Month: March 2024

Thua Thien-Hue: Turning down a stable life in Japan and enticing offers from big hospitals, Japanese Professor, Doctor Hattori Tadashi has decided to pursue his own journey to bring light to tens of thousands of underprivileged people in Vietnam.

The 60-year-old has recently been awarded the “Honorary citizen of Thua Thien – Hue province” title in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the central locality’s development for peace and social progress.

In 2022, Hattori, who is CEO at Asia – Pacific Prevention of Blindness Association (APBA), was presented with the Ramon Magsaysay Award – an honour widely regarded as the “Nobel Peace Prize of Asia.”

The doctor originally only planned to spend a single three months in Vietnam when he visited the Southeast Asian nation in April 2002. However, that ‘three months’ wound up impacting the next 20 years of his life.

‘I was shocked to see many patients who are blind in one eye go to the hospital only when the retina in the other eye became
detached, or when they had other issues that might have caused their loss of vision,” Hattori said.

‘Many patients refused because they couldn’t afford it.

‘It broke my heart that I couldn’t help everyone because there was a shortage of surgical supplies and equipment.’

After returning to Japan, he called for sponsorship from medical companies but was turned down because he no longer worked for a hospital.

He then submitted a proposal for assistance to the Japanese government but was told they only supported non-governmental organisations.

In the end, he decided to use all the savings that he and his wife had set aside for their retirement to buy equipment to perform free surgeries in Vietnam.

Over the years, Hattori continued returning to rural Vietnam to examine patients, perform surgeries, and treat cataract issues.

During his trip to the mountainous district of A Luoi in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue on March 26, the doctor directly provided check-ups for hundreds of locals, and performe
d cataract surgeries for 42 patients.

In Thua Thien – Hue, he not only directly performs surgeries but also transfers techniques, imparts knowledge and skills, and mobilises resources to improve service quality at the Hue Eye Hospital.

He is an example for local medical workers to follow in improving qualifications and better serving the people.

Tadashi has received other honours for his humane activities in Vietnam. He was awarded the Friendship Medal by the President and the insignia ‘For health of people’ by the Ministry of Health./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Moscow: Twenty-one students from Russian universities took part in the 3rd Vietnamese interpretation contest held on March 30 at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) under Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The candidates were required to translate short sentences about socio-political issues from Russian to Vietnamese and vice versa.

Meanwhile, final-year students and graduate students competed in translating a piece of about 200 words about official state visits, the current state of the Russian economy, or the role of ASEAN.

The jury at the contest included professional and veteran interpreters from Russia and Vietnam, former Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrey Tatarinov, Russian diplomats who are working in Vietnam, counselor at the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia Doan Khac Hoang, and Director of the Traditions and Friendship fund Nguyen Quoc Hung.

Speaking at the event, Associate Professor of Linguistics, head of MGIMO Language Training Department Marina Chigasheva emphasise
d that Vietnam always plays an important role in Russia’s foreign policy.

She noted events that contribute to the two countries’ relations recently, including the phone call between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 26, during which the two leaders mentioned economic cooperation and many other cooperative orientations.

Chigasheva said that the contest has been held for the third time and will become an annual one, which shows the sustainability of the two countries’ relations and the real need for Vietnamese translation and Vietnam studies in Russia.

Director of the Traditions and Friendship fund Nguyen Quoc Hung, who has accompanied the contest from its first edition, said highlighted the increasing quality of the contest, and affirmed that the fund will focus on sponsoring activities to encourage students as well as teachers to teach and learn Vietnamese. He informed that the fund is promoting the teaching of Vietnamese at Russian schools.

Counselor o
f the Third Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Ivan Nesterov noted that the organisation of the contest has become increasingly professional, attracting students across Russia./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Moscow: Several printed editions of Vietnam Pictorial – a multilinguistic publication of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) have been presented to the ASEAN Centre at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) under Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The centre’s director Associate Professor Ekaterina Koldunova highlighted the publication’s content, saying that it provides various information about Vietnam for readers while receiving VNA correspondents in Moscow on March 30.

The centre’s readers can learn much about Vietnam if the centre has all the issues for the whole year, she said.

She highly valued articles about traditional culture and arts. The well-designed publication, especially high-quality printed photos are impressive teaching materials for students, she said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Moscow: Several printed editions of Vietnam Pictorial – a multilinguistic publication of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) have been presented to the ASEAN Centre at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) under Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The centre’s director Associate Professor Ekaterina Koldunova highlighted the publication’s content, saying that it provides various information about Vietnam for readers while receiving VNA correspondents in Moscow on March 30.

The centre’s readers can learn much about Vietnam if the centre has all the issues for the whole year, she said.

She highly valued articles about traditional culture and arts. The well-designed publication, especially high-quality printed photos are impressive teaching materials for students, she said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Seoul: The Vietnamese association in the Republic of Korea (RoK) on March 31 opened a Vietnamese language class for children of multi-cultural families.

With the sponsorship of the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK, the class aims to preserve and promote the mother tongue and traditional cultural traits among the overseas Vietnamese.

The opening ceremony saw the attendance of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, who is also Chairwoman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (OV) Affairs, who spoke highly of efforts by the Vietnamese community in the RoK in cultural preservation.

Vietnamese language teaching should be replicated, not only among the Vietnamese community in the RoK, but also others worldwide, said Hang, who is on a working trip to the East Asian nation.

Nearly 300,000 Vietnamese are living and working in the RoK, of whom 70,000 have got married to Koreans.

Over the past years, the association has organised many Vietnamese language classes for children of such multi-cultura
l families, along with contests for Vietnamese there in an effort to spread the love for the mother tongue./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on March 30 held a ceremony to receive the certificate of membership of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.

Speaking at the event, Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le described the city’s membership of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities as a great honour, saying that this is the result of a process of building a lifelong learning environment for people in the city, demonstrates the world’s recognition of the policies, commitments, and efforts of Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular in ensuring quality, equitable, comprehensive education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for everyone, thus contributing to raising the status of Vietnam’s education in the international arena.

According to Le, this is also an opportunity for all people and the city’s administration to continue to put forward action programmes to make the southern metropolis a place where all people, regardless of their age,
or nationality, can continue to learn.

Moreover, becoming a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities will create an open learning environment where each citizen can develop the skills and knowledge needed to adapt and thrive in the digital world.

The city is committed to continuing to work closely with other members of the network to share experiences, learn and build better learning environments for all, Le said.

Jonathan Wallace Baker, Chief Representative of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in Vietnam, said that Ho Chi Minh City is a vibrant economic and cultural centre of Vietnam and the region.

He added that the UNESCO is very interested in the city’s initiative on building a set of criteria on happy schools, based on the UNESCO’s global happy schools framework. This model will be at the heart of educational innovation, placing happiness as a key factor in improving learning quality.

Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Comm
ittee, said as a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, the city will have more action programmes to ensure lifelong learning for people.

On this occasion, the municipal People’s Committee launched an action programme to build a “UNESCO global learning city” in the 2024 – 2030 period in the city./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency