Australian cities discover “Charming Vietnam”

The normally serene Australian capital Canberra and bustling Sydney seemed to be beautified by the dozens of visiting artists, singers and models, who contributed to the sweeping success of the two events.

“Charming Vietnam Gala, a music-fashion program of high quality and great artistic values, is a prominent aspect of our ‘Vietnamese culture promotion week’ in Australia,” said Pham Ngoc Minh, deputy CEO of Vietnam Airlines, o­ne of the show’s sponsors along with Thanh Nien newspaper, Vietnamese Consulate General in Sydney and Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Culture and Information.

Tran Van Hinh, Chargé d’Affaires at the Vietnamese embassy in Canberra, said the office was overwhelmed with overseas Vietnamese and Australians requesting tickets several days before the performances.

“Our preparations during the two months finally paid off. The two performances were both highly acclaimed by Vietnamese expats and foreigners, including senators and business people,” he said.

Unusually for art programs, both shows held the sustained attention of the 1,200-plus audiences. Most of the people hung around even after the shows ended, with many greeting the visiting artists in person, asking for their autographs and expressing their love and respect for the Vietnamese art and culture.

Among the Australian women who came to the shows in the traditional Vietnamese costume ao dai was Chakriya Bowman, an engineer. She said she had been looking forward to the shows for two months.

The gala was like a great cultural feast in which people, both Vietnamese and foreigners, got together to talk about Vietnam and express their desire to contribute to its prosperity.

It was also a real breakthrough in that culture and arts were used to strengthen diplomatic ties.

Out of place

The gala also evoked noisy demonstrations carried o­n by a number of overseas Vietnamese.

However, their actions seemed to achieve a counter-effect they could not have anticipated: the demonstrations o­nly seemed to add to the atmosphere and encourage more people to come to the performances.

“I was given a free lunch and rides plus AUS $50; so, I have to shout as loud as I can,” a young ‘demonstrator’ told Thanh Nien.