Tet gifts offered to impoverished child patients

President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu presents gift to a child patient at Viet Duc Hospital. (Photo: redcross.org.vn)

President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu on January 5 presented 30 gift packages to poor children who are undergoing treatment at Hanoi-based Viet Duc Hospital ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

The gift packages, each worth 1.2 million VND (51 USD), are donated by Vietnam’s U23 football team.

Thu said that the Viet Duc Hospital is among 13 organisations signing deals with the VRCS in taking care of poor patients, and this is the first coordinating activity between the two sides.

She took the occasion to wish the hospital’s staff a happy new year, and hoped that the relations with the hospital will further develop, contributing to improving public healthcare.

For his part, director of the hospital Tran Binh Giang said that the hospital always treasures the VRCS’s charitable activities for the needy implemented under the “Tet for the poor and Agent Orange victims” as they are a great source of encouragement to the patients with fatal diseases.

Giang thanked the VRCS for its assistance, and wished that the organisation will continue its activities to help more ill people.

Leading officials visit workers ahead of Tet

Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat Tran Quoc Vuong (L) presents gift to a worker in Bac Giang 

Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat Tran Quoc Vuong on January 6 visited workers at the Ha Phong garments for export company in the northern province of Bac Giang on the occasion of the coming traditional lunar New Year (Tet), the longest and most important annual festival in Vietnam.

Vuong briefed representatives of the 12,000 workers at the company on the country’s economic achievements last year and spoke highly of the company’s operation, especially in job creation for locals.

The official asked managers to improve the life of the workers, and said Party and trade union organizations must be developed in enterprises to ensure the legal and legitimate rights and interests of the employees.

Vuong presented 50 gift sets, along with the other 50 by the local authorities, to poor workers at the Ha Phong company and visited two workers who suffered labour accidents in Bac Giang city.

Also on the occasion of the coming festival which will fall in early next month, Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue on January 6 visited workers in the Central Highlands of Kon Tum.

Hue took note of the work by labourers in the province and elaborated on the Government’s plan for salary hike starting right from the beginning of this year. He asked local authorities and leading officials of companies to take a better care of the workers and protect their legal and legitimate rights so as to further improve their living conditions.

The official to the occasion to present 100 gift sets to poor workers in the locality.

Ministry builds process to support identification of martyrs’ remains

Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, head of the Military Medical Department and head of the project’s Scientific Council, speaks at the meeting 

The Ministry of National Defence is carrying out a project to build a process collecting and handling data on martyrs who lacked information.

The Policy Department under the General Political Department of the Vietnam People’s Army and the Military Medical Department under the General Department of Logistics convened a meeting to assess the implementation of the project in Hanoi on January 5. 

At the event, Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, head of the Military Medical Department and head of the project’s Scientific Council, said the project is one of the four contents of a larger project on building processes to identify remains of martyrs who lacked information hosted by the Military Medical Department in collaboration of the Military Forensic Department and the Policy Department. 

The three other contents are processes to collect samples, determine genes and build software to handle information on fallen soldiers who lacked information.

To date, the project has basically been completed and may be taken over at grassroots-level. After that, a defence ministry-level take-over report will be completed so that the project is applied widely across the country, contributing to identifying remains of martyrs.

Major General Tran Quoc Dung, head of the Policy Department and chairman of the project, said this project came from the significance and importance of the identification of remains of fallen soldiers who lacked information and the current management of martyrs’ graves in the country.

Other members of the council assessed that the implementation of the project is extremely urgent and necessary to serve the identification of remains of martyrs who lacked information, meeting the aspiration of their relatives and contributing to creating socio-political stability and a momentum for the current national construction and defence.

During more than half a century of struggling for national independence, construction and defence, and doing international missions, nearly 1.2 million officers, soldiers and people sacrificed their lives. To date, units and localities nationwide have found and repatriated about 900,000 remains. 

According to data, among 871,373 fallen soldiers’ graves in martyrs cemeteries across the country, only 15,493 have full information.

Ha Tien boosts cooperation with Cambodian border localities

A corner of Ha Tien city 

The border city of Ha Tien in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has recently been paying special attention to maintaining and promoting friendship and comprehensive cooperation with localities in Cambodia, contributing to fostering socio-economic development in the locality. 

According to the provincial Department of Foreign Relations, trade exchange and export-import activities between Ha Tien and Cambodian localities were implemented through the Ha Tien International Border Gate and the Giang Thanh National Border Gate. 

Kien Giang has signed cooperation agreements with Cambodian localities, namely Kep, Kampot, Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong, and Phnom Penh. The bonds mainly focus on the fields of agriculture; aquaculture; trade; healthcare; education; culture-sports; tourism; defence-security; people-to-people diplomacy; and in searching, repatriating, and reburying remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Cambodia at different periods. 

Officers and soldiers of the border guard station at the Ha Tien International Border Gate have worked hard in implementing social security models to help improve the living conditions of local residents, especially those living in border areas. This has contributed to promoting exchange and tightening the solidarity between people of Vietnam and Cambodia.

Forty years ago, in Ha Tien, the Vietnamese army and people fought valiantly to protect the peace of the south-western border region of the country.

From 1977-1978, the Da Dung and Thach Dong mountain areas in Ha Tien were outposts in the southwest border defence war. 

According to Colonel Dinh Quoc Khai, former Political Commissar of the Kien Giang Provincial Military Command, the first battle of Kien Giang soldiers with Pol Pot troops was on June 14, 1975 at the Thach Dong defence post. The Pol Pot troops were quickly taken down in just one night.

Battalion 207 continued to block the border, breaking the opposition’s conspiracy to infiltrate into Ha Tien. 

After a period of solid defence, in December 1978, Battalion 207, local troops, and regular forces from Ha Tien began to attack the Pol Pot troops, fulfilling international mission to  neighbouring Cambodia and helping the country recover its administration.

Construction ministry to focus on social housing

The Ministry of Construction is urged to pay attention to social housing development to meet market demand. (Photo: vneconomy.vn)

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has asked the Ministry of Construction to pay attention to the development of social housing projects and homes for low-income earners while enhancing urban management and creating favourable conditions for construction businesses.

Dung was speaking at a conference on January 4 to review results achieved by the ministry in 2018 and raise orientations for 2019.

Dung said that the market demand for social housing projects remained high while supply was limited, stressing that the ministry needed breakthrough policies to boost social housing development.

The management on urban development, industrial and economic zones must also be enhanced to ensure the appropriateness to the urban housing development programme, Dung said.

In addition, the ministry should focus on coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies to develop solutions for treating ash released by thermo-power and fertiliser plants into building materials, Dung said, adding that it was important for environmental protection.

Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha said that the huge volume of ash released from thermo-power and fertiliser production was posing threats to the environment.

Ha said that in January, three ministries, including those of industry and trade, construction and natural resources and environment would meet to develop solutions to promote the use of ash in producing building materials.

Ha also said the Ministry of Construction would develop an action plan to implement the Government’s resolutions about socio-economic development targets and improving the business environment and national competitiveness.

According to Deputy Minister of Construction Le Quang Hung, the sector had a good year in 2018.

The ministry’s report pointed out that the production value of the construction sector grew 9.2 per cent in 2018, meeting the target set for the full year and contributing significantly to socio-economic development.

Hung said the ministry in 2018 also focused on administrative reforms to create favourable conditions for construction businesses with 41.3 per cent of administrative procedures eliminated and 47.3 per cent simplified out of 215 business prerequisites.

The ministry also completed three law compilation projects in 2018, including the Law on Architecture, the Law on Urban Development and Management and project of amending the laws on construction, housing, real estate business and urban planning.

He said Vietnam ranked 20th out of 190 economies by the score of dealing with construction permits by the World Bank’s report on the ease of doing business.

The real estate and building material markets had seen stable development, Hung said.

The ministry’s report said that housing prices did not see considerable fluctuations in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Real estate inventories totalled 22.8 trillion VND (981.6 million USD) as of December 20, a drop of 82.24 percent against the peak recorded in the first quarter of 2013.

A total of 58 million sq.m of housing area was completed in 2018. Some 5,800 homes for low-income earners were completed with a total area of 290,000sq.m. Average housing area per person now reached 24sq.m.

The building material market met domestic demand while the focus was also placed on developing new, environmentally-friendly materials, the report said, adding that 55 out of 63 provinces and cities have already developed plans to eliminate baked bricks and use unbaked bricks. As of November, unbaked bricks were estimated at 8 billion units, accounted for 30 per cent of the total brick output.

Hung said construction management was also enhanced nationwide with planning of 58 out of 63 provinces and cities approved to ensure sustainable urban development. There were 828 urban areas throughout the country, statistics showed.

The ministry’s appraisal of construction investment also helped cut costs by 2.6 percent, equivalent to 1.6 billion USD, according to the ministry’s report.

Japanese expert hailed Vietnamese army’s mission in Cambodia

The Cambodian revolutionary armed forces and the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers joined a drill to improve combat ability 

The overthrow of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia by the Vietnamese military was an act of saving the humanity, and a great contribution to the international community, said a Japanese expert. 

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) correspondents, Prof. Go Ito from Japan’s Meiji University highlighted the significance of efforts made by the Vietnamese army to help Cambodia escape from the Pol Pot genocidal regime 40 years ago, saying that this contributed to bringing peace to the Cambodian people. 

The Vietnamese troops well completed its mission in Cambodia, he said. 

According to the expert, in the late 1970s, the international community hardly knew about the Pol Pot genocide and its barbarous acts of violating human rights in Cambodia. 

While judging the ruling of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), Ito said that the international community had agreed to make the strongest judgment against these extremely serious human right violations.

In other words, acts of violating human rights have been strictly prohibited, but the genocide in Cambodia at that time was even more horrible than violations of human rights, he stressed. 

This was a strong judgment, which sent to the international community a clear message that the genocide was an unforgivable action.

Bicycles granted to poor students in northern region

A total of 330 bicycles worth nearly 500 million VND presented to poor students with excellent academic performances in northern localities (Source: redcross.org.vn)

A total of 330 bicycles worth nearly 500 million VND (21,500 USD) have been presented to poor students with excellent academic performances in northern localities.

The bicycles were gifts from the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) Central Committee, the Sai Gon-Hanoi Bank (SHB) and Dai-ichi Life Vietnam insurance company, the VRC announced on January 5.

The beneficiaries come from Hanoi, Hai Phong city, and Quang Ninh, Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Ninh Binh and Tuyen Quang provinces.

Child care, education and protection are always among priorities of the VRC and its partners in the understanding that investing in young people, especially those living in difficult circumstances will contribute to increasing the quality of human resources to serve the nation’s sustainable development and international integration.

Many Vietnamese enterprises have actively participated in social activities supporting children. In the time ahead, SHB and Dai-ichi Life Vietnam pledge to continue working with the VRC in other fields, thus contributing to the nation’s economic development and social welfare.

Naval ships carry Tet gifts to soldiers doing duty at sea

Officers and soldiers of Naval Zone 2 carry Tet gifts to the ships. 

Two delegations from the High Command of Naval Zone 2 and Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City on January 5 sailed from Vung Tau city to visit officers and soldiers who are doing their duty on DK1 Platform and Radar Station 590 in Con Dao island district.

The delegations, including journalists of provincial and central press agencies, will also visit agencies and units stationed in the land district during their trip, which is expected to last from 12-15 days. 

The two ships, namely Truong Sa 08 and Truong Sa 19, are carrying Tet gifts from the Ministry of National Defence, the People’s Navy, the High Command of Naval Zone 2, localities, agencies and businesses to the officers and soldiers.  

This is an annual activity, showing the sentiments and care the Party, State, army, naval force and people of the whole country extend to armed forces who are doing their duty at sea and on islands.

DK1 was set up on July 5, 1989, on the continental shelf belonging to the Vung Tau-Con Dao Special Zone (now Ba Ria-Vung Tau province) with the task of defending the country’s sovereignty over the waters in the southeastern region. 

It is a complex of structures of large steel pipes which strike roots deep into dry coral reefs. Covering these steel pipes is a living space for soldiers who guard the platform. 

On January 4, delegations of military officers and soldiers also headed for Truong Sa (Spratly) to visit those performing duties on Vietnam’s archipelago.

Four ships of Naval Region 4 carried thousands of Tet gift packages sent by military units and people nationwide to soldiers and residents on 33 islands of the archipelago.

Exchange programme recalls memories of volunteer soldiers in Cambodia

Delegates at the programme share the stories of the southwest border defence war 

An exchange programme entitled “Troops sent by Buddha” was held in Hanoi on January 4 for former Vietnamese volunteer soldiers in Cambodia.

The event drew Sen. Lieut. Gen Phan Van Giang, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and Deputy Defence Minister; Sen. Lieut. Gen Nguyen Trong Nghia, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA)'s General Department of Politics; and President of the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association Central Committee Vu Mao, among others.

Participants recalled that on January 2, 2012, during a visit to the southern province of Dong Nai to attend the inauguration of the historical relic site, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reflected on the event many years ago, when Cambodian people were so close to death that all they could do was praying for help from Buddha. It was at that moment that Vietnamese volunteer soldiers came and saved them. Therefore, Vietnamese soldiers were believed to have been the troop sent by Buddha, he stated.

After 40 years of the southwest border defence war victory, the memory of the heroic victory as well as the image of a troop sent by Buddha have remained clear in the minds of Cambodian people.

At the programme, the historical witnesses shared the stories of the southwest border defence war, the significance of the victory against the genocidal regime, and the value of peace and independence that Vietnamese and Cambodian people restored.

At the programme, Colonel Nguyen Van Hong who directly fought in the war, introduced his books on the war which have since been turned into a 10-chapter film.

Over the years, the Vietnam-Cambodian relationship has strongly developed in all fields, especially defence. In the future, the two sides have agreed to continue coordinating closely together in building a shared border of friendship and educating younger generations on the need to reinforce the friendship between the two countries. 

Dak Nong ensures adequate power supply for Cambodia’s Mondulkiri

Upgrading the grid 

The power company of the Central Highland province of Dak Nong has splashed out tens of billions of VND on upgrading its electrical systems to ensure there is a sufficient power supply for Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province.

The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has worked to keep the lights on in the Cambodian locality for the past nine years, seeing the expansion of the power grid in Mondulkiri as an important mission, contributing to promoting friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia.

In the initial stage, the 250km transmission line, which was put into operation in 2012, ran through Bu Prang border gate in Quang Truc commune, Tuy Duc district, Dak Nong province. However, the line was shortened after the province invested more than 60 billion VND (2.58 million USD) to upgrade the power grid.

As the electricity demand in Mondulkiri has been on the rise, nearly 21 billion VND (904,000 USD) was spent to improve the cross-border transmission line in 2018.

Last year, Dak Nong province provided Mondulkiri province with nearly 6 million kWh in commercial electricity, and earned 13 billion VND (559,000 USD) from power supply for the Cambodian locality, 10 times higher than the amount recorded in 2012. 

Smuggling of wild animals, plants must be strictly dealt with: Deputy PM

Rhino horns seized at Noi Bai International Airport (Source: antt.vn)

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has assigned the Ministries of Public Security, National Defence, Finance, and Industry and Trade to intensify preventive measures and strictly handle the illegal smuggling and transportation of wild animals and plants.

According to assessments of several international experts, Vietnam has become a hot spot for the smuggling and use of products of wild animals and plants in Southeast Asia.

The country has also been said to serve as a major centre for the illegal trading of wild animal products. Many large-volume cross-border smuggling cases have been detected, while the use of elephant tusks and rhino horns, as well as the slaughter of wild animals to serve parties, are still common occurrences amongst Vietnamese people.

Due to these actions, many species of wild animals are at risk of going extinct, thus threatening biodiversity across the region.

Statistics of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam showed that from 2015-2017, the court handled 231 cases violating regulations on wild and endangered animals with 339 people involved – of whom eight were sentenced to 3-7 years in prison, and 96 received under-3-year imprisonment sentences.

Delegations set sail for Truong Sa archipelago for Tet festival

Officers and soldiers prepare to get onboard ships for Truong Sa at Cam Ranh military port in Khanh Hoa province on January 4 

Delegations of military officers and soldiers set sail for Truong Sa (Spratly) on January 4 to visit those performing duties on Vietnam’s archipelago on the occasion of the coming Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Addressing the see-off ceremony held at Cam Ranh military port in central Khanh Hoa province, Vice Chairman of the Khanh Hoa People’s Committee Nguyen Dac Tai said the trip aims to convey the profound attention that the Party, State, Defence Ministry, and people nationwide pay to the safeguarding of the sacred sovereignty in the sea, as well as to soldiers and residents in Truong Sa, which is also a district of Khanh Hoa.

Such sentiment is a great support and encouragement for soldiers and residents in Truong Sa to weather every difficulty to fulfil the heavy but glorious task assigned by the Party and people, he noted.

Rear Admiral Nguyen Duc Vuong, Political Commissar of Naval Region 4, expressed his belief that the officers and soldiers assuming new tasks in Truong Sa archipelago will overcome all difficulties to fulfil their tasks.

Four ships of Naval Region 4 are carrying thousands of Tet gift packages sent by military units and people nationwide to soldiers and residents on 33 islands of the archipelago. 

Cambodian armed forces delegation visits martyrs’ cemetery in Gia Lai

Cambodian and Vietnamese military officers offer incense to fallen Vietnamese volunteer soldiers at the martyrs’ cemetery in Duc Co district, Gia Lai province, on January 4 

A high-ranking delegation of the Military Region 1 High Command of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces paid a visit to the Vietnamese martyrs’ cemetery in Duc Co district, in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, on January 4.

The visit was made on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the victory of the southwest border defence war and the joint victory of Vietnam and Cambodia over the genocidal regime (January 7).

The delegation was led by General Houth Chheang, Deputy Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army and Commander of Military Region 1 under the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. Leaders of the Cambodian localities of Rattanakiri, Strung Treng, and Mondulkiri also attended the event.

The visit was to honour Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who fought with Cambodian people to overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime and liberate the country. It also offered a chance for the two nations’ armed forces to share experiences, thereby deepening the friendship, cooperation, and development of Vietnam and Cambodia. 

Gen. Houth Chheang affirmed that the Cambodian people always bear in mind the great support of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who helped safeguard the vitality of Cambodia. The soldiers’ sacrifices are a symbol of the two countries’ solidarity and friendship, he noted.

On the occasion, the visiting delegation presented gift sets to 20 policy beneficiaries in Duc Co district.

The martyrs’ cemetery in Duc Co district of Gia Lai province is the final resting place of the 1,565 Vietnamese martyrs and volunteer soldiers who participated in the southwest border defence war and international missions in Cambodia.

Traffic safety year launched in Hanoi

A parade by the Hanoi traffic police force as part of the launch of the traffic safety year in the capital

The National Committee for Traffic Safety in collaboration with the Hanoi People’s Committee organised a ceremony to kick off the year of traffic safety in the capital on January 4.

Themed “traffic safety for passengers and bikers”, the programme prioritises ensuring traffic safety during the coming lunar New Year holiday and 2019 spring festival.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the committee Truong Hoa Binh lauded efforts by Hanoi authorities and local people in implementing a series of measures to reduce traffic accidents and jams, contributing significantly to the overal outcome for the entire nation.

In 2018 alone, Vietnam recorded 18,736 traffic accidents that killed 8,248 people and injured 14,802 others. The figures represented annual decreases of 1,348 cases, 33 deaths, and 2,238 injured people. During the period, Hanoi also saw reductions across the three categories.

The Deputy PM asked the committee and relevant agencies, sectors, and localities to continue carrying out the Government’s directives on ensuring traffic safety, as well as Directive No.18-CT/TW issued on September 4, 2018 by the Party Central Committee's Secretariat, which focused on increasing the Party leadership in ensuring traffic order and safety on domestic road, rail, and waterway routes.  

He recommended the sides concentrate on a number of solutions, including completing legal and policy systems to curb traffic accidents and congestion; increasing the effective works of public management and traffic patrols and monitoring; and speeding up the progress and boosting the quality of major traffic infrastructure construction projects.

He urged the sides to follow tasks set out in the Prime Minister’s Directive No.1793 on ensuring traffic safety during the Lunar New Year holiday and 2019 spring festival.

Nguyen Duc Chung, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, also highlighted the implementation of the document along with the municipal plan for traffic safety on the occasion among relevant local agencies and sectors.

A maximum number of personnel must be mobilised for guiding traffic, particularly during rush hour and near construction sites, he ordered.

Communications campaigns and stricter handling of violations, especially drink-driving and those related to cargo and passenger transport, are also needed, the city leader said.

The ceremony was rounded off with a parade by the municipal traffic police force. 

Workers feel squeeze due to social housing shortage

Housing for workers at Dong An Industrial Park, Binh Duong province

Nguyen Thi Phuong, who has worked at the Thang Long Industrial Park in Hanoi’s outskirts district of Dong Anh for years, said her family of three would enjoy a stable life if not for housing. 

Phuong is one of many other workers at industrial and export processing zones across the country, who are grappling to find housing with affordable rent and access to public schools. Most of them had to rent rooms in residential areas and send their children to private kindergartens. 

The Construction Ministry reported that only 20 percent of workers nationwide have accessed housing projects, meeting only 40 percent of the target set in the national housing development strategy by 2020 with a vision towards 2030. 

Ha Quang Hung, deputy head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department under the Construction Ministry, said many rental houses do not meet requirements of environmental hygiene and essential social and technical infrastructure such as kindergartens, schools, medical centres and entertainment areas. 

To solve the problem, the Prime Minister on January 25, 2017 issued Directive No. 03/CT-TTg on promoting social housing development, particularly housing for workers. 

Statistics of 46 out of 63 centrally-run cities and provinces show that as of early 2018, about 1.2 million workers at industrial parks needed accommodations. The number is projected to amount to around 3 million in 2020.

Localities reported that 73 housing projects for workers are being carried out with about 88,400 apartments. However, many of them have been suspended or have slow progress due to a lack of capital. 

According to the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department, localities have yet to pay due attention to social housing development, particularly social housing projects and houses for workers. 

Hoang Vu Linh Chi from the Institute of Sociology underlined the need for regulations that require newly-formed industrial parks to zone land for workers’ houses before calling for investors. 

She also pointed out bottlenecks hindering social housing projects such as cumbersome administrative procedures, and prolonged land clearance compensation and project approval. 

In this regard, Hung suggested policies designed specifically for social housing projects in terms of land lease fee and tax, and access to long-term housing loans with low interest rates for workers and labourers in need of housing.

WeChoice Awards 2018 honour contributors to community

The inspiring journey of WeChoice Awards 2018 ended with a gala night in Ho Chi Minh City on January 5, honouring the most inspirational persons, stories, events, products and works with positive impacts on the community.

Organised by the VCCorp JSC, this year’s awards ceremony had the theme “Sun hidden in the heart”.  

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the VCCorp JSC Vuong Huu Thang said the awards aim to look for those who silently contribute to society, thereby spreading inspirations to more and more people. 

The top 10 inspiring people chosen by the public include Korean coach Park Hang-seo and the Vietnamese national football team, Miss Universe Vietnam H’Hen Nie, Hai An and her mother, Miss International Queen Huong Giang, esport team Swing Phantom, teacher Dang Van Cuong, actor Huynh Lap, architect Pham Dinh Quy, singer JustaTee, and hot influencer Chau Bui. 

The inspiring ambassador awards went to coach Park Hang-seo and the Vietnamese national football team, Hai An and her mother, architect Pham Dinh Quy, Miss Universe Vietnam H’Hen Nie, Mr. Pham Nghia and boy Thanh Dat. 

Sharing the story of eight-year-old Hai An, who voluntarily donated her cornea to those in need after her death on February 22, 2018, Deputy Director of the National Coordination Center for Human Organ Transplantation Nguyen Hoang Phuc said the kind heart of Hai An and her mother inspired others to register for organ donations to save more lives, amounting to over 20,000 in 2018 compared to none in 2013. 

Vingroup’s Promotion Fund for Vietnamese Football Talents (PVF), Samsung’s S.hub Kids, TH Group’s School Milks were honoured in the category of inspiring corporate social responsibility campaigns. 

In the entertainment category, singers Vu Cat Tuong and Den won the prizes for artists with breakthrough activities. 

The most favourite music video was Chay ngay di (Run now) by Son Tung M-TP while the most favourite underground music belonged to Anh dech can gi ngoai em (I do not need much outside of you) by Den ft Vu, Thanh Dong. 

The most favourite movie award went to Thang nam ruc ro (Sunny) and the best television film was Gao nep gao te (Sticky rice and plain rice). 

New categories were also announced at the event, with the project “Please listen to our stories” winning the prize for positive impact on the community, and Golden Bridge in the central city of Da Nang honoured as the favourite check-in destination, among others.

Exhibition on victory of southwest defence war opens in Can Tho

Visitors to the exhibition at the museum of Military Zone 9 in Can Tho city 

An exhibition marking 40 years since the victory of the southwest border defence war and the joint victory of Vietnam and Cambodia over the genocidal regime (January 7) opened in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on January 4.

Colonel Ho Van Thai, vice head of the Department of Politics under the Military Zone 9 High Command, said the event looks to honour soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country’s sovereignty and freedom.

On display were nearly 300 valuable images, documents, and items from the southwest border defence war and the joint victory over the genocidal crime in Cambodia. 

The exhibits include personal belongings which were discovered during the repatriation of soldiers’ remains, such as handkerchiefs, shoes, and water bottles, along with weapons like guns, bullets, and binoculars, among others.

The exhibition is hoped to help the younger generations learn more about this pivotal time in Vietnam’s history, enhancing their sense of patriotism and national pride.