Skid rows

/ May 27, 2018

Bale’s brilliance, Karius errors give Real third straight European triumph

A sensational overhead strike from Real Madrid substitute Gareth Bale and two calamitous errors by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius gave the Spanish side a third straight Champions League title with a 3-1 win in an incident-packed final on Saturday. Welshman Bale came on just past the hour with the score at 1-1 and after three minutes produced an astonishing bicycle kick finish and then netted with a speculative long-range effort that somehow went through the hands of the unfortunate Karius. The German keeper had earlier handed Real a 51st minute lead when he threw the ball straight at striker Karim Benzema and the ball rolled into the unguarded net off the Frenchman’s leg. “Great emotions. To lift three Champions League trophies with this club, this team is magnificent,” said Real’s Zinedine Zidane, who became the first coach to win Europe’s top trophy in three consecutive years. “We don’t quite realize what we have achieved yet. We are going to enjoy the moment. “ Liverpool, who crucially lost their leading scorer Mohamed Salah to a suspected dislocated shoulder in the 31st minute, had equalized in the 55th minute when Sadio Mane found the net from close range after Dejan Lovren headed the ball into the area. In truth, though, despite their best efforts Liverpool never looked as much of a threat once Egyptian international Salah went down under a challenge from Real captain Sergio Ramos. “We started well and played exactly like we wanted to,” said Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who has now lost his last six finals as a coach. “The situation with Sergio Ramos (and Salah) looked really bad and it was a shock for the team, we lost the positive momentum and they immediately came up,” he said. It was a night which confirmed Real’s ability to superbly manage the biggest of games. Bale, who has not been first-choice at Real this season and whose future has been the subject of much …

/ April 18, 2015

Former tourism chief blames visa rule for Vietnam’s falling tourist arrivals

Editor’s note: Luong Hoai Nam, former deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, says the current visa policy is discouraging international tourists from visiting the country in his op-ed exclusively written for Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. Nam’s piece of writing is particularly worth noticing at a time when Vietnam reported its tenth straight drop in tourism arrival number in March, according to the VNAT statistics. The Vietnamese tourism visa policy, especially the complicated procedures to get a visa, is one of the import reasons why the number of international tourists visiting Vietnam did not increase but continuously shrank over the past time. Local tourism authorities attributed the falling number arrivals in ten months in a row to the plunges of the Russian and Chinese markets, while the growths of other markets could not offset for such losses. Such explanation, to me, is only partially correct. Reality is that the tourism visa policy is a very significant hurdle for the growth of international tourism in Vietnam. Complex visa rules; short exemption list With nearly eight million international visitors a year, including those who come by road via the borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia and those who arrive for business and investment purposes, the number of tourist arrival to Vietnam is only equal to that of a single destination in Thailand, Pattaya. And it is lower than that of Phukhet. Thailand rakes in US$60-65 billion from about 25 million international tourists it welcomes on an annual basis. The tourist arrivals of Hong Kong and Singapore are triple the figure of Vietnam. In my opinion, one of the main reasons vacationers do not choose Vietnam is the country’s visa policy, especially its complicated procedures. Holidaymakers do not mind paying a few dozens of U.S. dollars to get a visa, but they are indeed discouraged by complicated formality, and will thus travel to where they can enjoy a visa …

/ September 20, 2020

Cai luong guru to release CD on her 65-year-long career

People’s Artist Kim Cuong (second left, back row), who has 65 years of experience in Vietnamese theatre. Photo courtesy of the artist) “Cai luong, a reformed theatre genre of the southern region, is still alive after one century. My younger colleagues and I have worked to expand our art among young people,” said People’s Artist Kim Cuong in HCM City. People’s Artist Kim Cương (second left, back row), who has 65 years of experience in Vietnamese theatre. Photo courtesy of the artist) Cuong, a cai luong guru who has 65 years of experience in the industry, will release a CD featuring her biography on Youtube next week. Her CD, Song Cho Nguoi, Song Cho Minh (Live for People, Live for Myself), written and recorded by Cuong in co-operation with her friends, will feature the artist’s life and career. The development of the traditional theatre, between the 1950s and 1990s, in the south will also be highlighted. "I hope my CD will help fans understand why and how cai luong is the spirit of Vietnamese people," said the 83-year-old artist, who has spent several hours daily in studio to complete her CD. Pioneer Born in 1937 to a theatrical family in Sai Gon (now HCM City), Cuong began her love for cai luong through her parents, the late talented performers Nguyen Phuoc Cuong and Bay Nam, owners of Dai Phuoc Cuong Troupe, one of the region’s leading cai luong troupes. She started her professional career when she was 17, after training with her mother, Bảy Nam, and actresses Phùng Ha and Nam Phi, who are recognised as some of the most talented performers in the country. Cuong played the leading roles in famous plays, such as Giai Nhan Và Ac Quy (The Beauty and Beast) and Phung Nghi Dinh (Tragic Love Story). In the 1960s, Cuong became involved in modern drama, working to combine it and cai luong. She later opened Kim Cuong Drama Troupe, the first and leading drama troupe in the south, managing a staff of more than 70 actors. Her troupe offered …