Sanctury remains of ancient Cham people get protection

Sanctury remains of ancient Cham people get protection

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

The remains of a 1,200 year-old Cham sanctuary unearthed in Phu Vang district in Hue will undergo major protection works costing 560 million VND (32,000 USD) that are likely to be completed next year.

It will get a security post, equipment to safeguard the structure and a stele providing information about it. Its foundation will be strengthened, and two guards will be posted permanently to protect it from vandalism, according to Cao Huy Hung , director of the province’s Historic and Revolutionary Museum and the project coordinator.

Earlier this month the museum cordoned off and area of 7,300sq.m around the tower an put up markers.

The tower was found five years ago when titanium miners dug 8m into the ground. Subsequent excavations by archaeologists revealed the foundation of another structure nearby besides many religious artiefacts belonging to the ancient Cham people.

The tower has been dated between the eight and ninth centuries, making it among the earliest Cham relics discovered so far. I dates back to the same period as the My Son Tower in Quang Nam province further south, which has been recognised as a world heritage by the United Nations Educational+, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Situated just 100m from the sea, the tower began to lean, develop cracks and deteriorate soon after it was discovered and exposed to the elements, especially the humidity from the ocean nearby.

At the end of 2005 a steel frame was built to prop up the tower.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Ha Long to become smoke free

Ha Long to become smoke free

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

PANO – A ceremony to launch a mobilization named “To build Ha Long into a tourism city without smoke” was held in Ha Long city.

Thousands of local officials and people participated in the ceremony.

Reportedly, the project is run by the Center for Community Research and Development, under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, with an investment of US $284,500.

The project will be carried out during 2009 through 2011, aiming to educate the public regarding the harm of smoking and the bad effects of secondhand smoke, as well as deploying the Government’s regulation “To prohibit smoking in public and places of work”.

The project steering board will regularly send working teams to check the performance of agencies and enterprises and  levy strict punishment to those who violate the regulation.

Translated by Thu Nguyen 

Source: QDND

VASCO introduces “Con Dao Memory” programme

VASCO introduces “Con Dao Memory” programme

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

The Vietnam Air Service Company (VASCO), under the Vietnam Aviation Corporation, on Sep 28th, introduced the “Con Dao Memory” programme that will be in effect from Oct 1st to Dec 31st, 2009, under the auspices of authorities from Con Dao, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province,  Saigontourist, and Fiditour.

VASCO’s Director, Bui Ngoc Hoang, said that half-priced air tickets will be offered to former prisoners of Con Dao, and around 1,500 budget tickets will be issued for the Ho Chi Minh City-Con Dao route. In addition, there will be 14 flights a week, instead of 13.

Source: Thanh Nien

Translated by Hoang Anh

Source: QDND

Full moon festival brings joy to disadvantaged children

Full moon festival brings joy to disadvantaged children

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

The Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper on Sept. 28 presented 3,000 gifts to orphans and children with disabilities in Central Highlands Kon Tum province on the occasion of the traditional and popular Full Moon Festival that falls on Oct. 3 this year.

The gifts worth 90 million VND in total were provided by the PepsiCo Vietnam.

Kon Tum province is now accommodating more than 7,000 children affected by Agent Orange.

Also on this occasion, central coastal Thanh Hoa province will organise the Autumn Festival Night for poor, disabled and street children in 12 coastal communes.

Deputy Director Nguyen Quang Huy of the Thanh Hoa Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that the provincial authorities will pay visits and present gifts to children with difficulties and poor children with outstanding education results.

They will also join children to celebrate the festival, Huy said.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Exhibition of Hanoi’s craft villages to be held

Exhibition of Hanoi’s craft villages to be held

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

An exhibition of Hanoi’s craft villages will open in the capital city on Oct. 6 as part of activities to mark the 999 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The exhibition will display 300 typical products of Hanoi’s craft villages which specialise in wood carving, pottery, brocading, lacquer, mother-of-pearl inlaying, rattan and bamboo knitting and silk weaving.

During the five-day event, which will also introduce production activities of craft villages in the past and at present, a festival gathering ceremonial singing clubs will be held with the participants of 200 artisans and singers and music instrumentalists of 21 clubs in the city.

The two events, co-organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Hanoi People’s Committe, will open to public at the Vietnam ’s Art and Culture Exhibition Centre.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Book of folk songs tugs heartstrings

Book of folk songs tugs heartstrings

QĐND – Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 21:33 (GMT+7)

Le Giang says many people who talked to and sang for her as she traversed the country collecting folk songs would burst into tears when they saw themselves in her new book.

The book, Con Khoc Ngon Lanh (Easy to Cry), is a compilation of memories gathered over more than three decades that Giang and her musician husband Lu Nhat Vu spent on their venture.

Ever since the American War ended 34 years ago, Giang and her husband have traveled to every corner of the country to record songs chanted by common people.

They have published several books featuring the folk songs collected during their travels.

In 2000, the poet was awarded the Mai Vang (Golden Apricot) Award for her contribution to the country’s traditional music.

But the couple says love from people is the greatest prize they have received.

Back in their modest house on the top of an apartment block on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia street after long journeys to different parts of the country, Giang began writing down memories of her encounters with the people who opened and shared their treasure of folk songs with her.

Vietnam is a treasure house of oral folk traditions that have flourished for centuries, like the ho (work shanties) and hat ru (lullaby) in the southern provinces, and quan ho (love duet) in the north. However, not many people are engaged in recording and preserving the thousands of songs that country traditions have created over all these years.

“I write to enjoy life, not as a big task. People think that only famous people write memoirs. Everyone, including a farmer, can write a memoir for their own,” Giang said.

Now the poet and her husband often return to the places, not for collecting fresh material, but to call on people they’d met previously or to light incense for friends who’ve passed away.

The couple are in their seventies now. They spent almost half of their lives researching folk songs in the country and publishing at least a dozen books on the subject.

The books have popularized hundreds of melodies among artists and the general public.

And now, written in a very simple and engaging style, Giang’s memoir about the simple, kind people she and her husband met is sure to touch the hearts of all readers.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Festival highlights wet rice culture

Festival highlights wet rice culture

QĐND – Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 21:34 (GMT+7)

Vietnam will hold its first Rice Festival in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang from November 26 to 30 to introduce to the world the country’s wet rice civilisation – an essential part of its culture.

At a press conference in Hanoi on September 30, Trinh Quang Hung, the Vice Chairman of the Hau Giang provincial People’s Committee said that the event will be attended by representatives from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Rice Research Institute and representatives from rice importing countries.

The Rice Festival will include 100 stands where provinces and cities will exhibit their most efficient models of rice farming along with 200 other pavilions where food businesses and rice exporters will showcase their products.

Coupled with the exhibition and themed workshops, the festival will provide a venue for both rice producers and exporters to discuss ways of removing existing obstacles that hinder rice production and consumption, said Hung.

Vietnam remains the world’s second largest rice exporter and the country is expecting to export a record 6 million tonnes of rice in 2009.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Vietnam, Russia step up ties in IT, communications

Vietnam, Russia step up ties in IT, communications

QĐND – Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 21:33 (GMT+7)

Vietnam and Russia have agreed to arrange more meetings to discuss the development of information technology and communications in their respective countries and inform each other of their policies on software technology, open source software and digital information.

The agreement was reached between the visiting Vietnamese Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop and Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Igor Shegolev, during their talks in Russia on Sept. 28.

The two ministers also discussed opportunities for bilateral cooperation and measures to step up mutual assistance in the information and communications sector.

They suggested that Vietnam should send observers to Russia to find out its ways of designing the press law and invite Russian reporters to cover Vietnamese news. Both countries will take part in international book exhibitions in Moscow and Hanoi and exchange cultural, scientific and technological publications, they said.

During his five-day visit to Russia, Minister Hop also met with leaders of the Vimpelcom Company and visited Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Human rights gets airing

Human rights gets airing

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

A workshop aimed at sharing information and international and domestic experience relating to human rights legislation is being held in the capital city.

The two-day event which started on Sept. 28 is discussing the modernisation of the country’s judicial sector and increased effectiveness of human rights legislation.

Addressing the event, director of the Research Institute on Human Rights Nguyen Duc Thuy said that Vietnam was endeavouring to ensure a broader commitment to human rights in the context of economic growth, improvement in material and spiritual life, democracy, equality and social welfare.

“The Government respects, protects human rights and basic freedoms, and considers people as the motive power and beneficiaries of the country’s development policies,” Thuy said at the workshop.

It has also concentrated on implementing a judicial reform strategy by 2020; a more complete legislative framework by 2010 with an orientation towards 2020; and a social-economic development strategy to 2010 in combination with the extension of administrative and democratic reforms and increased promotion of equality and social welfare.

Participants at the workshop were also told that Vietnam had adhered to most key international conventions on human rights and strictly implemented its responsibilities to signatory conventions.

Human rights are thoroughly reflected in the country’s stitution and in legal documents.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND

Fishermen prepare for four days of whale worship

Fishermen prepare for four days of whale worship

QĐND – Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 21:15 (GMT+7)

The annual Nghinh Ong or Whale Worship Festival, a traditional festival for fishermen, will begin on Oct. 2 in HCM City ’s only coastal district, Can Gio.

The manager of the district’s Department of Culture and Information, Nguyen Van Tot, said that the four-day festival would open at several venues at 8am in Can Thanh Town.

On the third day, a ceremonial offering will be made by village elders in the traditional manner to show people’s gratitude to the whale and commemorate those fishermen that had died at sea.

The offering, one of the highlights of the entire festival, will feature a palanquin procession from Lang Ong Thuy Tuong, or the Whale Tomb, to the sea and a whale welcome ceremony involving a fleet of 500 boats.

The rituals will be followed by festivities to celebrate the community’s well-being and prosperity last year. This will involve several folk performances like playing football on stilts, unicorn dances, tying crabs and wrestling, with the highlight being a performance of human chess.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the district is hoping to turn the Nghing Ong Festival into a major tourist event and develop local tourism by focusing on sights, culture and history, he said.

“Can Gio has potential to develop a wide range of eco-tourism. We aim to develop the district into an ideal weekend destination for city residents,” he said.

A road connecting the city with the district, the first of its kind, would be completed this year, he said.

The districts lacks enough facilities or services to host a large number of international tourists but is likely to welcome around 3,000 visitors every day.

The HCM City Youth&Children Outdoor Activities Centre at the district’s Long Hoa Commune will offer an exploratory two-day tour of the Can Gio mangrove forest at a moderate 413,000 VND.

Can Gio District, situated around 50km to the southeast of downtown HCM City , spreads over 70,421 ha. Well over half of it is occupied by forests, 22,850 ha by canals and rivers, and the most of the rest by aquaculture farmers, orchards and salt fields.

The mangrove forest here was recognised as Vietnam ’s first biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2000, joining a global network of 368 others in 91 nations.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND