Quang lake in Hanoi . Over 600
photos, documents and objects will be displayed under the theme of
“Vietnamese Youth – proud of 1,000 years of Thang Long-Hanoi and
National Construction”.

A three-day festival of young people of
ASEAN+3 (ASEAN countries and China , Japan and the Republic of
Korea ) will be held from Oct. 6. Participants of the festival plan to
take this occasion to boost exchanges and establish cooperation in many
fields.

Young people from the northern province of Bac Ninh
will bring a collage painting, the largest of its kind in Vietnam ,
to the festival.

In the evening of Oct. 8, a street festival will be held with singing, dancing and a parade around the centre of Hanoi .

On
Oct. 5, an exhibition of Bat Trang ceramic craft village of Hanoi
opened to celebrate Hanoi birthday. Also on display at the
exhibition are products from other traditional ceramic craft villages in
the country.

In the same vein, an artistic photo festival of 15
northern mountainous provinces also opened on Oct. 5 in Dien Bien Phu
city, Dien Bien province.

Exhibits are 205 photos selected from
1,219 entries to the festival, capturing the beauty of nature, the
people and their daily lives. Of these photos, 24 were awarded with
prizes.

Also, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the northern
province of Thai Binh jointly opened an exhibition of 120 photos of
Hanoi and Thai Binh./.

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Saint Giong statue recognised during millennium

A 14.2m statue of the mythical saviour of the nation, Saint Giong, was
inaugurated on Oct. 5 on top of Da Chong Mountain in Soc Son suburban
district of Hanoi.

The 85-tonne copper statue
of the saint holding a grove of bamboo in his hand while flying off into
the sky on his horse is a cultural project commissioned to celebrate
the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

At the inauguration ceremony, State President Nguyen Minh Triet
confirmed the great contributions of Saint Giong to the history of the
national defence and laid stress on the cultural significance of the
project to the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The construction of the statue was intended to express great
gratitude to the ancestor, he said, adding that the statue would be an
image to encourage people in study and work to contribute to national
construction and defence.

Legend has it that Giong was born after his mother stepped into the footprints of a giant.

At the age of three, when invaders attacked the country, Giong
suddenly grew into a giant himself. Giong wielded an enormous iron rod
and an entire grove of bamboo to chase the invaders out of the country
on the back of an iron horse presented to him by the king.

Following the enemy’s flight, Giong and his horse took off into the sky
from Soc Mountain , never to be seen again.

He was worshipped as one of the nation’s four immortal saints./.

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Director recognises Ha Long Bay’s potential

The Director of New7Wonders Foundation, Jean-Paul De La Fuente, has
called on Vietnam to launch a national campaign to promote Ha Long Bay’s
image and attempt to gain the title of a New7Wonders attraction.

Jean-Paul made the statement in an interview with The Thao & Van
Hoa (Sports & Culture) newspaper after concluding a working session
with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on October 4.

He said the publicity campaign was necessary in the final rounds of
the competition to increase public awareness of the election, which
should involve the Government.

Brazil’s President took
part in voting for its key natural attraction as it was part of the
national pride and honour, said the chief of the world body evaluating
new world wonders.

He said he understood that at this
point, all Vietnamese considered Ha Long bay as the biggest wonder of
the nation, which he said needs massive promotion and election campaigns
to promote its image.

Jean-Paul advised Vietnam to
avoid routines in campaigning while creating special initiatives to
attract public attention, especially the young generation, to vote.

He said pictures of the site were not convincing enough as his body
had received numerous beautiful pictures from 28 candidates around the
world.

These pictures should be accompanied with strong messages, he emphasised.

Colourful figures should be invited to pose in the scene and take part
in voting and messages on Ha Long Bay should be conveyed to
international tourists, Paul advised.

The voting in the final round will be expanded to telephone calls and messaging, in addition to the internet.

He said he expected the Vietnamese people would bring their national
spirit, which he saw with his own eyes in the Thang Long-Hanoi
millennium anniversary, to the Ha Long Bay campaign.

The competition will not be decided by a group of people but by a majority in the world, Jean-Paul emphasised./.

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Hanoi ceramic mosaic sets Guinness World Record

A 810m section of Hanoi’s ceramic mosaic along the Red River road has
set a new Guinness World Record. Beatriz Fernandez, a representative
from the Guinness Book of World Records, presented the city with a
certificate for the largest ceramic mosaic at a ceremony in Hanoi on
October 5, when a plaque with “in celebration of Thang Long-Hanoi’s
millennium anniversary”, was placed on the mural.

On addressing the ceremony, Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, Deputy Chairwoman of the
Hanoi People’s Committee, stressed on the joint effort made by local
and foreign artists, agencies, companies, volunteers and children,
which, she said, showed the love and friendship that people have for
Hanoi.

Katherine Muller Marin, Chief Representative for UNESCO in
Hanoi, expressed her joy at the work of art with journalist Nguyen Thu
Thuy, who initiated the project, saying that Thuy got local people and
foreigners to create the work, combined with culture, art and history,
to make it more attractive and understandable, which will help to raise
public awareness of the country’s heritages.

The mosaic mural
came from an idea by Thuy, a journalist and painter who works for the
Hanoimoi newspaper with full support from the city’s authorities.

It
was created from 2007 to 2010, involving 20 Vietnamese and 15 foreign
artists and 500 children from across the country and around the world
plus 100 craftsmen from traditional ceramic villages, including Phu
Lang, Bat Trang, Chu Dau and Binh Duong.

The project, which runs
for nearly 4 km along the Red River Dyke, features images of Vietnam’s
history, countryside and traditional craft villages./.

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Foreign friends join in Hanoi’s birthday party

Many overseas visitors felt happy and extremely lucky to be in Hanoi
for its millennium anniversary, both those who have lived in Hanoi
for many years as well as newcomers to the city.

The
Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam Saadi Salama, who has been working and
living in Hanoi for years, said he felt lucky to have the
opportunity to witness Thang Long-Hanoi’s anniversary.

Hanoi
, in his eyes, has a unique beauty, with peaceful scenes, shady streets
and small rivers, especially Long Bien Bridge and the city’s
small residential enclaves. “These sweet memories of Hanoi will
always remain in my heart, ” he said.

The beauty of
the 1,000 year-old city has been captured in his photos. Six of them
were showcased at a recent exhibition on Hanoi through the eyes of
international friends, held by the Vietnam Union of Friendship
Organisations in late September.

The newly-appointed
Chilean Ambassador Fernando Urrutia, who has been in office in Hanoi
for only two months, said he felt privileged to witness Hanoi ’s
1,000 th birthday.

“I am so happy to live and work in Hanoi , it is so rich in culture.”

Having arrived in Hanoi several days before their 10 th wedding
anniversary, Linda and Robert Plummer from Australia had special
feelings about Hanoi .

“I love the dynamic, bustling life
in Hanoi and am very happy to be a part of the city’s most important
anniversary,” said Robert, adding that he and his wife will spend most
of their time in Vietnam exploring Hanoi .

Mr.
and Mrs. Jeff Hurley, from the UK , decided to return to Vietnam for
Hanoi ’s millennium celebrations as they were very impressed by
Vietnam and its people when they visited two years ago.

“While in Hanoi , we will visit the Thang Long royal citadel, a
UNESCO recognised cultural heritage, to learn more about the city,”
said Mr Hurley./.

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Thai star debuts at Vietnam volleyball champs

Thailand's volleyball star Wanchai Tabwises (yellow jersey)

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Thai star Wanchai Tabwises makes his debut appearance Tuesday at the Vietnam national volleyball championship with Duc Long – 5th Military Zone club following a long delay.

The athlete, who was admitted to the Thailand national team in 2005, enlists the club to play the second round of the tournament from October 5-19 in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Ninh Binh, pursuant to a five-year contract till 2014 at an income of US$7,000 per month.

A total of 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams separated into groups of six are competing in the championship with two best ones in each group to qualify for the semifinals.

As many as 13 male and 17 female foreign players are now playing for Vietnamese clubs, according to a report from the Vietnam Volleyball Federation.

Wanchai actually signed the contract with Duc Long – 5th Military Zone in December last year. However, the Volleyball Association of Thailand and the Asian Volleyball Federation postponed him the day in which the star could start playing for contract violations involving an unidentified club from Bahrain.

The suspension was only lifted on October 2.

The first stage of the championship was organized from March 14-28 in the Central Highlands provinces of Daklak and Gia Lai.

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Vietnam to flaunt its fashion in RoK

The Republic of Korea (RoK) Embassy’s Trade and Investment Promotion
Agency in Hanoi (KOTRA Hanoi) will arrange for a delegation of
Vietnamese businesspeople to attend an international textile-garment
exhibition and fashion festival to be held in Busan city, RoK, in
mid-October.

According to KOTRA, the Busan event lasting from Oct. 14-16 will provide
a chance for Vietnamese businesses to promote their products to big
exporters and distributors from the RoK and other countries over the
world.

They will also learn the trend of the 2011-2012
Autumn-Winter season and attend seminars on production, technology and
distribution.

According to the Vietnam Textile and
Apparel Association (VITAS), Vietnam ’s textile and garment exports
to the RoK have sharply increased over recent years, reaching nearly 240
million USD in 2009, and 180 million USD in the first eight months of
this year, marking a year-on-year 45 percent increase.

Vietnam also imported a great volume of materials for the
industry from the RoK, buying 1.4 billion USD worth of fibres in 2009.

VITAS also reported that more than 400 RoK businesses have invested in
the textile and garment industry in Vietnam . They include many
well-known ones such as Pangrim, Hansae Vietnam , Han-soll Vietnam
, and Vina-Korea./.

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