Rock Concert: Battleship comes to HCM City

Five bands will take part in the Rock Concert: Battleship at the Hoa Lu Stadium on May 10 in HCM City.

The concert will feature Buc Tuong (The Wall), Hai Bot of Quai Vat Ti Hon (Tiny Monster), Microwave, Black Infinity and the PAK Band. Japanese audio veteran and sound engineer Masaaki Azuma will also take part.

The show will begin at 6:30 pm at 2 Dinh Tien Hoang Street in District 1.

Palme d'Or movies on show this week

This week, people are invited to the screening of two Chinese films, In the Mood for Love and Farewell My Concubine at the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents.

In the Mood for Love is a Hong Kong film directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung. The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or.

Farewell My Concubine, a 1993 Chinese drama directed by Chen Kaige, is one of the significant works by the renowned Fifth Generation filmmakers, whose movies have garnered global attention.

Similar to other Fifth Generation films, Farewell My Concubine explores the impact of China's political turmoil during the mid-20th century on the lives of individuals, families, and communities. The film remains to date the only Chinese-language film to win the Cannes Palme d'Or.

The screening of In the Mood for Love starts at 7.30pm tomorrow, while the Farewell My Concubine will start at 2pm on Saturday, at TPD, 51 Tran Hung Dao Street (4th floor).

The movies will be presented in their original language with Vietnamese subtitles. The screening is for educational purpose and aim to support the TPD Centre's Young Cinema Fund.

Charity concert features French singer

The non-governmental organisation Poussieres de Vie will host a charity concert Kais Chante Piaf featuring French singer and actress Patricia Kaas at the Ben Thanh Theatre on May 14.

Kaas will perform songs by the renowned French singer Edith Piaf, including La Vie en Rose (Life in Pink, or, loosely translated, through Rose-Tinted Glasses), L'hyme a L'amour (Hymn to Love) and Non, Je Ne Regette Rien (No, I Regret Nothing).

Ticket proceeds will be used to help street children.

The concert will begin at 8 pm at 6 Mac Dinh Chi Street in District 1.

Theatre presents comedy Blue/Orange

The Dragonfly Theatre Company in cooperation with the Saigon Sound System will present English dramatist Joe Penhall's comedy Blue/Orange at the Q4 on May 16, 17 and 18.

Directed by Ryan Burkwood, the play takes place in a London psychiatric hospital, where an enigmatic patient claims to be the son of an African dictator while his doctors argue about the best course of treatment.

The show is an evocative tale of race, mental illness and the impact of the controversial issue of care in the community.

It won the prestigious Laurence Olivier award in 2001. It has been staged at London's National Theatre and also adapted into a film by the BBC.

Q4 is at 7 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4. Reservations are recommended.

French expats display artworks

The joint exhibition Six Painters, Six Styles includes works in acrylic and oil with a diverse variety of techniques by French expats living and working in HCM City.

The exhibition from May 9-11 is being held at the HCM City Exhibition House, 92 Le Thanh Ton Street, in District 1.

Weekend excursion to Bich Dong

On Saturday, the Friends of Vietnam Heritage will host an excursion to Bich Dong in Ninh Binh Province, famous for its beautiful landscape of limestone karsts.

Starting at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel at 8am, the group will make a 100km journey southeast to the destination, where they will start their excursion with a short walk to the Mountain Cave Pagoda for a spectacular view of the limestone formations.

Afterwards, tourists will board local row boats and cruise to Thung Nang (Sunny Lagoon) and Thung Ram (Shady Lagoon), where they will take in the landscape of the famous Trang An area.

Other optional activities that tourists can join include walking along the Ngo Dong canal to visit Thai Vi Temple. Cyclists can also rent a bike to pedal the surrounding Tam Coc area.

The group will return to the bus at 3pm to come back to Ha Noi.

To join the excursion, contact phmai@fpt.vn or dial 0917294923. Tickets are VND520,000 including transport, row boat trips, an entrance ticket and drinking water.

Golden Spoon cooking contest starts again

The second ChiecThiaVang (Golden Spoon) competition to identify the country's best chefs and dishes was launched on May 6 by Binh Duong-based Minh Long I Company and the Business Studies and Assistance Centre.

The contest aims to discover traditional dishes and their backgrounds from each region and honour professional chefs who research into nutrition and introduce Vietnamese specialties and healthy dishes, Ly Ngoc Minh, the company's general director and chief organiser said.

The first round will kick off on May 21 in Can Tho city, and then the competition will go on to KienGiang, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Da Lat, NhaTrang, Da Nang, QuangNinh, Hanoi, and Lao Cai.

The final is scheduled to take place in December in Binh Duong.

Cash prizes and awards worth VND3 billion (US$142,850) are on offer with the winner getting VND1 billion (US$47,600).

The first Golden Spoon contest attracted the participation of a total of 140 teams of chefs working in restaurants around Vietnam.

Fifteen outstanding teams comprising three chefs each competed in the final round in January and a team from Intercontinental Da Nang Sun Peninsula Resort won first prize.

The contest is supported by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry who are seeking to build a Vietnam "cuisine map".

Revolutionary playwright dies

Famed playwright Hoc Phi died at age 102 in Ha Noi on Tuesday after a prolonged illness.

"My father's death is quite similar to an oil lamp that has burnt its last drops. All the family members were with him but he could not utter any last words," stated writer Chu Lai, a son of the playwright.

"He could not finish a film script that he was writing," Lai added.

The playwright's real name was Chu Van Tap. He was born in the northern province of Hung Yen. He joined in the resistance against the French at the age of 14. In 1933, he was arrested and jailed in Hoa Lo Prison, where he was encouraged to write by the former Party General Secretary Truong Chinh.

His first work was a novel Hai Lan Song Nguoc (Two Waves Up) in 1936. During his literary life, he wrote nine novels and over 30 stage scripts, including the popular Ni Co Dam Van (Nun Dam Van).

Most of his works reflected the history of the Viet Nam Communist Party and the sacrifices of the Vietnamese soldiers fighting for the country's freedom.

As a form of modern cheo, Ni Co Dam Van was about the brave revolutionists and was set up in 1976 for the first time, and it became a spotlight Vietnamese stage show in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2012, the work was revitalised by Viet Nam Cheo Theatre to celebrate Phi's 100th birthday.

"He is a veteran of Vietnamese stage," noted Ha Quoc Minh, former director of the theatre.

Phi was among the foremost people to be honoured the Ho Chi Minh Prize for his contribution to literature and arts. He was also awarded the First Class Independence Medal and the 80-year Party membership badge.

He was director of Viet Nam Drama Theatre and general secretary of Viet Nam Theatre Artists Association.

Phi's funeral will be held at 7am on May 12 at the National Funeral Hall, 5 Tran Thanh Tong Street. He will be buried at the Mai Dich Cemetery, Ha Noi, on the same day.

Hue songstress Diep passes away

Mong Diep, a master of Hue singing and opera, died on Tuesday at the age of 96 in Hue City.

Diep showed her aptitude at the age of 16 when she started the career as a tuong (classical drama) actress. She became a well-known songstress of Hue singing and opera at the age of 19.

During her career, Diep performed the songs of the ancient royal capital throughout the country and overseas.

She performed at the royal palace on the birthday celebration of Queen Doan Huy, mother of King Bao Dai (1913-97), the last king of Viet Nam. Diep also presented typical Hue opera pieces for late President Ho Chi Minh.

When the country was liberated, she continued performing and teaching the art in Hue. She was the first in Thua Thien-Hue Province to receive the State's Meritorious Artist title in 1984.

White Tiger to screen in Da Nang

The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Da Nang will screen White Tiger today in celebration of Victory Day (May 9).

The film, which is based on the novel, The Tank Crewman, or the White Tiger by Russian novelist Illya Boyashov, is about furious and prolonged fighting by both former Soviet and Nazi troops during the World War II and the appearance of an extraordinary tank – a special version of the T-34 that matched the power of Nazis' White Tiger.

The 2012-made Russian action film directed by Karen Shakhnazarov, was approved by the Culture, Sport and Tourism Ministry for public screenings in cinemas nationwide.

The film was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist.

Sri Lanka issues stamps honouring Ho Chi Minh

Sri Lanka has issued about 500,000 new stamps with seven designs featuring former President Ho Chi Minh to celebrate his 102th birthday on May 19.

The collection has been designed by Sri Lankan artist Kumudu Tharaka who has depicted Ho Chi Minh with vivid and bright colours. All the stamps feature Minh's portrait and a red flag with a yellow star.

Minh had visited Sri Lanka several times during his revolutionary life, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ton Sinh Thanh. Minh is one of few international political figures to feature on Sri Lankan stamps.

"We believe that the issuance of the Ho Chi Minh stamps would be another step to promote bilateral cooperation, and people-to-people and business interaction between our two countries," said Thanh.

The ambassador said the first agreement signed with Sri Lanka after the country's re-unification in 1975 was a postal deal.

Fine art exhibition on contemporary Buddhism

A fire art exhibition featuring nearly 200 unique Buddhist artworks and antiques from around the world, opened in northern Ninh Binh province on May 8.

The event is part of activities to celebrate the ongoing United Nations Day of Vesak 2014.

Most Venerable Thich Trung Hau, Head of the Vietnam Buddhist Shangha (VBS) Central Committee’s Culture Commission said, the UN General Assembly first decided to establish and officially observe Vesak Day in 1999 with the approval of Buddhists worldwide.

This is the second time Vietnam has hosted UN Vesak Day, attracting over 10,000 delegates, including more than 1,000 international guests from at least 95 countries and territories.

Artists from Ho Chi Minh City, India and elsewhere also attended the exhibition.

The highlight of the event is a selection of pictures depicting the landscape of Vietnam and in particular Trang An and Bai Dinh tourist sites, giving international friends an insight into Vietnamese land and people.

Vietnamese heritage on display in Perth

Australians can enjoy the quintessence of Vietnamese culture and heritage at an exhibition opened in Perth on May 7 on the occasion of the Western Australian Heritage Festival.

The exhibition featuring Vietnamese calligraphy, water puppetry and ceramic art drew the attention of the local people, authorities and many Vietnamese living in Perth.

The Vietnam Consulate General in Perth presented a wonderful collection of oil and lacquer paintings, photographs, pearl-shell mosaics and embroidered artworks of famous Vietnamese artists.

Addressing the ceremony, Consul General Le Viet Duyen introduced the value of Vietnamese cultural heritage in the 4,000-year-old history of founding and developing the country.

He also mentioned Vietnam's heritage recognised across the world, including UNESCO Memory of the World, Intangible Cultural Heritage and Natural World Heritage Sites.

Simon Farben, representative of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Western Australia, praised the uniqueness of the Vietnamese cultural heritage and lauded the important role of Vietnamese heritage that Vietnamese immigrants have brought with them in the social and cultural life of Australia.

He also expressed the desire to strengthen the relationship between the two countries through cultural cooperation and exchange.

The festival is supported by the government through the Department of the Environment National Trust Partnership Programme.

Buddhist sutra books on display in Hue

An exhibition of Buddhist sutra books and other publications opened in Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, on May 7, starting a week of celebrations of Buddha’s 2558th birthday.

The exhibition, which will last until May 13, puts on show 222 publications, including ancient prayer books in China and Vietnam’s ancient Nom scripts as well as more contemporary versions in modern Vietnamese.

The same day, a ceremony was held at Tu Dam Pagoda in Hue to begin a week of sutra chanting on the occasion of Buddha’s birthday, praying for the country’s development, ever- lasting Buddhism, peace for the world and happiness for the people.

Comedy informs City kids about dengue fever

Knowledge of how dengue fever spreads and key behaviours to prevent it will be disseminated in an appealing manner through a play to be staged at 21 primary schools in two HCM City districts this month.

Districts 8 and Binh Chanh, where the plays will be performed from May 15 to 29, suffer from a high incidence of dengue.

The play by Tiny Enemies theatre group is about Viet who lives in HCM City and is bitten by aedes mosquitoes and gets dengue fever when she visits her hometown.

Delirious with high fever, she dreams that she fights an aedes queen mosquito together with the White Blouse Fairy and the Electric Racket Superman. In the end they destroy the mosquito and its young by clearing out water containers in which mosquito larvae live and develop.

The funny lines the mosquitoes in white, green, blue, and black and the main heroes speak left the audience guffawing during a performance at the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France, or IDECAF, in District 1 on April 29.

It was staged for the teachers and staff of the 21 schools to provide their opinions.

Dang Thi Bao Tran, a teacher at Rach Ong Primary School in District 8, said her students would like the play very much.

The lively nature of the play would enable them to understand the disease more easily, she said.

Nguyen Quang Vinh, head of the primary education division at the city Department of Education and Training, said primary schools should consider plays like this as an entertaining outdoor activity to supplement what kids learn in classrooms to protect themselves.

The children would tell about the play to their parents, thus spreading the knowledge, he added.

Each show will last around 45 minutes, with the play taking 30 minutes and the remaining time devoted to a game show, an interaction with the audience, and a quiz on mosquitoes, how dengue fever spreads and can be prevented and treated.

Mary Chambers, director of training and public engagement with science at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), said the play is to help children make a difference by reducing mosquito breeding sites.

It is one of the initiatives that bring science to the forefront of people's minds in an engaging and entertaining way under the Science Theatre Programme started in 2010, she added.

The programme is being carried out by the OUCRU in co-operation with Thai Duong Theatre Company and sponsored by Wellcome Trust and Sanofi Espoir Foundation.

Its first play, An Amazing Battle, was about typhoid, food hygiene, and antibiotic resistance, and was performed at 91 schools and shelters in HCM City and the neighbouring provinces of Long An, Dong Thap, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Vinh Long between 2010 and 2013.

Tran Lam Lan Huong, head of the Department of Health's Health Education and Communication Centre, said that health science education and communication through dramas is a creative approach to improve the effectiveness of dissemination of health knowledge and change community behaviour more effectively.

More than 60,000 cases of dengue fever are reported in the southern region each year, with children accounting for nearly 65 per cent of the cases.