Fifth year wedding anniversary message

Bang Hyeon Seok, a creative writing professor at Chung-Ang University in the Republic of Korea, has visited Vietnam some 100 times during his research on President Ho Chi Minh since the 1990s. During his research, the writer had a deep understanding of the Vietnamese leader, without which, as he admitted, it is very difficult to exactly capture related social context and people when studying Vietnam’s history. According to the professor Bang, President Ho Chi Minh has impressive thoughts on peace and he sought righteous peace for people worldwide. For the future development, he had a good preparation by sending youth overseas for education despite war-inflicted difficulties at home. Indian journalist Sandip Hor, Vice President of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Australia, said he has a deep impression on President Ho Chi Minh, and he always wants to gain better understanding of Vietnam’s history and the late president. The journalist remembered those posters were the … [Read more...] about President Ho Chi Minh in the hearts of international friends

Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and his spouse wrap up the official visit to Vietnam on May 20. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and his spouse wrapped up the official visit to Vietnam on a high note on May 20. During his trip from May 18-20, Tan held talks with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, paid courtesy calls to General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The meetings saw both sides highlighting the significance of the visit, saying it helps deepen the bilateral relations, particularly when the two nations are about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th year of their Strategic Partnership in 2023. The two countries have boasted regular high-level delegation exchanges and various people-to-people exchange activities to strengthen solidarity. They are also … [Read more...] about Singapore parliament speaker wraps up visit to Vietnam

In a hall on Japan's Sado island, 71-year-old Yoshikazu Fujimoto strikes the imposing drum mounted before him, producing a boom so powerful that it reverberates through the floorboards. Fujimoto is a veteran performer of Japanese taiko drumming, a musical form with roots in religious rituals, traditional theatre and the joyous abandon of seasonal festivals called matsuri. But for all its ancient pedigree, taiko as a stage performance is a fairly modern invention, developed by a jazz musician and popularised in part by one of Japan's most famous troupes: Sado island's Kodo. Fujimoto is the oldest of the 37 musicians that make up the group, which recruits members through a rigorous two-year training programme. It was founded partly to attract people to Sado, off Japan's west coast, and tours internationally, spreading the gospel of taiko. "Taiko itself is like a prayer," said Fujimoto, who came to Sado in 1972 to join the group that evolved into Kodo. This photo … [Read more...] about ‘Straight to your soul’: Japan’s taiko reinvents drum tradition