Modified designs breathe new life into Ao Dai

Ao Dai, the traditional long dress, is no longer symply a gown for big events and celebrations in Vietnam. It has become more popular in offices and schools, and even for outings.

In response to a program to promote Ao Dai, female employees in businesses, organizations, and state agencies in HCM city are wearing the dress at work throughout March. 

Phuong Tra of the municipal Women’s Union said Ao Dai is her favorite work costume. She owns at least 30 sets of Ao Dai. Tra said, “I prefer modified Ao Dai. They are convenient, particular for short business trips. I can wear them for any occasion”.        

Ngoc Nuong, a health and nutrition consultant of Amway company, said Ao Dai is always her number one choice during receptions for foreign partners. She added, “Modified Ao Dai looks cool, young, and dynamic. They match perfectly with the busy life of modern society.”

Modified Ao Dai is often shorter to pair with pants of different types and even skirts. Designer Sy Hoang said that the modified Ao Dai must retain all traditional features of the original design but is at the same time convenient, at least for mobility.

“Ao Dai is made to fit the body and to some extent, the personality of each individual. Instead of a uniformed design, Ao Dai should be diversified so that they can penetrate more in daily life,” he said.

HCM City is hosting its 5th Ao Dai Festival until March 25. The event, which includes fashion shows and an exhibition of more than 50 objects and various ao dai collections, attracts more than 20 leading domestic Ao Dai designers across Vietnam. 

New night market opens in Hoi An ancient city

A new night market has been opened in Hoi An’s old quarter on the streets of Tran Quy Cap, Bach Bang, and Tieu La in Minh An ward to facilitate local people’s commercial activities in the east of the old quarter.

Initially, the market will have 56 pavilions stretching 120m along Tran Quy Cap St, with 43m on Bach Dang and another 10m on Hoang Van Thu St. There are plans for an additional 40 stands to be installed along 130m of Tieu La Road in the future.

The night market is open from 6pm to 11pm every day.

Hoi An now has three night markets, with the new addition and the two old markets of Nguyen Hoang, which sells souvenirs, and Con Nu Ngoc Hoa, which specialises in cuisine.

Nearly 1,000 units of blood given on first day of Red Spring Festival

Nearly 1,000 units of blood were donated by Hanoians on the first day of the Red Spring Festival blood drive which is being held at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) on March 9.

Among the thousands of registrants, 981 people met the conditions to donate blood. In the first week after launching the program with donations held in Thanh Oai, Cau Giay, Ha Dong districts and many agencies, the organizing board has collected nearly 4,000 units of blood to help meet treatment demand after the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet).

Dr Ngo Manh Quan from the NIHBT says as there is a healthy stockpile of blood reserves after Tet and the demand for blood is not quite as urgent as usual. This year’s festival will run for longer than previous years with the aim of collecting around 5,000-6,000 blood units.

The three-day festival officially opened on March 10, starting with a walk to encourage people to donate blood, which was followed by the opening ceremony, art performances, and an exchange with regular donors. It will run through March 11.

This is the 11th year that the festival has been organized by the NIHBT in coordination with the Hanoi Association of Young Blood Donor Recruiters and the Hanoi Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation Mobilization.

Hôtel des Arts Saigon to get three-star Michelin chef

Three-star Michelin Chef Bruno Menard will come back to Hôtel des Arts Saigon, MGallery Collection in District 3, HCM City to showcase his signature dishes from March 21 to 23.

Menard comes from France, known as the cradle of European gastronomy. He has worked for Michelin-starred restaurants where he acquired profound knowledge of diverse culinary culture worldwide and gained fame in the food industry of France.

Diners can taste authentic French dishes while talking with him to learn about his cooking art and French culinary culture through the open kitchen at the Social Club Restaurant. 

Guests can opt for a five-course menu dinner paired with premium wine.

Social Club Restaurant is located on level 23 of Hôtel des Arts Saigon, 76-78 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 3, and open for dinner from 5:30 p.m.

Thousands find jobs at Thái Nguyên fair

Thousands of workers found jobs in a job fair held in the northern province of Thái Nguyên yesterday.

The province holds the job fair annually at the beginning of the new year in order to connect employers with workers, create stable income for employees and reduce poverty.

A total of 35 enterprises joined the job fair yesterday and registered to enroll more than 30,000 workers.

The job fair organiser said that many enterprises had demand for a lot of workers, including the TNG Investment and Trading Joint-stock Company, which needed 1,000 workers; the Samsung Electronic Việt Nam Co Ltd which needed 8,000; the Hansol Thái Nguyên Co Ltd in need of 2,000 and the Glonics Việt Nam Co Ltd, which needed 1,000.

Workers can take jobs immediately at foreign direct investment enterprises, or get introduced to find jobs in foreign markets including Japan, South Korea and Canada.

This year, besides manufacturing enterprises in big industrial zones in provinces such as Yên Bình, Điềm Thụy and Sông Công, enterprises in other sectors also attended the fair. The enterprises, from banking, finance, communications and real estate, bring more opportunities for workers.

The provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said that last year, more than 21,000 workers in the province found new jobs, more than 36,000 others received vocational training and more than 1,000 others got work abroad.

Nearly 30 per cent of workers found jobs thanks to consultancy from job promotion centres.

Besides the Thái Nguyên Work Promotion Centre, the Thái Nguyên Job Exchange is maintained at a larger and larger scale. Nearly 80 sessions were held supplying nearly 4,000 workers for enterprises in and out of the province.

This year the province strives to create jobs for 15,000 workers and bring 1,000 others to work abroad.

Power plant fire allegedly caused by human error

Workers’ negligence might have caused the fire at the Duyên Hải 3 coal-fired power plant in Trà Vinh Province, authorities said on Thursday.

The blaze allegedly started on Wednesday morning at the under-construction flue-gas desulfurisation tower, where a couple of workers were welding at the height of some 30m. Authorities suspect sparks from the welding fell on composite material below and caught fire. 

The two-hour fire burnt down some 70 per cent of the facility, which was being built by a Singapore-based company at the cost of US$10 million.

Construction of the plant began in late 2014, with a total investment of nearly VNĐ23 trillion ($1.02 billion). It would have had the capacity to provide nearly four billion kilo-watt hours of electricity per year and was expected to become operational this year. 

Spring journey fosters friendship with foreign diplomats

The Friendship Journey 2018 was held in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on March 10, gathering nearly 300 delegates who are ambassadors and officials of embassies of various countries in Vietnam, and representatives of friendship associations, international and non-governmental organisations in Vietnam.

Held by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), the event aimed to foster friendship between the delegates and Vietnamese people, especially locals in Thai Nguyen.

Participants visited the Museum of Vietnam Ethnic Groups' Cultures where they explored six cultural regions of Vietnam from the north to the south, as well as typical festivals, customs and traditional practices of each region.

They were also introduced to unique traditional arts of Vietnam, including water puppet, water carrying dance of Cham people, and musics of Khmer and H'Mong communities.

Visiting the Tan Cuong tea culture space centre and the ecology tea village in Thai Nguyen, the delegates had chances to experience tea processing methods as well as special cultural practices of Thai Nguyen tea growers in the famous tea production hub of Tan Cuong. 

On the occasion, they planted trees in the Museum of Vietnam Ethnic Groups’ Cultures.

Thi wins second stage of int’l cycling event

Nguyễn Thị Thi has triumphed in the second stage of the Bình Dương international women’s cycling tournament Biwase Cup.

Thi of Gạo Hạt Ngọc Trời An Giang on Friday took the lead in the 99km stage, after more than three hours of cycling from Đồng Nai to Lâm Đồng, in which she had to conquer the Bảo Lộc mountain pass situated at an altitude of 1,500m above sea level.

With this win, Thi also stole the yellow jersey award from Jutatip Maneephan of Thailand who won the first stage.

Thi’s teammate, Nguyễn Thị Thu Mai finished second, while Japanese Miyoko Karami of Biwase team came third. Karami also won the red jersey award as the Queen of Mountain.

On Saturday, 138 cyclists from nine foreign clubs and nine local crews will compete in the 112km stage from Bảo Lộc to Đà Lạt.