ART & ENTERTAINMENT IN BRIEF 9/3
Photographic exhibition on street-front houses
A photographic exhibition entitled “Nha Mat Pho” (Street-front Houses) is being held at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi from March 8-28.
It showcases works by local artist Nguyen The Son with a focus on dramatic changes in Hanoi’s residential quarters.
Son’s posters are arranged in the shape of houses by digital technology so that viewers can realize the impact of negative changes in the city. Dozen-of-meter-high posters cover the whole fronts of many houses.
He uses a special method of printing on Xuyen Chi paper and silk as a fine combination of modern and traditional technique, making viewers feel both reality and illusion through his photographic installation art.
Instead of windows and balconies, which facilitate communication between neighbours, tall billboards now seal houses off the street.
Born in 1978 in the capital city, Son had graduated from the Hanoi University of Fine Arts in 2002 and did a Master’s in Fine Art Photography at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2008. He has held many exhibitions in Vietnam and China.
Vietnam teams up with regional filmmakers
A commercial and an independent film project involving Vietnamese filmmakers and their Southeast Asian counterparts working together are getting under way, attracting the attention of local industry observers.
Southeast Asia has long been known as an under-developed cinema zone, although in recent years Thailand and the Philippines have shown strong progress with many award-winning works.
Although the countries in the region enjoy a geographical advantage, there has yet to be any significant effort by the industries to foster more collaboration and development chances.
Thus newswire Vietnamnet opined that the newly released projects have shown promising signs.
This March, the action thriller “Black and White,” a collaboration between local producer Vinacinema and Indonesia-based Jelita Alip Film, will be filmed in Ho Chi Minh City.
With a tentative budget of VND 10 billion (US$ 480,000), the film, which boasts an international cast and crew from Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia, is expected to hit nationwide screens this June.
Vietnamnet wrote that the project is expected to test the water before any likewise future collaboration, as each of the partners bears half of the total investment. The project is expected to bring an exciting new choice to the film menus of local audience in both countries.
Although most of the film is set in Ho Chi Minh, it will be made by Chinese-Indonesian director Najantolia, who is well-known in the country for a series of commercially successful works.
While “Black and White” is a purely commercial project that sets box office numbers as its benchmark of success, “Southeast Loves” strikes more experimental and independent elements.
Adopting the “omnibus feature film” technique, which usually combines different stories in different locations into a movie, the film will be a collaboration involving Vietnam’s award-winning director Phan Dang Di with Aditya Assarat from Thailand, Vimukthi Jayasundara from Sri Lanka, Ifa Isfansyah from Indonesia, and Ishtiaque Zico from Bangladesh.
Together the team will tell their own interpretation of the theme “the last five days before the Apocalypse” with five different stories set in their countries. The project is set to kick off at the end of this year with an estimated total budget of USD 1 million.
“Southeast Loves” will lean more on the film-awards-and-festivals end, while the action flick “Black and White” will have to make the most out of cinema-goers.
Tran Van Hung, director of Vinacinema, said that the company and its partner were negotiating to screen “Black and White” at the same time in Vietnam and Indonesia, and then sell it to other markets.
Set to be screened in June, it will be the only local movie to share the market with Hollywood’s summer blockbusters hitting screens nationwide at the same time. If it survives, the Indonesia-Vietnamese team will move on with their second project ,“The Illusionary Love,” with 90 percent of its scenes set in Indonesia.
Experimental play at Youth Theater today
An experimental play troupe of the Youth Theater will present a new work themed ‘Nguyen Du and Kieu’ today in Hanoi.
Director/People’s Artist Lan Huong came up with the idea of the play after joining a ‘Kieu’ drama project with a foreign director in Spain. With the experimental work, Huong is combining traditional music genres with contemporary stage elements to reflect Kieu’s ups and downs.
Specially, one artist will play several roles in order to express the emotion of poet Nguyen Du. The play also features other artists such as Nhu Lai, Nguyet Hang, Nhu Quynh and Dam Hang.
‘The Tale of Kieu’ is a poem written by Nguyen Du (1766–1820), considered one of the greatest works in Vietnamese literature.
The masterpiece narrates the life, upheavals and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a talented and beautiful woman, who had to sacrifice herself to save her family. The play starts at 8 p.m. at Youth Theater, 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street in Hanoi.
Sensual scene on national TV station angers viewers
A vulgar scene in a TV movie that was screened on VTV3 national television broadcaster on March 6, depicting the rude caressing of a couple, has aroused fury among many people in this sexually conservative country.
Most audience members literally blush with shame upon watching the scene, in which a male character named Phuc slowly curled his tongue to lick wine dripping down the breast of a female character named Linh in the second episode of the TV serial named “Hoa Nang”.
But it didn’t stop there. When Phuc received words of encouragement from his friends, he continued the ‘sensitive’ acts at an increasing level.
Although the scene aims to reflect the debauched lifestyle led by certain young urbanities, a number of viewers have commented that it would have negative effects on children and teenagers, since it was aired publicly on national television at 9:15pm, before most go to sleep. Some even claim it looked like a pornographic movie.
Huyen Trang, an employee of a company in Hanoi, says: “It’s unacceptable to publish this vulgar scene on VTV3. I’m wondering whether or not the television station censors it? Actually, I felt awkward when my 4-year-old watched it.”
The scene has been quickly posted on many local forums and websites and has become a hot topic.
Tran Minh, 20, an overseas Vietnamese student in Australia, commented: “OMG! Is there any signal before the screening? What if kids watch it? As I know, the movies with adult content are often screened late (around 10-11pm) when most children go to bed.”
Minh Quang, the film’s director, told Tuoi Tre he felt regret after reviewing the controversial scene and admitted that it is offensive.
The director said that he only wanted to create a scene showing the impetuous behavior of a part of the youth population these days, so that the continuing episodes will help ‘change’ their inappropriate behavior.
“If the scene had only shown two characters kissing, audiences would not have believed that it is an offensive clip. The behavior change will occur in the third episode when the clip is posted on the Internet. Many friends of Phuc will make highly critical comments on his conduct, leading to the change in his behavior later,” Quang explained.
City stylist launches ao dai photo exhibition
Ao Dai Huong Sac Viet (Vietnam’s spirited ao dai) photo exhibition, initiated by fashion stylist Vo Thuong, is on display at the five-star Rex Hotel Saigon in District 1.
There are 50 photos featuring ten famous beauties including Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009 Huong Giang, supermodel/actress Thanh Hang, Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung, Miss Vietnam World 2010 Diem Huong and Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011’s winner Hoang Thuy in white ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) designed by Duc Hung, Viet Hung and Thuan Viet. The photos were taken by three fashion photographers Trinh Quoc Huy, Nguyen Long and Le Thanh Tung.
According to Thuong, the exhibition’s purpose is to raise funds for scholarships for poor students in remote areas and to honor the beauty of Vietnamese women on International Women’s Day tomorrow.
The exhibition is just the start of numerous of ao dai display activities by Thuong in Vietnam.
Benefactors who wish to help out poor students can buy a photo priced at VND10 million each. Organizers expect to hold ten charity trips to the provinces of Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Vinh Long from April to December.
The photo display runs until March 20 at the Rex Hotel Saigon at 141 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1.
Experts disagree over cultural heritage preservation
A series of conferences on cultural preservation is being held this week in Hanoi, drawing top experts to discuss how to preserve Vietnam’s cultural heritage efficiently and develop it sustainably.
The experts are still pondering the dilemma of preserving the very essence and authenticity of heritage items like the UNESC0-recognized ancient singing hat xoan or quan ho, and using them as a resource to develop the tourism industry, the profit from which would again support local artists and performers.
The latter approach, however, has caused problems in the past, as it has caused the country’s heritage to be either modernized or commercialized too much as tourism products in Vietnam.
“If we have local artists perform with the original gong for tourists, all of them will leave after the first few minutes. Therefore we have to play modern music with the sound of a gong in our shows for tourists”, Pang Ti Mut from the Cong Chieng Club in Lien Mut, Lam Dong said, adding that this approach has done no justice to the Central Highland’s ancient type of music that uses metal percussion instruments, and has left out all the old local artists who are the actual masters of the genre.
A report by the Vietnam Culture and Art Research Institute has shown that the tourism industry sometimes turns traditional art forms into pure commercial goods for economic interest, which presents a challenge to preserving their authenticity.
Researcher Nguyen Chi Ben agreed that using traditional art forms for tourism is a two-bladed knife, and renewing them for tourists’ and travel agencies’ sake can degrade their cultural values.
Le Thi Minh Ly, former deputy head of the Cultural Heritage Department said there should be a fine line between using art for mass tourism and for a niche market requiring better-quality performing arts.
The conference also discussed the role of government in preserving the heritage of communities, like traditional festivals and ceremonies such as the Giong Festival in Gia Lam, Hanoi.
Renowned historian Duong Trung Quoc opined that if the government became too involved in organizing and renewing traditional festivals, they would soon lose their authenticity. “That should be the job of that very community that had the festival,” Nguyen Duc Thanh, a senior official of Gia Lam district said.
Meanwhile Nguyen Huu Toan, deputy head of the Cultural Heritage Department, and other officials opposed the idea, claiming that it would have the opposite effect.
City reality show seeks adventurous candidates
Adventure reality show Toi la nguoi dan dau (I’m the pioneer) co-organized by HTV and Dong Tay Promotion is seeking candidates to join the five-week challenge.
From thousands of wannabes, organizers will pick 40 contestants with the best potential to join a three-day camp to find the top 16 who will enter a five-week challenge in eight cities and provinces nationwide with the winner netting VND100 million.
Vietnamese citizens aged between 18 and 40 who are in good physical condition, are strong willed, a good team player and work hard to solve problems are invited to register from now until March 15. Participants can download and fill in the registration form from the website www.dongtay.com and attach a photo to send to Dong Tay Promotion Company at 200 Pasteur Street in HCMC’s District 3 or email to toilanguoidandau@dongtay.com.vn by March 15.
Additionally, you can bring ID, a 3x4 photo and a full body photo to register directly with the organizing committee at the Maximark Cong Hoa in HCMC’s Tan Binh District on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The show will be aired every Saturday at 8 p.m. on HTV7 channel for a nine-week run starting from April 21.
For further information about the program, contact Dong Tay Promotion on 08 3823 9739 during office hours.
Student goes into business with takeaway café
Many young business owners who are still in college dared to go where no one has gone before and opened the first takeaway cafés to serve Ho Chi Minh’s young urbanites.
In 2008, when he was a freshman at Hoa Sen University (Ho Chi Minh), Phung Manh Viet (born in 1988) was given an assignment to design a small and practical business project.
After giving it some thoughts, Viet decided a mobile café was the simplest and most convenient plan he could do, from which came the idea for his now four-store takeaway café chain Effoc.
“I asked myself then why I would not press ahead with the business plan,” he recalled.
After three months, he started a small mobile Italian café shop on Dinh Cong Trang street (District 1, HCMC) on an initial budget of VND 40 million (about USD 2,000). That was also the first shop in the Italian-style Effoc café chain.
Viet said with an average price of VND 20,000 per coffee, only one-fourth of that of many upscale foreign coffee brands in the city, his shops targeted college students and office workers.
Opened in July 2010, the Caztus shop owned by 22-year-old Nguyen Huu Tuan Thanh is another example. On a trip to Singapore, Thanh found out about Starbucks and liked it so much he went there seven days in a row.
“Why don’t I open a store like this in Vietnam but has a cheaper price for students?” Thanh recalled his impression then.
One month after that trip, he visited many café shops around Ho Chi Minh and spent days observing and learning their service, business management and how to make the best coffee. His first shop was launched on Luong Huu Khanh street, District 1, followed by a second one on Vo Thi Sau, District 1 not long after that.
For 21-year-old Le Ngoc Khanh, a student of the International University, the youngest of the four owners of Urban Station Coffee, she and her friends started their business with quite a simple reason, “The coffee we have at our school’s cafeteria really sucks.”
Khanh said they chose the takeaway style, still a new service in Vietnam, as it is faster and more suitable to the fast-changing lifestyle of the young population in an urban center like Ho Chi Minh.
Viet and Thanh said there were many opportunities in the café business for young businessmen like them, but so were the challenges.
Starting from scratch, learning how to make a good coffee and trying to balance their schedule between school and work, these young businesspersons dream of a day when they can expand their Vietnamese takeaway cafe brands beyond the country’s borders.
Hanoi to feature Korean version of Romeo and Juliet for kids
Performances of the musical “Choon-Hyang – The Real Love”, considered Korea's "Romeo and Juliet," will take place on March 10 and 11 in Hanoi.
The show is about young love that has to overcome many obstacles for an ever happy ending, according to a press release from Korean Cultural Center in the capital this week.
“Choon-Hyang – The True Love” has has attracted many audiences from all over the world.
“Full of energy and very funny, this is truly a party for the eyes with break-dance performances, performing with Korean swords, Taekwondo and Samul-nori – a traditional dance played with many drums, etc. All are performed by children!” says the release.
The show will take place in English at 7 p.m. at Hanoi Drama Theater, 42 Trang Tien Street, Hanoi.
For more information, contact: The Korean Cultural Center, 49 Nguyen Du Street, Tel: + 84-4-39445980.
It showcases works by local artist Nguyen The Son with a focus on dramatic changes in Hanoi’s residential quarters.
Son’s posters are arranged in the shape of houses by digital technology so that viewers can realize the impact of negative changes in the city. Dozen-of-meter-high posters cover the whole fronts of many houses.
He uses a special method of printing on Xuyen Chi paper and silk as a fine combination of modern and traditional technique, making viewers feel both reality and illusion through his photographic installation art.
Instead of windows and balconies, which facilitate communication between neighbours, tall billboards now seal houses off the street.
Born in 1978 in the capital city, Son had graduated from the Hanoi University of Fine Arts in 2002 and did a Master’s in Fine Art Photography at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2008. He has held many exhibitions in Vietnam and China.
Vietnam teams up with regional filmmakers
A commercial and an independent film project involving Vietnamese filmmakers and their Southeast Asian counterparts working together are getting under way, attracting the attention of local industry observers.
Southeast Asia has long been known as an under-developed cinema zone, although in recent years Thailand and the Philippines have shown strong progress with many award-winning works.
Although the countries in the region enjoy a geographical advantage, there has yet to be any significant effort by the industries to foster more collaboration and development chances.
Thus newswire Vietnamnet opined that the newly released projects have shown promising signs.
This March, the action thriller “Black and White,” a collaboration between local producer Vinacinema and Indonesia-based Jelita Alip Film, will be filmed in Ho Chi Minh City.
With a tentative budget of VND 10 billion (US$ 480,000), the film, which boasts an international cast and crew from Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia, is expected to hit nationwide screens this June.
Vietnamnet wrote that the project is expected to test the water before any likewise future collaboration, as each of the partners bears half of the total investment. The project is expected to bring an exciting new choice to the film menus of local audience in both countries.
Although most of the film is set in Ho Chi Minh, it will be made by Chinese-Indonesian director Najantolia, who is well-known in the country for a series of commercially successful works.
While “Black and White” is a purely commercial project that sets box office numbers as its benchmark of success, “Southeast Loves” strikes more experimental and independent elements.
Adopting the “omnibus feature film” technique, which usually combines different stories in different locations into a movie, the film will be a collaboration involving Vietnam’s award-winning director Phan Dang Di with Aditya Assarat from Thailand, Vimukthi Jayasundara from Sri Lanka, Ifa Isfansyah from Indonesia, and Ishtiaque Zico from Bangladesh.
Together the team will tell their own interpretation of the theme “the last five days before the Apocalypse” with five different stories set in their countries. The project is set to kick off at the end of this year with an estimated total budget of USD 1 million.
“Southeast Loves” will lean more on the film-awards-and-festivals end, while the action flick “Black and White” will have to make the most out of cinema-goers.
Tran Van Hung, director of Vinacinema, said that the company and its partner were negotiating to screen “Black and White” at the same time in Vietnam and Indonesia, and then sell it to other markets.
Set to be screened in June, it will be the only local movie to share the market with Hollywood’s summer blockbusters hitting screens nationwide at the same time. If it survives, the Indonesia-Vietnamese team will move on with their second project ,“The Illusionary Love,” with 90 percent of its scenes set in Indonesia.
Experimental play at Youth Theater today
An experimental play troupe of the Youth Theater will present a new work themed ‘Nguyen Du and Kieu’ today in Hanoi.
Director/People’s Artist Lan Huong came up with the idea of the play after joining a ‘Kieu’ drama project with a foreign director in Spain. With the experimental work, Huong is combining traditional music genres with contemporary stage elements to reflect Kieu’s ups and downs.
Specially, one artist will play several roles in order to express the emotion of poet Nguyen Du. The play also features other artists such as Nhu Lai, Nguyet Hang, Nhu Quynh and Dam Hang.
‘The Tale of Kieu’ is a poem written by Nguyen Du (1766–1820), considered one of the greatest works in Vietnamese literature.
The masterpiece narrates the life, upheavals and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a talented and beautiful woman, who had to sacrifice herself to save her family. The play starts at 8 p.m. at Youth Theater, 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street in Hanoi.
Sensual scene on national TV station angers viewers
A vulgar scene in a TV movie that was screened on VTV3 national television broadcaster on March 6, depicting the rude caressing of a couple, has aroused fury among many people in this sexually conservative country.
Most audience members literally blush with shame upon watching the scene, in which a male character named Phuc slowly curled his tongue to lick wine dripping down the breast of a female character named Linh in the second episode of the TV serial named “Hoa Nang”.
But it didn’t stop there. When Phuc received words of encouragement from his friends, he continued the ‘sensitive’ acts at an increasing level.
Although the scene aims to reflect the debauched lifestyle led by certain young urbanities, a number of viewers have commented that it would have negative effects on children and teenagers, since it was aired publicly on national television at 9:15pm, before most go to sleep. Some even claim it looked like a pornographic movie.
Huyen Trang, an employee of a company in Hanoi, says: “It’s unacceptable to publish this vulgar scene on VTV3. I’m wondering whether or not the television station censors it? Actually, I felt awkward when my 4-year-old watched it.”
The scene has been quickly posted on many local forums and websites and has become a hot topic.
Tran Minh, 20, an overseas Vietnamese student in Australia, commented: “OMG! Is there any signal before the screening? What if kids watch it? As I know, the movies with adult content are often screened late (around 10-11pm) when most children go to bed.”
Minh Quang, the film’s director, told Tuoi Tre he felt regret after reviewing the controversial scene and admitted that it is offensive.
The director said that he only wanted to create a scene showing the impetuous behavior of a part of the youth population these days, so that the continuing episodes will help ‘change’ their inappropriate behavior.
“If the scene had only shown two characters kissing, audiences would not have believed that it is an offensive clip. The behavior change will occur in the third episode when the clip is posted on the Internet. Many friends of Phuc will make highly critical comments on his conduct, leading to the change in his behavior later,” Quang explained.
City stylist launches ao dai photo exhibition
Ao Dai Huong Sac Viet (Vietnam’s spirited ao dai) photo exhibition, initiated by fashion stylist Vo Thuong, is on display at the five-star Rex Hotel Saigon in District 1.
There are 50 photos featuring ten famous beauties including Miss Grand Slam Asia 2009 Huong Giang, supermodel/actress Thanh Hang, Miss Vietnam 2008 Thuy Dung, Miss Vietnam World 2010 Diem Huong and Vietnam’s Next Top Model 2011’s winner Hoang Thuy in white ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) designed by Duc Hung, Viet Hung and Thuan Viet. The photos were taken by three fashion photographers Trinh Quoc Huy, Nguyen Long and Le Thanh Tung.
According to Thuong, the exhibition’s purpose is to raise funds for scholarships for poor students in remote areas and to honor the beauty of Vietnamese women on International Women’s Day tomorrow.
The exhibition is just the start of numerous of ao dai display activities by Thuong in Vietnam.
Benefactors who wish to help out poor students can buy a photo priced at VND10 million each. Organizers expect to hold ten charity trips to the provinces of Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Vinh Long from April to December.
The photo display runs until March 20 at the Rex Hotel Saigon at 141 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, District 1.
Experts disagree over cultural heritage preservation
A series of conferences on cultural preservation is being held this week in Hanoi, drawing top experts to discuss how to preserve Vietnam’s cultural heritage efficiently and develop it sustainably.
The experts are still pondering the dilemma of preserving the very essence and authenticity of heritage items like the UNESC0-recognized ancient singing hat xoan or quan ho, and using them as a resource to develop the tourism industry, the profit from which would again support local artists and performers.
The latter approach, however, has caused problems in the past, as it has caused the country’s heritage to be either modernized or commercialized too much as tourism products in Vietnam.
“If we have local artists perform with the original gong for tourists, all of them will leave after the first few minutes. Therefore we have to play modern music with the sound of a gong in our shows for tourists”, Pang Ti Mut from the Cong Chieng Club in Lien Mut, Lam Dong said, adding that this approach has done no justice to the Central Highland’s ancient type of music that uses metal percussion instruments, and has left out all the old local artists who are the actual masters of the genre.
A report by the Vietnam Culture and Art Research Institute has shown that the tourism industry sometimes turns traditional art forms into pure commercial goods for economic interest, which presents a challenge to preserving their authenticity.
Researcher Nguyen Chi Ben agreed that using traditional art forms for tourism is a two-bladed knife, and renewing them for tourists’ and travel agencies’ sake can degrade their cultural values.
Le Thi Minh Ly, former deputy head of the Cultural Heritage Department said there should be a fine line between using art for mass tourism and for a niche market requiring better-quality performing arts.
The conference also discussed the role of government in preserving the heritage of communities, like traditional festivals and ceremonies such as the Giong Festival in Gia Lam, Hanoi.
Renowned historian Duong Trung Quoc opined that if the government became too involved in organizing and renewing traditional festivals, they would soon lose their authenticity. “That should be the job of that very community that had the festival,” Nguyen Duc Thanh, a senior official of Gia Lam district said.
Meanwhile Nguyen Huu Toan, deputy head of the Cultural Heritage Department, and other officials opposed the idea, claiming that it would have the opposite effect.
City reality show seeks adventurous candidates
Adventure reality show Toi la nguoi dan dau (I’m the pioneer) co-organized by HTV and Dong Tay Promotion is seeking candidates to join the five-week challenge.
From thousands of wannabes, organizers will pick 40 contestants with the best potential to join a three-day camp to find the top 16 who will enter a five-week challenge in eight cities and provinces nationwide with the winner netting VND100 million.
Vietnamese citizens aged between 18 and 40 who are in good physical condition, are strong willed, a good team player and work hard to solve problems are invited to register from now until March 15. Participants can download and fill in the registration form from the website www.dongtay.com and attach a photo to send to Dong Tay Promotion Company at 200 Pasteur Street in HCMC’s District 3 or email to toilanguoidandau@dongtay.com.vn by March 15.
Additionally, you can bring ID, a 3x4 photo and a full body photo to register directly with the organizing committee at the Maximark Cong Hoa in HCMC’s Tan Binh District on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The show will be aired every Saturday at 8 p.m. on HTV7 channel for a nine-week run starting from April 21.
For further information about the program, contact Dong Tay Promotion on 08 3823 9739 during office hours.
Student goes into business with takeaway café
Many young business owners who are still in college dared to go where no one has gone before and opened the first takeaway cafés to serve Ho Chi Minh’s young urbanites.
In 2008, when he was a freshman at Hoa Sen University (Ho Chi Minh), Phung Manh Viet (born in 1988) was given an assignment to design a small and practical business project.
After giving it some thoughts, Viet decided a mobile café was the simplest and most convenient plan he could do, from which came the idea for his now four-store takeaway café chain Effoc.
“I asked myself then why I would not press ahead with the business plan,” he recalled.
After three months, he started a small mobile Italian café shop on Dinh Cong Trang street (District 1, HCMC) on an initial budget of VND 40 million (about USD 2,000). That was also the first shop in the Italian-style Effoc café chain.
Viet said with an average price of VND 20,000 per coffee, only one-fourth of that of many upscale foreign coffee brands in the city, his shops targeted college students and office workers.
Opened in July 2010, the Caztus shop owned by 22-year-old Nguyen Huu Tuan Thanh is another example. On a trip to Singapore, Thanh found out about Starbucks and liked it so much he went there seven days in a row.
“Why don’t I open a store like this in Vietnam but has a cheaper price for students?” Thanh recalled his impression then.
One month after that trip, he visited many café shops around Ho Chi Minh and spent days observing and learning their service, business management and how to make the best coffee. His first shop was launched on Luong Huu Khanh street, District 1, followed by a second one on Vo Thi Sau, District 1 not long after that.
For 21-year-old Le Ngoc Khanh, a student of the International University, the youngest of the four owners of Urban Station Coffee, she and her friends started their business with quite a simple reason, “The coffee we have at our school’s cafeteria really sucks.”
Khanh said they chose the takeaway style, still a new service in Vietnam, as it is faster and more suitable to the fast-changing lifestyle of the young population in an urban center like Ho Chi Minh.
Viet and Thanh said there were many opportunities in the café business for young businessmen like them, but so were the challenges.
Starting from scratch, learning how to make a good coffee and trying to balance their schedule between school and work, these young businesspersons dream of a day when they can expand their Vietnamese takeaway cafe brands beyond the country’s borders.
Hanoi to feature Korean version of Romeo and Juliet for kids
Performances of the musical “Choon-Hyang – The Real Love”, considered Korea's "Romeo and Juliet," will take place on March 10 and 11 in Hanoi.
The show is about young love that has to overcome many obstacles for an ever happy ending, according to a press release from Korean Cultural Center in the capital this week.
“Choon-Hyang – The True Love” has has attracted many audiences from all over the world.
“Full of energy and very funny, this is truly a party for the eyes with break-dance performances, performing with Korean swords, Taekwondo and Samul-nori – a traditional dance played with many drums, etc. All are performed by children!” says the release.
The show will take place in English at 7 p.m. at Hanoi Drama Theater, 42 Trang Tien Street, Hanoi.
For more information, contact: The Korean Cultural Center, 49 Nguyen Du Street, Tel: + 84-4-39445980.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét