Saturday, September 01, 2007

Vietnamese cultural festival to be held in Taipei

Taipei, Aug. 31 (CNA) A Vietnamese cultural festival will be held in Taipei Sunday, Vietnam's Independence Day, the Taipei city government's Department of Labor announced Friday.

The celebration, which will be held in 228 Memorial Park, is aimed at easing the homesickness of Vietnamese workers in Taipei City and to recognize their contributions to the city, said Department of Labor Commissioner Su Yin-kuei.

One of the most special events in the festival will be a "slow cycling" competition, Su said. The difference of this traditional Vietnamese competition to other cycling competitions is that the last cyclist to arrive at the finishing line is declared the winner.

"The unique event probably appropriately reflects the characteristics of the Vietnamese as they are always laid back and easy-going, " according to Su.

Three dance troupes -- Minh-hai, Datviet and Quoc Vuong -- that consist of Vietnamese workers will also perform.

Nguyen Ba Hai, head of the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei's Division of Labor Administration, encouraged all Vietnamese workers and families with Vietnamese spouses to take part in the event so that children from these families can better understand the culture of their mothers' home country, Nguyen said.

The event is a part of the 2007 Southeast Asian Cultural Activities series organized by the Migrant Workers' Cultural Center (MWCC) , an organization under the city government. In addition to Vietnam, the MWCC also organizes similar cultural events for workers from Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines every year.