HTV to put on reality show for men

HCMC Television (HTV) on Wednesday announced a new reality show called “Be The Man” (Phai manh Viet), which will be aired on HTV7 every Sunday starting from May 10 at 8 p.m.

According to Truong Van Minh, head of HTV’s programs department, this is the first reality show for men in Vietnam with an aim to look for a particular representation of local men. Unlike other reality shows, which are mostly produced under license from foreign organizations, this is a home-grown program.

Ten contestants will compete in individual and team challenges to prove their toughness, intelligence, cleverness and sense of humor. The winner will pocket a cash prize of VND200 million.

A judging panel consists of local singer/actress Minh Hang, actor Hieu Hien and Vietnamese Australian street magician Petey Majik Nguyen.

Ten finalists have been chosen from 1,000 contestants nationwide. Some of them are popular names such as “Running Man” Vu Xuan Tien, whomade headlines after he had run 8km along with the bus that was carrying the team of the English Premier League club Arsenal around Hanoi for sightseeing in 2013, dancer Nguyen Thanh Tung, actor/model Nguyen Huu Vi, rapper Pham Hong Hai and director of photography Ho Minh Ngoc.

Hermann Hesse's book introduced in Hue

The Song Huong (River Huong) magazine and Kim Dong Publishing House have recently organised an introduction to Hue Tim (Iris), a story by well-known German author Hermann Hesse.

Skillfully combining realistic topics with fairytale elements, Hesse successfully leads each reader to feel familiar and close to the story. Readers are transported to their childhood with lots of fairytale scenes in the book, which seem to be swept away by the bustle of modern life.

Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964. He authored several stories that have been appreciated worldwide, such as Steppewolf, The Glass Bead Game and Dead and the Lover.

Southeast Asian singers compete in talent show

Chinh Phuc Uoc Mo (Conquer Dreams) is a TV show that provides a platform for contestants who performed very well in musical talent shows in Southeast Asia.

Thirty contestants from Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia will compete in several fiercely-contested elimination rounds that consist of unpredictable tests spread over four months.

The producer of the show and top Korean entertainment company FNC Entertainment will accompany the contestants throughout the show.

The final round of Chinh Phuc Uoc Mo will be held at the end of August 2015.

The show which started on May 7 is broadcast on VTV3 channel at 8pm every Thursday.

Music nite to celebrate songwriter Nguyen Anh 9

A musical night dedicated to songs by songwriter Nguyen Anh 9 will be held in Ha Noi Opera House on May 16 and 17.

Besides performances by Hanoian singers such as Duc Long, Kim Tien and Tuan Hiep, who have successfully sung romantic songs written by Nguyen Anh 9, the audience will also have a chance to enjoy exquisite piano performances by the songwriter himself, and his own life's story.

Entitled Ky Niem (Memories), the music show will open the series of annual musical programmes at Ha Noi Opera House, Vang Son Mot Thuo.

Nguyen Anh 9 is a renowned Vietnamese singer and pianist. He has composed several popular love songs such as Co Don (Loneliness) and Tinh Khuc Chieu Mua (Love Songs on Rainy Afternoon).

Ly Son boat-race seeks national recognition

The traditional boat race festival, which has been observed for more than 300 years in the Ly Son island district of central Quang Ngai province, is seeking recognition as part of the national intangible cultural heritage.

According to Chairman of the district’s People’s Committee Tran Ngoc Nguyen, the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is working with relevant agencies to collect and supplement documents featuring the festival’s unique cultures and values relating to national sea and island sovereignty.

The dossier will be submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, he said.

The traditional boat-race festival is organised between the fourth and eighth day of the Lunar New Year in commemoration of the ancestors and combatants who sacrificed their lives to safeguard national sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Spartly) and Truong Sa (Paracel) archipelagos.

It also prays for peace and prosperity of local fishermen.

Dduring the Nguyen Dynasty ( 1802-1945) , the festival was organised to choose the healthiest men for the naval fleet patrolling the Hoang Sa Archipelago.

Ancient Vietnamese ceramics exhibited in Hanoi

Hundreds of ancient ceramics from across Vietnam, with some dating back 2,000 years ago, have gone on show at an exhibition at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi.

A great many of the exhibits hail from renowned ceramic-making centres in the southern region such as Cay Mai, Bien Hoa, Thanh Le and Lai Thieu. They date back to the late 19th century and the early 20th century.

Another 100 objects are said to have been created at different periods of time in Vietnam’s history, from the Dong Son civilisation (about 2,000 – 2,500 years ago) to the dynasties of Ly, Tran, Le So, Mac, Le Trung Hung and Nguyen – the last dynasty.

The display, opened on May 8, has been organised by Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa from Hanoi and 62 other private collectors from across Vietnam.

The exhibition will run until May 15.

World Records Union urged to honour Buddha’s birthday

The Vietnam Book of Records (Vietkings) has proposed to the World Records Union that the ten earliest manifestations of Buddhism across the globe should be recognised to celebrate the 2,559th birthday of Buddha this month.

The proposals, which were announced on May 10, include Bodh Gaya in India - the world’s biggest city of Buddhist relics, the Spring Temple Buddha in China - the world’s largest standing Buddha statue, and Myanmar’s Monywa Buddha – the world largest reclining Buddha statue.

The list also features the Republic of Korea’s Haeinsa Pagoda, which houses the world’s biggest collection of Buddhist texts carved in wooden blocks, and India’s Nalanda, the world’s first Buddhism University.

Currently, Vietkings has also recognised 260 records of Buddhism in Vietnam.-

Khau Vai love market festival celebrates Ha Giang culture

The Khau Vai Love Market Culture-Tourism Week – an annual cultural event in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang - will take place in Meo Vac district from May 13-16.

Vice Chairman of the Meo Vac district People’s Committee, Tran Kim Ngoc, said this year’s event will again highlight the unique cultural identities of local ethnic minority groups.

Activities will include goat, cow and nightingale fighting festivals, horse races and incense offering at two temples in Khau Vai commune. A beauty contest will be held for young girls from mountainous areas in Ha Giang province.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to witness the Nung people’s betrothal ceremony, and enjoy traditional dishes of ethnic minorities living across the locality.

The hundred-year-old festival, which is held annually in the third lunar month, is a popular meeting place for ethnic groups in the locality, particularly those in love.

Legend has it that a couple who were deeply in love but were forbidden to be together because they hailed from differed ethnic groups made the promise to meet once every year in Khau Vai on the 27th of the third lunar month.

The story goes that the festival has since been held every year to allow ex-lovers to meet and has now become a tourist attraction, drawing in visitors from across the country and abroad.

Exhibitions featuring documents on Truong Sa, Hoang Sa planned

The Prime Minister has recently approved a plan to organise exhibitions on the historical and legal evidence of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos from 2015 to 2017.

Accordingly, the exhibitions will be held in 48 provinces and cities nationwide, including 18 coastal and 14 border provinces and cities, and four foreign countries, namely France, Russia, the US and the Czech Republic.

The displays will also be presented to military units, such as the High Command of the capital city Hanoi, and the Vietnam Police High Command.

The historical and legal evidence will also be published in printed materials, films and documentaries.

The exhibitions aim to communicate the sovereignty of Vietnam over the two archipelagos through documents, images and objects, while affirming the country’s stance and increasing the responsibilities of people and overseas Vietnamese in protecting Vietnam’s sea and island sovereignty.

Researchers' book highlights East Sea issue

A new book of poems by researchers Nguyen Nha and Mai Trinh Do Thi has just been published in HCM City.

Entitled Truong Ca Bien Dong va Giu Hon Dan Toc (Epic on the East Sea and Saving the Nation's Soul), the book contains 2,000 easy-to-remember verses on researches done by Nha in subjects such as geology, politics and history of establishing Viet Nam's sovereignty

over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, and the activities of the naval forces guarding the sea and islands, as well as historical materials dealing with the issues.

Researcher Nha said during his research, teaching and organising of workshops on the East Sea, he realised that many Vietnamese people had not thoroughly understood the history as well as their responsibilities regarding the nation's sovereignty over the seas and islands. So he wrote many books, translated materials from English to Vietnamese, and introduced poems and songs in libraries and schools, so that more people could understand the issue of the nation's sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.

Khanh Hoa Province opens Ponagar festival

The Ponagar festival which is the biggest cultural event held by Cham people was opened on May 9 (or 21 of the third month in the Lunar Calendar) in Nha Trang coastal city in the central province of Khanh Hoa.

The Ba Ponagar Tower Cluster, one of the country’s resplendent, almost intact Cham relics, is nestled atop a hill in Vinh Phuoc Ward of Nha Trang City. It was built in the middle of century VIII to pay tribute to goddess Yan Po Nagar, or Thien Y A Na Thanh Mau in Vietnamese, who is identified with the Hindu goddesses Bhagavati and Mahishasuramardini. in legend it is believed that Thien Y Thanh Mau taught locals how to do farming, weaving and knitting along with several other vocations to fend for themselves and safeguarded them from calamities and wars.

The 1,200-year-old Ponagar tower cluster was recognized as a national historical relic.

It still keeps 28 literature items dating back from 784 to the end of century XIII and 14 wooden rare, historically-significant title conferral document released by the Nguyen Dynasty.

The tower cluster is specifically valued in the architecture, sculpture, statue.

The event also earned the recognition as an intangible national heritage.

In 2013, the festival was recognized á an intangible culture heritage. It is held annually in order to honor the goddess and wish the country's peace and prosperity for the whole year.

New VND800-billion youth cultural house to go up in city

A high-rise building will be constructed in the current premises of the HCMC Youth Cultural House in the downtown area at a cost of some VND800 billion (around US$37 million).

The new building at the corner of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Pham Ngoc Thach and Nguyen Van Chiem streets in District 1 will provide more room for learning and entertainment activities of youths in the city.

The city’s State budget will fund the building whose main entrance is at 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street. The government of HCMC has told the departments of planning-investment and finance to arrange the funding for the project.

Relevant agencies have been urged to work with the consultant over improving the design of the building in line with the zoning plan for this area and with convenient access to the stations of forthcoming metro lines in the city.

Last year, the city government approved in principle an architectural and zoning plan for the building in a view to expanding Nguyen Van Chiem Street while the width of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street will be kept unchanged, according to the Planning Information Center under the HCMC Department of Zoning and Architecture.

The Department of Planning and Architecture was assigned to work with relevant agencies and consulting agency CPG Singapore to draw the new building and make it harmonize with the surrounding greenery and structures.  

The city government told the department to propose a feasible scheme to attract investors to the new building to ensure the economic efficiency of this project and speed up its construction.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri