 Normally, a birthday party is celebrated with candle-lit cakes, birthday balloons and themed-parties. |
B: In an email to VOV this week, Ivan wrote: “Dear friends from Hanoi! It has been about six months since I wrote to you my last message - sent on the occasion of traditional lunar New Year or Tet. Of course, a lot has changed in the world over the past six months. But in this unusual year , something has remained unchanged - my warm attitude for my favorite radio station, which continues its daily broadcast from Vietnam.”
A: He continued, “This week I am celebrating my 39th birthday and I want to know how the Vietnamese celebrate their birthdays - what traditions and modern trends do these celebrations have in Vietnam? I would be very pleased to celebrate this birthday with your story about the celebration of birthdays in Vietnam.”
B: Thanks for the question, Ivan! Like people in other countries, birthdays are a special occasion to everyone in Vietnam. Happy Birthday in Vietnamese is Sinh nhat vui ve or Chuc mung sinh nhat. Normally, a birthday party is celebrated with candle-lit cakes, birthday balloons and themed-parties.
 The first birthday tradition is one of the most important days in Vietnamese people’s life. |
A: The first birthday tradition is one of the most important days in Vietnamese people’s life. Celebrating the first birthday for children, called Thoi Noi, which means abandoning the cradle, is a tradition that has existed for a long time. The family would like to say a big thank to and pray the gods, especially Ba Mu (God Mother) and ancestors for helping the child to grow up with health, intelligence and luck. It’s a chance for relatives and family friends to come and wish all the best to the child. The Thoi Noi ceremony also represents the family’s belief in a bright future.
B: Vietnamese families usually begin preparing for a first birthday a few weeks before. They prepare offerings, food, clothes, and decorations. They invite family members, friends, and neighbors over to the party.
A: Offerings could be different depending on the region but they typically include steamed sticky rice, sweet soup, boiled chicken, roasted whole pig, congee, liquor, tea, fruits, and flowers. The offerings are arranged on trays which are put in the garden, on tables, and the ancestral altar in the house.
B: And that’s a brief introduction of birthday celebration in Vietnam. Once again, Happy Birthday, Ivan! This week, Siddhartha Bhattacharjee and Bidhan Chandra Sanyal of India expressed their interest in our story about the launch of Vietnam’s largest blood donation campaign last week and asked whether Vietnam celebrates World Blood Donation Day on June 14.
A: Yes, we do. For example, an event honoring 100 outstanding blood donors nationwide, particularly during COVID-19 will be held in mid-August, as part of a myriad of activities marking World Blood Donor Day.
B: According to the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation, meetings, conferences, and voluntary blood donation campaigns are scheduled. Related sides will also organise activities across residential areas.
A: Every year, Vietnam needs about 2 million blood units for emergency aid, medical treatment, and as reserves for accidents, disasters, and epidemics. The voluntary blood donation movement has developed strongly, attracting people from all social strata, from students, civil servants, armed forces personnel, health workers, to religious dignitaries and workers.
B: Commenting on our story about Canadian rapper Nuce, whose real name is Luc Loewen and his passion for rap, Eugenie Beuman of the Netherlands wrote: “That's a wonderful story. Deep respect how you manage it to become so happy! I hope there is a successful future for you with your music! Greetings from Holland.”
B: Thanks for your kind words, Eugenie! We forward your comment to Nuce and are pretty sure it will provide a great source of encouragement for him. This week, VOVworld received more than 300 letters from listeners around the world. Many of them asked about Hue Festival 2022 which will take place from June 25 to 30 in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, the seat of the Nguyen dynasty which ruled Vietnam from 1802 to 1945.
A: Hue Festival 2022 is the first festival in Vietnam to be organized all year round. The highlight of this year’s festival will be an arts and culture week gathering nearly 400 performers from Vietnam and seven countries.
A: The festival features a wide range of events including an art program at the opening ceremony of the festival, a street carnival and a music program featuring famous songs by late composer Trinh Cong Son who was dubbed “Vietnam’s Bob Dylan”.
B: Other activities will include a food festival, a hot air balloon festival, Vietnam Summer Fair 2022 and a SUP (Standup Paddle Board) rowing competition. The events will take place in various locations along the Huong River.
 An art performance at the Hue festival |
A: Hue Festival is a biennial cultural event celebrated in even years in order to honor Hue's cultural heritages as well as Vietnam's national identity. With a long history since 1992, each celebration has a distinctive festive theme, which never fails to draw in millions of visitors.
B: Also relating to Hue, Uddam Chhay of Cambodia has asked for more information about cycling week in the central province.
A: The Wecyc (We cycle) Week, launched in Vietnam in 2019 by the Embassy of Denmark, the Thua Thien-Hue Institute of Development Studies and Ashui.com, takes place in the first week of June every year. It aims to promote cycling culture in municipalities to change the habit of travelling by car and motorbike into safe and environmental-friendly cycling trips.
B: This year’s event involved an early morning group cycling tour of Hue citadel, an exhibition called ‘Copenhagen –Livable City – Cycling City’ and a seminar called ‘Biking – A Story of Green Commute’.
A: Last week, hundreds of people in Hue joined the Embassy of Denmark in a campaign to promote cycling culture in Vietnam’s municipalities as part of Wecyc Week 2022.
B: Thank you Uddam Chhay for your question. Now we would like to acknowledge reception report from Wang Yongzhi of China, Tomasz Kotas of Poland, and Stefano Moroni of Italy, as well as Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Bidhan Chandra Sanyal of India, Saleem Akhtar Chadhar of Pakistan and other listeners who sent us emails or posted comments on our Facebook fanpage, VOV5 English Service.
A: That concludes today’s program. We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVWorld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs.
B: Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platforms, to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye.