LivingSPOTLIGHT

Visually-impaired models join Ao Dai Festival 2023

The HCMC Ao Dai Festival 2023 was launched on March 3 with the participation of local officials, famous models, artists and beauty queens, especially visually-impaired students from Nguyen Dinh Chieu School.

At the festival’s opening ceremony on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street, the audience witnessed the beauty of over 300 ao dai outfits from 24 fashion designers. The performers comprised 100 actors and actresses, singers, models, visually-impaired students and fashion designers with their families. Model Nguyen Thi Hong Loi told the local news site tienphong.vn, “I am proud to be a part of the Ao Dai Festival for the first time and feel grateful for the chance to spread the beauty of Vietnamese ao dai to the audiences.”

The HCMC Ao Dai Festival 2023 will last until the end of March with various activities, including ao dai performances on Nguyen Hue Street, Quan Ho, Vi Dam, Don Ca Tai Tu (traditional songs in the three regions), and the panel discussion, “Vietnamese Ao Dai Beauty-Preservation and Development”.

A 29-yr-old girl saves lives through organ donation

The family of 29-year-old N.T.L.T. in Hanoi donated her heart, kidney, and two corneas to the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital to save multiple lives after she had a road accident and suffered brain death.

The doctors used her organs to successfully perform a heart-kidney transplant for a 37-year-old Central Highlands patient who suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, severe arrhythmias, and end-stage kidney failure.

Talking with vietnamplus.vn, her father choked up, “My daughter in heaven will feel delighted to donate her organs to save lives, and her little kid will be proud of her.”

Previously, T.’s brother passed away after years of waiting for his heart transplant as he suffered congenital dilated cardiomyopathy. After an accident on February 9, T. was diagnosed with severe traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage, Glasgow coma III and grade III left kidney injury.

T’s family agreed to donate their daughter’s organs as they could not hold on to her life.

Clothing store in HCMC offers ao dai for free

Nguyet, a tailor with 20 years of work experience, opened a free ao dai store on Dang Van Bi Street, Truong Tho Ward, Thu Duc City, with her younger sister to fulfill the dreams of numerous girls and women.

“My desire is for all Vietnamese women, regardless of who they are or their situations, to have a chance to wear an ao dai,” Nguyet told vnexpress.net.

It took her one year to ask her familiar customers, friends and relatives for their old ao dai. “Over 80% of ao dai outfits in the store are from my family. We just keep one or two sets for ourselves for necessary occasions,” she said.

After a year of opening, her store sent more than 5,000 sets of ao dai to needy people for free. She recalled a lady in her 60s who broke into tears on receiving her first ao dai.

The first Vietnamese pagoda in Sri Lanka

After completing the bachelor’s degree in Buddhist studies at the Sri Lanka International Buddhist Academy (SIBA Campus) and the master’s degree in the same subject at the University of Kelaniya, both in Sri Lanka, monk Thich Phap Quang began to build Truc Lam Yen Monastery in 2020 in Ambakote, a small village about 15km from the ancient city of Kandy in central Sri Lanka.

In 2021, the construction of the sanctum and the meditation hall were finished, monk Thich

Phap Quang, the abbot of the Buddhist monastery, and five other Vietnamese monks began to live and work in the pagoda. Other works such as the main gate, fences, bedrooms and a dining room continued to be built step by step.

Many local villagers visit the pagoda at 5 p.m.

to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and there are more visitors on Sundays. Over the past year, the monks have taught Vietnamese language to interested locals from Monday to Friday; they have also taught English language on Saturday and IT on Sunday. The Vietnamese language classes attract local children, adults and even old people.

The abbot told thanhnien.vn that the local students can now greet each other and introduce themselves in Vietnamese. They can write down what they speak and can sing several Vietnamese songs, including the national anthem.

Ex-police officer collects waste in the lake

Recently, Den Suot, a relic complex in Hai Duong City (Hai Duong Province) has attracted quite a few visitors throughout the country. As a result, Thanh Cuong Lake and its surrounding area adjacent to the temple was polluted with all kinds of waste, killing a large number of fish in the lake.

Fearing that such pollution might become worse and worse, badly affecting the landscape and the people’s health, Pham Van Quang, 74, a retired police officer living in Hai Duong, decided to buy a small boat and necessary tools to collect trash in the lake. Every day, rain or shine, the retired senior lieutenant colonel rows the boat around the lake to collect garbage. Then he carries the collected waste to a nearby dumpsite to be treated by sanitation workers.

Quang told vietnamnet.vn that as a police officer, he was responsible for public security; now as a retired, he would like to contribute his small part to keeping his hometown clean and thus securing people’s health.

Teenager saves traffic accident victims

The story in which Nguyen Trung Hieu, 17, plunged into Xuan Huong Lake in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, in a chilly night to save two victims who were trapped in a seven-seat car sliding into the lake has gone viral on social media these days. At midnight on February 21, when hanging around with some of his bosom friends, Hieu saw a seven-seater rushing into Xuan Huong Lake. Two men then managed to get out of the sinking car and swam to the bank. Hearing the shout for help from others still stuck in the car, Hieu unhesitantly plunged into the lake regardless of the cold water and could bring two other victims to the bank safe and sound.

Returning home trembling in wet clothing, Hieu took a warm shower and put on warm clothes. Then he told what he had done to his anxious mother. Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, Hieu’s mother, told thanhnien.vn that she was very proud of her son, adding that the certificate of merit granted to Hieu by the local authorities and the praise of other people and netizens were like a valuable gift presented to her by her son. Nguyen Van

Sang, Hieu’s father, was also happy and proud of his son.

A little runner fighting brain cancer

Five years ago, Nguyen Ba Thien Vinh, then 33 months old, was detected to have a brain cancer. The little boy had to undergo both radiotherapy and chemotherapy to combat the cancer and save his life over the past five years.

Vinh always wishes to be able to play with his peers, but he could not do it any time in his life. This is why Nguyen Minh Ha, Vinh’s mother, decided to let her son, who is eight years old now, attend Happy Run, a short-distance running contest held in the central coastal city of Danang on March 12 this year, with the permission of doctors.

Ha told vnexpress.net that Vinh has responded well to all the therapies over the years, and his health is thus better day after day. Though he could not run as fast as others at his age, he could walk instead. Walking, as recommended by doctors, is very good for the boy’s health and therapies, Ha said.

It is worth noting that for every little participant, the running organizers would contribute VND1 million to the fund to help poor children nationwide.