Government launches new regulations on State prizes

Poet couple Lưu Quang Vũ (left) and Xuân Quỳnh were the only couple posthumourosly awarded Hồ Chí Minh Prize in Literature and Arts. Vũ was awarded in 2000 and Quỳnh in 2017. They both died in a car accident in 1988. — Photo soha.vn

Artists will have to be deemed loyal to Việt Nam to be nominated for some of the country’s top awards, following the release of a Government decree.

Nominees for the Hồ Chí Minh Prize and State Prize in literature and arts will also have to strictly follow the country’s law.

Other criteria include the artist’s work being published or performed in some fashion, with each piece debuting within the last five years of which the Hồ Chí Minh Prize is given out and within three years of the State Prize.

Works published before 1993 must have great contributions to the revolutionary cause and long-term influences on society. The works should have distinguished value in literature, arts, content, ideology and artful expression.

For work created after 1993, the same criteria are applied. Besides, the works should have won gold prizes, first prizes at national professional contests and festivals on literature and art organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, prizes given by central-level literature and art associations, or prizes at prestigious international contests and festivals. 

Paintings auction for female patients with hemodialysis

A painting to be displayed at the "Em..." exhibition. The event which will be held from October 17 to 21, aims to raise funds via auctioning the paintings for disadvantaged female patients who are undergoing hemodialysis at Bạch Mai Hospital. — Photo courtesy of the artists

An exhibition entitled Em…by painters Thúy Hường and Trần Vũ Hoàng will run at Hà Nội’s 93 Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street, Hoàn Kiếm District, from October 17 to 21.

The event aims to raise funds via auctioning the paintings for disadvantaged female patients who are undergoing hemodialysis at Bạch Mai Hospital on the occasion of Vietnamese Women’s Day October 20.  

“All money from the auction will be given to a representative of these patients,” said painter Hường.

More than 60 paintings will be displayed at the exhibition, she said. 

Die Fledermaus operetta at Opera House

A performance of the Die Fledermaus ("The Bat") operetta composed by Johann Strauus II will be held at 8pm on October 28 at the Opera House in HCM City.

The Die Fledermaus operetta composed by Johann Strauss II will be staged on October 28 at the Opera House at 7 Lam Sơn Square in HCM City.

Die Fledermaus ("The Bat") premiered in Vienna in 1874. The work exposes the life of the European aristocracy in humorous ways.

The Die Fledermaus performance will be a lively Vietnamese version accompanied by the HBSO orchestra. 

Hà Nội city walks by FVH

The Friends of Vietnam Heritage (FVH) will organise a walking tour on October 8 to learn about Hoàn Kiếm lake area – the heart of Hà Nội. — Photo hanoi.for91days.com

The Friends of Vietnam Heritage (FVH) will organise two city walks on October 8 and 12.

The first walk, which will take place from 4pm to 5.30pm, will discover the Hoàn Kiếm Lake area – the heart of Hà Nội. It will start in front of Lý Thái Tổ Statue with a brief introduction before walking around the lake while discussing points of interest, stories, history, legends and traditions.

Meeting point: in front of Lý Thái Tổ Statue, Lý Thái Tổ Park, 12 Lê Lai Street. Limit: 10 people. Cost: VNĐ70,000 (entrance to Ngọc Sơn Temple VNĐ30,000 not included).

The second one on October 12 will be to learn about French concession. The walk will start in front of the Opera House. From there, the group will walk to the School of Pharmacy, designed by architect, archaeologist and urban planner Ernest Hebrard, and proceed along Lý Thường Kiệt Street to Thiền Quang Lake. During the walk, attendees will learn about the height of French presence within Hà Nội and its influence on architecture and urban design.

This walk will take place from 9am until 11.30am. Meeting point: in front of the Opera House. Limit: 15 people. Cost: VNĐ70,000.

To register for the walk, visit http://www.fvheritage.org/event 

Alpha Books publishes Vietnamese edition of Internet of Things bestseller

Alpha Books on Wednesday launch the Vietnamese edition of “Building the Internet of Things: Implement New Business Models, Disrupt Competitors, and Transform Your Industry”, a bestseller by American tech industry executive Maciej Kranz. — Photo iot.alphabooks.vn

Alpha Books on Wednesday launched the Vietnamese edition of “Building the Internet of Things: Implement New Business Models, Disrupt Competitors, and Transform Your Industry”, a global bestseller by Maciej Kranz, one of the pioneers of IoT.

The book shows how every business can adopt IoT for immediate profits and efficiencies.

The launch of the book comes as companies across Việt Nam are starting to adopt the technology to address key business challenges and open up new avenues of growth.

“Countries across Asia, like Việt Nam, have long benefited from relatively lower labour costs, which initially helped them become global manufacturing hubs,” Kranz said.

“However, the advent of IoT, combined with advanced connected technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and fog computing, means that countries - and companies operating there - need to develop strategies that go beyond the low-cost labour.

“Companies across the globe are already utilising IoT to increase productivity and efficiency in real-time by connecting their production lines with suppliers and logistics operators.

“This trend is picking up pace in Việt Nam as well. I am confident that IoT solution and service providers as well as their partner eco-systems can contribute to continued growth in the country.”

In the book, he presents a practical guidebook of proven best practices and strategies for transforming any organisation with IoT.

Kranz, who is vice president of the strategic innovation group at Cisco, leads the group focused on incubating new businesses in security, blockchain and IoT.

Prior to this role, Kranz was general manager of the Connected Industries Group at Cisco, a business unit focused on the Internet of Things. 

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade will be featured at a concert on October 19 at the Opera House in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of the Opera House

The symphonic suite Scheherazade, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s most popular work, will be featured at a concert at the Opera House in HCM City from 8pm to 10:30pm at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1 on October 19.

Scheherazade, composed in 1888, was inspired by One Thousand and One Nights (also known as Arabian Nights), a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden age between the 8th and 14th century.

Pianist Nguyễn Bích Trà will also be returning to the city and will perform George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F major.

Violinist Vũ Việt Chương, concertmaster of the San Angelo Symphony in San Angelo, Texas will return to the city to lead the HCM City orchestra. 

The artwork Carrying the Carriers by Nguyễn Thế Sơn seen on a street in Hà Nội as part of the Into Thin Air by Manzi in 2016. Manzi will launch Into Thin Air 2 on Sunday, at 3.30pm. — Photo nguyentheson.com

A public art project entitled Into Thin Air 2 will be launched at Manzi Art Space on October 7, at 3.30pm.

Everyone is invited to Manzi Art Space, 14 Phan Huy Ích on the day to join the event.

Into Thin Air 2 features 10 site-specific, contemporary artworks at 10 public spaces across Hà Nội. Once the project is launched, the works will remain in the virtual realm and can be accessed at the locations they were created for.

To find the art, viewers need to bring earphones/headphones with them to Manzi at 3.30pm on Sunday.

Into Thin Air 2 is a project initiated and curated by Manzi Art Space and ADT Creative Space, aiming to build awareness and appreciation for art and to help artists develop their independent practices whilst encouraging their involvements in social development.

The project is made possible thanks to UNESCO, the Goethe Institute and the Embassy of Kingdom of the Netherlands. 

A Chamber Music Concert featuring the works of Chopin, Schumann, Elgar and others will be held on October 9 at the Opera House in HCM City in District 1.

A  Chamber Music Concert featuring works from composers of the Romantic era and the 20th century will be held from 8pm to 10:30pm on October 9 at the Opera House in HCM City.

Works by Chopin, Schumann, Elgar, Prokofiev, Kodaly and Hindemith will be included.

Nguyễn Tấn Anh (cello), Phạm Vũ Thiên Bảo (viola), Korean pianist Ju Sun Young and Japanese clarinetist Shuhei Isobe will perform along with musicians from HBSO’s string orchestra. 

Embassy marks 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

Seven Commemorative Stamps on Mahatma Gandhi were released on the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. — Photo Courtesy of the Embassy of India

The 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi will inspire many of us to continue his mission of bringing about a more peaceful, harmonious and non-violent world, said Đặng Nguyên Anh, Vice President of the Việt Nam Academy of Social Sciences.

Anh stated on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, which was organised on Tuesday evening in Hà Nội by the Embassy of India.

“I believe the cause of freedom, justice and peace that Gandhi upheld was not only for India or Indian people alone, but for other nations and peoples all over the world,” said Anh.

In Việt Nam, Mahatma Gandhi has become a popular name. Late President Hồ Chí Minh though never met Mahatma Gandhi, yet nurtured great admiration for him. President Hồ Chí Minh and Mahatma Gandhi both shared similar characters such as simplicity, humility, bravery and fearlessness.

Thus, both Việt Nam and India share common pride in our Great Fathers, according to Anh.

Most Venerable Thích Đức Thiện, Deputy President, Secretary General of the National Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, said, “My first impression about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s personality is that he is a simple man. Gandhi stripped himself of all worldly goods and vowed to live a simple life, often fasting in his struggle for peace and Indian independence from British rule.”

Gandhi amazed his disciples and bedeviled his opponents by doing their penance for them. He called it “self-suffering” for the sake of others and the “good of all”.

He underwent many long fasts vowing not to eat until his disciples reached an acceptable level of spiritual development, or until Hindus and Muslims stopped fighting each other, or until the British gave Indians their independence, he said.

“Above all, he is the evidence that words are not important, but actions, and a belief in the truth of one’s convictions. Indeed, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a Great Man, one of the greatest teachers of mankind,” said Venerable Thiện.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, often known as ‘Mahatma Gandhi’, is considered by Indians as the "Father of the Nation" who led the Indian independence movement against the British colonial rule by adhering to the principles of Truth (Satya) and Non-violence (Ahimsa) that completely transformed the political thought in the 20th century. Mahatma Gandhi, today is a universal figure and considered an apostle of peace and non-violence.

This year, in 2018, India has been organising various functions and events to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. On August 27, 2018, External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj unveiled the Bust of Mahatma Gandhiji in the courtyard of the Embassy of India in Hà Nội.

On this occasion, seven Commemorative Stamps on Mahatma Gandhi, designed and issued by the Indian Department of Posts, was also released.