Ceremony honors young winners of int’l competitions

A ceremony was held in Hanoi on December 22 to honour students, athletes and coaches who won prizes at international contests.

Six students from Hanoi won three silvers and three bronzes at the International Junior Science Olympiad which was recently held in Durban, South Africa.

Meanwhile, Hanoi’s athletes have also made good performances at the recent 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia, taking 36 gold, 31 silver and 31 bronze medals. Especially, Vietnamese Taekwondo martial artist Chu Hoang Dieu Linh secured a spot to participate in the 2012 London Olympics.

At the ceremony, the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee presented more than VND100 million to students and athletes for their outstanding achievements this year.

New MegaStar cineplex debuts on Friday

MegaStar Cineplex, the largest cinema operator in the nation, on Friday opens its eighth cineplex at The Crescent Mall in Phu My Hung, HCMC’s District 7. Covering around 2,650 square meters on level 5, this all-new MegaStar Crescent Mall will have eight screening rooms and a total seating capacity of over 1,200 viewers.  

Le Ngoc Chau, regional cinema manager of MegaStar in southern Vietnam, told the Daily, “At the new cineplex with a new concept, we want to bring audiences in Vietnam a new experience, from the vibrant LED lighting throughout the cinema foyer and corridors, to the detailed architectural elements in the cinema rooms.”

The eight cinema rooms come with international standard 3D Digital, 2D Digital, and 2D Standard 35mm video projectors accompanied by Dolby Digital audio.

Since its debut in Vietnam in 2005, MegaStar’s cineplex system has spread its wings to HCMC, Hanoi, Haiphong, Bien Hoa, and Danang.

The MegaStar Crescent Mall is the fourth in HCMC.

HCMC to host model festival

Winners of the Vietnam Supermodel modeling contest, held by Cat Tien Sa Advertising Investment Co., Ltd., from 2002 to 2011 will gather for an event in Ho Chi Minh City next week.

Titled “Vietnamese Models Festival 2011”, the event will be held by the UNESCO center of arts and cultural events, or CACE, to honor individuals and organizations that have contributed to the development of the industry.

The event, which will feature the contest’s winners whose names are now famous, including Vo Hoang Yen, Pham Xuan Thu, Ngoc Thach and Ngoc Tinh, also aims to gather opinions from the industry’s experts on future fashion trends.

It will take place at the Rex Hotel at 141 Nguyen Hue Street in District 1 on December 29th.

Family brought Don Duong’s ashes home

Family members of the late Vietnamese actor Don Duong brought his ashes back to Ho Chi Minh from the US Wednesday evening, Vietnamnet reported Thursday.

The 55-year-old actor passed away on December 7 at a hospital in San Francisco, California (US). He had fallen into a deep coma after a post-stroke surgery and his body was cremated in the US.

Bui Thi Giang, Duong’s sister and wife of director Le Cung Bac, said she, his son and some members of his ex-wife’s family went to Tan Son Nhat International Airport to receive his remains.

The relatives will hold a ceremony for him at the Thanh Tong Viet Duong Church on Thursday afternoon and his ashes would be kept at its funeral home until Friday for his friends and acquaintances to pay their last tribute.

“His remains will be kept at the church quite near my house. Now I can go and pray for him every day,” Giang said in tears.

Don Duong was known for many famous roles in Vietnamese movies from the 1980s to the early 2000s which include internationally known hits such as “Three seasons” by Tony Bui, a Grand Jury Prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999; and “Doi cat”, which won Best Film and Best Actress at the Asian Film Festival in 2000.

In 2001, Duong played a Vietnamese officer opposite Mel Gibson in Hollywood’s Vietnam war movie “We Were Soldiers,” and also acted in refugee drama “Green Dragon.”

The two films were strongly criticized for distorting the country’s history and Duong was labeled a ‘traitor.’

For this reason, he struggled to obtain a visa to return to Vietnam after immigrating to the US in 2003.

His close friends said he had always wished to live his last days in his homeland and was planning for his first visit to Vietnam right before he suffered from the stroke.

Ha Tinh restores century old Son Phong citadel  

Son Phong citadel located in Phu Gia Commune in Huong Khe District in the central province of Ha Tinh is one of the few citadels made from mud, dating back almost 130 years.

The citadel bears the imprints of King Ham Nghi and Can Vuong Movement against the French Colonialists in late 19th century.

It runs along the Truong Son mountain range, near the Vietnam-Lao border. The construction was built from 1883 to 1884 by people and local authorities of 40 communes in districts Huong Khe, Huong Son, Duc Tho, Hong Linh, Thanh Ha, Can Loc, Cam Xuyen and Ky Anh.

The citadel, covering an area of around 43,656 square meters has a height of 1-2 meter and width of 3 meters and is surrounded by a moat 1.7 meters deep and 5.8 meters wide.

According to Ho Bach Khoa, head of Nguyen Du Historical Site management board, who has spent many years researching Son Phong citadel, the citadel was chosen as the headquarters for military training. King Ham Nghi came here to meet with his generals and intellectuals such as Phan Dinh Phung, Le Ninh, Dinh Cong Trang, Ton That Dam and Nguyen Pham Tuan to promulgate the Can Vuong Movement calling on people to rise against the invaders for national salvation in 1885-1888.

The citadel has been seriously damaged from war and natural disasters. The relic complex of Son Phong Citadel, Tram Lam and Cong Dong (Community) Temples was recognized as a national cultural and historical complex in 2001 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Son Phong citadel has since been restored to its original design.

Besides Son Phong citadel, citadels made of mud are in Co Loa in Hanoi dating back 2,000 years and the Xich Tho citadel in Quang Binh Province dating more than 400 years.

A temple commemorating King Ham Nghi and other restoration works  in the relic complex will be complete soon. The works were kicked off in March 2009 at a total cost of about VND5 billion.