Vietnamese bartender takes part in world bartender competition

Le Thanh Tung, a bartender from the Chill Skybar in HCM City, won the title "Best bartender in Viet Nam" during the Southeast Asia round of the Diageo Reserve World Class 2014 competition.

With this title, Tung will be the only representative from Viet Nam to participate in the competition's global finals in August in London.

The competition organised by the Diageo Group aims to find bartender talents around the world, and to contribute to the development of the tourism and service industry.

According to the group, this is the first time the contest has had a Southeast Asia round.

In this round, the competition also honoured five other outstanding bartenders representing countries in the region that will take part in the Global Finals.

Stephane Gripon, general manager for Diageo in Viet Nam, said he was very proud of Tung's performance, and that he would become a good ambassador for Viet Nam by introducing its culture and people to the world.

Famous Italian story introduced to Vietnamese kids

An interesting Italian story, Favole al telefono (fairy tales over the phone), penned by famous author Gianni Rodari has been introduced to Vietnamese readers under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Italy.

It consists of 70 short stories a travelling salesman nightly told his daughter over the phone while he was on the road. They are short because the salesman had to pay for private phone calls out of his own pocket.

Gianni Rodari was born in Omegna (Novara) in 1920. He started to write for children for the Sunday edition of a newspaper. Eventually he had enough material to create a collection of nursery rhymes for publication.

He has been the recipient of several esteemed prizes such as the Premio Prato, Premio Castello and Premio Rubino in Italy.

His Gip nel televisore also won the Andersen International Prize. There have been many radio and TV programmes based on his books including educational radio programmes for schools in Japan, cartoon shows, a puppet theatre piece (in Poland) and a feature length movie (in the former Soviet Union).

Other famous books includes Filastrocche in cielo e in terra (Nursery Rhymes in the Sky and on Earth, 1960), La torta in cielo (The Cake in the Sky 1966), Gip nel televisore (Gip in the Television, 1962), Le avventure di Cipollino (The Adventures of the Onion, 1951-1957), Gelsomino nel paese dei bugiardi (Gelsomino in the Country of Liars, 1958), and La freccia azzurra (The Blue Arrow, 1953).

Le avventure di Cipollino book has been translated into more than 20 languages, including French, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese.

Films show Spratly, Paracel islands

A documentary focusing on French filmmaker Andre Menras and his relationship with Viet Nam, will be screened in Ha Noi on Sunday.

Menras witnessed different periods in Vietnamese history and was a passionate advocate for the Vietnamese people.

Former President Nguyen Minh Triet granted him Vietnamese citizenship under the name Ho Cuong Quyet, for his love and contribution to Viet Nam as an anti-war activist.

It is one of five documentary films to be screened on Viet Nam's sea and islands produced by filmmakers of the Central Documentary and Scientific Films Studio (DSFS).

Some of the films were made during the national resistance war against the US and also detail the country's national construction and defensive efforts.

The films feature Viet Nam's diverse landscape and its people, but also helps verify Viet Nam's sovereignty over its territorial waters and related islands, said Pham Thi Tuyet, DSFS director.

The film screenings also form part of the activities organised to support residents and soldiers living and serving in the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes.

The documentaries include Dau Song Ngon Gio (The Most Dangerous Position, 1967) by director Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, about the daily life and battles the islanders fought in Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf during the American war.

The film Truong Sa Thang 4 Nam 1988 (The Spratlys Archipelago in April, 1988) by People's Artist Le Manh Thich, details the life of soldiers on Sinh Ton Island (The Spratlys) involved in the immense struggle to defend the island from pirates.

Dao Ly Son, (Ly Son Island) produced in 2009 by Cong Thanh Duc, shows how residents and soldiers protected the island.

Director Dao Thanh Tung contributed two films, Bien Cua Nguoi Viet (Sea of Vietnamese People, 2012) which provides evidence that the Paracels and Spratlys belong to Viet Nam; and Andre Menras – Mot Nguoi Viet (Andre Menras – A Vietnamese Person, 2011), which depicts the first time he came Viet Nam in 1968 and how he was chosen to become a Vietnamese national.

The films are scheduled to be screened at the Central Documentary and Scientific Films Studio, located on 465 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Ha Noi at 7pm. Admission is free.

Ethnology Museum ready for Children's Day

The Museum of Ethnology offers fun for young visitors this weekend as part of International Children's Day.

The two key activities, My Hometown's Seas and Islands and Folk Songs with Children, will enable participants to learn more about Viet Nam's seas and islands, popular folk music from the northern region and other heritage symbols.

Nguyen Thi Thai Hoa, who works at the museum, said "joining the events, children can try to pitch flags to position Viet Nam's islands on a mute map, study information and draw to express their dream about the seas and islands," she said.

"They can also play folk games using sea shells."

Craftsmen from Ha Noi's Thanh Oai District will also demonstrate how to make toys from bamboo, including puppets with swords, swinging puppets, fish, pin wheels and bamboo phones.

Child models will also showcase traditional costumes from Viet Nam, South Korea, and Japan.

More lithophones found in Dak Nong

Local farmers found two lithophone sets on a pepper plantation in Long Son Commune in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong yesterday.

A spokesman for the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that one of the sets had 10 stone pieces, while the other had seven.

The department has taken charge of the instruments for preservation and further study.

A set of lithophones, first found by the French in Dak Lak Province in 1949, is made up of 11 stone tablets.

Other instruments were later discovered in Khanh Hoa and Binh Phuoc.

Evidence of the lithophone dates back 10,000 years.

New art space in city

Galerie Quynh will launch a non-profit initiative called Sao La on the ground floor of the HCMC Fine Arts Museum on Friday, adding more space for both local and foreign tourists and city art enthusiasts to admire art and share their passion for art.

The gallery also takes this occasion to debut Sao La’s much anticipated inaugural show Out Of Nowhere featuring works by ten young artists based in Saigon, including Do Thanh Lang, Hoang Nam Viet, Le Nguyen Duy Phuong, Le Vu Anh Nhi, Ngo Dinh Bao Chau, Nguyen Duc Dat, Nguyen Uyen Minh, Nguyen Vuong Thao, Pham Vuong and Tran Minh Duc.

Highlighting the dynamic and diverse creative voices in the community, the exhibition brings together a group of artists with disparate ideas and practices working in a range of media from painting and photography to video and installation. Along with some emerging artists, many of whom have never held public exhibitions before, Sao La demonstrates its commitment to working with creative talents outside the art establishment.

With a desire to cultivate creative thinking and making, Galerie Quynh is committed to building infrastructure in Vietnam which supports contemporary art practice. Under the aegis of the gallery and the artistic direction of Nguyen Kim To Lan and Tung Mai, two young Saigon-based artists, Sao La carries two main objectives: making contemporary art accessible to the general Vietnamese public through educational programs, and nurturing Vietnam’s growing creative community.

Sao La will serve not only as a platform for exhibitions, film and video screenings, workshops and lectures but also as an informal space for young Vietnamese to experiment, challenge and develop their creative practices.

The works will be on display until July 27 at Sao La, 1 Le Thi Hong Gam Street in HCMC’s District 1.

Activities held to celebrate International Children's Day

A wide range of activities are taking place across the country to celebrate International Children's Day and the 2014 Action Month for Children.

The National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC), Thua Thien – Hue provincial Fund for Children and AIA Life Insurance Company Limited in Vietnam have jointly organised a programme to present 20 scholarships, worth VND500,000 each, and gifts, worth VND30 million in total, to disadvantaged children in Thua Thien – Hue province.

On May 29, the Fund for Cancer Patients – Bright Tomorrow, under the Ministry of Health presented 130 gifts worth VND500,000 each to cancer children who are being treated at the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion in Hanoi. The event aims to support and encourage cancer children and their family.

In Hanoi, a childhood world fair and a national exhibition of paintings by children is taking place from May 29 – June 1 at the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Arts and Culture, 2 Hoa Lu Street.

The programme aims to provide children with a playground, while encouraging the community to care more for children. Various cultural and art activities and games for children will also be held during the event.

At the same time, Alpha Books Company and Megalink Company hosted a Book and Products for Children Fair at the Hanoi Children’s Palace, 36 Ly Thai To Street, Hanoi, with the participation of book houses and publishing houses such as Alpha Books, Nha Nam, Fahasa and Tri Viet.

The event offered children and their parents a chance to take part in a large number of cultural activities for children and to buy books and products for children at sale prices of 30-50% off.

Substandard preservation efforts at Ho Dynasty Citadel

Even though the Ho Dynasty Citadel was recognised as a world cultural heritage site since 2011, several areas are still being cultivated by local farmers.

A recent report by the Ho Dynasty Citadel's Heritage Preservation Centre showed that local authorities and the site managers are facing several difficulties in the preservation process.

While the Law on Cultural Heritage and the site’s management regulations stipulate that the core area must be strictly protected, some local households within the area have built and even upgraded their homes.

The situation has hindered management of the site despite great efforts made by local authorities and the site managers to increase awareness among residents.

The Thanh Noi area, which covers 142 hectares, is still under the direct management of local authorities. Residents there are still farming and building houses in areas that should be under special protection, affecting what can be saved of the architecture in the area.

Nguyen Xuan Toan, Deputy Director of the centre said, “Agricultural cultivation within the specially protected area has affected underground architecture at the site. We’ve reported the situation to relevant authorities for several times but the situation has yet to improve.”

The centre is under the management of the Thanh Hoa provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. When they detected any infringement of the site, they do not have the authority to apply punishments but have to wait for a solution from relevant authorities. In several cases, their proposals were neglected.

Associate Prof and Dr. Nguyen Quoc Hung who is Deputy Director f the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Cultural Heritage Department said that management and preservation at the site would not be improved unless the authority of the site’s management board is enhanced.

The Ho Dynasty Citadel was built by stone at the end of the 14th century. It is still perpetual by the time and is considered an eternal evidence for a majestic period of Vietnam’s history.