National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (L) visits Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue on May 15 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan visited Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS), Most Venerable Thich Pho Tue at Hanoi’s Vien Minh pagoda on May 15 on the occasion of Lord Buddha’s 2,563rd birthday. Wishing the 103-year-old dignitary as well as Buddhist monks, nuns and followers good health and contentment, the NA leader said in its nearly 2000 years of existence in Vietnam, Buddhism has become a popular religion. She added that the recent 16th UN Day of Vesak festival hosted by the VBS in Ha Nam’s Tam Chuc pagoda was among the most successful editions of the event, attracting over 1,600 delegates from 112 countries and territories worldwide alongside thousands of Buddhist followers in Vietnam. Ngan noted the success has contributed to promoting … [Read more...] about Top legislator visits 103-year-old Buddhist patriarch
70 year old birthday cake
Plan to demolish Vietnam’s 135-year-old cathedral put on hold
A Friday announcement on the Bui Chu Diocese’s website said the plan to dismantle the church in the northern province of Nam Dinh, set to begin Monday, will be delayed after discussion among priests and those "who truly want the best for the church." The announcement, signed by Priest Joseph Nguyen Duc Giang, head of the construction team at Bui Chu Cathedral, does not specify for how long the plan will be put on hold. The plan of the Bui Chu Diocese to dismantle the church for rebuilding faced public opposition as soon as it was announced. Soon after, 25 local architects sent a letter to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien and Nam Dinh Chairman Pham Dinh Nghi asking them to intervene and save the cathedral. They said the cathedral was "an architectural, artistic and cultural heritage that our ancestors put much work into to create and a unique architectural work found nowhere else in Vietnam, belonging with other national … [Read more...] about Plan to demolish Vietnam’s 135-year-old cathedral put on hold
Vietnam targets vaccination rate of 95 percent for under-1-year-old children
Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The health sector aims to have over 95 percent of under-one-year-old children nationwide fully vaccinated in the expanded national immunization programme by 2020, heard a conference in Hanoi on January 7. Speaking at the event, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) Dang Duc Anh said the programme will continue to support disadvantaged localities to increase their vaccination rate through improving the capacity of medical staff, and making it easier for the people to access the expanded immunisation service. In 2019, the NIHE will promote communication campaigns to raise public awareness of the benefits of full vaccination, and additional vaccination shots so that people can actively take their children to fully vaccinate on schedule. It will also focus on popularise knowledge about monitoring and taking care of children after vaccination in the community, Anh said. The conference heard that 2018 … [Read more...] about Vietnam targets vaccination rate of 95 percent for under-1-year-old children
From bored student to Poland’s Masterchef: How a 21-year-old Vietnamese did it
When VnExpress asked her for an interview, Ola Nguyen said she would speak in her mother tongue. Her family had left Thai Binh Province in northern Vietnam to settle in Poland when she was seven years old. Her claim to fame was winning the seventh season of Masterchef Poland. The 21-year-old Ola, real name Nguyen Hoang Minh Tam, had competed in the event during the summer break because she felt she could not find "anything appealing enough to do" unlike other years when she did part-time jobs or charity. But as a long-time fan of the reality show, she had always wanted to try. First she had had to ask SGH Warsaw School of Economics to permit her to take time off in mid-July to compete. Luckily, the school was not too strict. Ola and her parents. Photo courtesy of Ola Nguyen Acquainted with cooking since the age of 10, Tam says she felt quite "pressured" when her mother would say Asians believe girls must learn domestic skills to be able to marry. Her mother would also give her clear … [Read more...] about From bored student to Poland’s Masterchef: How a 21-year-old Vietnamese did it
Korean descendants of Vietnamese king ripped apart for 70 years
"Grandmother! Mother! Soon Nyeo!" These were Lee Young-taek’s tearful last words. The 75-year-old man’s cry of anguish called out for his loved ones in North Korea as he took his last breaths in Incheon, South Korea. It was late 1978. Since leaving his hometown in North Korea a quarter of a century earlier, Lee had never had a chance to meet with his daughter Soon Nyeo. His mother had died earlier, and his grandmother was 80 when they bade each other goodbye. Lee's sad story is not uncommon in Korea, South and North. Technically, the two Koreas are still at war with each other, with the Korean War ending with a truce instead of a peace treaty. Over the past three decades, more than half of 131,000 South Koreans registered as member of separated families died before getting to reunite with their relatives in North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean government data. The 800-year Vietnam connection The six family members at … [Read more...] about Korean descendants of Vietnamese king ripped apart for 70 years