The Vietnamese delegation of 142 athletes with disability vied for medals in eight events, including swimming, track-and-field, weightlifting, chess, badminton, boccia, football for the visually-impaired and table tennis. Besides the golds, the Vietnamese team brought home 61 silver and 60 bronze medals. The number of Vietnamese athletes was only 42.5% of that of the Malaysian team, 72% of the Indonesian team and 48% of the Thai team.  Although the country only participated in half out of a total of 16 events, its athletes broke 11 Games’ records. Notably, Vo Thanh Tung broke three records and Trinh Thu Bich Nhu set two new ones, all in swimming.  The gold medals mainly came in athletics and swimming, with 17 and 15 medals, respectively. It means Vietnam is on the right track in training its athletes for Paralympic events. All … [Read more...]

On September 22, Vo Van Tung grabbed two gold medals for Vietnam. Tung first won in the men’s F34 discus event with a throw of 26.23 metres. He overcame Davis Machang (20.99m) and Adderin (20.31m), both from the hosts. His second gold came hours later in the javelin event as he also won over the same rivals. Earlier, Tung secured a silver in the F32/33/34 shot put on September 20. His teammate Truong Thi Bich Van added another gold in the women’s F55 shot put. Van showed her outstanding performance with five out of six throws being over 6m, with the best one being 6.78m. Htet Aye from Myanmar was second with 5.96m and Ngo Thi Lan Thanh of Vietnam was third, on 5.33m. The last track-and-field gold of the day went to Le Van Manh who was the fastest in the men’s T37 200m track. He finished first with a time of 25.68sec. … [Read more...]

The biennial event, which was first held in Malaysia in 1985, acts as an important forum for chief judges, judges, and judicial officials in the region to meet and share experience to improve the efficiency of court operations. With the theme of strengthening the role of courts in boosting and improving jurisdiction principles, this year’s conference attracted the participation of 34 delegations from countries in the region.  It had six working sessions discussing measures to improve court functions and operations and the quality of human resources, increase public trust in the court system, and examining the efficiency of court operations along with the role of court in dealing with family-related conflicts. In the second session on increasing public trust in the court system, Vietnam’s Chief Judge of the Supreme People’s Court … [Read more...]

Since the latest violence began last August, more than 400,000 Rohingyas were forced to flee their homes and have crossed the border into Bangladesh. (Source: nst.com.my)   Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia and its neighbouring ASEAN countries will bear the brunt of serious instability in the region if the grave situation in the Rakhine state in Myanmar is not addressed. Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman made the statement at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group's session on the Rohingya Muslim Minority in Myanmar, held in New York on September 19. The precarious situation provides a fertile breeding ground for recruitment of extremists, he said, adding the Islamic State is now seeking to make Southeast Asia and South Asia its nest and bedrock. The violence in Rakhine has greatly affected the Rohingya community as well as residents of … [Read more...]

Captain ​Vu Tien Long of U16 Vietnam (right) believes in a positive result of his team at the Asian U16 Championship qualifier (Photo: zing.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The matches against Australia and hosts Mongolia in the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation U16 Championship qualification are important for Vietnam, Coach Vu Hong Viet said. However, his team must beat Cambodia with high score in their Group I opener today. The Vietnamese players come to the Asian qualifier after triumphing in the Southeast Asian championship in Thailand in July. According to the coaching board, it would be a strong drive for the young footballers at the higher-level tournament. However, Viet said, “I told them to leave the trophy behind. Our key task now is a slot in the U16 … [Read more...]

Illustrative image (Source: Internet)   Hanoi (VNA) - Malaysia has decided to cancel an annual craft beer festival in its capital of Kuala Lumpur after an Islamist party warned it would turn the city into the biggest centre of vice in Asia. The organisers announced on September 18 that the festival would not go ahead due to licensing issues and the political sensitivity surrounding the event. The Kuala Lumpur City Hall also confirmed the cancellation and said legal actions could be taken if it went ahead. The “Better Beer Festival”, considered as Malaysia's biggest craft beer festival, was originally due to take place on October 6 and 7 at a shopping mall on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. However, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), which often protests events seen as against Islam, warned last week that the event could … [Read more...]

Swimmer Vi Thi Hang broke ASEAN Para Games record in the women’s 100m Freestyle event on September 18. (Photo: qdnd.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Swimmer Vi Thi Hang broke ASEAN Para Games record in the women’s 100m Freestyle event on September 18, winning the first gold medal for Vietnam at this year’s games. She clocked at 1’23’’99 for athletes with physical disability category of S7. Lao and Thai swimmers finished at the second and third places, respectively. This is the first gold of Vi Thi Hang, from the Central Highlands of Dak Nong, after three ASEAN Para Games. On the same day, Vietnamese swimmers earned three more golds at the men’s events, including one for Vo Huynh Anh Khoa at the S9’s 100m Freestyle event, one for Ha Van Hiep at the SB3’s 50m Breaststroke event and the last for Nguyen Thanh Trung at … [Read more...]

Children study at a free Vietnamese class in Malaysia ​(Source: VNA) Kuala Lumpur (VNS/VNA) – Tran Thi Chang, president of the Vietnamese women’s club in Malaysia, was worried about the fact that more and more Vietnamese children were growing up in the country, but there were no Vietnamese class for them to learn their mother tongue. Efforts by Chang and several members of the club resulted in the first free Vietnamese class that opened last October in the living room of a flat on the second floor of the Pangsapuri Permai Puteri apartment building in Selangor. Teaching language-teaching culture On a sunny summer afternoon, nine Vietnamese children, some mixed Vietnamese-Chinese or Vietnamese-Malaysian, sat around a big table in the living room. Hands on the table next to their Vietnamese textbooks, the five- to eight-year-olds looked attentively at the … [Read more...]

President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu (Source: http://www.redcross.org.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – The 14th Southeast Asia Red Cross Red Crescent Leadership Meeting is scheduled to take place in Hanoi on September 21-22 to discuss orientations to expand humanitarian cooperation in the region. At a press conference in Hanoi on September 18, President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu said the leaders will look at ways to coordinate with the ASEAN Secretariat to address issues related to natural disasters, climate change, urban development, healthcare, youth development, gender and emigration. The meeting will also touch upon the agenda of the 21st General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Forum to be held in Turkey in November this … [Read more...]

Vietnamese athletes parade at the opening ceremony of the ninth ASEAN Para Games (Source: VNA)   Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The ninth ASEAN Para Games opened at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 17 night. The opening ceremony featured parades from the participating teams and a stunning sound and light show.   Spectators admired the physically-challenged athletes, who, they said, have inspired others with their love for sport. In his opening remarks, Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said the Para Games is not only a sport competition but also an event honouring the human will.  The 142-athlete Vietnamese team will vie for medals in eight events, including swimming, track-and-field, weightlifting, chess, badminton, boccia, football for the visually-impaired and … [Read more...]