In four months’ time, the dossier for Hat Xoan (Xoan singing) will be submitted to UNESCO for its recognition as an intangible World Cultural Heritage in need of urgent protection.

A special art form

A recent survey by the Phu Tho provincial Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism shows that although Hat Xoan still exists in 17 communes in Phu Tho province, the old Xoan songs have been heard only in four places, An Thai village in Phuong Luu commune and Thet, Phu Duc and Kim Dai villages in Kim Duc commune.

At present the number of famous Xoan singers is decreasing and most of them are very old. In addition, many young people, especially those who have left their native villages, are unfamiliar with the songs. So, it is no easy task to teach the young generation the old folk songs.

Researcher Dang Hoanh Loan, former Vice Director of the Institute for Vietnamese Music, says  Hat Xoan is also known as Hat Cua Dinh as it used to be performed in front of the village Communal House. It includes music, songs and dances and is performed in the village spring festival in Phu Tho.

Hat Xoan is considered professional and well-organised Vietnamese folk music. Singers in Xoan groups are usually members of an extended family.

Hat Xoan is organised to entertain villagers and honour the gods and the Hung Kings and also to pray for good luck and bumper crops.

The significance of Hat Xoan finds expressions in the way villagers welcome the Xoan singers with great fanfare young men wearing white clothes and red turbans and carrying small drums. They will start beating the drums when the singers cross the river and later hand the instruments over to them when they arrived in the village. And the troupe will continue singing love songs until they reach the door of the Communal House where they will perform to honour the gods.

Ways to preserve Hat Xoan

UNESCO has recommended a public preservation model to help raise public awareness of the need to maintain and develop this valuable cultural heritage. As Hat Xoan is part of Vietnam’s traditional village festivals, it should be given due credit.

Professor To Ngoc Thanh – Chairman of the Vietnam Folk Letters and Arts Association, says related offices should invest in costumes, musical instruments the recovery of original Xoan songs.

In addition, Vietnam should encourage secondary schools to include Hat Xoan in their curriculum and confer the official title of outstanding artisan, he added.

Dang Hoanh Loan says in order for Hat Xoan to be recognised by UNESCO as part the World Cultural Heritage, scientists should study the Hat Xoan in all of the 18 villages in Phu Tho province to understand the values created and passed passed down from generations to generations and to help preserve and develop this special art form.

VNN/VOV

Related news:

1. “Hat Xoan” dossier built for UNESCO’s recognition
2. Hue and world heritage site after typhoon
3. Temple of Literature stone steles seek world heritage status
4. Long way to go for music copyright protection
5. Vietnam focuses on forest protection

Tags: Hat Xoan, In Phu Tho, Phu Tho, Special Art Form

Comments

A Muong man tries to preserve traditional gong music by offering free classes. But he can’t do it alone.

Bui Tien Xo’s small house in the mountains of Hoa Binh Province is filled to the brim with 34 gongs from different regions and peoples of Vietnam.

“My life is bound up with gongs,” Xo says. “Even if I wanted to, ridding myself of the gongs would be impossible.”

The lifelong love affair began forty years ago, and Xo says that ever since, he’s been traveling throughout the northern province hunting for gongs. But the more he travels, he says, the more he realizes that the art form is standing on the edge of an abyss.

Do anything

With some gongs over 400 years old, Xo and his collection are well known in his ethnic Muong community in Boi District’s Vinh Tien Commune. Many are in awe of his extreme dedication to finding and collecting the rare, obscure instruments.

In 1990, he rode his bicycle 100 kilometers to Tan Lac District in hopes of persuading a family to sell him a gong.

One of the family members said, “This was left behind by our ancestors. How can we sell it to you?”

But other families not longer care about their gongs. They often sell them for pennies to scrap collectors. But the same collectors know how valuable the metal instruments are to Xo, selling the pieces back to him for millions of dong each.

But Xo will do anything for gongs.

In 1987, he spent a month building a stilt house for a family in Mai Chau to receive a gong as payment. In 1993, he sold a herd of eight cows and oxen to buy some gongs.
Now, Xo’s gong collection is worth up to VND100 million (US$5,618). But he says he’ll never sell or give up the gongs, he’ll just keep collecting.

Like a lullaby

Xo not only collects the gongs, he plays them. Any visitor to his home is likely to be treated to an impromptu concert, with the clang and wail of the gongs filling the small house and indeed, the entire village.

He performs various styles of Muong gong music, each with its own unique rhythm and mix of high treble tones and low bass notes.

The gongs, usually between 20- 80 centimeters in diameter, are indispensable at Muong folk festivals. During celebrations for the New Year, crop planting, harvests and weddings, you can hear the gongs and the songs of the Muong throughout the region.

They often use the gongs to “welcome” the various events. A team of gong players usually wanders the village for communal celebrations, playing a song in each house. For weddings, the bride’s family plays on the way to the groom’s home.

The Muong believe they speak directly to the gods through the gongs, praying for health, luck, happiness, rain and good harvests. They also use the gongs to thank the gods for rains and healthy crops.

Xo says that each ritual has a certain recognizable style of gong song. Different styles inform the residents of a community social event, sad local news, elders discussing an important issue and news of a coming disaster, such as floods.

And the traditions are not exclusive to the Muong of Hoa Binh. Many other communities practice their own gong arts.

“Gongs from the Central Highlands create sharp sounds, while Muong gongs in Hoa Binh are bass instruments with louder echoes that travel farther,” he says. “A gong can in fact play as many tones as some string instruments,” Xo asserts.

Each of Xo’s gongs has its own tone and pitch. He uses different combinations of his 34 gongs to play familiar anthems from the northern, central and southern regions.
Vinh, Xo’s neighbor, says his family enjoys the gong music the best.

“Listening to Xo’s gong music, our children sleep well without needing a lullaby.”

Spread the love

Sadly for Xo, less and less people are passing knowledge of the music down to their children, he says.

So, for 10 years now, Xo has been teaching people how to play gongs for free. He travels far and wide into the Muong hamlets of Da Dac, Tan Lac, Mai Chau and Cao Phong gathering people who still want to learn to play and preserve gongs into informal classes.

Though Xo makes a meager living repairing motorbikes and bicycles to put his daughter through university, he travels around giving free gong lessons whenever he has free time.

But Xo worries that what he’s doing is not enough.

He says cultural management agencies in Hoa Binh do not have plans or programs to preserve and promote gong music.

In 2005, UNESCO recognized The Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam as a Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage of Humanity, but funds from that preservation project will not reach Hoa Binh, as it is a northern province outside the Central Highlands region.

Bui Duc Tan, chairman of the People’s Committee of Vinh Tien Commune, praises Xo and says the committee supports what he is doing. However, he simply shakes his head when asked if the local government would fund the teaching of gong music.

“I cannot save the Muong people’s rapidly-vanishing musical treasure alone,” Xo says. “I can only pick part of it and teach what I know.”

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

Related news:

1. Conquering mountains in Tay Ninh Province
2. The duty free shops of Moc Bai are dying
3. Classes in danger of dying due to lack of students

Tags: Gong Music, He Says, Hoa Binh, The Central Highlands, The Gongs, The Muong, Xo Says

Comments

Vietnam participates in Int’l Book Fair Cuba 2010; Vietnam’s culture week launched in Cairo; Ancient capital to be excavated; Vietnam to take part in Asia-Europe exchange exhibition   

The offering table displayed cakes made in Hoc Mon and Cu Chi districts, winners of the first and second prizes at a competition to cook cylindrical glutinous rice cakes for the Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

The same day, municipal leaders offered incense and these cakes at the Ho Chi Minh Museum and the Ton Duc Thang Museum.

The cake offering is one of several traditional cultural activities observed every Tet holiday to remember ancestors, who have made great contributions to national defense and construction.

Vietnam participates in Int’l Book Fair Cuba 2010
 
Vietnam is now taking part in the International Book Fair Cuba 2010 with many books published in Spanish by the The Gioi (World) Publishing House, particularly the Prison Diary poems by Late President Ho Chi Minh.

Also on display are famous books by General Vo Nguyen Giap and books about the country’s renovation process.

The fair this year opened on February 11 with the participation of Cuban President Raul Castro and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serguei Lavrov.

Over 600 literary publications from 40 countries all over the world and 6 million books are being exhibited for sale.

Many cultural activities such as art, ballet and circus performances will also take place during the event.

Vietnam’s culture week launched in Cairo
 
A Vietnamese culture week opened in Cairo, Egypt on February 9, drawing international guests, ambassadors, Egyptian people, Vietnamese students in Egypt and international reporters.

The cultural week is part of activities held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt in coordination with show room TOOT Cairo to promote the image of Vietnamese culture and daily life to international friends.

In an opening speech, Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Kaoru Ishikawa expressed his admiration for Vietnam’s cultural traditions and shared his impressions, “Vietnam is currently one of the most dynamic economies in the region. Many Japanese investors have come to open plants in Vietnam. I believe that Egypt and Vietnam will cooperate efficiently in the future,” said Mr Kaoru.

From Feb 9-24, there will be diverse cultural activities including a photo exhibition, song and dance performances, a culinary festival and a display of fine arts and handicrafts.

Ancient capital to be excavated
 
A project to excavate the central remains of the former Vietnamese capital of Hoa Lu, in the northern province of Ninh Binh, has started in an effort to estimate and preserve the historical value of a site that was host to the capital of the Dinh, Le and Ly dynasties for 42 years ending in 1010.

Archaeologists previously studied an area of 500sq.m and discovered a variety of valuable objects related to the three dynasties. The excavation will take place simultaneously with the display of any recovered artefacts to the public.

The project was launched under the auspices of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Museum of History.

Vietnam to take part in Asia-Europe exchange exhibition
 
Vietnam will participate in the sponsoring committee for the “2,500 years of Asia-Europe exchange” exhibition in Belgium to promote its image internationally.

The government has assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and work with the concerned agencies of Belgium to implement the committee’s activities.

As one of the founding members of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), Vietnam has played an active part in inter-continental cooperation in politics, economy and other fields, including culture and education, to serve its national development.

PV

Related news:

1. LIFESTYLE IN BRIEF 17/9
2. LIFESTYLE IN BRIEF 19/9

Tags: Ho Chi Minh

Comments

Tet is the most celebrated holiday throughout Vietnam. Hanoian scholar Nguyen Vinh Phuc provides a short history detailing how the holiday has been celebrated in the city in the past.

Tet (Lunar New Year holiday), also known as Tet ca (biggest festival), is considered as the most important traditional festival in the whole country for people of the Kinh ethnicity. Until the early 20th century, Hanoians from all walks of life celebrated Tet in two stages: the preparatory stage and the enjoyment stage. During the preparatory stage, people brought gifts to important people in their lives and every family tidied up their house, cleaned their altars and objects used for worship, bought offerings, had new clothes made and so on.

In families that could afford to, purchased many things for Tet, men went to Hang Ngang and Hang Duong streets to buy thuy tien (narcissus) bulbs. Either the men or their daughters would care for the spring-time bulbs prior to Tet so that they would be in bloom on New Year’s Eve. If the men did not write their own couplet for the New Year, they went to Hang Bo Street to buy hand-scripted scrolls from old Confucian teacher, which were displayed in great numbers on the pavement. These paralled scrolls, were always written on red paper, unless the family was in mourning; if this were the case the scrolls had to be on yellow or green paper. Many men also went to Hang Luoc Street, when it was still a flower market in the 1920s, to buy flowers, branches of cherry or apricot blossoms, vases of camellia flowers, chrysanthemums or kumquats to decorate their houses for the holiday.

Women went to Hang Duong Street to buy cakes, sweets, sugar and preserved fruits. They also visited Hang Huong Street (now Hang Dau Street) to buy assorted incensesticks and rings of incense such as sandalwood, musk, and eucalyptus. On Hang Buom and Hang Can streets they found vermicelli, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Many ladies went to Hang Quat Street (now Luong Van Can Street) as early as in the tenth lunar month to order made-to-measure brocade robes or satin tunics. Tailored clothing was also commonly ordered in Trach Xa Village (Ung Hoa District, on the outskirts of Ha Noi now). The women also ventured to Hang Bac Street to have the merchants there give their jewellery a beautiful shine.

However, the first thing all families thought about as they prepared for Tet was making their own batches of banh chung (square cakes made of glutinous rice with mung bean and pork as filling). The ritual of preparing the cakes was pure happiness for most families – wrapping the dumplings in rush leaves, boiling them and watching them until they looked just about right, and then breaking open the first one for the first taste test.

People also prepared meat pies wrapped in banana leaves. Meticulous people would pound out the lean meat pies themselves, and if they were even more meticulous, they would arranged pieces of boiled chicken eggs in the shape of a lemon flower in the middle of the meat pie. When the pie was later sliced into individual portions, each had a flower in the centre. Meat pies were also available in most markets if people did not have the desire or time to prepare their own. Other culinary preparations included wrapping ham, cooking a pot of braised fish and another of meat, pickling onions to serve with the banh chung in an earthenware jar, and another of pickled mustard-greens to go with the meat.

Special items for the Tet banquet also had to be purchased. Even poor families couldn’t do without lean meat pies, spring rolls, and moc (steamed lean pork balls). More luxurious items included cooked fish such as conger pike, mackerel, fin, shell-fish, seaweed and salangane.

Apart from the cooked food banquet, there was also the confectionery banquet. A pot of green bean compote, an earthenware pan of dumplings, sweet potato cakes and assorted jams such as ginger, kumquat and lotus seed were all considered essential.

Poor families worried more about their holiday. If they wanted a pot of must have glutinous rice square cakes, they had to think about how to pay for enough glutinous rice, green beans and pork. They also had to carefully plan how to perform ritual offerings on the three days of Tet and how to buy new clothes for their children. Gifts had to be prepared for both the maternal and paternal sides of the family, for the owners of their homes if they rented, for creditors, and so on. As a folk verse goes: “Whether you are rich or poor, on Tet’s Eve, you should have some meat in the house.” Another rule of thumb is that whether one is rich or poor, one must have a decent dress to wear to welcome Tet.

Whether in Ha Noi or in the country, people enjoyed Tet together. On Tet’s Eve, a tray of ritual offerings was prepared for worship. On the first day of the first lunar month, the offering was the first course of business. Children would then go home and wish their parents and grand-parents a happy New Year. Close friends and kin visited each other’s homes to wish each other a happy New Year. Every family, whether rich or poor, was happy at the first dinner of the new year because “they could stay hungry when they organised their fathers’ death ceremony, but during the three days of Tet, they had to be full”.

Because of the celebratory mood, the three days of Tet passed by with best wishes exchanged amid fireworks and firecrackers, and public games around Hoan Kiem Lake. Other family games such as cards and mahjong were also played during these days. Rich families played the songs of famous singers and actress on their gramophones such as Tuu and Tam who performed cheo (traditional opera) or Nam Phi and Phung Ha who performed cai luong (reformed theatre). But the happiest people at Tet were the children, who proudly put on their new clothes and received New Year’s wishes and lucky money.
 
Tet lives on

Over the past fifty years the customs for welcoming Tet have changed. Some changes were seen during the American War and then post-war period.

Despite many difficulties during the war, the Government took care of the people so that they could enjoy their traditional Tet days with additional rations of food and and other necessities. Tet rations included meat, glutinous rice and green beans, more packets of tea, boxes of assorted jams, and even extra dried pig skin. Larger quantities of rush leaves were collected from the forests and distributed to people to wrap their banh chung. At that time, the State also supplied people in urban areas with the fuel they so desperately needed. In short, all of the traditional Tet customs were maintained.

These days, people’s lives have become even better. Food is plentiful. Banh chung can be purchased in many shops, so people don’t need to spend time on its meticulous preparations. In fact, banh chung is now available all year round, not only during Tet as in the past. One can always see people these days wearing good and fashionable dresses all over the city. So now during Tet people spend their time visiting friends and enjoying various forms of entertainment. The old customs that remain are the wishes for a happy New Year, offerings made to ancestors on the morning of the first day of Lunar January, and the ceremony of burning votive money for the dead on the third or fourth day.

It is worth noting that for the past decade firecrackers have been banned for safety reasons, to positive response and acceptance by the people. It has also become popular for people from the city to take domestic tours during the holiday and some wealthy families even travel abroad.

Another prominent custom appeared in 1955 and has since become a tradition - Hanoians celebrate New Year’s Eve around Hoan Kiem Lake. The tradition began when many southerners from various regions of the North, such as Ha Noi and neighbouring provinces wanted a central venue point in the capital city where they could gather together at the weekends.

They turned the Khai Tri Tien Duc house on the bank of the lake into the Reunification Club (it is now the headquarters of the grassroots information department at 16 Le Thai To Street). It was here that the southern soldiers and officials who had moved from the South after the war against the French gathered together to enjoy musical performances. On New Year’s Eve in particular, everyone who lived far from their home converged on the lake to stroll around and welcome the New Year together. Now, Hanoians also go out to enjoy Tet around Hoan Kiem Lake.

The first New Year’s Eve fireworks display was also organised on the shores of the lake. After people heard New Year’s wishes from President Ho Chi Minh on the radio, the fireworks festival became special to everyone in the city. This event has become a fine custom for people in the city, which sees them flock to Hoan Kiem Lake to welcome spring with all their hearts. Before 1955, people generally stayed in their homes to welcome the New Year. So the New Year’s Eve ceremony at Hoan Kiem Lake has become a new and beloved ritual for Hanoians to welcome Tet.

VietNamNet/VNS

Related news:

1. Lunar New Year celebrated abroad
2. Tour prices set to rise during Lunar New Year
3. Airlines plan to provide more flights on Tet Lunar New Year holiday
4. One year to improve Hoan Kiem Lake
5. Hanoi: land of lakes

Tags: Around Hoan Kiem, Around Hoan Kiem Lake, Banh Chung, Glutinous Rice, Ha Noi, Happy New Year, Hoan Kiem, Hoan Kiem Lake, Kiem Lake, Meat Pies, New Year, Of The Lake, The City, the first, The Lake, The New, The New Year, The Past, The Three Days

Comments

Menras André Marcel has an unusual name card.

“The picture always reminds me everyday of my responsibility to find out more ways to help poor children in Vietnam,” he said.

Forty years on, a milestone event took place in Marcel’s life. The President of Vietnam stamped his approval on an application granting the Frenchman Vietnamese citizenship in recognition of his long-standing support for Vietnam’s struggles and the work he has done to help the disadvantaged people in this country.

Forty years on, he is still committed and willing to travel to remote areas of the country for any work that involves helping the poor.

Known by his Vietnamese friends as André Quyet, the Frenchman has been leading the Association de Amitié pour le Développement des Echanges Pédagogiques entre la France et le Viet Nam (Association of Friendship for the Development of the Teaching Exchanges between France and Vietnam ) (ADEP) since 2002.

One of his most important initiatives in recent times was the organizing of a special trip to France by 17 former political prisoners who had been incarcerated at the infamous Con Dao prison.

One of them, Pham Van Ba, spoke emotionally about the experience: “We will never forget the encouragement we received both in spirit and in action from our beloved French friends during the harsh days of fighting for independence. And now, once again, our French friends, under ADEP, are helping us fight another enemy - poverty.”

In March 2008, after learning of the “Fresh water for Truong Sa archipelago” program initiated by the Thanh Nien Newspaper, he quickly proposed a feasible project to the organizer – to purchase a fresh water generator from France.

After he received a positive response, he returned to France and implemented the project step by step, including meeting the seller, discussing the machine’s functions and operation, and also negotiating the price.  He selected the Power Survivor 160, which produces 25 liters of fresh water per hour using wind and solar energy.

Working with two of his friends, Hong Le Viet Tho, a Vietnamese Japanese, and Nguyen Duc Phuong, editor-in-chief of Le Journal “Solidarité” in France, André Quyet raised a fund among the overseas Vietnamese community and other French citizens. They collected about US$46,400, three times the cost of the machine. 

“The important thing is not how much we can raise for the fund but how much love the overseas Vietnamese and foreigners want to send to the local Vietnamese population. Especially, this occasion is for helping residents of Truong Sa.”

Early years

Turning back the hands of time to his past in Saigon, when peace was yet to come, André Quyet recalled an unforgettable day in his life: July 25, 1970. He and his friend Pierre Debris shocked the government of South Vietnam by hanging a flag of National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam at the Givral café near the Mother Love statue (Saigon Opera House now). 

The two young men were immediately imprisoned. From the prison, he sent a letter to France telling his people about the conditions there. His letter was printed in the Le Journal “Humanité”.

On December 31, 1972; André Quyet and Debris, usually known under a Vietnamese name as Ho Tat Thang, were expelled to France.

In August 1977, André Quyet came back to Vietnam at the invitation of the new Vietnamese government.

In 2001, after retiring, he staged a sit-in on the top of the bell tower in Sauvian in cold weather for six days to  claim from the French government his prison time in Saigon as part of his employment period. He succeeded.

One year later, he returned to Vietnam. On this third visit back, he founded the ADEP to be a link between schools of both countries, offering various exchange programs for teachers.  There are seven French teachers who have come to teach at the Hoang Van Thu School in Da NangCity under this program.

André Quyet has never stopped considering other ways to help the poor people of Vietnam, especially children. Since 2004, he has trained his focus on providing scholarships for poor children. He used his income from a business run with 800 farmer families in Languedoc Loussillon of France to fund the scholarship program two years later.

Besides his work with children’s welfare at the office, he is ever willing to help others who need it. He has been a volunteer guide for the film crew of director Nguyen Ho when filming a movie about three kings from the Nguyen Dynasty.

What’s in a name?

His Vietnamese name, Ho Cuong Quyet, it is not strange to many Vietnamese people who have known it since his prison days in Saigon. But, it was not an official name till he decided to apply for Vietnamese citizenship in late 2007.

This came out of a conversation with the Deputy Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee, Nguyen Thanh Tai, who has always spoken of him as a Vietnamese relative. Once he asked: “So why don’t you grant me a Vietnamese citizenship?”. Pat came the answer: “I will be by your side if you apply for it”.

That wish came to pass at special meeting with President Nguyen Minh Triet in Hanoi, when he received the news that his application has been approved. Since Nov 11, 2009, he has been officially declared a Vietnamese citizen.

“Now, if you occasionally meet a Vietnamese with blue eyes, hairy arms not speaking Vietnamese fluently, do not be puzzled. That person is truly Vietnamese,” André quipped. 

VietNamNet/SGGP

Tags: André Quyet

Comments

VnnNews – It has become a normal occurrence for overseas Vietnamese singers to visit Vietnam to celebrate Tet (the Lunar New Year) and perform during the holidays. 

Singer Phuong Dung – excited at the Tet atmosphere in her homeland
 
She has been to Vietnam many times to perform but this is her first visit to celebrate Tet and she will also perform at Van Nghe music club in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City on February 14 and 15.
 
“Looking at people going shopping and visiting their relatives’ graves, I feel uneasy. The Tet atmosphere in my homeland brings back memories from the past. But thinking about the two nights of performance, when I will sing in front of acquaintances and others, I feel very moved.”
 
Phuong Dung is an American citizen who returned to Vietnam to perform for the first time last year after living and performing in the US for 35 years.
 
Singer Phuong Vy – full of joy
 
Phuong Vy’s greatest happiness is that she will perform for the first time in Vietnam, that too with her mother and singer Phuong Dung, at Van Nghe.
 
“It’s so exciting in Vietnam. The performance is really significant as it will be my first time in Vietnam. The arts scene is so exciting here.”
 
She plans to stay in the country for four months to learn Vietnamese.
 
Singer Quang Toan – cheerful and happy
 
Singer Quang Toan came to Vietnam to sing last Tet but performed only in Hue. This year he will perform in Ho Chi Minh City from February 11th to 13rd and in Phan Thiet from 14th to 16th.
 
“The traditional Tet atmosphere in the homeland is completely different from that in foreign countries. Celebrating Tet and performing at home makes not only me but other overseas Vietnamese singers too happy and joyful.”
 
Singer Nhat Ha – mainly to enjoy Tet
 
Nhat Ha came to Vietnam to perform during Tet last year. Being busy with her performances, she couldn’t visit relatives and friends during the New Year so this year she decided to visit here just to enjoy Tet.
 
“Tet is so exciting and beautiful in Vietnam. There isn’t such an atmosphere in the US. I will stay here to enjoy Tet and prepare for my new album.”

VietNamNet/SGGP

Related news:

1. Foreign students in HCMC soak up festival atmosphere
2. Tet get-together for overseas Vietnamese
3. Little Vietnamese literature read overseas
4. Overseas Vietnamese gather in Hanoi for Tet get-together
5. Hanoi to host conference for overseas Vietnamese

Tags: Phuong Dung, Tet Atmosphere, To Enjoy Tet

Comments

HCM City has never looked more beautiful, especially in the city’s centre and the Phu My Hung new residential area.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

Related news:

1. Frenzy with Rock Saigon
2. Boating on the Saigon River
3. More to Saigon than just gridlock traffic
4. Saigon South is hot stuff
5. Saigon in late afternoon

Comments

The final round of the “Banh Tet festival” took place at the Dam Sen Park on February 10, with 24 teams representing HCM City’s 24 districts.

VietNamNet/VNE 

Related news:

1. Festival marks Phan Thiet becoming 2nd grade city
2. Record pot of banh chung for disadvantaged children

Comments

For many music observers in Vietnam the scene looked gloomy. Here VietNamNet takes a look back at a troubled 12 months and the rare bright spots.
 

So 2009 wasn’t a year to endear itself to the older music listener who may have been tempted to write off younger pop acts.

The media was full of accusations that pop stars were lacking talent and only managed to achieve fame thanks to parental support and modern production techniques.

It was said that many achieved fame too soon without having the time to hone their talents.  Many also stood accused of blurring the lines between cover versions and plain piracy.

Songs were performed in bars, on stage and on albums without asking the permission of copyright holders.

It was suggested that many newer stars like Bao Thy, Tim and Luong Bich Huu were simply stealing songs from famous singers and bands in the world.

Elsewhere many Vietnamese cultural observers declared their hatred of lip-syncing and suggested it needed controlling.  Eventually, right at the end of the year, new legislation banned the practice and made it punishable with fines of up to 5 million dong.

Elsewhere “culture of behavior” was deemed an issue after songwriter Ha Dung and pop star My Tam quarreled in the media. It was suggested that this should be a private exchange between them but it eventually became a very public scandal.

For the traditionalists, however, there was some good news.

Because 2009, despite its problems, was a year of memorable concerts including the visit of New York Philharmonic and their two shows at the Hanoi Opera House in October.

The first Hanoi New Music 2009 festival took place for one week in Hanoi and HCMCity, bringing a fresh event to music circles.

The year also marked the rise of a number of young composers. The Vietnam Musician Association presented two important awards to Tran Manh Hung -  the first prize for artistic song and the first prize for symphony.

It is also deemed good news when Vietnam Television announced in late 2009 the return of “Con Duong Am Nhac” (

Hoa Binh

Related news:

1. Trinh Cong Son’s music transformed into paintings
2. “Music of the Night” wins audience’s hearts
3. “Open windows” to open music fans’ minds

Comments