Teaching fashion design in high school

MIT ranks fifth among THE’s best universities in 2021 and leads the world’s schools in technology training according to QS 2021 ranking. It offered the student financial support of $64,000 a year.

Passion for astrophysics

In childhood, Quan was curious about natural phenomena in the universe. “Why are there constellations?” “Where do shooting stars come from?” These were questions that Quan wanted to answer.

Quan scored first in the entrance exam for the math major class at the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, and the exam for the chemistry major class at the High School for the Gifted in Natural Sciences.

The great achievements were why Quan’s friends called him superman.

Le Manh Cuong, his physics teacher, discovered Quan’s special love for constellations in the sky. Though astronomy and astrophysics was not a subject in the general education program, he decided to help Quan learn about it.

Later, it was the teacher who sent Quan to the national astrophysics team to attend the international competition. In 2019, Quan attended the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) and won a gold medal with maximum scores.

After returning from the international competition, Quan began seeking an environment where he could study and conduct research.

He believed that leading schools such as MIT and Princeton would offer favorable conditions for students’ creativity, learning and promotion of their abilities, especially with the advice of leading professors in their fields.

Quan applied to the two schools because they are among a small number of schools that choose international students based on their abilities, not on candidates’ financial capability.

Quan had a strong profile when applying for the schools. The physics major had a 1600/1600 SAT and 8.0 IELTS. He twice won first prize in physics at the national competition for excellent students, when he was in the 11th and 12th grades.

Quan attended many national and international competitions and won a lot of medals, including the gold medal at the 2018 International Youth Science Olympia and gold medal at 2019 IOAA, gold medal at 2020 European Physics Olympiad.

The medals were not really made of gold, but from sweat during training, according to Quan. He said hopes he will have the chance to attend the International Physics Olympiad this year.

Thuy Nga – Huu Chanh – Phuong Thu

Ministry petitions for unchanging tuition fee to share financial burden with students

According to the Department of Planning and Finance of the Ministry of Education and Training, the Decree No. 86/2015 on the collection and management of tuition fees for educational institutions and the policy of tuition fee exemption has clearly specified the framework and ceiling tuition fees for public higher education institutions.

By Phan Thao – Translated by Anh Quan

April 21

Featuring traditional rituals dedicated to Lac Long Quan and Au Co in the Hung Kings Temple relic site to express gratitude to the ones who laid the foundations of the country.

French musical ‘Les Misérables’ tours
Mid-April – June.

April 16-18, Hanoi Opera House, 1 Trang Tien Street, Hanoi

May, National Dance and Music Festival, Dak Lak Province

Early June, Ho Chi Minh City

Featuring famed historical French musical ‘Les Misérables’ by Victor Hugo.

With participation of local artists from the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet Theatre (VNOB), foreign artists from Hanoi Voices Choir, along with director Nguyen Trieu Duong and choreographer Linh An.

Hanoi- Events honouring cultures of Vietnamese ethnic groups

Through out April

Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism, Son Tay Town

Featuring folk songs, dance, cuisine, specialties, and traditional customs and rituals of ethnic minorities.

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EXHIBITION

Until May 15,

Displaying nearly 80 artifacts, including photos, statues, pottery, over 1,500 tools, traditional handicrafts, costumes, jewellery, paintings, ancient musical instruments, and 1,400 books and reference materials.

Featuring the unique cultural and artistic heritages of the Cham people in the land of Ninh Thuan – Quang Nam and the exchange of Cham culture with others throughout history.

Hanoi-‘Virtual Private Realms’ Exhibition

Until Apr 19, 10 am – 7 pm
Manzi Art Space, 14 Phan Huy Ich Street

From Manzi:

The exhibition ‘Virtual Private Realms’ brings together the works of 7 artists: Lananh Le, Din Sama, Nguyễn Đức Huy, mi-mimi, Nghĩa Đặng, Trịnh Cẩm Nhi, and Hà Ninh, with a focus on their painting practice.

Binh Dinh Province-Exhibition: ECO-SUS

Opening: Apr 8, 03 pm
Exhibition: Apr 8 – Aug 8
International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education, 7 Science Avenue, Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province

From the organizer:

Featuring 11 Visual artists across Vietnam.

ECO-SUS is curated by artists The Son and Uu Dam, opening along with Winter School for Sustainable Development with 100 excellent fellows and respected speakers organized by Danh Nguyen. ICISE, a European-style building inspired by Binh Dinh nature, situated in the heart of a 21 hectares valley surrounded by majestic mountains and a long yellow sand beach. A remarkable architecture design by the famous Jean François Milou. See you at this fascinating exhibition.

The thrilling ECO-SUS exhibition will take place on the beach at 3 PM on April 8th:
1. 03 pm – Warm-up, kick start with with a viral and ambitious artwork from ECO-ĐI by artist Nguyễn Trần Ưu Đàm on Quy Nhơn yellow sand beach to raise global awareness about the pollution.
2. 04 pm – Opening exhibition of 11 Vietnamese artists with their world-class artworks. Curatorial tour lead by artist/curator Thế Sơn
3. 04:30 pm – “Chula” Fashion show by designer Del Valle Cortizas Diego.

4. 09 Apr – Explore Làng Sông, an old monastery, a beautiful structure that built and stood for 158 years, listen to singing hymns, visit publication in the very historic place where Jesuits record the first Vietnamese sounds in Latin.

HCMC- Exhibitions: ‘Within / Between / Beneath / Upon’ & ‘Home: Looking inwards to the outer world’

Until Jun 6, 10 am – 07 pm
The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, 15 Nguyễn Ư Dĩ, Thảo Điền Ward, D 2,

From the organizer:

The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre proudly presents two exhibitions: ‘Within / Between / Beneath / Upon’ and ‘Home: Looking inwards to the outer world’.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bùi Hoài Sơn, Director of Việt Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts

With increasing religious observance, the potential for scams is rising. Authorities need to step in to help people stay vigilant and avoid being duped.

E-newspaper VietnamPlus speaks with Associate Professor, Dr. Bùi Hoài Sơn, Director of Việt Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts, on the problem from a cultural and sociological perspective.

How do you evaluate people’s religious practices?

Social development leads to a number of consequences that make many people feel insecure, anxious and turn to religious beliefs as a consolation. Many individuals and organisations have built spiritual tourist sites, creating spiritual activities to fill that need.

In addition, the impact of new media (social networks) in disseminating information, creating online communities to connect religious and spiritual practices, also increases this need.

In my own opinion, this practice has both positive and negative consequences. The positive thing is that the spiritual beliefs and practices help people be more determined in their work. From these efforts, society will develop.

Practising religion and beliefs also helps people appreciate the values of “ chân – thiện – mỹ ” (the true, the good and the beautiful), thereby reinforcing the virtue of honesty of each person. Practising religion is also part of traditional culture. Traditional cultural values, thereby, are maintained and strengthened by the Vietnamese society as the country is integrating into the global system.

However, this practice also has some negative consequences, as it leads to the restoration of unsound customs, pushes some people to the level of superstition, adversely affecting the spiritual and material life of each individual and family.

Scammers use spirituality, incantations, and worship to make profits. Notably, this behaviour takes place in the capital, not in the countryside. How do you evaluate this situation?

Currently, we are witnessing a lot of scammers that take advantage of beliefs and spirituality for profit, and it is worth noting that many highly educated people still believe in superstition. That shows there are factors governing people’s perceptions that make them believe in things which are not scientifically grounded.

Society at any stage also needs religion and beliefs. Before, people were confident that when science developed, religion would lose its place and disappear. This is not correct, because religion or belief, does not compete with science, but complements science at a point that science cannot explain.

There are many phenomena that cannot be explained by science that makes people believe in fate, in luck, and all of which have led them to spiritual therapy and superstition.

In your opinion, how should State management agencies, the media and cultural experts get involved in order to warn people?

The first thing to do is promote information in mass media. However, the information also needs certain precautions, otherwise it will backfire. Specifically, instead of condemning a certain phenomenon, we inadvertently create curiosity and stimulate attention towards the phenomenon itself.

Second, State management agencies need to issue specific sanctions and regulations. Spiritual profiteers need to be prosecuted so that they cannot take advantage of spiritual needs and lure others into superstitious activities.

Next, cultural experts need to be proactive and active in analysing the advantages and disadvantages of religious practices, especially in superstitious phenomena. In today’s age, information comes and passes quickly, so we need accurate and reliable information from cultural experts.

Families, schools and mass organisations also need to play an active role in creating proper awareness of inappropriate spiritual activities.

I believe, when we create a healthy cultural life, we will minimise the negative impact of these phenomena on people, thereby helping us to build a healthy culture for society.

What should people do to protect themselves against inappropriate spiritual activities?

The boundary between religious practice, belief and superstition is quite fragile. Religion and belief contain many good values, therefore, each person’s life will become happier and more worthy of living by pursuing the values ​​that religion and beliefs bring. Therefore, in order to properly practice religions or a belief, we need to first understand the nature of it.

Religion or belief teaches people to think well, live well, do good things for others. When we do that, society will certainly be good. In addition, when we practice the right religion and belief, we will create a lifestyle that respects the traditions in the family.

Other factors, without scientific basis, are not the nature of religion or belief, and therefore, are not conducive to individual personal development and should be removed from social life. — VNS

HANOI

PERFORMANCE

Glamour 2

8pm on April 24

L’Espace

2 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District,

A new music programme entitled “Glamour 2” should be a journey filled with nostalgia but full of new discoveries, honour notable French songs.

The event features the participation of foreign artists: pianist Max Schwingeling, guitarist and singer Kenjah David, guitarist Guillaume de Miribel, percussion artist Christopher Michael and bass artist Oosamu Sakurai; as well as Vietnamese singer Hua Thanh Tu and the Bamboo Tambourine group.

Ticket: VND200,000

Promotional ticket: VND150,000 (until April 17).

EXHIBITION

‘Virtual Private Realms’ Exhibition

Manzi Art Space

14 Phan Huy Ich Street, Ba Dinh District,

The exhibition ‘Virtual Private Realms’ brings together the works of 7 artists: Lananh Le, Din Sama, Nguyen Duc Huy, mi-mimi, Nghia Dang, Trinh Cam Nhi, and Ha Ninh, with a focus on their painting practices.

Belonging to the 9X (millennial) generation, these artists have contributed to a new wave of practitioners in the Vietnamese art scene.

Exhibition: Eyes without a Face

The exhibition area inside the Japan Foundation library

27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem District,

Eyes without a Face is a project co-organized by the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam and Manzi Art Space, with support from the Goethe-Institut, and other organizations, individuals as well as close friends.

Exhibition: Retro

The Muse Art Space

47 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District,

RETRO is an exhibition that goes back in time. Retro is also a popular term in fashion, furniture design, and art.

The RETRO exhibition will present paintings and objects in line with the modern intellectual culture world in Vietnam, mostly from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century.

HO CHI MINH CITY

EXHIBITION

Exhibition “The Resonance of remembrance”

Vy Gallery

20 Nguyen Van Thu, Da Kao, District 1,

“The Resonance of remembrance” exhibition has been organised on the occasion of the whole country celebrating the biggest holiday, National Reunification – April 30.

The exhibition consists of 5 works, including 4 lacquer works and 1 oil painting for the purpose of conveying to the public the message of spiritual, historical and artistic values of the wars to preserve the country’s peace.