Vietnamese culture

The largest Dutch supermarket chain, a restaurant in Canada, and a US fast food brand have been threatened with a boycott because they have provided nonstandard Vietnamese dishes. The product labelled as 'Vietnamese Pho' at the Dutch chain Albert Heijin (AH), the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, had to remove products labelled as ‘Vietnamese Pho’ from its shelves after negative backlash from customers. A customer said the supermarket provided chicken thighs, while the ingredients of the “authentic” pho are sliced beef or chicken. She wrote a letter to the AH board of directors and expressed her feelings about the "so-called Vietnamese pho". Vietnamese pho is a dish famous all over the world and people, if wanting to learn about it, just need to look it up on the internet. In 2020, Pho King Bon, a well known restaurant in Montreal, Canada also triggered anger among netizens when naming some dishes in a way that outraged Vietanm. The pho dishes in its menu had the names ‘Pho Kyu’, ‘Pho Kme’, ‘Pho Kit’, ‘Pho King Good’, which, if misread, could make people think of swearing in English. The restaurant guided customers to spell ‘bun thit nuong’ (vermicelli with grilled meat) into a phrase which means genitals in the French language. After facing criticism, Guillaume Boivin apologized, saying that the naming was not intended to offend anyone and the restaurant will change the names that led to the misunderstanding. Vietnamese banh my has also been counterfeited. The word ‘Vietnamese banh my wrap’ was seen on the package, but the shape and materials used to make this product are different from the original Vietnamese banh my. What made people angry was the way the banh my was processed and shaped. Its crust was very thin, rolled into an oval shape, covering the stuffing of pickled carrots, soya cheese and brown rice. In another case, Peja Krstic, the chef of a restaurant serving Vietnamese style dishes in the US, faced strong …

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A man from the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai has been following his passion of making Nguyen Dynasty (1802 – 1945) royal costumes and accessories. Tran Quang Minh Tan, a sociology graduate, started researching the Nguyen Dynasty royal garments in 2013, seven years before he decided to switch his career to this path in 2020. He moved from Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai to Hue City -- Vietnam’s former imperial capital -- for the convenience of his new endeavor. Tan said what made him come to this decision was the comeback of antique costumes, jewelry, and accessories amongst the Vietnamese youth. “I find that our ancestors' clothes are very delicate and elegant," said Tan. "I hope the costume revival will become more popular.” Tran Quang Minh Tan makes buttons for Nguyen Dynasty clothing. The items Tan is making are mainly jewelry, including earrings, metal pendants, orders of merit, permit card pendants, and accessories for 'ao dai ngu than' (‘five-piece ao dai’). Each product requires meticulous precision from the maker all the way from the process of researching documents and ancient artifacts to finding materials to resemble the original. According to Tan, despite young Vietnamese people’s interest in ancient costumes, they are still often confused between Vietnamese and Chinese antique garments due to cultural encounters between the two countries. In the future, Tan wishes to open a showroom to expand his career. He plans to cooperate with his seniors, who share the same love for Nguyen Dynasty fashion, to continue researching and making products with high esthetic value to catch the trend of longing for ancient clothing among young Vietnamese people. Tran Quang Minh Tan makes buttons for Nguyen Dynasty clothing. Tran Quang Minh Tan sew beads on a piece of Nguyen Dynasty clothing. Accessories and jewelry under the Nguyen Dynasty made by Tran Quang Minh Tan …

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Nguyen Thi Thu Nhi trains at the Cocky Buffalo club in HCM City to prepare for her WBO title fight in April (Photo courtesy of Cocky Buffalo) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Nguyen Thi Thu Nhi will have to wait till April for her chance to become the first Vietnamese world female boxing champion after her fight was delayed. Instead of being dismayed, the pint-sized boxer has taken the delay as an opportunity to sharpen her technique to prepare for her date with destiny. The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) agreed to move the mini flyweight (48kg) title defence between Thu and Japanese boxer Etsuko Tada to April, about two months after it was scheduled to be held. The delay was needed as Tada could not travel to Vietnam in February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the second time that the bout was postponed after being originally scheduled for last April in the Republic of Korea. “It is sad that it was delayed again while I am in good mood and preparing well for it,” Nhi told Vietnam News. “However, thinking again I told myself that I would have more time to sharpen my skills and improve my tactics. It may help to increase my chances of winning,” she said. Nhi is Vietnam’s first WBO Asia Pacific Boxing champion after taking the title last February in Cambodia. She won on points after defeating Kanyarat Yoohanngoh of Thailand in a 10-round fight. The 25-year-old lacks international experience in contrast to seasoned pro Tada who has fought for more than a decade and grabbed a number of titles. “The Japanese fighter is really strong and a senior in this field compared to me,” Nhi said about her 39-year-old opponent. “But I also have my strong points. I am younger and confident. It is okay if I unfortunately lose in a match that I do my best. Then I will fight again in another match until I can win.” “My coaches said my technique is fairly good so they asked me to spend more time on my physique because Japanese athletes have strong physique. Tada is …

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