Hcm City - Song and dance performances provided a splendid end to the 6th annual ASEAN Youth Cultural Forum last Friday, with the youth of the 10 member countries united in a spirit of friendship and mutual understanding.
University students from the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have been participating in an exchange programme with their partners in HCM City, the host of the forum, at the city`s Youth Cultural House.
The forum is hosted this year by the National University of HCM City with support of the municipal Youth Union.
Opening the night-time programme, students from the University of Brunei performed a Kain Jongsarat dance clothed in their country`s traditional costumes of women and men.
The dance depicts the beauty of the handwoven clothing through graceful hand movements and steps.
Another dance, the Lela Menchanai, is a song-dance extracted from a famous legend of Brunei based on a true love story between Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei and the beautiful Lala Menchanai in the 16th century, which ends in a heartbreaking tragedy.
Cambodia` s Royal University of Phnom Penh students joined the exchange with the Celestial Girl classical dance and Mlob Doong (Coconut Shade), traditional music usually performed at wedding ceremonies and festive occasions and parties.
Indonesian youths also performed their traditional Priring dance that originated in Padang, West Sumatra.
They held and balanced saucers in their hands while executing fast movements — rolling, squatting, and walking on plates placed on the floor.
Lao students showed their unique culture with the Dokchampa dance, a lowland dance performed during festive occasions and symbolic of the Land of the Million Elephants", as Laos is known.
Host Viet Nam, represented by students from the HCM City`s National University, participated in a Champa Court dance, also known as an Apsara Fairies` Dance.
As an asset of the ethnic Cham people, the dance is only performed for Cham Kings and Lords with many sculptures seen on Cham temples depicting Apsara fairies with soft, curvaceous bodies.
The exchange programme is part of the annual ASEAN Youth Cultural Forum that included students` lectures on folk culture, a seminar on Vietnamese national dance, a tour around the city and a one-day excursion to the Mekong Delta.
Travelling to the delta province of Tien Giang, delegates had a chance to shop at a floating market, take a boat trip through orchards and enjoy southern traditional music.
Osma Bin Abdul Hamid of the National University of Singapore and the leader of Singaporean six-member delegation, said although this was his second visit to Viet Nam he found the Mekong Delta trip exciting.
"Along the way, we enjoyed ourselves, the food, the environment and particularly the local people, who were very welcome."
Nuridz Zuana Zainal Abidin, 28, a second-year student at Malaysia` s University Malaya, said: "I just came here a few days ago, but will be leaving tomorrow. The people are very friendly and the country is peaceful."
"This is the first time I`ve actually joined in an international activity dedicated to youth. All the participants are very young, active and passionate," said Le Thoai Quyen, a second-year student at Van Lang University. By Thanh Hieu.
Source: vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn (August 04, 2008)
