VietNam Life Style

Monday, January 10, 2011

Vietnamese singer takes gold at ASEAN Golden Voice Festival

HCM CITY - Vietnamese singer Thu Minh has won a gold medal in the folk music category at last Saturday's ASEAN Golden Voice Festival 2010 in HCM City.

The female singer performed the song Bong Cay Konia (Shadow of the Konia Tree), which had previously earned her first prize at the Television Singing Contest in 1990.

In the same category, judges also awarded a silver medal to another female Vietnamese singer, H'Zina Bya, who won the recent Star Television Singing Contest in HCM City.

The Indonesian singer Netta Kusumah also recieved silver medal for her performance.

Thailand's Plengraphun Kingthong and Myanmar's Kyaw Zin Min claimed the bronze medals.

In the pop category, Kasim Hoang Vu, the winner of Viet Nam's Sao Mai Diem Hen (Morning Star - Rendezvous) singing contest in 2004, collected silver, while golds were granted to singers Herson Silas from Indonesia and Sri Nazrina Johari from Brunei.

The bronze prizes for pop went to Tung Lam from the host country and Brunei's Mohammad Fikri Bin Abdullah.

Vietnamese singers Thu Minh and Kasim were bestowed with the "Favourite Singer" title, while 18-year-old Malaysian Ikhwal Hafiz was judged "The Most Promising Singer".

Created by the HCM City Television, the annual ASEAN Golden Voice Festival aims to strengthen the cultural exchange between ASEAN member countries. This year, singers from ASEAN countries, including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, performed at the festival. - VNS

Musicians seek UNESCO nod

by Van Dat

Sticking with it: A singer performs with an amateur band at a "music of the talented" festival in the southern city of Can Tho. The art is considered a glue that binds the Vietnamese community, especially those in the south. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vu

HCM CITY — The don ca tai tu (music of the talented) is considered a glue that binds the Vietnamese community, especially those in the south where the art has been popular for more than a hundred years. However, the traditional music has not received sufficient public attention to formally preserve it even though it has been taught abroad, according to experts who spoke during the three-day conference to discus ways to revive don ca tai tu that opened yesterday in HCM City.

The event aims to earn the traditional music the status of a world intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Proponents of this cause believe that don ca tai tu should have been recognised before some other types of Vietnamese music.

Pham Sanh Chau, general secretary of UNESCO Committee Viet Nam, said the music has astonishing power and should certainly be regconised by UNESCO.

"If the task is not completed, the cultural life of Vietnamese people cannot be shown comprehensively to the world," Chau said.

"Viet Nam has five kinds of music regconised as world intangible heritages, but they are in the north, central and Central Highlands. No traditonal music from the southern region has been regconised so far."

Chau recalled Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung saying he felt ashamed that he had not pushed harder for regconition for don ca tai tu when other forms of music had done so well.

Viet Nam has three world intangible cultural heritages in the north and two in the Central Highlands. The shortage in the south does not make sense given their rich cultural history.

Prof Tran Van Khe, a master of Vietnamese traditional music, said, "don ca tai tu is not just for entertainment but is a communal cultural activity."

He said don ca tai tu is not ceremonial music but rather music for the poor by a small number of artists.

"Most do not understand don ca tai tu the same way. Some only see it as amateur. Tu means talented people, so don ca tai tu is performed by talented people. But the talented people don't perform the music to earn money; they perform for their own pleasure or for audiences' pleasure."

In recent years, don ca tai tu has been performed on stage and broadcast on television. Many performances have included electric musical instruments, which, according to Khe, enriched rather than replaced the art—the concern of his son, music professor Tran Quang Hai.

The conference drew more than 120 local and foreign experts, including representatives from 21 provinces and cities in the south.

Researchers, educators, cultural administrators and musicians from seven countries, including Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, discussed the characteristic features of the music and the ways in which it could be developed and preserved.

Five main issues related to don ca tai tu have been raised, including its history, creation and development, value, conceptual aspects, and suggestions for preservation.

There are 2,019 don ca tai tu clubs in the country and more than 22,643 members total. Prof Khe believes that number will increase once an application for UNESCO recognition is drafted.

The southern Vietnamese Music of the talented derives, like other kinds of music, from certain parts of Vietnamese ceremonial music, and is thus related to the development of certain instrumental ensembles and specific playing techniques.

Hue Royal Court Music, Gong culture, Quan Ho (Love duets), Ca Tru (Ceremonial singing) and Viet Nam's Saint Giong Festival have already been regconised as world intangible cultural heritages. —VNS

Architectural heritage crumbles

Safe as houses? This unique two-storey wooden house in Gia Hoi Old Town is in a bad shape, but local authorities remain unsure how best to protect it. — VNA/VNS Photo Thai Loc

THUA THIEN HUE — Historic buildings in two localities that functioned as commercial port towns during the Nguyen dynasty are in a severely dilapidated condition.

The Bao Vinh Town, which hosted a busy port in 18th century, had 39 old buildings standing at the end of the American War.

Meanwhile, Gia Hoi, a bustling port town in early 19th century, had 140 old buildings featuring traditional Vietnamese, Chinese as well as French colonial architecture.

These buildings have been so badly damaged by the rampant urbanisation of last two decades, that only 15 of them still stand in Bao Vinh, while Gia Hoi has 55.

Residents complain that they are caught in a bind. One the one hand, they cannot repair their houses to make them safe or expand it to meet their needs because authorities have banned such actions. On the other hand, the authorities themselves have taken no action to preserve the old buildings.

"Many old houses in Bao Vinh are in ruin and vulnerable to floods and hard weather," said Nguyen Van Bon, chairman of Huong Vinh Commune.

A conservation project to protect the two towns was set up by Thua Thien Hue Province in 2003, but only three houses were repaired with funds from the French Parliament. In Gia Hoi, one pagoda had its gate and entrance restored.

Experts have called on authorities to act before it is too late.

"Architecture reflects history, so there is a need to protect Bao Vinh and Gia Hoi. Authorities should promptly come up with ways to deal with the conflict between conservation and locals' benefits," said Nguyen Viet Tien, chairman of the province's Planning Association.

Nguyen Xuan Hoa, former director of the province's Culture Department, said it was not possible to restore Bao Vinh as an old town because not many old house remained in it.

"But Gia Hoi has unique architectural values with a national-heritage pagoda, a Hindu temple, the house of a Japanese karate master, overseas Chinese club house, French colonial buildings and palaces of royal family members. It would be interesting to restore the old town," he said. — VNS

Musicians seek UNESCO nod

Province brews up coffee fest

HCM CITY—A coffee festival to be held in Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Dac Lac in the Central Highlands, will highlight the central role of the crop in the province's and Central Highlands' economy and society.

Y Dham ENuol, Dac Lac's deputy chairman, has told the media that the four-day event starting on March 10 will promote tourism, coffee trade, and investment in the industry as well as the image of his province as a coffee city.

The opening day will be dedicated to thanksgiving for the bean and will feature a lion-dance parade and elephants carrying the coffee symbol.

Trung Nguyen Corp will display the more than 10,000 items to be housed at a World Coffee Museum it plans to build later this year in the province.

An exhibition on the coffee industry that will run through the festival will be attended by 160 companies, both from Viet Nam and overseas, who will display their products, technologies, and services at 500 booths.

There will also be performances by ethnic groups living in Tay Nguyen and art groups from coffee growing nations.

A national record for largest coffee filter will be created on March 11.

Pele, widely considered the King of Football of all time and a citizen of Brazil, the world's largest coffee growing country, will attend the festival. — VNS

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Festival to savor coffee

More than 150 Vietnamese and foreign coffee entrepreneurs will showcase their latest coffee products and technology at the third Buon Me Thuot Coffee Festival, the organizers have said.

The event will take place from March 10-14 in the Central Highlands Buon Me Thuot town.
It aims to boost the development of Vietnamese coffee exports and to promote the investment potential of Dak Lak Province.

Vietnam plans to turn the Central Highlands town of Buon Ma Thuot into the “coffee capital” of the world as part of efforts to make Vietnamese coffee better known in the world market.

Buon Ma Thuot Town in Dak Lak Province is the largest coffee growing region in Vietnam.

Under the plan, designed by Trung Nguyen Group, one of the leading coffee exporters in Vietnam, Buon Ma Thuot town will be developed into a tourist destination where visitors can learn more about coffee cultivation and the culture of drinking coffee.

The plan also focuses on promoting the town's coffee products to the world.
Coffee is one of Vietnam’s top exports, generating more than US$1 billion last year.

Vietnam is the world’s biggest grower of robusta, used in instant drinks and espressos.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Some musical attractions of "Don ca tai tu"

Don ca tai tu has won international admiration, especially among connoisseurs of traditional music. South Korean expert Sheen Dae-Cheol is one of them with his report on the charm and special characteristics of the genre.

He is one of dozens of experts who will take part in an international conference on don ca tai tu to be held in Ho Chi Minh City from January 9-11 ahead of its presentation for UNESCO recognition as a world heritage.

Tuoitrenews makes some excerpts of his report prepared for the meeting.

Since the influx of western and foreign music, Vietnamese traditional music genre of don ca tai tu has survived and not lost its unique musical flavor or aesthetics.

Don ca tai tu is comparatively young Vietnamese music, appearing in the 19th century. However it is loved by many southern Vietnamese people and openly holds a very good position in the nation’s music.

Lyrics of don ca tai tu can be accompanied by several musical instruments as dan tranh (16-stringed zither), dan bau (one-stringed gourd zither), dan nguyet (moon shaped two stringed lute), dan nhi (two-stringed fiddle), song lang (two pieces of bamboo struck against each other to keep rhythm, guitar phim lom (concave-fret guitar) and also likely with western violin, flute of Chinese origin.

Vietnamese musicians accepted the Western guitar for don ca tai tu but they transformed and Vietnamized it to be a suitable one for playing their don ca tai tu.

They improved the guitar by making the frets deeper, turning them into deep fret guitar and changing the way to attune the instrument.

The instrumentation to accompany the song is very peculiar and unique. Upper mentioned musical instruments are used to accompany the songs of don ca tai tu as ensemble, however, the instrumentation is very flexible as only two or three of them can form up an ensemble.

Vietnamese doctor Tran Van Khe said, “Of the instruments for the ensemble, the dan nguyet plays the most important role. The dan tranh embellishes center tones of music and dan nhi ornaments other tones. Off all musical instruments of the ensemble, the role of these three is more important than any other.”

The monochord dan bau is a very peculiar and charming musical instrument. It is one of real Vietnamese traditional musical instruments and its sound is amazingly beautiful. Vietnamese musicians widened the range of it and dan tranh to play higher and lower tones respectively.

Originally the musicians of don ca tai tu did not perform for their livelihoods, just to entertain themselves or others and that is a reason why it is called amateurs’ music. But it doesn’t mean to be a musician of don ca tai tu is easy. Its musicians have to practise very hard for a long time so that don ca tai tu musicians can be called as professional musicians even if they don’t perform it for materialism.

As an amateur, it needs not any special prepared stage as professional art music. Accordingly it can easily and deeply goes into every corner of usual Vietnamese life so that it can be played at festivals, various parties, after harvests, under shade of trees, on boats, temples and romantically under a bright moon night.

It can be said it possesses a musical and magical power of charming Vietnamese people. Especially it is said that the emotion and the soul of southern Vietnamese people are melted in it.

Don ca tai tu has some extemporaneous nature when musicians perform it, but maintaining the integrity of music is very important. Don ca tai tu has to learn it by heart the basic tune of each repertoire from which they can improvise, yet still maintain the integrity.

Don ca tai tu players are free to create their own musical style as the spirit if impromptu is highly respected in don ca tai tu as such.

Accordingly it can be concluded that don ca tai tu, from the point of musical and cultural view, is very valuable traditional music to be preserved, disseminated and enjoyed. Naturally, don ca tai tu is qualified to be the center of public attention from Asia and the world. In addition, it is qualified to be designated as a masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity as well.

Harmonizing heritage preservation and locals’ rights

Two experts offer opinions on how to harmonize the clash between efforts to preserve national heritages and residents’ rights to a comfortable life inside modern, well-equipped buildings.

Fine art expert Phan Cam Thuong:

It’s very difficult to preserve heritages, even in developed countries. The government needs strategic solutions such as maintaining a certain population density, thinning out the population, boosting cultural tourism revenues, and building resettlement areas for locals.

Besides, the government should take measures like taking back ancient houses and not developing tourism services in areas being preserved, sponsoring traditional crafts aiming at boosting up locals’ income.

The government should resolutely force them to move to other places if they want to renovate or construct houses.

As I know, governments in developed countries always build new resettlement areas in ancient towns to balance locals’ welfare and develop tourism.

The most important thing is that locals’ right to live in modern houses also needs to be taken into account and the government should work with them to reach an agreement.

Based on the country’s economy, we cannot take comprehensive measures. Instead, we should do it step by step.

Hoi An ancient town is a typical example. All houses are used for commercial purposes.

If the locals are not allowed to renovate or construct them, they will have to sell them or move to another place to build new homes.

Consequently, wealthy people from other places have gradually replaced the locals.

The same thing happens in neighboring country China and in western countries, where rich residents like to preserve ancient houses as a means to earn more money.

We have witnessed cultural bankruptcy in Hue, Hoi An and Hanoi, where the locals are not proud of traditional houses.

For example, the landscape surrounding the Kiem Lien Pagoda has been turned into a matchbox as more and more hotels and guesthouses are being built there.

Vong Canh hill, ancient citadels Tuyen Quang and Son Tay, O Quan Chuong - the last remaining ancient gate in Hanoi - has also fallen victim to commercialization.

How to preserve Duong Lam ancient village

Ngo Kieu Oanh of the National Institute of Science and Technology told Tuoi Tre her opinions on how to preserve the Duong Lam ancient village in Son Tay near Hanoi.

The government has to prioritize the locals’ rights and hand over the power of preserving ancient houses to them.

Many travel agencies have developed home-stay tourism in Mong Phu hamlet, Duong Lam ancient village.

I think that is a good way to preserve the village through tourism activities.

In addition, the government should focus on the village’s specialties and promote them to the world.

The locals need to abide by preservation laws in not building tall houses. But in turn, the government needs to give assistance and support to them.

Part 1: Modern-loving locals turn back on ancient village

Part 2: Hue residents not keen on heritage, government dithers

Some photos of Duong Lam ancient village by Dat Viet Newspaper: