The first-ever Fish Sauce Festival in HCMC took place from October 23 to 27 in District 1, drawing significant interest from both locals and tourists.
The festival showcased over 150 booths with diverse activities aimed at honoring traditional fish sauce brands for community health and presenting dishes made with fish sauce, according to the local media.
The event also included food stalls offering street food and regional dishes that highlight fish sauce as a main ingredient, along with a dedicated area displaying the fish sauce production process. Throughout the five-day festival, culinary demonstrations were organized to promote and celebrate fish sauce for both locals and visitors.
Nguyen Van Dung, vice chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee, remarked that the fish sauce festival serves not only as a cultural and culinary event but also as a significant milestone in the advancement of Vietnamese cuisine. The festival adds to the variety of activities held in HCMC, reinforcing its reputation as a city of festivals.
Taxi driver clears 100 bricks from road
Noticing bricks scattered across the elevated Beltway No. 3 in Hanoi, Nguyen Van Hien parked his vehicle in the emergency stopping lane and removed the debris to ensure the safety of other drivers. A video capturing his effort went viral on social media on Monday, drawing enthusiastic praise from social media users in the comments.
The 41-year-old taxi driver from Dong Anh District told VnExpress that while driving on Beltway No. 3, he saw about 100 bricks strewn across the road, posing a serious hazard to motorists. In response, he decided to clear them away himself.
Hien explained that he simply wanted to help others drive safely and did not consider the risk of an accident or the possibility of a fine. “If I receive a fine, I will accept it, but I couldn’t leave the bricks there, knowing they could endanger others,” he said.
A bus attendant with a heart of gold
Pham Phuong Nam, 29, is an attendant working on the bus running between Ba Don Town and Dong Hoi City in Quang Binh Province. Since he began working on the bus eight years ago, he has exempted bus fares for the elderly, the disabled and patients. “Despite a small sum, it helps them save a little bit for their lives,” he said.
Nam told vnexpress.net that he spends the charges on cargo transport, which the bus company allows the driver and attendant to collect to pay for their meals, helping those in need. He would present poor patients hundreds of thousands of dong, or even millions of dong, to ease part of their burden.
Recently, Nam has posted videos featuring those receiving his help, which went viral on social media, and some netizens offered to contribute money for him to help more people in need, but he refused, saying that he would continue his deed on his own.
What Nam is doing has been supported by his parents. They said they are proud of their son, though they cannot do anything to help their son.
A newborn weighing nearly six kilograms
On October 24, a 34-year-old woman in her 39-week pregnancy was performed cesarean section by doctors of Military Hospital 354 in Hanoi to deliver a newborn girl weighing 5.9kg.
Earlier, the pregnant woman, who was expecting her third child, went to Military Hospital 354 for checkup and looking for a “good day” to give birth to her child. Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, head of the hospital’s obstetric ward, found out that the fetus was 39 weeks and was too heavy. In addition, the expectant mother had undergone c-section before, which might be fatal to both the mother and her child.
The doctors then decided to perform c-section to deliver the big, heavy child. The surgery was successful, and the health of both the 5.9kg newborn girl and her mother was good. Dr. Phuong told tuoitre.vn that those pregnant women who had earlier undergone c-sections had to have their pregnancy examined periodically to prevent any fatal risk to them and their expecting children.
