Sports fans throughout Asia have their own ways of supporting Asian Indoor Games. Nguyen Thanh Tam, a retired teacher of English has his own unique way - carving AIG mascot’s from egg shell’s.

Sports fans throughout Asia have their own ways of supporting the ongoing Asian Indoor Games, some more diverse than most. Nguyen Thanh Tam, a retired teacher of English has his own unique way - carving AIG mascot’s from egg shell’s.

Famed with many egg shell sculptures, Tam has created Ho roosters in various sizes from the eggs of various birds including ostrich, goose and duck. The biggest so far is made from eggs weighing 0.8kg and 1.4kg.

Ho roosters is a rare Vietnamese species originating from Ho Village in the northern province of Bac Ninh’s Thuan Thanh District. The animal is famed for its good fighting ability and is considered in folk belief to possess the five characters of a good man, namely intelligent, strong, brave, humane and reliable.

Tam has also supported other sporting events including the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Euro 2008 with his egg sculptures. His collection has reached nearly 300 works and is on display at his home. Some of these works have also been displayed at Phu Tho Exhibition House in HCM City.

He first became interested in making things from eggs when trying to make teaching aids for his English lessons. After trying other materials such as ceramic, cardboard and foam rubber, he found egg shell to be the best material.

Then, with a working kit of a small saw, thread and a pair of scissors, he created Santa Claus and cartoon figures.

“It was really funny at first when I went to the market to carefully choose each egg,” he recalled, “Sometimes, I could choose only several from a big basket of eggs.”

Tam is thinking of a solo exhibition and has been waiting for the approval of the Viet Nam Records Judging Board to be recognised as the sculptor with the most works from eggs in Viet Nam.

He is also willing to teach other people how to create decorative objects from eggs.

VietNamNet/VNS