Miss
Earth Viet Nam Luu Thi Diem Huong has ranked 17th in the Miss Grand Slam list on
the Globalbeauties website.

Miss Earth Viet Nam Luu Thi Diem Huong has ranked 17th in the Miss Grand Slam list on the Globalbeauties website.

Huong, a 20-year-old
model from HCM City, is the fifth beauty from Viet Nam to be placed among the
top 50 in the website’s annual vote.

Miss Viet Nam 2006 Mai
Phuong Thuy and Truong Tri Truc Diem, who won Miss Fashion title at the Miss
Earth 2007 contest, also finished in the top 50.

In 2008, Nguyen Thuy
Lam, Miss Universe Viet Nam 2008, came 57th while Tran Thi Huong Giang, Top 16
Miss World 2009, was in last year’s top 10. Giang also won Miss Asia in the same
list.

The top ten Miss Grand
Slam list this year includes Miss Universe Albania, Miss Supranational Czech
Republic, Miss World Botswana, Miss Earth Ecuador, Miss Earth India, Miss
Universe Mexico, Miss Universe Ireland, Miss Supranational Panama, Miss Universe
Puerto Rico and Miss World Venezuela.

* Apollo
English language students enjoy Christmas party fun

Nearly a thousand
Apollo English students have attended a Christmas party in Ha Noi.

The event was held to
boost student confidence in communicating in English as well as teaching them
more about the customs of other countries, organisers said.

The party not only
included a quiz with Father Christmas dishing out gifts, but also saw hip-hop
dance and rhythmic ballet performances.

Other activities
included making Christmas decorations, a Christmas card design contest and
gift-giving to disabled children.

Students also
participated in 10 Christmas games such as pin the nose for the snowman,
Christmas card making, colouring and a dancing race.

“We enjoyed the party
very much, but we were particularly excited by being given presents by Father
Christmas,” 14-year-old student Nguyen Quynh Anh said.

* Folk
cultural research honoured

Valuable pieces of research on folk literature and art were granted prizes by
the Viet Nam Folk Arts and Literature Association on Wednesday in Ha Noi at an
annual association event.

Research on the
spiritual customs of the Thai ethnic group who live in the northern mountainous
region of Viet Nam by Luong Thi Dai and Lo Xuan Hinh and a book on the geography
of Quang Xuong District in the central province of Thanh Hoa by Hoang Tuan Pho
received the most prestigious awards on the occasion.

Pho’s work provided a
range of information on the coastal district of Quang Xuong including its
history, geographical traits and potential development in tourism and
traditional handicrafts.

Dai and Hinh
researched the long-standing traditions of the Thai people, concentrating on
their marriage ceremony, known as sen phan be.

The ceremony is
thought to help break ties with loved ones from a previous life, so the
participants can find happiness in the current one.

The association
awarded 66 prizes selected from 89 entries in the fields of philology, folk
culture, performing arts, geography, traditional customs and folk knowledge,
according to To Ngoc Thanh, the association’s president.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News