Tuesday, December 14, 2010

AmCham awards 60 scholarships

The American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham Vietnam) on Saturday granted 60 scholarships to top final-year students at HCMC-based universities.

Nearly 600 students from 10 universities, including University of Technology, University of Natural Sciences, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Economics and Law, University of Information Technology, International University, Hoa Sen University, Foreign Trade University, Banking University, and University of Law, applied for the scholarship.

After completing a four-round selection process, including application form screening, English language test, ability assessment, and interview in English, 60 applicants received the top awards. Of these, forty applicants received “AmCham Scholar” awards valued at US$500 each, plus US$380 training vouchers. In addition, 20 applicants received “Honorable Mentions” and US$300 training vouchers for their performance in the first three rounds of the AmCham Scholarship selection process. “The AmCham Scholarship is not only a monetary award, but also a challenge for the students to undergo a selection process similar to that used by most leading organizations,” Herb Cochran, executive director of AmCham Vietnam, said at the award ceremony.

To celebrate the 10th year of AmCham Scholarships, the HCMC People’s Committee awarded certificates of merit to AmCham Vietnam and the Executive Director of AmCham Vietnam, and Herb Cochran, for his contributions through the scholarship program to HCMC students.

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Monday, December 13, 2010

Phishers become active ahead of festive season

Over 3,000 people in Vietnam lost their email passwords between December 7 and 9 when they received an email titled “Christmas Present,” according to the Hanoi-based internet security firm BKAV.

The email said “Merry Christmas! A small Christmas present is sent to you” and asked victims to click on the link http://vn...day.com/chuc-mung-giang-sinh.php, which redirected them to a fake log-in website.

Here, they were asked to log in with their yahoo or gmail accounts to receive the gift.

It turned out to be a phishing attempt to steal passwords.

“Christmas and New Year are always opportunities for hackers to take advantage of, so everyone should be on alert and should not type their passwords into websites of unclear origins,” Nguyen Minh Duc, BKAV’s network security director, said.

Meanwhile, US security company Symantec has warned against an email titled “Get a Personalized Letter from Santa to Your Child!”.

It contains the Erkez.D@mm virus, it said.

Symantec warned users against updating antivirus software regularly or clicking on suspicious links in emails or IM messages. It recommended upgrading the computer’s central processing unit (CBU) and installing the latest anti-virus software.

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American War poet begins Viet Nam literary journey

HA NOI – American War veteran and poet Bruce Weigl is in Viet Nam for the launch of his poetical memoir After the Rain Stopped Pounding.

Weigl will participate in several discussions and literary exchanges during his visit which began last Friday.

Weigl, whose name is familiar in literature about the American War, has published several poetical anthologies, including The Monkey Wars and Song of Napalm which earned him a Pulitzer Prize-nomination in 1988.

Weigl was granted the Lannan Literary Award in Poetry in 2006.

In addition to writing poetry, Weigl worked with editor and translator Thanh T. Nguyen of the Joiner Research Centre to translate poems of liberation soldiers captured during war.

Weigl will recite his poems during the Friends poetry programme at the Quang Tri Old Citadel tonight.

The venue was among the fiercest battlefields of the American War and Vietnamese veterans who are members of varied poetry clubs will join the programme.

Weigl will also exchange views with Song Huong (Perfume River) Magazine which publishes creative writing, reviews and cultural research culture and literature central Hue Province.

He also will present his memoir The Circle of Hanh in Ha Noi on Wednesday. First published in the US in 2000 , the memoir is his own story about his struggles with drugs and alcohol after the war and his subsequent redemptive return to Viet Nam, where he adopted an eight-year-old girl, Hanh.

The launch of After the Rain Stopped Pounding, which has been translated into Vietnamese by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, will take place at the University of Culture, 418 La Thanh Road, Ha Noi at 7.30pm on Thursday.

Weigl will talk about trends in American poetry on the night. – VNS

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Artist bridges cross-cultural aesthetics

Expressive: Robert Mihagui and his works at the Homeland Colors: West&East exhibition now in HCM City. — Photo Sunny Rose

Expressive: Robert Mihagui and his works at the Homeland Colors: West&East exhibition now in HCM City. — Photo Sunny Rose

HCM CITY — Thirty contemporary oil paintings by French-Vietnamese artist Robert Mihagui are on display at an exhibition in HCM City.

Jacques Blanchard, an architect and Mihagui's friend, says there are few differences between the man and his art: "We find the same dominating characteristics, the spontaneity, and the instinctive gesture."

But, depending on their own perspective, beholders can read different things from a single work. Thus, a painting could portray the tranquil landscapes of Touraine in France, which are dear to his heart, or the stark beauty of northern Viet Nam where he spent his early childhood.

The riot of colours provoke a patchwork of feelings, from dazzling joy to a Vietnamese melancholy, giving his works a strength and charm of which it is not easy to grow tired.

Mihagui was born in 1945 in Vinh Phu Province during French colonial time. He studied fine arts from 1961 to 1964 in Surgeres, France, after moving to that country in 1958 with his father.

He spent much time travelling in the painting circles of Montmartre to the detriment of his studies after deciding at a fairly young age that his passion was painting and his calling was in the arts.

He was interested in pictorial techniques and pigments.

At 25, he hit upon a personal style which is somewhere between abstraction and post-impressionism though his works were impressionist in the beginning.

He narrates an interesting story for his move towards abstraction.

"I was disappointed with a work I had just finished. I wiped it off by petrol and went to sleep. The first guest who came to my studio the next day insisted on buying that picture which had now become quite so interesting."

He now views his style as a reconciliation of Vietnamese and European aesthetics, with the language of modern Western abstraction being enriched by a Vietnamese sensibility rooted in the past.

In 1975 he spent six months restoring the dome of Saint Augustin's Church in Paris, France, believing there could be no better inspiration than that born from manual work in such a spiritual place.

He currently lives in Viet Nam, refreshing his memories of its spectacular landscapes.

The exhibition, titled Homeland Colors: West&East, will be on until Saturday at Phuong Mai, 129B, Le Thanh Ton Street, District in HCM City.

The works on display can also be seen at http//www.vietnam-art.com.vn.

The paintings are priced at US$1,000-$3,000. — VNS

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ho Chi Minh biopic to premiere

A rickshaw success: A scene from the film Vuot Qua Ben Thuong Hai (Across the Shanghai). — VNS File Photos

A rickshaw success: A scene from the film Vuot Qua Ben Thuong Hai (Across the Shanghai). — VNS File Photos

HA NOI — The joint Viet Nam-China film, Vuot Qua Ben Thuong Hai (Across the Shanghai), which charts the revolutionary life of President Ho Chi Minh as the young Nguyen Ai Quoc, will premier in cinemas throughout Viet Nam next Friday.

The drama tracks the revolutionary activities of Nguyen Ai Quoc as he travelled from Hong Kong to Shanghai during 1933 and 1934.

It portrays the young revolutionary's humanity, emotions and nobility as he plays with children, recalls childhood folksongs and arranges offerings for his ancestors on New Year's Eve.

Although French and Chinese nationalist police hunted the escapee after he fled Hong Kong in 1933, Soong Ching-ling and patriotic Vietnamese and international friends in China helped him to reach Vladivostock, Russia the following year.

Vietnamese writers Ha Pham Phu and Le Ngoc Minh and Chinese author Jia Fei wrote the film's script and it was produced by the Viet Nam Writers Association's Film Studio and its Chinese partner, the Zhoujiang Film Studio.

Trieu Tuan, the film's director, says the film highlights the remarkable work of the greatest leader in Viet Nam's modern history in leading his country to freedom.

"Through our film, we hope young audiences will understand the spirit and revolutionary causes of the leader," he says.

Actor Minh Hai of the Viet Nam Drama Theatre, who plays Nguyen Ai Quoc in the film, was chosen from dozens of candidates, says he improved while filming.

"Embodying President Ho Chi Minh is always an honour and a challenge for any actor," he says.

"I'm very proud of having played the young Ho Chi Minh. Besides its historical and political implications, the film is also about the hero of Vietnamese youth," says Hai, adding that he had needed all of his ability for the role.

Revolutionary road: Poster of the film with English subtitles.

Revolutionary road: Poster of the film with English subtitles.

Hai has played Ho Chi Minh before–in the drama Bac Ho Ra Tran (Uncle Ho Goes to the Battle). He and his colleagues did extensive research, going through books and documents about the President before and during the filming.

Many of the film's scenes were shot in China's Hengdian Film Studios in Zhejiang Province. The crew also filmed in Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Nghe An provinces.

The Vietnamese Government supported the film to 70 per cent of total outlay, or VND11 billion (US$550,000). Officials hope that the end result will not only be a valuable historic film, but also a work of art.

The film was originally scheduled for earlier release but post-production work delayed the project.

It will screen at Megastar cinemas in Ha Noi and HCM City and at Ha Noi's National Cinema Centre. — VNS

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Writing contest praises quiet achievements

HA NOI — An annual writing contest named Modest but Noble Examples has been staged for the third time.

Entries can be sent to Quan Doi Nhan Dan Newspaper, 7 Phan Dinh Phung Street, Ha Noi by December, 2011.

In the past two years, the contest received thousands of entries from professional and amateur writers. The organising board printed three books entitled Modest but Noble Examples that includes 89 stories that reveal the quiet contributions and sacrifices modest people have made for their communities and for society as a whole.

On the occasion, an art performance will be held tomorrow evening at the Ho Chi Minh Presidential Palace vestige area where President Ho commended people for their good deeds.

It will be broadcast live on VTV2 and VTC5. Audiences will see the work of those who've sacrificed for the good of others and who've captured the beauty of Vietnamese morality.

"The examples mentioned include workers, clergy, teachers, traders, war invalids, retirees, intellectuals and ethnic people," says Major General Le Phuc Nguyen, head of the organising board.

"They work quietly, willing to sacrifice their own interests for the good of society. They are classic examples of the patriotism, tolerance and kindness of the Vietnamese."

‘Amateur music' clubs boom in Dong Thap

DONG THAP — Around 200 don ca tai tu (amateur music) clubs, with a total of 2,200 members, are active in the southern province of Dong Thap, according to the provincial museum.

Clubs often compose their own songs and accompany themselves on musical instruments, singing songs of praise to President Ho Chi Minh, the country and the lives of the people. The art is being surveyed for possible recognition as intangible heritage of mankind which should be preserved and developed.

Festival turns tea into art and industry

LAM DONG — The Tea Culture Festival in the city of Bao Loc in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong will take place on December 25-28.

The festival aims to encourage tea production in the region and widen the market for tea products of the region both domestically and overseas. Festival events will include photo exhibitions, workshops, competitions to pick up tea leaves, painting, singing and folk games.

Long Bien exhibition shows for one night only

HA NOI — A unique exhibition featuring the lives of Long Bien residents will be held in Ha Noi tonight.

Long Bien Picture Show brings together over 140 photographs and four films about the neighbourhood underneath and around Long Bien Bridge.

The words were produced over three months by photographers Boris Zuliani, Tran Xiu Thuy Khanh, Barnaby Churchill Steele and Jamie Maxtone-Graham and filmmakers Tran Thi Anh Phuong, Pham Thu Hang, Do Van Hoang and Tran Thanh Hien.

"The surprise of the exhibition is the richness and depth of the films made by the Vietnamese filmmakers. They are all profoundly complex but also highly enjoyable musings on the people, the streets and the street life of this area, and they take the entire exhibition to a level that I had not dared hope for," said Jamie Maxtone Graham, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be held at the Hoan Kiem District's Sport Centre, 225 Hong Ha Road from 6pm to 9pm. Entry to this outdoor exhibition is free. — VNS

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Film of young, revolutionary President Ho to debut

HA NOI – The joint Viet Nam-China film, Vuot Qua Ben Thuong Hai, or Passing Shanghai Wharf, which charts the revolutionary life of President Ho Chi Minh as the young Nguyen Ai Quoc will premier in cinemas throughout Viet Nam next Friday.

The film follows Nguyen Ai Quoc travels from Hong Kong to Shanghai and his revolutionary activities in China between 1933-1934.

It portrays the young revolutionary's humanity, inner feelings and nobility as he plays with children, recalls childhood folksongs and arranges offerings for his ancestors on New Year's eve.

Although French and Chinese nationalist police hunted the escapee after he fled Hong Kong in 1933, he was able, with the help of Soong Ching-ling, patriotic Vietnamese and international friends in China, to reach Vladivostock, Russia, in 1934.

Vietnamese writers Ha Pham Phu and Le Ngoc Minh and Chinese author Jia Fei wrote the film's script and it was produced by the Viet Nam Writers Association's Film Studio and its Chinese partner, the Zhoujiang Film Studio.

The film will screen at Megastar theatres in Ha Noi and HCM City and the National Cinema Centre, Ha Noi. – VNS

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