HCM City hosts Canadian food fair

A Canadian culinary programme for HCM City connoisseurs was launched at the Caravelle Hotel in HCM City on Wednesday.

The Great Taste of Canada gourmet food promotion offers a variety of items like lobsters, clams, oysters, Geoduck mussels and scallops, as well as Alberta beef and wines.

Donald Berger, Canad-ian master chef and renowned restaurateur from Ha Noi, prepared the exceptional products together with chef Timo Reus from the Caravelle Hotel.

The menu is also being offered at the hotel's Reflections Restaurant until September 25.

"It will be an opport-unity for the people of HCM City to experience the finest beef, wine, and seafood from Canada," said the Canadian Consul General in HCM City Audri Mukhopadhyay.

In addition to the high quality of the products, the country also has one of the world's most respected food inspection and control systems, said Mukhopadhyay.

Canada is the world's fifth largest exporter of agri-food products, with exports valued at more than US$35 billion in 2009.

Its exports to Viet Nam are mostly in the agri-food sector. They increased from $17 million in 2004 to $69 million in 2010, according to the consul general.

Thanh Hoa revolutionary’s house becomes memorial

The central province of Thanh Hoa Thursday opened a memorial house to Mother Tom whose home sheltered many revolutionaries between 1938 and 1945 during the war with the French.

“Mother Tom” was a nickname given to Nguyen Thi Quyen.

The province started to restore her house in Hau Loc District last May to convert it into a memorial house at a cost of around VND1.5 billion (US$75000) from public funds and donations by her children.

It has an altar for her and an exhibition of photos, documents, and other objects related to the revolutionary activities of Quyen and her family.

Quyen, who was born in 1880 and died in 1953, and her family, provided shelter to many revolutionaries, including the national poet laureate To Huu, who immortalized her in his famous poem “Mother Tom.”

Hanoi Museum to reorganize exhibition area

The Hanoi People’s Committee has approved VND775 billion (US$ 37 million) to reorganize the exhibition area at Hanoi Museum.

Under the plan which is scheduled to be finished in December 2014, the exhibits about Hanoi’s culture, history and natural sceneries will be displayed on flour floors indoors as well as outdoors.

Opened last October on the occasion of Hanoi’s 1,000th birthday, the museum was built with the shape of an inverted pyramid at the cost of VND2,300 billion (US$118 million).

Occupying an area of 54,000 square meters at Tu Liem District, it includes a two-storey basement and four floors above the ground. A spiral walkway along the walls gives visitors a wider view of the facilities as they travel between floors.

In addition to exhibits, the museum also has research and restoration facilities, a library as well as rooms for meetings and workshops.

Seminar discusses preservation of Vietnamese overseas

Young generations born abroad should be taught Vietnamese, a two-day seminar in Hanoi has heard.

Titled “Vietnamese language and traditional culture preservation,” the seminar is being held by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to gather opinions about the teaching Vietnamese for young generations who were born in foreign countries.

According to Tran Ba Viet Dung, Vice Director of the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, teaching Vietnamese for young generations overseas is difficult because of the lack of infrastructure, learning materials and professional teachers. One solution suggested at the seminar is building “Vietnamese culture houses” to promote Vietnamese culture abroad.

The workshop will wrap up with a visit to the Temple of Literature today.

MTV Vietnam launches video award

Cable music channel MTV Vietnam has launched a Vietnamese music video award to select the best music video clips by 24 Vietnamese singers and bands.

Selected by the award’s organizers, participating artists ranging from top singers Hong Nhung, My Tam, and Dam Vinh Hung to emerging names such as Anna or Van Mai Huong will receive VND 40 million (US$ 1,900) and a HD camera to make their videos.

The videos will then be edited by song writer Quoc Trung and director Quang Dung and later voted by a jury of industry experts, as well as audiences through SMS.

Two clips with the highest numbers of votes will be broadcast internationally on MTV Asia Network.

“Vietnamese Music Video Contest” will be on air at 9pm every Saturday night from September 24. The result will come out in January, 2012.

Thanh Hoa spends $1 million to protect heritage

The central Thanh Hoa Province People’s Committee on Wednesday approved a VND20.6 billion (US$ 989,000) plan to clean up a landfill that has seriously polluted the environment and threatened the Nam Giao Worshipping Platform within the UNESCO’s World Heritage Ho Dynasty Citadel.

Under the plan, the landfill will be moved away from the residential area. Local authorities have also said they would clean up the soil and grow trees around the platform.

Thanh Hoa has also earmarked VND36 billion ($1.8 million) to restore its 70-year-old Ngoc Trao Military Base, and VND7 billion ($350,000) to restore Binh Khuong Temple also within the Ho citadel and the Luong Ngoc Cultural Village.

In April, it spent another VND1.2 billion to restore the temple worshipping the Trinh Kha, the founding father of the province as well as Tuong Van Pagoda.

Kiep Bac - Con Son Autumn Festival begins

The northern province of Hai Duong on September 13 held a ceremony to start the Kiep Bac - Con Son Autumn Festival 2011 in commemoration of the death anniversary of national hero General Tran Hung Dao.

General Tran Dung Dao is one of the most revered men in Vietnam ’s history for his leading role in the country’s victory over the three invasion wars by the Mongolians in the 13 th century. He passed away on August 20 (Lunar calendar) in 1300.

This year’s festival is taking place from September 12-15 (the 15 th to 18 th day of the 8 th lunar month), featuring many traditional ceremonials such as Cao yet ceremony (ceremony for opening the temple), Khai an ceremony (ceremony of conferring seals), incense offering ceremony and walking procession.

One of the most expected events in the festival is a boat race in which hundreds of boats will re-enact the spectacle scene when the General lined up his 200,000 troops and 1,000 warships on the Luc Dau River urged along by drumming sounds and the screaming of excited people.

A ceremony to pray for peace and a night festival to float flower garlands and coloured lanterns on Luc Dau River will take place on Sept. 14.

Together with the rituals, there are also cultural, sports and entertainment activities, including wrestling, cock-fighting and chess competitions, boat race, dance performances, cheo (traditional opera) and quan ho (love duets) singing.

On with the dress!  
 
The first national performance of Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups’ traditional costumes will be held in November in Hanoi to promote and revive the distinguished culture of each ethnic group in Vietnam, Saigon Giai Phong reported.

According to organizers, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and State Committee for Ethnic Minorities, the event is an inventory and a complete introduction of the country’s cultural heritage.

Accordingly, 250 men and women, 18 to 40 years of age, will represent their groups from across the country. They will perform in their own traditional costumes worn in different activities, including a wedding dress show, clothes from daily life and festivals. In addition, the performers will present their knowledge about their group’s culture.

The northern mountainous provinces of Lao Cai, Lai Chau, and Ha Giang will have the most performers as those areas consist of several ethnic minority groups.

However, according to Chu Tuan Thanh, head of the State Committee for Ethnic Minorities’ Department of Propaganda, at least five ethnic groups, including Xinh Mon, Pu Peo, Sila, Cong and Ruc, have lost their traditional costumes.

“It is impossible to compare which costume is the most beautiful and unique, so only the best performers will be awarded by the organizer,” the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper quoted Thanh as saying.

Traditional music program targets tourists
 
From a week today, a traditional music program called Hon Viet (The soul of Vietnam) will be held periodically at the HCMC Opera House to serve international and local travelers.

It’s an event hosted by Mekong Joint-Stock Co., with the scenario written by artist Linh Huyen under the direction of director Lam Le Dung.

Huyen said that she had dreamt of the show for three years. The present favorable conditions, along with the shortage of events for foreigners reported by Tuoi Tre recently, have prompted her to set up the stage.

The show with total investment capital of VND500 million is set to take place at 6 p.m. on the 15th and 23rd of every month at the Opera House.

Accordingly, the 60 minute show will be designed as a journey back in time, helping audiences understand more about Vietnam’s history and enjoy many special artistic forms of the country as well.

The first program comprises of three parts, of which the first is the scene of Hai Ba Trung’s legend with the presence of stone musical instruments, goongs and two lively-designed elephant models.

The second is Vietnam que huong toi (Vietnam-my fatherland), a journey from the North to the South reflected via the scene of Cuoi and a banyan tree along with several traditional music forms such as xam (ritual music), nha nhac (royal music) and cai luong (reformed theater).

The last program is Den voi van hoa Sai Gon (Come to Saigonese culture) with the highlight Ban giao huong he pho (Streets’ symphony) being inspired by the street traders crying out as they sell their wares and other uproarious sounds of Saigon.

Notably, there are five international works to be played by traditional Vietnamese musical instruments.

Meritorious Artist Thanh Dien and Huyen will join the show as Vietnamese and English speaking MC’s. Before every program, English brochures will be handed out to international visitors so that they can understand more about the content.

The organizers also worked with a number of travel agencies in the city to bring Hon Viet to tourists. Apart from the two periodical days, more performances will be arranged for visitors at Kim Chau Theater, 15-17 Nguyen Thai Binh, HCMC’s District 1, Huyen added.

PV