Consul General Series - 越南駐港總領事 Tran Thanh Huan

Hello, I am Tran Thanh Huan, Consul General of Vietnam in HK. The warmest greetings to all of you, the Hong Kong Radio and Television audiences. Today, I’m very delighted to attend this Cultural Garden Programme to talk about some features of the Vietnamese culture.

你好,我是越南駐港總領事Tran Thanh Huan, 在此向香港電台的聽眾致以熱烈的問候。今天我非常開心能夠參與文化花園這個節目,介紹越南文化的特徵。

1) Can you highlight or tell us more about the famous and unique festivals or events in your country?

您能否重點介紹或告訴我們有關您國家著名和獨特的節日或活動?

Well, as you may know, Vietnam has a very rich and diverse culture of special identity. It varies slightly from region to region and among different ethnic groups, with many festivals and events. The unique and very popular is the Hung Kings’ Temple Festival which is our National Ancestral Holiday. According to the narrative, the first Hung King - King Duong Vuong, founded the Van Lang State - the first State of Vietnam. Together with the following 17 Hung Kings,they ruled the State since C. 2879 till 258 BC., teaching people to plow their fields and grow transplanted rice. Hung Kings’ Temple Festival is held annually from the 8th to the 11th of the third lunar month. The main festival day, which is a public holiday, is on the 10th day. During the festival, millions of people from all parts of the country and overseas Vietnamese gather at the Hung Kings’ Temple in Phu Tho province, to honor the National Founder and express gratitudes to the Ancestors, wishing for their blessings for peace, prosperity, favorable rain and wind and bumper crops. Hung Kings are perceived as the pride of the national origin, solidarity and patriotism of the Vietnamese people. The myths and stories of Hung Kings are known to all Vietnamese and especially are very popular among small childrens. The worshipping ritual of the Hung Kings is closely related to the ancestral worshipping tradition of most Vietnamese families which forms an important part of people's worshipping spiritual life. It was recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.

越南有著非常豐富的多元種族文化。不同地區和不同種族之間的節日略有不同,在眾多節日和活動之中最獨特而又非常受歡迎的,就是「雄王節」,這是我們國家紀念祖先的假期。據說,第一位雄王-涇陽王建立了文郎國,亦即是越南史上第一個古國。聯同17位雄王,他們從公元2879年至公元前258年開始統治文郎國,教導人們耕種土地和種植水稻。每年農曆3月8日至11日,都會舉行「雄王節」。而最重點慶祝的日子就是初十,同時是越南的法定假期。在節日期間,來自全國各地的數百萬人和海外越南人都會聚集在富壽省的雄王廟,以紀念國家創建者,並向祖先表示感謝,並祝願他們和平、繁榮,祈求風調雨順農作物大豐收。雄王被視為越南人民的民族血統起源,團結和愛國心的驕傲。越南人都知道雄王的神話和故事,尤其是在小孩中很受歡迎。雄王的崇拜儀式與大多數越南家庭的祖先崇拜傳統息息相關,這是人們屬靈生活的重要部分。 2012年被聯合國教科文組織列為人類非物質文化遺產。

2) Are there any special celebrations for the HK Vietnamese who stay here for so many years, maybe the community here that they want some special occasion for this kind of festival?

在香港居住多年的越南人有什麼特別的慶祝活動,在港的越南人團體會否特別慶祝這個節日?

Exactly during the Hung Kings’ Temple Festival, some from Vietnamese community here in HK also travel back to Vietnam to participate. Apart from this important event, we also share other events, like Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festivals.

恰好在「雄王節」期間,香港一些越南人會回到參與這個節日。 除了這項重要活動外,我們還會慶祝其他節日,例如農曆新年,中秋節。

3) So are there any other things you want to tell us more about the cultural side, like beside all those events or for your own, like personal favorite, any supplement details about the culture you want to tell us more.

因此,還有什麼您想告訴我們更多有關文化方面的信息,例如除了所有這些活動之外,或者對於您個人喜好,還有什麼有關文化的補充細節?

I have been here in Hong Kong for more than 2 years. After almost 30 years working faraway in the Americas continent, this is the first time I move to Asia, choosing Hong Kong. To me, Hong Kong is a modern, international and multicultural city but also quite familiar. Hong Kong people are very nice. Vietnam and Hong Kong share many cultural similarities. We both have festive holidays such as Lunar New Year, Qing Ming, Mid-Autumn Festivals. Like in Vietnam on this occasion, I see a lot of kumquat pots, peach or apricot blossoms being sold in the markets and shops here in Hong Kong. Talking about languages, I can understand what people around are saying even though I don’t know neither Cantonese nor Mandarin. There are so many words in Vietnamese and Cantonese are the same with minor differences in pronunciation. For example: learn/học/hook, or army/quân đội/gwan dui, government/chính phủ/ging fo, development/phát triển/faat jin. Those cultural similarities are the plus for us when working in Hong Kong and create the strong foundation for our bilateral cooperation. Now, the cooperation ties between Vietnam and Hong Kong nowaday are quite strong. We are big trade partners of each other and Hong Kong is the 5th largest foreign investor in Vietnam, with estimated more than 20 billion US$ of trade exchange and almost 23,5 billion US$ of registered investment capital in 2019.

我來香港已經超過2年了。在美洲大陸工作了將近30年之後,這是我第一次搬到亞洲,選擇香港。對我而言,香港是一個現代化,國際化和多元文化的城市,但同樣親切和給人熟悉的感覺。香港人亦非常友善。越南和香港有許多文化相似之處,我們倆都有春節、清明、中秋節等節日。像越南一樣,我在香港的市場和商店亦看到很多金桔,桃花或杏花。講到語言,就算我聽不懂廣東話和普通話,我也能理解周圍的人在說什麼。因為越南語和廣東話中有很多單詞相同,發音差異很小。例如:學習,我們讀做học,或軍隊就是quânđội,政府是chínhphủ,發展就是pháttriển。這些文化上的相似之處對我們在香港工作時是十分有利的,並為我們的雙邊合作奠定了堅實的基礎。如今,越南與香港之間的合作關係非常牢固。我們是彼此的大貿易夥伴,香港是越南的第五大外國投資者,2019年的貿易額估計超過200億美元,註冊投資資本接近235億美元。

4) So you’ve been here for 2 years. Consul General, you have any special favor about HK culture that you can tell us more, like what kinds of things you like here in HK?

所以你來港已經兩年了。 總領事您對香港文化有什麼特別偏愛的,您可以向我們講述更多嗎,例如您在香港喜歡什麼樣的事情?

I like Dragon Dance, I like the decoration on the street and at home of the people, like in Christmas and lunar New Year and I also like the Chinese Opera. Very nice, traditional and interesting.

我喜歡舞龍表演,喜歡聖誕節和農曆新年時在街頭和人們家中的裝飾,也喜歡中國戲曲。 非常傳統而有趣。

5) So please tell us more about the national flower of your country?

請告訴我們更多有關越南的國花?

In Vietnam, we have a famous folk poem which goes like this: “In the pond, nothing’s more beautiful than lotus, the flower of the dawn”. The image of the lotus can be seen throughout the literature, arts, cultural and spiritual life of Vietnamese people. The lotus is very popular and can be found at any localities in Vietnam. For us, lotus is known as an exquisite flower. It's not only beautiful but also has a graceful fragrance. The flower symbolizes the purity, serenity, commitment and optimism of the future. Lotus is very special since the flower grows in muddy water and yet rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable charm. One other special story about the lotus is that it has a special connection with our President Ho Chi Minh, the beloved Leader of Vietnam, the Great man of culture of the world. What was quite interesting is that the village which President Ho Chi Minh was born in is called the "Lotus Village". The lotus converges all the simple and noble elements, just like the simple yet noble and elegant person of President Ho Chi Minh.

在越南,我們有一首著名的民間詩作是這樣寫的:「在池塘里,沒有什麼比蓮花-黎明的花朵更美麗。」從越南人的文學、藝術、文化和精神生活中都體現出蓮花的形象。蓮花很受歡迎,在越南任何地方都可以找到。對我們來說,蓮花又被稱為精美的花朵。它不僅美麗,而且具有優雅的芬芳。這朵花象徵著純正、寧靜、承諾和對未來的樂觀。蓮花非常特別,因為它是生長在淤泥中,而荷葉就會挺出水面長出花朵,綻放出非凡的魅力。關於蓮花的另一個特別故事是與我們的總統胡志明有著特殊的聯繫。胡志明是世界文化的偉大人物、越南摯愛的領袖。有趣的是,胡志明總統出生的村莊被稱為“蓮花村”。蓮花匯聚了所有簡單而高貴的元素,就像胡志明總統是個簡單卻又高貴典雅的人一樣。

6)Maybe it’s the colour of Lotus that some of the ladies in Vietnam, they love the flower and use the flower as the pattern of the dress and gown, and they use it for head decorations.

也許是蓮花的顏色以及越南的一些女士們都很喜歡這朵花,並以此花作為連衣裙和長袍的圖案,並用它來裝飾頭髮作配飾。

7) Can you teach our audience some popular slangs in your language?

您可以用越南語教我們的聽眾一些流行的潮語嗎?

Slangs in the Vietnamese language are also very rich and diverse. For example, the word “ngon”. Literally, it means “good” or “tasty” in English or “hau” or “hau sik” in Cantonese. It is normally used in case of “ăn ngon” (“hau sik” or “eat well”). However you can use "ngon" in different circumstances. For example, if you are talking to a friend, someone you know very well, or someone your own age and when you see a beautiful girl or handsome guy, you would say “ngon” which means he/she is cute. At work, if people say “làm ngon” it means (“hau zo” or “good job”). In short, you can replace the word "good" or "hau" by "ngon"

越南語中的潮語也非常豐富多樣化。 例如,單詞“ ngon”。 從字面上看,它的意思是英語中的“good”或“tasty”或粵語中的「 好」或「好食」。 通常用於“ăn ngon”,即是形容食物好味道的情況。 但是,您可以在不同的情況下使用“ ngon”。 例如,如果您正在與一個朋友聊天,一個非常熟悉的人或者與自己年齡相符的人,並且當您看到漂亮的女孩或帥哥時,您會說“ ngon”,這表示他/她很可愛。 在工作中,如果人們說“làm ngon”,則意味著(“ 好作”或“幹得好”)。 簡而言之,您可以將“ good”或“ 好”替換為“ ngon”