VietNamNet reviews some outstanding faces who brought fames to Vietnam in various fields in 2010.

Hieu Hien – first prize winner of UPU letter writing contest

A 6th year pupil from the central city of Da Nang, Ho Thi Hieu Hien, defeated more than 1.2 million students in Vietnam to represent the country at the international letter writing for young people of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and won the first prize.

This is the first time Vietnam has taken first prize in the contest, after 20 years of competing.

The theme of the 2010 competition was: "Write a letter to someone to explain why it is important to talk about AIDS and to protect yourself against the disease."

The letter sent to stage director Truong Nghe Muu, written by Ho Thi Hieu Hien, expressed wishes for more films on HIV/AIDS so that people can understand the dangers of the disease and improve their knowledge of how to prevent it.

“Suddenly it occurs to me: what if I had a talent for film-making like you? I would start making top quality films about AIDS right away to raise people's awareness. Uncle Zhang, my first film would be about a moving love story, it would be romantic and tragic – the main characters would fall madly in love but could not get married because one of them has AIDS. The following film would be called "To Die" and would be as highly regarded as your "To Live",” she wrote in the letter.

“The message would be: he does not want to die young but will because he doesn't know that death lurks in every risk he takes, such as having unsafe sex or sharing needles. Most of my films would be inspired by real life and the heroes would be AIDS victims. There would be a civil servant who has worked all his life and maintained his dignity but has lost everything in a moment of uncontrolled pleasure – a medical employee who contracted the virus through negligence, someone who has worked hard all his life to build a family and a home but dies alone and abandoned by his loved ones – young people full of life who die because they take drugs – wide-eyed children whose parents die from AIDS or do not know that they are about to be taken away by death – young girls who know they have AIDS in their bodies and want to sow death among others in order to have their revenge…”

Recently, Hieu Hien won the special prize in the Japan International Film Contest for Asian Children for the film “Thuy’s learning time”.

Earlier, “Thuy’s learning time” won 1st prize in the National Film Contest for Vietnamese Students. The contest was organized by the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, which aimed at celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Pianist Hoang Pham Tra Mi

Hoang Pham Tra Mi, a student of the Vietnam National Academy of Music won first prize in the 12 to 14 years age group at the First International Chopin Piano Competition in Singapore last December.

Mi is the only Vietnamese contestant who won a prize at the competition.

Mi also earned a gold medal at the Asia International Piano Academy Festival and Competition in Cheonan, Republic of Korea, in July 2010.

The competition in Singapore brought together 145 pianists from 15 countries, including seven Vietnamese, to compete in five age categories from 10 to 25 years.

The contestants took part in two rounds in which they were evaluated based on a DVD/CD recording and their solo performance of a work by Chopin.

The event was co-organized by the Chopin Society in Singapore, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the Polish embassy in Singapore to celebrate Frederic Chopin’s 200th birthday.

Chess player Le Quang Liem

Le Quang Liem, 19, is now the top Vietnamese chess player in the current rankings of FIDE. He is also in the top ten of young chess players in the world.

Le Quang Liem defeated over 160 international chess players to win the Aeroflot open chess tournament in Russia in February 2010. This event is the most difficult chess tournament in the world. Liem received bonus worth Eur21,000.

Before this tournament, Liem won the bronze medal at the Moscow open chess tournament. Thanks to this victory Liem met conditions to play at the Dortmund chess tournament in Germany in July.

According to the Guardian, Liem made the quickest progress among the top 50 chess players in the world.  The ChessVibes website also commented that Liem has quickly improved.

Liem was born in 1991. He is currently the top chess player of Vietnam and is listed in the top ten young chess players of the world. In July 2005, Liem became the youngest world chess champion. In September 2009, he played very well at the 4th Kolkata open chess tournament to claim 13th place in the world ratings.

At the Dortmund tournament in Germany for international great masters he won the silver medal after two draw games against former world champion Kramnik, defeating former world second player Peter Leko and a draw with the current champion of Dortmund tournament Ruslan Ponomariov.

From August 28, 2010 to September 3, 2010, he participated in 1st Campomanes Memorial Cup Open in the Philippines. His final score was 7/9, and shared first place with GM Zhao Jun of China. However, GM Le yielded the crown to GM Zhao via tiebreak score. After this tournament GM Le gained a total of 6.8 Elo points, which put him in the Super Grandmaster category with a live Elo of 2700.8

Karate artist Le Bich Phuong

The only gold medal for the Vietnamese sports delegation at the ASIAD 16 was secured by karate artist Le Thi Bich Phuong. Still very young, at the age of 18, Phuong is considered a seed of hope for better results in Vietnamese karate in the future.

Phuong is one who defies expectations. She gradually proved herself at ASIAD 16 after repeatedly overcoming strong opponents in her journey to the final of the women's 55kg event. In the 1/8 round, Bich Phuong left Ann Tea Eun of the Republic of Korea no chance to score and crushed her opponent 4-0. She continued to give impressive performances and defeated rivals from Uzbekistan and Macau (China) in the quarter- and semi-finals. Finally, the girl who just started practicing karate five years ago and has been a member of the national squad for only a year, produced a miracle as she beat defending world champion Kobayashi Miki from Japan in the final match to secure the only gold for Vietnam at the Asian Games 2010.

Despite being led in the beginning by the defending world champion, Bich Phuong still kept her calm and confidence. She then fought back to draw 1-1 before scoring three points to make it 4-1. The Japanese artist gained two more points, narrowing the gap 4-3, however, Bich Phuong's excellent defense helped her maintain that score until the end of the match.

Le Bich Phuong has quickly grown in her sport . Two years ago she was only an amateur athlete who practiced karatedo to improve her health. Now she has become the champion of the Asian Games and absolutely deserves to take her place among all the senior artists who have been crowned champion in this arena including Kim Anh, Bao Ngoc, Nguyet Anh and Hai Yen.

Hip-hop artist Nguyen To Linh

The 13-year-old girl from the northern port city of Hai Phong impressed the audience and the jury of the Buoc Nhay Xi Tin competition 2010, the northern round, and won the first prize.

The girl practiced hip hop for only six months before the competition. At the age of 13, it is a guarantee that the name Nguyen To Linh will appear in the media in the future.

LT