Social News 25/9 HCM City wants to raise museum admission to improve quality   Museums in Ho Chi Minh City may see their ticket prices soar by up to 20 times, starting 2018, as operators find ways to raise more funds for their operations. A proposal by the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to hike entrance fees came as the result of a meeting in March between the city’s chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong and directors of  seven museums in the southern metropolis. The new pricing table, poised to take effect on January 1, 2018 if approved, looks to set a single entrance fee for adults of VND30,000 (US$1.32) across the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, Museum of Fine Arts,  Museum of Vietnamese History, and Ho Chi Minh Museum. The War Remnants Museum will charge adults VND40,000 ($1.76), while the Southern Women’s Museum and Ton Duc Thang Museum will remain open to the public free of charge, according to the  proposal. No distinctions are made between local and foreign visitors. Children under six years of age and the elderly will enjoy free admission, with a 50-percent discount available to children between six and 16 years old. Currently, adult tickets to most museums in the city cost only VND2,000-5,000 ($0.09-0.22) for Vietnamese citizens and VND10,000-15,000 ($0.44-0.66) for foreigners, prices that have been in place since  2005. With the exception of the War Remnants Museum, which raked in VND14 billion ($616,700) in revenue from 1.1 million visitors last year, museums in the southern metropolis have been struggling to make  ends meet given limited visitors. In the same year, the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Museum of Fine Arts only collected VND300 million ($13,200) and VND500 million ($22,000) in ticket sales, respectively, while spending over VND2.7 billion  ($119,000) on regular expenses each. Reliance on the city’s budget to get by has left these museums unable to take the initiative in investing in new artifacts and modernizing their displays to attract more visitors. Therefore, the recent proposal for a raise in entrance fees has been warmly welcomed by museum officials. “The War Remnants Museum is currently under renovation to welcome a new look,” said Huynh Ngoc Van, the museum’s director. “In 2018, we will introduce an exhibition showcasing the history of Binh Phuoc Province during and after the war as a way of celebrating the new ticket prices.” According to Van, improved revenues from the new entrance fees will allow local museums to transform themselves for the better in the long run. “We will upgrade and modernize our exhibition rooms with a vision to become a smart and interactive museum by 2020, which is expected to bring in more visitors,” said Hoang Anh Tuan, director of the  Museum of Vietnamese History. Three new caves to open to tourists at Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang The tourism department of central Vietnam’s Quang Binh Province has just concluded a survey of a new tourist route across three natural caves in the province’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The caves – Dai A, Over and Pygmy – are part of the Vom cave system in the park’s ecological restoration zone. Dai A Cave, previously known as Tiger Cave, stretches 1,616 meters in length and reaches as deep as 46 meters from its opening, which measures over 50 meters in diameter. Over Cave is located 100 meters from Dai A Cave, running 3,244 meters long and 104 meters deep, with the widest section measuring up to 125 meters in diameter. Meanwhile, Pygmy Cave is the smallest of the three, stretching only 845 meters in length and 94 meters deep. The caves are surrounded by primeval forests boasting high biodiversity and scenic landscapes. Adventure-seekers taking part in the upcoming tour will trek 20 kilometers across the forests and caves over the course of three days and two nights. The tour’s itinerary will be submitted to the administration of Quang Binh for approval, and is expected to become available as early as 2018. The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage Site situated in a limestone zone of 2,000 square kilometers in central Vietnam. The park is famour for hosting the world's biggest known cave of Son Doong, which is part of two massive karst regions with 300 caves and grottos. How do I look? Asia reality show comes on air TV viewers, especially women, will be provided with more choices to watch an international-level TV reality show called “How do I look? Asia” on aesthetic beauty and fashion for Asian women aged between  20 and 44 starting this month. The show will be aired every Monday night starting at 7 p.m. on cable and satellite TV channels of SCTV, HTVC, VTVCab and FPT. The third season of the show is expected to capture huge attention of women, with an emphasis on sharing experiences on various make-up styles and elegant fashion trends. Concert celebrates tenor Dang Duong’s 20-year singing career Meriotorious Artist Dang Duong will give performances marking his 20-year singing career at Hanoi Opera House on October 14-15. The concert titled My Sun will also include special guests' performers, namely Trong Tan, Viet Hoan, Anh Tho and 60 artists of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra. The show will be directed by composer and producer Tran Manh Hung, who has ever directed classical concerts and produced albums for many famous singers, including Thanh Lam, Tung Duong, Tan  Nhan and others. Dang Duong is one of the famous tenors of Vietnam’s chamber music. In his first solo performance, the singer will bring to music lovers local popular songs, such as Hanoi niem tin va hy vong (Hanoi— belief  and hope), Tinh ca (Love song), Nhung anh sao dem (Stars in Night), Khat vong (Inspiration), Nguoi Hanoi (Hanoian); and foreign musical works, Besame mucho, O solemio, Mama, Midnight in Moscow. Reality TV shows promote financial education Reality TV shows “Nhung Dua Tre Thong Thai” (Smart Kids) organized by the State Bank of Vietnam and the Vietnam Television were broadcast on VTV 24 on September 23 to teach kids money-saving  skills, financial personal planning and management.  Financial education refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Through the shows, kids will be taught more  about what money really means and how to spend money wisely. Additionally, the shows will provide kids with knowledge of and basic understanding of history of Vietnam’s money, value, picture on the paper money, wrong acts on money, handling worn-out paper money,  bank system and service, saving and investing. A bank representative said in nations such as the U.S , British, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, kids are taught money management skills to have good habits in spending at early  age; accordingly they will have right manners and take responsibility on their own finance, families and society. Once a person is taught how to use money at early age, they will have more opportunities to  achieve success and live happily. It is an urgent need to teach kids how to manage their money to benefit each family and the society. In Vietnam, there have been some program relating to financial education for kids yet it is not popular. Participants urge to improve quality of life in HCMC’s rural areas In the meeting on government’s rural development plan yesterday, participants said Ho Chi Minh City needs not to “sprint” to achieve the plan by all means but it needs to improve quality of all requirements.  Meeting participants said that carrying out the government’s rural plan is a procedure which needs to focus on its quality rather than follow the crowd to gain the certification by all means. The procedure would rather be slow and steady and the city should orient towards sustainable growth. In general, all efforts in the process aim to improve the quality of live in countryside areas and locals’  income; people’s satisfaction is the most valuable measure when it comes to the government’s rural development plan. For years, the movement named “The country builds new rural areas” mobilized many individuals, enterprises and organizations’ contributions. Various practical activities such as building houses and  bridges, repairing dilapidated houses and donating land for making roads. By the end of 2016, HCMC repaired 2,730 houses in outlying districts’ communes. Total spending was nearly VND105 billion ($4.6 million)As per the plan for the period 2016 - 2020, HCMC continues investing in VND40,600 billion to improve quality of the program. Of the amount, 60 percent comes from contribution from society and enterprises as well as credit program. It is estimated that HCMC would invest in VND726 billion in each commune. Like other cities and provinces in the country, HCMC has adopted measures such as technological supports and perfect infrastructure to improve requirements in the plan. As per road map, 30 communes in HCMC will achieve the government’s rural development plan by 2018; HCMC’s 26 communes and three districts will become new countryside areas in 2019. The city  strives to complete the plan in five outlying communes by 2020. Nearly 70 percent waste storage sites unhygienic in Vietnam The country now has 660 waste storage sites excluding small ones in communes, of the number only 31 percent are hygienic. That was announced at a workshop on waste storage sites' management in Vietnam hosted by the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment this morning. Solid industrial and household wastes are buried together in many provinces in the South Central Coast and the Central Highlands, where most of landfill sites are unhygienic. In the Central Highlands, open-air landfill sites locate in valleys near the upper reaches of rivers causing environmental pollution in the lower reaches. Meantime, lot of waste storage sites have no shores in the Mekong Delta so they have been submerged when floodwater rises. During dry season, waste is burn causing environmental pollution. Choosing locations for waste management sites as well as building and operating them have been implemented according to a joint circular issued since 2001. There has no specific instructions on their  working process, said Ms. Duong Thi Phuong Anh from the institute. Mr. Hoang Manh Hiep from Technical Infrastructure Department under the Ministry of Construction said that waste burying is not an encouraged treatment solution. Still the country now has less than 40 urban solid waste treatment facilities. They are operating with total designed capacity approximating 7,500 tons a day while the volume of solid household waste released  a day is about 38,000 tons, he added. He proposed to study a roadmap to gradually adjust solid household waste treatment prices to make up treatment facilities’ investment and operation costs. Delegates at the workshop said that it is needed to build solid waste management plans and waste management should accord the plans. Fifty seven out of 63 provinces in the country have established and approved their plans. The remaining provinces are expected to do that by the fourth quarter this year. Lawrence S.Ting Fund offers scholarships worth VND 8.46bln The Lawrence S.Ting Fund and the Phu My Hung Delevelopent Co.Ltd organized to award the 15h Lawrence S.Ting scholarships at Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7  yesterday. The programn awarded 376 scholarships, valued at over VND 3.4billion to students in highschools, colleges and universities cross over the country whose have good achievements in study and joined in  social charitable activities and disadvantage students. The organizers also offered indirect scholarships worth VND 5.06billion to the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, the Fund for the Poor, Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund, Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring  Association for the Disabled, Orphans & Poor Patients, and study promotion associations in 63 provinces and cities nationwide. To date, the Lawrence S. Ting Fund has given nearly 90,119 scholarships with a total amount of VND 96.3 billion. Over 1,000 youths join in young people with traffic festival Over 1,000 students and young communist members from colleges and companies in Da Lat City yesterday joined in the festival held by the Communist Youth Union in Ho Chi Minh City and the National  Committee of Safety Traffic.  At the launch ceremony of the festival named “ Young people and Traffic Culture”, the union asked its grass-root unions to enhance its activities in response to the year for safe traffic 2017 including increasing  information of traffic order to students and implementing the campaign “ Young people and traffic culture” in the central highlands province of Lam Dong’s Da Lat City. Additionally, it set up mobile teams of young people and volunteers to keep traffic safety and order. Many various activities took place during the festival including demonstration to spread information of traffic safety, exhibition and increase knowledge of traffic regulation. Accidents happened due to drivers’ low awareness As per transport agencies’ report, most of traffic accidents have happened due to drivers’ low awareness with over 71 percent.  Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong said that for years, the country has adopted preventative measures to curb traffic congestion and accidents; as a result, there has been positive changes such  as reduced number of death tolls and injured people. For instance, in 2016, the country reported over 21,568 traffic accidents killing 8,680 people and injuring 19,290 people. Most of them were road accidents with 97.8 percent; of which 66.7 percent caused by motorbikes and 27.07 by cars, railway accidents accounting for 1.7 percent and river accident with 0.5 percent. Vietnam, Cuba’s trade unions strengthen traditional friendship The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) and the Central Union of Cuban Workers (CTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on specific activities to promote the bilateral  relations. The signing took place at talks between President of the VGCL Bui Van Cuong and Secretary General of the CTC Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento as part of Cuong’s visit to Cuba from September 22-24. The visit aims to exchange experience and information in trade union activities with Cuba, thus contributing to deepening the special solidarity between Vietnam and Cuba, Cuong said. Guilarte de Nacimiento expressed his pleasure to welcome the VGCL delegation and took the occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, State and workers for supporting Cuban people in the past and at  present. The VGCL President presented 25,000 USD in cash and computer sets to Cuban workers affected by the recent storm Irma. In an interview granted to the Worker weekly newspaper, the mouthpiece of CTC, Cuong highlighted the special bond between the two countries’ people and workers, which was nurtured by Presidents Ho  Chi Minh and Fidel Castro Ruz. He expressed his readiness to share experience with Cuba to develop trade unions in non-State economic sectors where the VGCL attaches great importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests  of workers, ensuring social welfare, fair wages, labour safety, working environment conditions, and entertainment rights. During his visit to Cuba, Cuong also met with head of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee’s Department of External Relations Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera.- Long An province asked to step up crackdowns on smuggling Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh urged the Mekong Delta province of Long An to step up its efforts to disrupt cross-border smuggling rings as the province is one of the major flashpoints in the region, especially  in regards to the smuggling of cigarettes. The requested was made during the deputy PM’s visit to the province on September 24. Binh noted that one of the major reasons that smuggling remains rife in Long An is the local authorities’ incapacity to deal with the crime, with some of those in authority even colluding with smugglers. Therefore he ordered Long An province to severely punish officials who turn a blind eye to or give a helping hand to smugglers. Deputy PM Binh also asked the provincial government to take action in order to boost the economic development in border districts so that the local residents will be discouraged from participating in  smuggling activities. In the first six months of 2017, the Long An authorities uncovered more than 3,300 smuggling cases and 2,700 trade frauds. Despite the province’s efforts, smuggling remains a major problem, with the crime mainly involving cigarettes, sugar, beverages, timber and second-hand electronic products. Long An Secretary Pham Van Rach said that the anti-smuggling campaign requires the efforts of not only Long An province, but also the coordination of neighbouring provinces and the competent agencies  of where the smuggled goods are sold. 2017 ASEAN Village concludes The 2017 ASEAN Village concluded in Ho Chi Minh City, on September 24, following three days of festival. During the closing ceremony, the audiences enjoyed many traditional artistic performances from the ASEAN countries. This is the first time the event was organised in Ho Chi Minh City, with the aim of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the foundation of ASEAN and 22 years since Vietnam’s accession to the bloc. During the event, the ASEAN Village space was divided into five major areas, including a stage for artistic performances, cultural spaces for the ten ASEAN member nations, nearly 200 booths showcasing  trade and tourism products, 50 food stalls introducing Vietnamese and ASEAN traditional cuisine, and a zone reserved for folk games. Visitors also had an opportunity to explore the cultural practices and traditional costumes of the ASEAN countries. This year, the house of Vietnam mainly displayed products typical of the Cham ethnic culture. According to Van Quan Phu Doan, Director of Champa Ceramics Company and representative of the Vietnamese houses, said that Thailand, Cambodia and Laos share similarities in the Cham culture. Over  the past few days, the company has also exchanged and promoted the Cham culture.      Festival brings taste of Vietnamese cuisine to Russia The Vietnamese Street Food Festival was held from September 22 to 24, in Moscow, bringing together dozens of Vietnamese restaurants and food companies in Russia. Covering over 2,000 square metres of the Hanoi-Moscow Multifunctional Trade Centre, the festival space was divided into three areas introducing the signature dishes of Vietnam’s northern, central and  southern regions; Vietnamese desserts, sweets and cakes; and Vietnamese tea and coffee. Visitors were given an opportunity to witness the cooking process of a number of dishes, whilst learning about the ingredients and spices used in the dishes, which were captioned in the Russian language. They showed their excitement at trying their hands at using chopsticks instead of a knife and fork. Vietnamese traditional conical hat dance, bamboo pole dance, lion dance, Quan Ho (love duet singing), and folk songs were also staged during the festival in order to advertise Vietnamese culture to the  Russians. Teacher Tatiana shared that she visited Vietnam five years ago and she was so impressed by Vietnamese food that when she heard about the festival she decided to visit it as soon as it opened so that she  could taste her favourite dishes once again.      PetroVietnam raises money for victims of Typhoon Doksuri The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and its member companies have raised more than 3 billion VND (132,000 USD) for people affected by Typhoon Doksuri in central Vietnam as of September  24. Of the amount, more than half a billion VND (22,000 USD) was donated by the group’s workers. The group has been calling for donations from its staff and member companies to help victims of the typhoon deal with its aftermath and return to normal life.  According to the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, at least nine people were killed, 112 injured and four are missing after Doksuri swept through Vietnam in mid- September. Total losses were estimated at about 385 million USD. The typhoon, the biggest to hit the country in many years, caused rainfall between 100-250mm in provinces from Thanh Hoa to Thua Thien-Hue in central Vietnam and left 1.3 million people without power. Last week, the PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation also sent a delegation to present gifts to victims of flash floods in Lao Chai commune, Mu Cang Chai district, northern Yen Bai province.  The firm donated 200 million VND in total to people there, including 100 million VND worth of materials to build 2km of roads from Lao Chai to Ta Ghenh villages. In addition, it provided financial support to 48  affected households and presented clothes, books and bags for local students.  Siemens Healthineers provides equipment for Delta’s stroke hospital Việt Cường Medical Investment Ltd and Siemens Healthineers last week signed an equipment supply and service contract for the Stroke International Services (SIS) Cần Thơ project in HCM City. As per the contract, the first hospital to treat stroke in the Mekong Delta region will be equipped with Siemens Healthineers advanced imaging diagnostic systems. “SIS Cần Thơ project plays an important and meaningful role in providing high quality healthcare service to the population of 17 million people in Mekong Delta, particularly in providing timely treatment for  stroke and cardiovascular patients, as well as education and training,” Fabrice Leguet, General Director of Siemens Healthcare, in Việt Nam said. By contributing to the project, Siemens Healthineers reaffirmed its commitment to the development of Việt Nam’s healthcare sector, he said. The construction of SIS Cần Thơ commenced in July, 2017, fuelled by the passion and dedication of leading Vietnamese and international doctors, pursuing the purpose of reducing death and disability ratio  for stroke and cardiovascular patients. In the first phase, the hospital will have 60 inpatient beds, which will then increase to 150–200 in the next phase. Việt Nam exit tournament with one win, three defeats Việt Nam exited the World Women’s Volleyball Championship 2018’s qualifier with a win in Thailand yesterday. Việt Nam came from behind to beat Iran 24-26, 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 in the last group round match. Earlier, Việt Nam lost to Thailand, North Korea and South Korea. The tournament features a single round-robin format. China and Kazakhstan from Group A, and South Korea and Thailand from Group B entered the semi-finals. They also earned the right to compete in the  World Championship in various cities in Japan in 2018.  Tanzanian Party wants to beef up ties with Communist Party of Vietnam Secretary-General of the Party of the Revolution of Tanzania (CCM) Abdulrahman Kinana wants to promote ties with the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in high-level delegation exchanges, information and  experience sharing, and personnel training. He expressed the hope at a working session with Vietnamese Party delegates led by Chau Van Lam, member of the CPV Central Committee and Secretary of Tuyen Quang’s Party Committee, in Tanzania’s  capital city Dodoma on September 21. Kinana said he wants to send CCM delegations to Vietnam to learn from the country’s experience in building a socialist-oriented market economy, developing the economy and social welfare policies. He highlighted the success of the Halotel telecom company, a joint venture of Vietnam’s military-run telecommunications group Viettel with Tanzania, evidence of the potential for bilateral cooperation in other  fields. Tanzania hopes to attract more Vietnamese investors, he said, adding that sound cooperation between the two countries’ Parties is expected to contribute to ties between their governments and peoples in  the fields of their strengths such as telecommunication, agriculture, energy, tourism and culture. For his part, Lam said Vietnam attaches great importance to enhancing traditional friendship relations with Tanzania. He expressed his pleasure at the growing ties between the two countries’ Parties and peoples. The official suggested the two sides increase bilateral political relations via promoting cooperation mechanisms, especially through high-level delegation exchanges, sharing experience in the Party building,  and socio-economic development strategies. During the working visit to Tanzania from September 20-24, the Vietnamese Party delegation also visited the Embassy of Vietnam in Tanzania, the Vietnam-Tanzania telecom joint venture, and some cultural and economic facilities.   Programmes for children to enjoy Mid-autumn Festival Ho Chi Minh City’s Youth Social Work Centre is organising entertainment programmes for children, especially disadvantaged kids on the outskirts of the city and the provinces of An Giang, Tay Ninh and Binh  Phuoc to enjoy the Mid-autumn Festival which falls on October 4 this year. The festival is annually held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. In the programmes, traditional games and food stalls are set up for these children to enjoy. The centre also is presenting more than 3,000 gifts and scholarships to children and those who have excellent school results but financial difficulties. These programmes started on September 23 and will last until October 1. In HCM City, they were held in the outlying districts of Can Gio and Cu Chi last weekend. Overseas Vietnamese in Laos help disaster victims The Overseas Vietnamese Association in Vientiane in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos launched a fund-raising campaign on September 24 to support victims of natural disasters in the  two countries. Speaking at the ceremony, President of the association Dao Minh Chau said that half of the money raised during the six-day campaign will be sent to the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the other half over to the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. The campaign has received enthusiastic response from the Vietnamese community in Vientiane, embassy staff and Vietnamese businesses in Laos. After two hours launching the campaign, 15,550 USD was collected. Minister Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy Nguyen Thanh Tung hailed the sympathy of overseas Vietnamese towards the homeland and their host country.  Storm Doksuri, the strongest one hitting Vietnam in many years, hit central Vietnam in mid-September, claiming nine lives and leaving four missing and 112 injured. Total losses were estimated at about 385  million USD. Meanwhile, typhoon Sonca in early August caused flooding and landslides in 14 Lao provinces killing 10 people and resulting in asset losses of around 7 million USD. Ngot show held in the capital The 3,000 fans lucky enough to see "Ngọt" in concert on Saturday night—the tickets sold out in two days—had discovered the band’s music through various media and in various moments. Thư Võ, a 23 year-old non-profit employee who lives in Điện Biên Province, had heard a group of friends covering one of the band’s songs. Mattias Rossignol, 38, used to own a bar called Hầm Hành,   where on a good night in 2014—the band’s first full year together—40 people would show up to see them play. Minh Thư, 17, heard Khắp Xung Quanh (All Around) on a friend’s phone about two years ago.  “I just feel like their music is part of my story,” she said before the show. At 8pm, Thư, Võ and Rossignol watched as four silhouettes appeared behind a screen on the stage at Long Vĩ palace. The massive figures swayed slightly as guitar chords built slowly towards some  unknown culmination. Three thousand people began to chant: "Ngọt, Ngọt, Ngọt." For the next two hours, the group—singer-guitarist Vũ Đinh Trọng Thắng, drummer Nguyễn Hùng Nam Anh, guitarist Trần Bình Tuấn and bassist Phan Việt Hoàng— played songs from their first album,   Ngọt, and their new album, Ngbthg, as fans chanted lyrics and danced. Acoustic singer-songwriter Vũ and rapper Đen, who released the song Cho Tôi Lang Thang. With the band, joined the group for a portion of the concert, gathering three of Viet Nam’s most popular indie acts on a single stage. “That feeling when 3,000 people are singing along with you…,” Thắng said after playing Không Làm Gì (Do Nothing). The days Rossignol witnessed, when a crowd of 40 people was a big deal for the group, seemed a distant memory. Since 2013, the Hà Nội band, whose members began playing together when they were just out of high school, has performed surf rock-inflected compositions with philosophical lyrics about salmon struggling   against the current; about sitting on a park bench, doing nothing; about running errands and other topics that eschew songwriting clichés. A crowd-funding campaign enabled them to release their first album. The release of their new album Ngbthg (An Ordinary Guy) marks a period of both musical and commercial growth for the band. This time, all post-production was handled by members of the band instead of   outsourced as with their previous album. The tracks reveal a range of new influences and sounds; Thắng said he thinks his songwriting has become stronger as he’s become less interested in being   “amusing”. The band has upcoming shows in HCM City and Đà Nắng and plans to add other tour dates soon. They’ll also be the youngest performers at the Monsoon Music Festival in Hà Nội this November. Ngbthg and the supporting tour seem poised to cement Ngọt’s reputation as one of Việt Nam’s most popular indie bands. But members hope the album will lead to something bigger: the growth of a thriving,  crowded indie music scene in Hà Nội and Việt Nam. “This is why I started a band,” Thắng said in an interview a few days before the show. “Because I want other people to start a band also. I want competition. I want people to write better music than I do and I  want to try to write better music than them.” Võ Đức Anh, the founder and owner of Hanoi Rock City, a live music venue in West Lake, said he thinks that the scene Ngọt wants to create has started to develop. When he first started booking the band  shortly after their founding, he said, “There wasn’t a scene.” Since then, however, serious young bands have appeared, not quite following a path still being laid by Ngọt, but certainly motivated and inspired by it. And thanks to NGỌT’s broad success, Anh thinks, the  new bands will find eager listeners more easily. “They were definitely the first ones that brought like a 34 year old office worker, that kind of person to listen to an indie song,” he said. “When I go to work and I see my co-workers or my students who are 14, 15  talking about them, that’s when I realized how popular they were.” When the last song ended at 10pm, hundreds waited to get T-shirts and albums signed by the band members. Thư stood in line for an hour and declared the experience “legendary”. In the slowly emptying concert hall, a dozen university students sat in a circle on the floor, passing around a ukulele and singing songs they had just heard Ngọt perform. Đinh Quang Minh, a 21year-old university student and aspiring rapper, said he carries the instrument with him everywhere he goes “for moments like this”. He had just met most of the people sitting with him. The last fans finally cleared out at 11:30. Minh and his friends left without getting autographs. The music had been enough. Watching the piece Tape Riot in town The Swiss artists of the Asphalt Piloten dance group will perform their artistic show called Tape Riot at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on September 27 and 28 on Nguyen Hue pedestrian square in downtown HCMC as  part of the “Europe meets Asia in Contemporary Dance” festival. Tape Riot was co-produced by La Paperie and ‘Košice 2013’. It has received the grant “Auteur d’espace” from SACD and the support of in-situ network, Tesa and L’ Atelline. The presentation of Tape Riot in  Vietnam is supported by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, the Embassy of Switzerland in Hanoi, the Consulate General of Switzerland in HCMC, as well as City of Biel/Bienne and Canton Bern. The dance group Asphalt Piloten is a company of unbridled artists from different artistic and geographic backgrounds who are driven to create for sake of creativity. VNN