Choir festival welcomes opening of 11th Party Congress

HCMCITY — A choir concert bringing together more than 1,000 performers will be held here to welcome the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam that opens in Ha Noi next Tuesday.

The event, Nhung Bai Ca Dang Dang (Songs offered to the Party), will feature more than 1,000 amateur and professional performers from 11 different universities around the city.

The choir will perform famous works of veteran composers including Do Nhuan, Huy Du, Vu Dinh An and Pham Minh Tuan. The patriotic songs praise the country, the Party and President Ho Chi Minh.

A series of contemporary dances will be choreographed to support the choir on stage, said the event's art director Hoang Diep.

The festival will open at 8pm next Monday at the city's Opera House. It will be aired live on the Ho Chi Minh Radio and Ho Chi Minh Television's HTV9 channel.

Later the choir will perform for students at the city's National University and Economics University.

Dong Thap Province to welcome in Tet with art shows, festivals

DONG THAP — Cao Lanh Town in the Mekong Delta Province of Dong Thap is preparing to usher in the Lunar New Year early next month with five days of art performances and other events.

Hoi ngo tren dat sen hong (Meet in the land of the pink lotus), to be organised by the local Culture Centre and Say Cheese Event and Media Company and opening on February 2, will spotlight the culture of Dong Thap Muoi (Plain of Reeds).

Flower-shaped coloured lanterns will light up the city's Van Mieu Park where ornamental creatures will also be on display.

Visitors will also have the chance to see cultural symbols from around the country: there will be models of Ha Noi's Khue Van Cac Pavilion, considered a symbol of literature, and Tortoise Tower; terraced fields from the misty north-west; the moss-grown Cham Tower in the central region; stilt houses from the Central Highlands; and the floating markets of the Mekong Delta.

Costumes worn by the country's 54 minorities will be on show.

Visitors can take part in traditional games and game shows based on traditional culture, the Viet Nam – My Fatherland painting competition for children, a calligraphy contest, and a poetry recitation contest.

There will be fights between nightingales and cocks.

A beauty contest for cats will be the highlight of a festival meant to welcome Tan Mao, or the Year of the Cat.

Hundreds join Ha Noi High School English Festival

HA NOI — Hundreds of students plan to attend the final round of the Ha Noi High School English Festival on Sunday, organised by the Department of Education and Training and Apollo English.

Nineteen outstanding performances that include English pronunciations, singing, dancing and aerobics will be conducted by the winners selected from the previous two rounds in December.

There are two first prizes worth VND4 million (US$200) each and three second place prizes each VND3 million ($150) among others, said organisers, adding that two special awards will be given to the most devoted schools.

The festival, which started last November, has attracted hundreds of students from 16 high schools in the capital.

The final round will take place at the Youth Theatre at No11 Ngo Thi Nham Street, Ha Noi. — VNS

Related Articles

• General Secretary inspects 11th Congress preparations
• HCMC begins to think about giving up meat
• Culture Vulture
• Writers’ temple to display bronze drums
• PM launches news channel

On golden pond

Ba Om Pond

A group of overseas Vietnamese from the US recently travelled to the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, home to Tra Vinh's legendary Ba Om Pond. While there, they visited Ang Pagoda which people claim is the best vantage point from which to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the pond.

Located on the outskirts of Tra Vinh Town, the pagoda complex is a fortress that offers travellers an escape from the heat and dust of Road 52.

One of the group, Duong Quang Chan, an overseas Vietnamese businessman, who has lived in the US for years, was returning on this occasion to seek out business opportunities and said he was considering a tourism project in Tra Vinh, which also happened to be his grandmother's birthplace.

"As we arrived at the complex, we were amazed by the century-old trees. From a distance, their strange stumps looked like giant snakes heading for the sky," said Chan.

The soft whispering of the trees combined with the low murmur of Buddhist monks reciting the scriptures from a distant pagoda to create a blissful atmosphere for those wanting to meditate, he said.

A local photographer Huynh Van Hung said that a great flood may have swept through the area long time ago, shaping it and marking the old trees,

Sitting on a hammock strung between two old stumps, Hung said visitors often come here to enjoy the view of peaceful Ba Om Pond, famed for its pure water.

Hung said although visitors have their own camera they still ask him to photograph the view.

Ba Om Pond is called a square pond, but is actually 300m wide and 500m long. The pond is carpeted with water lilies and lotus flowers which bloom white and purple every summer.

The legendary pond was formed as a result of a bet between young ethnic Khmer men and women. The exact date is unknown but according to the elderly monks known by the Tra Vinh Khmer as Luc Masters, the pond was formed about 500 to 600 years ago.

Nguyen Thu Anh, a guide at the Tra Vinh Khmer Museum, said that long ago Khmer society was matriarchal. Young women had to find partners and present betrothal gifts to the bridegroom's family. This habit made the young men selfish and they asked for gifts of ever increasing value.

Tiring of this, leader of a women's group, a lady called Om, sought approval from officials in the region for men to do what women had been doing for centuries. The clever official asked the two groups to dig one pond each. They were to be a kilometre apart. Whoever finished first would be the winner and could ask the other group to do their bidding.

This decision would benefit the entire region, as two big ponds contained a great deal of water, which was much needed in the dry season.

In a story that mirrors the fable of the turtle and the rabbit, the group led by Om pretended that they was not up to the task and tried to shelter from the sunshine. Om responded by asking some of these lazy women to lure the men by holding a party to last all day and night.

While half of her group were busy with the men, the others lit torches and dig all night. Their pond was finished by the next morning and took her name. The unfinished men's pond can still be seen at the site of Pras Tropeang Pagoda.

There is another legend which states that the two are natural ponds and that both were there before the Khmer settled in Tra Vinh. Indeed, many Khmer people still use the name Srar Cu (twin ponds) when talking about the ponds. The name Ba Om (Lady Om) is also one way of pronouncing the name of the vegetable which grows naturally around the pond. The cows in the region love this vegetable, and their flesh is very tasty as a result. Visitors can try this special beef in food stores in the region.

The Ba Om Pond complex was recognised as a national historical-cultural relic in 1996. It is popular site for Khmer festivals, especially the Ok Om Bok, which takes place in the middle of the tenth lunar month. At that time, the Khmer of the entire Mekong Delta gather there to host traditional customs and games.

Dang Phuoc Tho, director of the Provincial Cultural Centre, said the festival was held for people to express thanks to the moon for good weather and a good harvest.

Last lunar month nearly 30,000 local and foreign visitors watched a boat race on the Ba Om Pond as part of this festival. The event attracted 500 boatmen from the province and eight boats competed over 700m and 1,500m.

The boats, called ghe ngo, are pirogues crafted from tree trunks. They have a curved head and tail and are managed by skilful boatmen.

On the night of the festival, family members gather before the communal pagoda or in their houses, preparing a feast with farm produce like green rice flakes which are the speciality of the Khmer people, ripe bananas, fresh coconuts and mangoes. These are all offered to the moon.

As the moon rises, the ceremony begins. Family members sit on the ground, hands clasped. An elderly man expresses the village's gratitude and recites prayers for continued good crops and good health.

After the ceremony, everyone joins hands and looks at the moon. They receive green rice flakes from the elderly man and make a wish. People then release paper lanterns into the sky and banana-tree rafts decorated with colourful lights and loaded with offerings are set adrift on the river.

Tran Hoang Be, director of the Tra Vinh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the province plans to invest billions of dong to expand the Ba Om Pond culture-tourism complex to 84ha. It will include a Khmer museum, a sports centre, a service-trade and a tourism centre.

The aim is to attract more visitors to the area by preserving and improving the site's original landscape, said Be.

The site welcomes millions of visitors every year.

Related Articles

• HCMC begins to think about giving up meat

On golden pond

by Ha Nguyen

Tree-lined drive: The Ba Om Pond complex in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh. — File Photos Fairyland: Ang Pagoda, a marvellous Khmer pagoda, welcomes a million visitors a year.

A group of my friends from the US recently travelled to the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, home to Tra Vinh's legendary Ba Om Pond. While there, they visited Ang Pagoda which people claim is the best vantage point from which to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the pond.

Located on the outskirts of Tra Vinh Town, the pagoda complex is a fortress that offers travellers an escape from the heat and dust of Road 52.

One of the group, Duong Quang Chan, an overseas Vietnamese businessman, who has lived in the US for years, was returning on this occasion to seek out business opportunities and said he was considering a tourism project in Tra Vinh, which also happened to be his grandmother's birthplace.

"As we arrived at the complex, we were amazed by the century-old trees. From a distance, their strange stumps looked like giant snakes heading for the sky," said Chan.

The soft whispering of the trees combined with the low murmur of Buddhist monks reciting the scriptures from a distant pagoda to create a blissful atmosphere for those wanting to meditate, he said.

A local photographer Huynh Van Hung said that a great flood may have swept through the area long time ago, shaping it and marking the old trees,

Sitting on a hammock strung between two old stumps, Hung said visitors often come here to enjoy the view of peaceful Ba Om Pond, famed for its pure water.

Hung said although visitors have their own camera they still ask him to photograph the view.

Ba Om Pond is called a square pond, but is actually 300m wide and 500m long. The pond is carpeted with water lilies and lotus flowers which bloom white and purple every summer.

The legendary pond was formed as a result of a bet between young ethnic Khmer men and women. The exact date is unknown but according to the elderly monks known by the Tra Vinh Khmer as Luc Masters, the pond was formed about 500 to 600 years ago.

Nguyen Thu Anh, a guide at the Tra Vinh Khmer Museum, said that long ago Khmer society was matriarchal. Young women had to find partners and present betrothal gifts to the bridegroom's family. This habit made the young men selfish and they asked for gifts of ever increasing value.

Tiring of this, leader of a women's group, a lady called Om, sought approval from officials in the region for men to do what women had been doing for centuries. The clever official asked the two groups to dig one pond each. They were to be a kilometre apart. Whoever finished first would be the winner and could ask the other group to do their bidding.

This decision would benefit the entire region, as two big ponds contained a great deal of water, which was much needed in the dry season.

In a story that mirrors the fable of the turtle and the rabbit, the group led by Om pretended that they was not up to the task and tried to shelter from the sunshine. Om responded by asking some of these lazy women to lure the men by holding a party to last all day and night.

While half of her group were busy with the men, the others lit torches and dig all night. Their pond was finished by the next morning and took her name. The unfinished men's pond can still be seen at the site of Pras Tropeang Pagoda.

There is another legend which states that the two are natural ponds and that both were there before the Khmer settled in Tra Vinh. Indeed, many Khmer people still use the name Srar Cu (twin ponds) when talking about the ponds. The name Ba Om (Lady Om) is also one way of pronouncing the name of the vegetable which grows naturally around the pond. The cows in the region love this vegetable, and their flesh is very tasty as a result. Visitors can try this special beef in food stores in the region.

The Ba Om Pond complex was recognised as a national historical-cultural relic in 1996. It is popular site for Khmer festivals, especially the Ok Om Bok, which takes place in the middle of the tenth lunar month. At that time, the Khmer of the entire Mekong Delta gather there to host traditional customs and games.

Dang Phuoc Tho, director of the Provincial Cultural Centre, said the festival was held for people to express thanks to the moon for good weather and a good harvest.

Last lunar month nearly 30,000 local and foreign visitors watched a boat race on the Ba Om Pond as part of this festival. The event attracted 500 boatmen from the province and eight boats competed over 700m and 1,500m.

The boats, called ghe ngo, are pirogues crafted from tree trunks. They have a curved head and tail and are managed by skilful boatmen.

On the night of the festival, family members gather before the communal pagoda or in their houses, preparing a feast with farm produce like green rice flakes which are the speciality of the Khmer people, ripe bananas, fresh coconuts and mangoes. These are all offered to the moon.

As the moon rises, the ceremony begins. Family members sit on the ground, hands clasped. An elderly man expresses the village's gratitude and recites prayers for continued good crops and good health.

After the ceremony, everyone joins hands and looks at the moon. They receive green rice flakes from the elderly man and make a wish. People then release paper lanterns into the sky and banana-tree rafts decorated with colourful lights and loaded with offerings are set adrift on the river.

Tran Hoang Be, director of the Tra Vinh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the province plans to invest billions of dong to expand the Ba Om Pond culture-tourism complex to 84ha. It will include a Khmer museum, a sports centre, a service-trade and a tourism centre.

The aim is to attract more visitors to the area by preserving and improving the site's original landscape, said Be.

The site welcomes millions of visitors every year. — VNS

Related Articles

• HCMC begins to think about giving up meat

A tale of a family’s struggle to cope

Dustin Nguyen’s character, Vo, (L) in a rare moment of intimacy with the rescued prostitute, Suong, played by Do Thi Hai Yen, who also starred in the Quiet American - Photo: Courtesy of BHD

Canh dong bat tan (Floating lives) is a Vietnamese movie for the emotions and the senses. The film-makers beautifully capture the textures and sounds of the Mekong Delta in this aptly named tale about wanderers and how they cope with events in their lives.

The slow moving story takes place on a small wooden diesel motor boat, typical of boats in the waterways in Dong Thap province where the filming was done.

The boat carries the four main characters, who have almost no connection with anyone or anything beyond the boat’s gunwales, except for a flock of ducks.

The sounds of ducks and the beautiful cooing sounds of the teenage son named Dien (played by Vo Thanh Hoa), who tends them, are woven throughout the soundtrack. The ducks embody the uneducated teen’s defiant and sometimes reckless loyalty that he simply lives without question or fear.

The story starts out when Dien saves a beautiful young woman from an all woman village lynching squad, who are screeching for her blood because she prostituted herself to one of their husbands.

The horribly beaten woman named Suong (played by Do Thi Hai Yen) escapes by staggering through a maze of riverside wooden gangways, and by chance collapses on the bow of Dien’s family’s boat. Dien vouches for her to his brooding father, Vo, (played by Dustin Nguyen) and the boat slowly motors her away from danger.

Dien’s sister Nuong (played by Lan Ngoc) nurses her below deck, through three days of semi-consciousness. When she has enough strength, the frank-speaking Suong quickly builds relationships with the brother and sister, but it’s impossible for her to reach the father whose dark energy pervades the boat as it chugs through the canals. To Dien and Nuong, she plays the part of the mother they lost a decade ago and helps to heal some of their long-felt hurt. To the cruel father, who is too obsessed and angered by the way he lost his wife to give his children love, Suong is a worthless prostitute that is nothing but a burden to him. As the duped husband, Dustin Nguyen plays the victim role well and it is shocking when he tries to dump his children also.

The young director, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh delves adroitly into the emotions contained in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short story, “Boundless Rice Field”. The audience cries and giggles as they recognize characters from their own lives on the screen. The acting is good without being brilliant and the translation for the subtitles is done with sensitivity. The grainy quality of the film suits the subject matter and goes wonderfully with the sound making it a must to see at the cinema.

One of the amazing things about the life of these wanderers is how vast and impersonal the Mekong Delta is. It is vital for the children to stay with the boat. If they get separated from it, it would disappear forever. The insecurity is almost tangible.

In one scene, Dien climbs a tower in the paddy fields to try and spot Suong; he vainly scans the endless fields and canals and is left in emotional desolation. Lifelines like mobile phones or emails are worthless to this broken family, who live an almost cashless life except for the sale of a few ducks or eggs. It’s a lyrical depiction of the isolating powerlessness of poverty and the sense of smallness in a vast uncaring wilderness. Love is the only security they have.

VND3.3 billion in takings

Canh Dong Bat Tan, which was produced by BHD Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Studio, had VND3.3 billion in takings after three-day showing in the country’s cinemas.

On the first day, the film burned up the box office worldwide. In HCMC, Cinebox Hoa Binh sold 2,000 tickets and Thang Long Cinema 900, eight times more than the Korean movie Hearty Paws and American flick, The Other Guys. It also blitzed Vietnamese production, Inferno, which only sold 670 tickets in its first three-days. Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong had to get an extra copy so it could have Floating Lives screening in three cinemas with shows starting every half an hour. On three days of last weekend, over 11,000 movie-goers rushed to HCMC-based cinemas Galaxy Nguyen Du and Galaxy Nguyen Trai. A representative of BHD said there are 23 copies of the film currently screening nationwide, 17 of them in HCMC. By Tuong Vi

Related Articles

• A tale of a family’s struggle to cope
• Anti-human trafficking bill goes under the microscope
• General Giap receives 70-year Party badge
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests

A tale of a family’s struggle to cope

Dustin Nguyen’s character, Vo, (L) in a rare moment of intimacy with the rescued prostitute, Suong, played by Do Thi Hai Yen, who also starred in the Quiet American - Photo: Courtesy of BHD

Canh dong bat tan (Floating lives) is a Vietnamese movie for the emotions and the senses. The film-makers beautifully capture the textures and sounds of the Mekong Delta in this aptly named tale about wanderers and how they cope with events in their lives.

The slow moving story takes place on a small wooden diesel motor boat, typical of boats in the waterways in Dong Thap province where the filming was done.

The boat carries the four main characters, who have almost no connection with anyone or anything beyond the boat’s gunwales, except for a flock of ducks.

The sounds of ducks and the beautiful cooing sounds of the teenage son named Dien (played by Vo Thanh Hoa), who tends them, are woven throughout the soundtrack. The ducks embody the uneducated teen’s defiant and sometimes reckless loyalty that he simply lives without question or fear.

The story starts out when Dien saves a beautiful young woman from an all woman village lynching squad, who are screeching for her blood because she prostituted herself to one of their husbands.

The horribly beaten woman named Suong (played by Do Thi Hai Yen) escapes by staggering through a maze of riverside wooden gangways, and by chance collapses on the bow of Dien’s family’s boat. Dien vouches for her to his brooding father, Vo, (played by Dustin Nguyen) and the boat slowly motors her away from danger.

Dien’s sister Nuong (played by Lan Ngoc) nurses her below deck, through three days of semi-consciousness. When she has enough strength, the frank-speaking Suong quickly builds relationships with the brother and sister, but it’s impossible for her to reach the father whose dark energy pervades the boat as it chugs through the canals. To Dien and Nuong, she plays the part of the mother they lost a decade ago and helps to heal some of their long-felt hurt. To the cruel father, who is too obsessed and angered by the way he lost his wife to give his children love, Suong is a worthless prostitute that is nothing but a burden to him. As the duped husband, Dustin Nguyen plays the victim role well and it is shocking when he tries to dump his children also.

The young director, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh delves adroitly into the emotions contained in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short story, “Boundless Rice Field”. The audience cries and giggles as they recognize characters from their own lives on the screen. The acting is good without being brilliant and the translation for the subtitles is done with sensitivity. The grainy quality of the film suits the subject matter and goes wonderfully with the sound making it a must to see at the cinema.

One of the amazing things about the life of these wanderers is how vast and impersonal the Mekong Delta is. It is vital for the children to stay with the boat. If they get separated from it, it would disappear forever. The insecurity is almost tangible.

In one scene, Dien climbs a tower in the paddy fields to try and spot Suong; he vainly scans the endless fields and canals and is left in emotional desolation. Lifelines like mobile phones or emails are worthless to this broken family, who live an almost cashless life except for the sale of a few ducks or eggs. It’s a lyrical depiction of the isolating powerlessness of poverty and the sense of smallness in a vast uncaring wilderness. Love is the only security they have.

VND3.3 billion in takings

Canh Dong Bat Tan, which was produced by BHD Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Studio, had VND3.3 billion in takings after three-day showing in the country’s cinemas.

On the first day, the film burned up the box office worldwide. In HCMC, Cinebox Hoa Binh sold 2,000 tickets and Thang Long Cinema 900, eight times more than the Korean movie Hearty Paws and American flick, The Other Guys. It also blitzed Vietnamese production, Inferno, which only sold 670 tickets in its first three-days. Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong had to get an extra copy so it could have Floating Lives screening in three cinemas with shows starting every half an hour. On three days of last weekend, over 11,000 movie-goers rushed to HCMC-based cinemas Galaxy Nguyen Du and Galaxy Nguyen Trai. A representative of BHD said there are 23 copies of the film currently screening nationwide, 17 of them in HCMC. By Tuong Vi

Related Articles

• A tale of a family’s struggle to cope
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• ASEAN's socio-cultural issues promoted at Da Nang meeting
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests

A tale of a family’s struggle to cope

Dustin Nguyen’s character, Vo, (L) in a rare moment of intimacy with the rescued prostitute, Suong, played by Do Thi Hai Yen, who also starred in the Quiet American - Photo: Courtesy of BHD

Canh dong bat tan (Floating lives) is a Vietnamese movie for the emotions and the senses. The film-makers beautifully capture the textures and sounds of the Mekong Delta in this aptly named tale about wanderers and how they cope with events in their lives.

The slow moving story takes place on a small wooden diesel motor boat, typical of boats in the waterways in Dong Thap province where the filming was done.

The boat carries the four main characters, who have almost no connection with anyone or anything beyond the boat’s gunwales, except for a flock of ducks.

The sounds of ducks and the beautiful cooing sounds of the teenage son named Dien (played by Vo Thanh Hoa), who tends them, are woven throughout the soundtrack. The ducks embody the uneducated teen’s defiant and sometimes reckless loyalty that he simply lives without question or fear.

The story starts out when Dien saves a beautiful young woman from an all woman village lynching squad, who are screeching for her blood because she prostituted herself to one of their husbands.

The horribly beaten woman named Suong (played by Do Thi Hai Yen) escapes by staggering through a maze of riverside wooden gangways, and by chance collapses on the bow of Dien’s family’s boat. Dien vouches for her to his brooding father, Vo, (played by Dustin Nguyen) and the boat slowly motors her away from danger.

Dien’s sister Nuong (played by Lan Ngoc) nurses her below deck, through three days of semi-consciousness. When she has enough strength, the frank-speaking Suong quickly builds relationships with the brother and sister, but it’s impossible for her to reach the father whose dark energy pervades the boat as it chugs through the canals. To Dien and Nuong, she plays the part of the mother they lost a decade ago and helps to heal some of their long-felt hurt. To the cruel father, who is too obsessed and angered by the way he lost his wife to give his children love, Suong is a worthless prostitute that is nothing but a burden to him. As the duped husband, Dustin Nguyen plays the victim role well and it is shocking when he tries to dump his children also.

The young director, Nguyen Phan Quang Binh delves adroitly into the emotions contained in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short story, “Boundless Rice Field”. The audience cries and giggles as they recognize characters from their own lives on the screen. The acting is good without being brilliant and the translation for the subtitles is done with sensitivity. The grainy quality of the film suits the subject matter and goes wonderfully with the sound making it a must to see at the cinema.

One of the amazing things about the life of these wanderers is how vast and impersonal the Mekong Delta is. It is vital for the children to stay with the boat. If they get separated from it, it would disappear forever. The insecurity is almost tangible.

In one scene, Dien climbs a tower in the paddy fields to try and spot Suong; he vainly scans the endless fields and canals and is left in emotional desolation. Lifelines like mobile phones or emails are worthless to this broken family, who live an almost cashless life except for the sale of a few ducks or eggs. It’s a lyrical depiction of the isolating powerlessness of poverty and the sense of smallness in a vast uncaring wilderness. Love is the only security they have.

VND3.3 billion in takings

Canh Dong Bat Tan, which was produced by BHD Co. Ltd. and Vietnam Studio, had VND3.3 billion in takings after three-day showing in the country’s cinemas.

On the first day, the film burned up the box office worldwide. In HCMC, Cinebox Hoa Binh sold 2,000 tickets and Thang Long Cinema 900, eight times more than the Korean movie Hearty Paws and American flick, The Other Guys. It also blitzed Vietnamese production, Inferno, which only sold 670 tickets in its first three-days. Megastar Cineplex Hung Vuong had to get an extra copy so it could have Floating Lives screening in three cinemas with shows starting every half an hour. On three days of last weekend, over 11,000 movie-goers rushed to HCMC-based cinemas Galaxy Nguyen Du and Galaxy Nguyen Trai. A representative of BHD said there are 23 copies of the film currently screening nationwide, 17 of them in HCMC. By Tuong Vi

Related Articles

• A tale of a family’s struggle to cope
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• ASEAN's socio-cultural issues promoted at Da Nang meeting
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests

Japanese TV highlights Vietnam’s Oc Eo culture

The Japanese TV channel BS, is filming a documentary on the ancient Oc Eo culture in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang to highlight its unique cultural characteristics, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST).

As part of the project, from September 19-29, the film group will shoot scenes in Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Nam and An Giang provinces where the Oc Eo culture is found. The Japanese funded film will be approved by the MoCST before it is shown in Japan.

Discovered by a French scholar Louis Malleret and made public in 1944, the Oc Eo culture grew and developed in the southern delta, largely in An Giang, from the first to the sixth century AD.

In addition to An Giang, the scientists have discovered over 100 sites belonging to Oc Eo culture across the Mekong Delta provinces and parts of the south-eastern region with more than 50,000 artefacts made from various materials such as terra-cotta, stone, agate and metal.

The most common is ceramics, reflecting the cultural identity and origin of the culture.

Vietnam is currently proposing UNESCO recognise the ancient Oc Eo culture as a cultural heritage.
 

Related Articles

• Chau Doc’s curried fish vermicelli: Bun nuoc ken
• Thousands await relocation
• City culture houses elicit tepid response
• Foreign sea leases deprive locals of living
• Good response to reforms of People's Councils