La jolla shopping mall

The decision was made Thursday by the city Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc after the southern metropolis went 14 days without any Covid-19 community transmission.

Under the latest decision, wedding centers, restaurants, movie theaters and other places of recreation would reopen next Monday.

Tourism activities, transportation, catering services, shopping centers, museums, historical relics and libraries are also allowed to reopen, but must ensure a minimum distance of one meter between two people.

Catering establishments are banned from accommodating more than 30 people.

City authorities have also allowed the organization of religious events but gatherings of more than 50 people at a time are banned.

Vietnam’s largest city has shut down all non-essential services since Feb. after recording a series of community transmissions linked to a cluster at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Of the 36 community transmissions HCMC has recorded in the nation’s latest outbreak that began on Jan. 28, one is linked to Hai Duong Province, Vietnam’s current Covid-19 epicenter, and 35 with the airport.

Health authorities have said the outbreak in the city has been put under control.

However, the boy later said he was overloaded and tired of online learning.

The same thing happened with her older son.

“It was easier to study online last year, when by sons were in fourth and eighth grades. They prefer online study because they did not have to get up early to go to school. But things are different now,” she said.

“As the kids are in the final grades of primary and secondary levels, they have to do more exercises and feel stressful,” she explained.

As schools have closed amid the new Covid-19 outbreak and organized online classes, Thu has had to buy one more laptop for the younger son. They also need a smartphone, in case of computer troubles.

Thu’s older son plans to take the entrance exam to the high school for the gifted, majoring in foreign languages. He has three learning periods in the morning and another three in the afternoon. He also has two English, one mathematics and one literature lessons with private tutors a week.

“My son complains that he feels tired and suffers from eyestrain as he has to sit too long in front of computer. However, he has no other choice than studying hard because he will have to take one of the two most important exams in his life this summer,” she said.

Thu hopes that the teachers at school will re-design their lesson plans so students don’t have to look at computer screen intently for too long.

La Mai Huyen, a mother in Hanoi, also is embarrassed as her children have to study online.

“My daughter is in second grade and she could not study online without the parents’ help. I have to leave a laptop at home for my son, a seventh grader, to study online and I am insecure about that. I am afraid that he would use the laptop to access the websites with bad content,” she explained.

Huyen also complained that she has become busier since the children have shifted to study online.

“I have to check notices from teachers sent to my phone regularly and I have to print documents that serve my children’s lessons,” she complained.

“This puts pressure on me. My mother urges me to study harder and harder all the time,“ he said.

Thuy Nga

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History is introducing a collection of never-before-seen antiques to the world through an online exhibition.

The museum first began developing the exhibition in early February, when administrators realized an online display would allow them to showcase invaluable collections to the public while fulfilling a demand for museum going amongst those too worried to venture into public during the ongoing pandemic.

The online exhibit can be found at baotanglichsutphcm.com.vn, where dozens of antiques are on display alongside their full details of origin, initial owners, and value.

Hoang Anh Tuan, the museum’s director, said the online exhibition is an experiment in the application of technology to archive management and data extraction.

“We have many collections that have yet to be exhibited. This online archive will help us gather information we can use to plan future events,” he said.

Ivory seals from the Victor Thomas Holbé collection

Currently on display in the online exhibition is a collection of works once owned by Victor Thomas Holbé (1857 – 1927), a French naval pharmacist who served as deputy Cochinchina governor and was known for his stunning art collection.

After his death, the Society of Indochina Studies raised 45,000 Indochinese piastre to buy his collection of 2,160 pieces rooted in Asian cultures of Vietnam, China, Japan, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.

The collection, along with the society’s other pieces, was the foundation for the establishment of the Blanchard de la Brosse Museum (now the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History) in 1929.

On its opening day, January 1, 1929, Holbé’s collection was exhibited in the museum’s main hall. Some pieces were also presented in France at the Eiffel Tower.

The online archive is divided into four categories based on the material and origin of each piece, including ivory from Vietnam, China, and Japan; 18th- and 19th-century gem stones from China; ceramics from Vietnam and China; and worship statues.

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History was formed on the legacy of the Blanchard de la Brosse Museum – Saigon’s earliest museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Vietnam.

Having grown its collection from the 5,000 pieces originally on display at the National Museum of Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History now manages over 43,000 documents and artifacts, including 13 collections and 12 national treasures reflecting Vietnam’s culture and history.

Below are some of the artifacts on display in the online archive. All photo are courtesy of the museum.

18th- and 19th-century gem stone wine goblets from China

18th- and 19th-century disc-shaped ornaments made from gem stones from China

A 19th-century Buddha statue from Tibet

19th-century Japanese guardian god statues

Tubes from King Minh Mang’s reign (1820 – 1840)

Ceramic ornaments made in the 12th, 13th, and 17th centuries

19th- and early 20th-century jars

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