In February 2024, Vietnamese airlines conducted 24,711 flights, an increase of about 3,300 flights compared to previous months, according to information from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.
Passengers flying during the Tet peak season at Noi Bai airport. Photo: Phan Cong
Among the flights operated by Vietnamese airlines, 7,991 flights were delayed, accounting for 32.3%, a significant increase compared to the previous month (19.3%).
Vietnam Airlines experienced delays in 20.5% of its flights, VietJet Air in 45.6%, Pacific Airlines in 41%, VASCO in 10.9%, Bamboo Airways in 31.5%, and Vietravel Airlines in 23.6% of their total flights operated.
There were 16,720 on-time flights in February, accounting for 67.7%, a sharp decrease compared to the previous month (80.7%).
Thus, in February, the rate of delayed flights increased significantly. This is the peak month of the Lunar New Year, with increased air travel to meet the high demand of passengers, as well as the month with foggy periods and unfavorable weather conditions in the northern region, affecting many flights.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the two main reasons for delayed take-offs in February 2024 were aircraft arriving late (19.7%) and airline operations (8.5%).
Other reasons cited by aviation authorities include weather, management, flight operations, airport facilities and services, and other factors.
Also in February, there were 43 canceled flights, accounting for 0.2%. The primary reasons for airlines to cancel flights in February were operational and commercial reasons. The remaining reasons included technical issues, weather, and other reasons.
Sự phát triển của AI đã làm thay đổi đáng kể trong nhiều lãnh vực trên toàn cầu. Công nghệ giải trí game cũng không là ngoại lệ. Xu hướng này đang tạo ra một thế giới game hấp dẫn. Các nhà sản xuất đưa ra những chiến lược tăng tính tương tác, tăng nguồn thu béo bở.
Việt Nam cũng không tránh khỏi quỹ đạo đó. Nhiều nhà cái uy tín đang thu hút số lượng người chơi rất lớn. Link vừa liệt kê giới thiệu các nhà mạng game hiện đang rất phổ biến tại Việt Nam. Tại đây bạn sẽ đuọc cung cấp những thông tin mà người tham gia game cần biết.
AI thay đổi cuộc chơi
Trước đây, công nghệ game phát triển trên đồ họa. Nhà phát triển cần đội ngũ quy mô, tốn nhiều thời gian, chi phí. Khi AI chào đời, một kỷ nguyên mới được hình thành. Nó giúp các studio, nhà phát triển nhỏ dễ dàng tiếp cận các công cụ hỗ trợ thiết kế.
Bên cạnh đó là việc tạo sự tương tác, trò chuyện của người chơi. Hay hơn nữa là tích hợp hình đại diện của người tham gia game. Đây là bước đột phát cực kỳ thu hút đối với người chơi. Rõ ràng, chúng ta thấy rằng AI mang sự hiệu quả, giảm chi phí đáng kể.
Dự đoán trong năm 2024 là sự phát triển đột biến của AI. Giai đoạn này gồm quy trình học tập, thử nghiệm, tối ưu hóa. Sau đó là một quá trình tiêu chuẩn hóa các trò chơi. Nhờ vậy, lãnh vực này phát triển khả năng chưa từng có.
Game đa nền tảng
Vào năm 2024, việc ra mắt Apple Vision Pro gây sóng trên thế giới game. Apple Vision Pro là một công cụ tai nghe. Một số trò chơi có tính năng tai nghe có thể theo dõi bằng tai, bằng mắt.
Chưa dừng lại ở đó, sự tham gia metaverse mang lại một trải nghiệm kết nối, hấp dẫn. Tại sao như vậy? Người chơi chuyển đổi liền mạch giữa thiết bị, giữa môi trường. Và ranh giới của tương tác thế giới ảo, thế giới thực không còn nữa.
Chính những điều trên, người chơi sẽ có game kết nối, đa dạng. Trò chơi sẽ toàn diện, sẽ tổng thể hơn.
NPC thực tế, phản ứng hơn
NPC (non-player character) là nhân vật do máy tính điều khiển. Nhân vật này thông minh, phản ứng thực tế hơn với người chơi, đối thoại tự nhiên hơn nhờ khả năng xử lý ngôn ngữ cao, làm xóa mờ đi ranh giới thế giới trò chơ và thực tế.
Sự phát triển – thách thức
Những chiến lược liệt kê trên chưa hẳn đáp ứng được tất cả cho thế giới game này. Homa Games, nhà sản xuất, phát triển game, lấn sân vào mảng máy chơi điện tử, máy điện toán. Họ cung cấp công cụ, nguồn cho phát triển như: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox. Còn trên nền tảng PC là Steam.
Theo Statistica, thị trường game di động sẽ tăng doanh thu 10% trong năm 2024. Tuy nhiên vẫn tồn tại những thử thách. Ví dụ nhà sản xuất cần tìm hiểu, nghiên cứu để bảo đảm điều gì hiệu quả, không hiệu quả.
Sự xuất hiện cửa hàng ứng dụng
Việc cho phép truy cập cửa hàng ứng dụng bằng phương tiện khác nhau là một bước ngoặc. Điều này giúp người chơi đến trực tiếp cửa hàng của nhà sản xuất. Việc giao tiếp trực tiếp này mang cho nhà phát triển nhiều lợi ích. Nhờ vậy, nhà sản xuất kiểm soát chiến lược kiếm tiền. Họ không phải trả khoản tiền cho nền tảng.
The Ethereum Foundation – the Swiss non-profit organization at the heart of the Ethereum ecosystem – is under investigation by an unnamed “state authority,” according to the group’s website’s GitHub repository.
The scope of the investigation and its focus was unknown at press time. According to the GitHub commit dated Feb. 26, 2024, “we have received a voluntary enquiry from a state authority that included a requirement for confidentiality.”
The investigation comes during a time of change for Ethereum’s technology. Ethereum is the second-largest blockchain by market cap after Bitcoin, launching in 2015 following an initial coin offering for the chain’s native ETH token. Earlier this month, the chain underwent a major technical upgrade, dubbed Dencun, designed to bring down transaction costs for users of Ethereum-based layer-2 platforms.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., investors await an outcome on the prospects of an Ether ETF, which faces a final deadline in late May for some applications.
Previously, the Ethereum Foundation’s website contained the following disclosure:
“The Ethereum Foundation (Stiftung Ethereum) has never been contacted by any agency anywhere in the world in a way which requires that contact not to be disclosed. Stiftung Ethereum will publicly disclose any sort of inquiry from government agencies that falls outside the scope of regular business operations.”
That footer was removed in the Feb 26, GitHub commit along with the website’s warrant canary, according to the changelog.
A warrant canary is usually some form of text or visual warning (like a colorful bird, in the case of the Ethereum Foundation), which some companies include on their websites to indicate they’ve never been served with a secret government subpoena or document request.
If a government agency does request information, the company may remove the text, suggesting they received the request without explicitly saying so.
The Ethereum Foundation’s warrant canary was previously removed in 2019 in error and was quickly added back to the website.
Possible explanations
An attorney familiar with the situation said a Swiss regulator may have served a document request to the Ethereum Foundation and may be working with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“I also think it’s fair to say the Ethereum Foundation is not the only entity that they are seeking information from,” the attorney told CoinDesk, saying other overseas entities are receiving scrutiny.
The SEC is evaluating multiple applications for an Ether ETF, but analysts following the process are becoming less optimistic that any such applications will be approved by the federal regulator, citing a lack of engagement between applicants and SEC officials.
“Any rumors of any activity” that the SEC and its overseas counterparts are engaging in may be correlated with the May 23 deadline the SEC faces, the attorney said.
Kraken Institutional operates under the exchange’s state-chartered banking license in Wyoming, attained back in 2020.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has unveiled a qualified custody service for institutional clients in crypto-friendly Wyoming through the firm’s long-standing state-chartered banking license in the region.
Kraken Institutional, announced on Wednesday, operates under the special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter snagged by the exchange back in 2020. All deposits will be held in segregated accounts remote from the exchange itself and on a full-reserve basis.
Wyoming, which is populated with twice as many cattle as people, has been steadily striving for regulatory clarity around crypto and has passed some 35 laws on the topic since 2016 – with Kraken being the biggest name to throw its weight behind that campaign.
“Kraken made history as the first cryptocurrency exchange to receive a banking charter in the US in 2020,” a spokesman for the exchange said in an email. “It’s taken us the best part of three years since this important milestone to work through all the various legal and compliance checks required to launch a bank and bring Kraken Financial to market.”
Kraken Institutional will continue to be a qualified custodian under the Security and Exchange Commission’s proposed Safeguarding Rule, which has not yet been adopted, the spokesman added.
Looking ahead, “Kraken’s engineering team has built out a smart order routing tool that provides access to highly liquid order books across multiple venues, aiming for the highest execution quality and price. This will offered by Kraken Institutional later this year,” he said.
Investors have high expectations for machine learning applications, which has led to an increase in the value of coins related to AI projects. These coins have grown in value even more than Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency. According to CoinGecko, the total market capitalization of AI-related tokens has risen from $2.7 billion in April 2023 to $26.4 billion in the present day. In the past 30 days alone, tokens related to AI projects have increased by 145% – 297%.
Kaiko Research has reported that the CoinDesk index of AI-linked tokens has surged more than 165% in the past year, surpassing Bitcoin’s 151% gain to reach a record high. AI token trading volume has also increased sharply this year, reaching an all-time high of $3.8 billion at the end of February.
Experts believe that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can help solve some emerging problems in the field of AI, like privacy and computing power. Co-founder of XYO Network, Markus Levin, predicts that as both AI systems and blockchain networks continue to develop, there will be more opportunities where the two fields combine.
VanEck Investment Management Fund’s managers, Matthew Sigel and Patrick Bush have stated that AI applications have great potential to become the core of cryptocurrency. AI-related blockchain products offer various services, such as payments, transaction models, and marketplaces for AI applications where developers can be paid with cryptocurrency. Some of the leading blockchain projects at the moment include Render Network – a blockchain platform that allows peer-to-peer sharing of AI-generated graphics, Fetch.AI – a platform for building AI applications, and SingularityNET – an AI services marketplace.
The VanEck Foundation forecasts that by 2030, revenue from AI-related cryptocurrency projects could reach $10.2 billion. In the most optimistic scenario, this number could reach $51 billion. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price has decreased sharply since approaching the $74,000 mark on March 14, trading at $62,400 on the evening of March 19. According to Kaiko Research, Bitcoin’s rise is creating about 1,500 new millionaires every day.
The happiness ranking is based on surveys conducted in 143 countries and territories. The ranking is calculated based on the average of the last 3 years of surveys and factors such as life satisfaction, GDP per capita, social security, longevity and health, freedom, generosity, and corruption. Survey participants are asked to rate their satisfaction with life on a scale of 0 to 10, where a 10-point scale means the happiest life.
Finland has maintained its position as the happiest country in the world for the 7th consecutive year, with a score of 7.7 points. Northern European countries such as Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden follow closely behind. The Top 10 also includes Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia.
Researchers attribute Finland’s happiness to factors such as the strong connection between people and nature, work-life balance, good social security, trust in government, low levels of corruption, quality education, and free healthcare. People in Finland have a simpler view of a successful life.
The World Happiness Report 2024 shows that younger generations are happier than older people in most regions of the world. The ranking also highlights that Afghanistan and Lebanon, countries affected by war and conflict, are at the bottom of the ranking with only 1.7 and 2.7 points, respectively.
Vietnam has improved its ranking and is now at 54th place, up 11 places from 2023. This is a positive sign that the quality of life of Vietnamese people is improving.
The report was published on March 20, which is the International Day of Happiness. This day was chosen by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of happiness in life. It has been celebrated every year since 2013.
Davies also said he wouldn’t return to Singapore “immediately” in order to effectively avoid jail and wait for some sort of settlement.
Kyle Davies, the co-founder of the now-defunct Three Arrows Capital (3AC), has stated that he is not sorry for the crypto hedge fund going bankrupt. Davies was speaking on an episode of the Unchained Podcast on March 19.
“Am I sorry for a company going bankrupt? No, like companies go bankrupt, almost every company goes bankrupt, right?” Davies said about the public sentiment that he had not shown remorse. “It’s how you build or what you do about it. We’re definitely trying our best. We can add value in various ways. At a minimum, we can even tell the next Three Arrows how to do things better when they go bankrupt.”
Davies and Su Zhu co-founded Three Arrows in 2012 but suffered heavy losses in the mid-2022 crypto market downturn. The crash led to 3AC’s insolvency proceedings, starting in the British Virgin Islands, but reaching both Singapore and the U.S.
Zhu was arrested at the Singapore airport in September 2023 for allegedly failing to help liquidate 3AC and sentenced to four months’ imprisonment. Zhu was released early, in December 2023, based on standard provisions for good behavior.
Davies said both he and Zhu did not know about a court date, otherwise, why would Zhu enter Singapore? They were in contempt of court, and that is why Zhu was apprehended, Davies said.
“Maybe we should (sack our lawyers for not informing us about the court date),” Davies said when asked whether he had fired his lawyers.
Davies, who renounced his U.S. citizenship to acquire Singapore citizenship, has not returned to Singapore since then to face the same four-month sentence that Zhu faced. Davies said he would not be returning to Singapore “immediately” but “obviously these things just resolve at some point, there are settlements.”
During the interview, Davies also said he didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t return to the U.S. where his family is, but that so far, he had not returned to the U.S. He claimed he was “in Europe” but did not confirm whether he was in Portugal, something he told New York Magazine.
In April 2023, the 3AC founders, who were in Dubai, set up OPNX, a bankruptcy claims exchange. Within a month, OPNX was formally reprimanded by Dubai’s crypto regulator for operating an unregulated exchange, and by Feb. 2024, the exchange was shut down.
However, during the current bull run in the crypto market, OPNX seemingly relaunched as $LAMB.
“Lamb is a token focused on the concepts of Sacrifice, Servant Leadership and the Kingdom of God being within you,” OPNX’s X profile said.
In September 2023, Singapore’s central bank issued a nine-year ban against the 3AC founders, prohibiting them from operating in the country’s regulated financial services industry. In December 2023, a worldwide court order from a British Virgin Islands court froze more than $1 billion in assets belonging to the 3AC founders.
Starting from March 26th, 2024, the Vietnam Railway Corporation will collaborate with the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue province and Da Nang to operate tourist trains on the Hue-Da Nang section and vice versa. The trains will operate as a combined transportation business and tourism service.
Vietnam Railways Corporation will organize two pairs of trains every day, named “Connecting Central Heritage,” with numbers HD1/2 and HD3/4 between Hue and Da Nang. Train HD1 will depart from the Hue station at 7:45 a.m. and arrive at the Da Nang station at 10:35 a.m., while train HD3 will depart from the Hue station at 2:25 p.m. and arrive at Da Nang at 5:40 p.m.
Similarly, train HD2 will depart from the Da Nang station at 7:50 a.m. and arrive at the Hue station at 11:05 a.m., while train HD4 will depart from the Da Nang station at 3:00 p.m. and arrive at the Hue station at 5:45 p.m.
On the opening day, Vietnam Railways will operate a pair of trains, HD 1 departing from Hue, and HD 4 departing from Da Nang. During the journey, the trains will stop at Lang Co Station for ten minutes to allow tourists to admire the beauty, check in, and take photos of Lang Co Bay, which is one of the most beautiful bays in the world.
The train currently has five air-conditioned soft-seat carriages and one community living carriage to serve local cultural and culinary programs. A preferential ticket price of 150,000 VND/ticket (~6 USD) will be applied during the opening month. The monthly ticket price is 900,000 VND/ticket (~36 USD), and it can only be purchased at stations. Passengers who are policy beneficiaries will receive discounts ranging from 10% – 50%.
On March 15, a video clip went viral on social media depicting foreign tourists who almost got scammed by a fruit vendor on Thuy Khue Street in Tay Ho district, Hanoi. The clip showed two tourists being offered apples by the vendor, who, not understanding English, simply nodded and handed them a small bag of apples. The tourists then asked for the price and handed over a 200,000 VND bill, which the vendor kept without returning any change. The tourists refused to accept this scam and demanded their money back, but the vendor refused. Eventually, the situation got out of hand, and a nearby security guard had to intervene.
After the clip went viral and caused outrage, many criticized the vendor’s actions, which tarnished Hanoi’s tourism image. To address this issue, the Buoi Ward People’s Committee immediately invited the vendor, a woman named B.T.L, to clarify her behavior and remind her of cultural norms.
Buoi Ward People’s Committee worked with street vendors to clarify illegal selling behavior
During the meeting, Ms. L admitted her mistake and apologized for creating a negative image of Hanoi. She explained that she had returned the money to the tourists as soon as she realized her mistake. She pledged not to repeat her mistake and promised to comply with the regulations in business and sales.
The People’s Committee of Buoi Ward imposed an administrative penalty on Ms. B.T.L for selling street goods without posting prices. This incident serves as a reminder to all vendors to behave appropriately, comply with regulations, and contribute to beautifying Hanoi’s image.
The Vietnam football team has been preparing for their upcoming match against Indonesia on March 21st. The team arranged their gear, training equipment, and medical supplies on a transport vehicle at 5:30 a.m. Despite heavy rain and temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius in Hanoi, the team received encouragement and good wishes from the General Secretary of the Vietnam Football Federation, Duong Nghiep Khoi, before departing from the Vietnam Youth Football Training Center.
At Noi Bai airport, fans took pictures and sent their best wishes to coach Philippe Troussier and his team. The Vietnam Football Federation worked with the airline to provide a separate check-in counter for the team. Team leader Doan Anh Tuan traveled to Indonesia earlier to pre-position and complete hotel check-in procedures from March 18th. He also coordinated the team’s meal, meeting, and practice schedules with the hotel to ensure a smooth journey.
The team will fly directly from Hanoi to Jakarta in a four-hour flight. Upon arrival, the team will check into Le Meridien Jakarta, a familiar hotel for the team when competing in Indonesia. At 8:30 p.m. tonight, the Vietnam national team will have its first training session in the country. Fans hope the players will be strong, brave, and successful when they play at the Gelora Bung Karno football field.
Prices could be headed to as low as $55,000 in the coming weeks, one trader said, but the long-term bullish outlook remains intact.
A brief bitcoin (BTC) slump to under $64,000 caused over $440 million in liquidation for crypto futures traders betting on higher prices. Some traders expect bitcoin to reach the $55,000 level in the short term.
Long bets on bitcoin took on $100 million in losses alone, with ether (ETH), Solana’s SOL and dogecoin (DOGE) taking on a cumulative $120 million in long liquidations, data from Coinglass shows.
Data shows that the most liquidations took place on Binance at $212 million, followed by OKX at $170 million.
Bitcoin started to drop late U.S. hours on Monday amid record high outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC at over $640 million. Inflows to other products were just under $500 million, leaving the market with a net outflow of $15 million on Monday.
Major tokens fell as much as 11% in the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows. ETH, SOL and Cardano’s ADA dropped as much as 8%. The broader CoinDesk 20, a gauge of various major tokens minus stablecoins, dropped 8%.
Liquidations occur when an exchange forcefully closes a trader’s leveraged position owing to a partial or total loss of the trader’s initial margin. They happen when a trader cannot meet the margin requirements for a leveraged position, that is, when they don’t have sufficient funds to keep the trade open.
Meanwhile, some traders said they expected bitcoin to fall to as low as $55,000 in the coming weeks, even as they have a long-term bullish outlook.
“The pace of the recent appreciation makes forecasting when the correction will complete difficult, but I do look for a move lower to $55-$62k before the next leg up,” John Glover, Chief Investment Office at Ledn, told CoinDesk in an email.
“The retail players are just starting to enter the BTC ETFs en masse, and the next big entry is set to coincide with the halving, so things should get interesting in a month or so,” Glover added.
Grab’s latest move has been made possible after its tie-up with Triple-A, a firm that enables businesses to pay and get paid in digital currencies, the report added.
Grab is letting users make payments via cryptocurrencies, the super app’s crypto payments partner, Triple-A, said in a statement.
The super app offers ride-hailing, food delivery and digital payments in South Asia. It is present in eight nations in the region, but the current development appears to only apply to Singapore.
“Grab has partnered with licensed payments provider Triple-A to enable users to top up their GrabPay Wallet via Digital Payment Tokens. Currently available in Singapore, Grab will continue to monitor user adoption and respond to demand for such services,” Grab said in a statement.
Users can pay using five cryptocurrencies – bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), StraitsX’s Singapore dollar-backed stablecoin XSGD, Circle’s USDC stablecoin and Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
“From arranging deliveries to booking rides or paying for coffee at their nearest shop, digital currency owners in Singapore can now use digital currencies for everyday transactions,” Triple-A said. The Strait Times first reported on the new payment option.
Grab has been involved in the Web3 space for some time now. In September 2023, Grab and Circle announced plans to conduct a pilot for a Web3 wallet within the Grab super app.
The development may come as a surprise, given Singapore’s cautious approach to crypto while welcoming innovation. Its current president, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, has previously called crypto “purely speculative” and “slightly crazy.”
The number of flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao by Vietnam Airlines in March has increased by one and a half times compared to February.
Vietnam Airlines has exclusive rights to flights to Con Dao. Photo: VNA.
Vietnam Airlines announced that starting mid-March, the airline would significantly increase the frequency of flights to Con Dao to meet the rising demand for travel from passengers.
Specifically, Vietnam Airlines plans to operate an average of 26 to 30 flights daily between Ho Chi Minh City and Con Dao from March. This number of flights has increased by nearly 50% compared to February. The route is currently operated by ATR-72 aircraft with two service classes for passengers to experience: Economy Plus and Economy.
With a high frequency of flights, passengers can conveniently book seats, meeting the increased travel demand from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao or from northern provinces such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa, Vinh… to this island with a stopover at Tan Son Nhat Airport.
Additionally, the national airline has chosen Con Dao as the first locality to implement the “sustainable aviation” project with environmental protection activities, contributing to the preservation of landscapes and the living environment.
Since March 15, all plastic waste, nylon bags on flights have been collected and brought back to the mainland for disposal. Flight attendants also broadcast messages urging passengers to join hands with Con Dao in the environmental protection campaign, limiting the use of single-use plastic products during their stay on the island.
Vietnam Airlines’ significant increase in flights to and from Con Dao comes amid Bamboo Airways announcing the cessation of flights from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao from April after returning three Embraer E190 jet aircraft.
Bamboo Airways announced that it had reached an agreement to terminate the lease contract for three Embraer E190 aircraft after the winter flight schedule ends in late March. This move aligns with the restructuring plan the airline reported to the government at the end of last year. Following this information, tickets for the direct Hanoi – Con Dao route quickly sold out.
Currently, passengers cannot book direct flights but have to fly from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and then to Con Dao, with ticket prices up to 10 million dong. The ticket price for the Ho Chi Minh City – Con Dao route is currently between 4.7-8.6 million dong for a round trip.
In 2023 alone, the market share of air transportation for tourism accounted for approximately 72% of the total number of passengers to Con Dao. Increasing flights alongside attracting more domestic and international tourists to explore Con Dao also contributes to the economic, cultural, and social development there.
The British magazine Time Out has selected Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam as one of the top 10 cheapest nightlife destinations for foreign tourists in 2024.
City. HCM is among the top cities with the cheapest nightlife in 2024. Photo: Time out
The magazine used interesting data from the British tour operator Ski Vertigo to analyze the cost of three beers, a 5km taxi ride, and a McDonald’s meal across 183 major cities to see which places are the least expensive for travelers.
Accordingly, Vietnam’s largest metropolis ranks sixth on the list with a cost of $11.07 (approximately 273,000 dong). Guangzhou, historically known as an important starting point of the Silk Road and a major trading port of China, tops the list. With three beers, a taxi ride, and a McDonald’s meal, travelers in this city would only spend $9.4 (about 232,000 dong).
Next on the list are Gurgaon in India, Alexandria in Egypt, Coimbatore in India, Kolkata in India, Shenzhen in China, Tunis in Tunisia, Beijing in China, and Jakarta in Indonesia.
Time Out magazine began publishing in 1968 as a purely British publication. However, over time, the ranking of cities worldwide has expanded into a regular feature with an international scope covering nearly 320 cities in 58 countries.
Vietnamese paintings are aesthetic, Vietnam is beautiful, and Vietnamese inhabitants are pulchritudinous, but the Vietnamese soul must not be forgotten.
Nowadays, people are all the rage about mass-marketed films, instant Gen Z music, disturbing poetries, and plagiarized literary works. Nevertheless, they forget that Vietnamese painting once had brilliant peaks, especially the talented generation from L’école Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (now Vietnam University of Fine Arts). I was engrossed all day at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum before using space, colors, and charisma, which urged me to write about famous artists and their masterpieces of the beloved nation.
Since times of yore, outstanding quartets have existed among aficionados of Vietnamese paintings, such as the Indochinese Quartet, the Vietnamese Quartet, and the Legendary Quartet (Tứ kiệt Đông Dương, Tứ Trụ Việt Nam, and Bộ Tứ huyền thoại, respectively). I will explain them in detail here, whether right or wrong, but one thing we can recognize is that no one is inferior to others.
The Indochinese Quartet has been renowned as the masters of the most exorbitant magnum opus on the auction market. The group included Mai Trung Thu – Le Pho – Vu Cao Dam – Le Thi Luu. They were also called the Overseas Quartet since they all graduated from the Fine Arts College of Indochina, then settled, and became famous abroad. Their works in the auction market reached a high-price valuation. As a result, they became the pride of the Vietnamese painting community among their peers on the corners of the earth, especially the majestic yet gentle oil-on-canvas “Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong” (Chân dung Madam Phương) painting (1930) by Mai Trung Thu.
Mai Trung Thứ (1906 – 1980)
The portrait illustrates a woman in a classic Vietnamese “ao dai,” hair donned in a sable scarf and high heels with a straightforward painting style. In addition, this artistic portrayal also emphasizes Mai Trung Thu’s deep admiration for the womanly model and a lady rumored to be his inamorata. There may be only one such Phuong in this world, and nothing can ever replicate her, making the portrait the most valuable painting in Vietnam and selling for more than $3 million.
“Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong” (Chân dung Madam Phương) painting (1930) by Mai Trung Thu
If the Indochinese Quartet is the first generation to pave the way for the development of the painting community, then the Vietnamese Quartet transformed into ancient trees that shed shade and took root in Vietnamese painting. That quartet included Nguyen Gia Tri, To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Tuong Lan, and Tran Van Can or “first Tri, second Van, third Lan, fourth Can.” They also graduated from the same college as the first graduating class and became famous, but they chose to live, contribute, and fight in their homeland. Their paintings seldom become highly valuated even though they are all masterworks since most have become invaluable National Treasures. One of the Vietnamese Quartet’s works I loved most is “The Woman next to the Lilies” (Thiếu nữ bên hoa huệ) by To Ngoc Van (1943).
Tô Ngọc Vân (1907 -1954)
The “The Woman next to the Lilies” painting depicts the scene of a young woman wearing a traditional white ao dai gracefully tilting her head toward a vase of white lilies. Her appearance, surrounding details, and colors create a simple logarithmic spiral, exuding a lingering, gentle sadness. The lilies placed in the vase next to the girl are not those Vietnamese women often use on full moon days. With a tight, perfect composition and skillful use of color, the painting “The Woman next to the Lilies” shows the woman’s thigh curve’s sensual softness and elaborates on how the artist uses a palette knife to remove the paint layer. The upper part of the painting reveals the pink pigment underneath, creating a rosy color on the cheeks. Besides its artistic values, this oil painting represents an elegant hobby of ancient Hanoian people delighting in white lilies that bloom in late March and early April every year.
By the third generation, Vietnam had another rising art trend — “Phai’s Street, Lien’s Girl.” Although the next generation is still time-honored, they promote their personalities uniquely to create brilliant artistic chef d’oeuvres. We have Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Duong Bich Lien, Nguyen Sang, and Bui Xuan Phai or “Nghiem – Lien – Sang – Phai.” Among the third-generation artists, Bui Xuan Phai’s pure oil painting style in “Ox Cart in the Old Town” (1972) drove my curiosity.
“Ox Cart in the Old Town” (1972)
Bui Xuan Phai’s street paintings are both ancient and very realistic, clearly expressing the soul of Hanoi’s Old Town in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The color patches in his paintings often have bold borders. The streets not only “become into” themselves but are also closer to humans. Whether one changes their point of view, one can always see the depths of the painting on the surface. Looking at Phai’s old town paintings, I found that he has conveyed memories, nostalgia, sadness, and wistful regret in each drawing as a harbinger of change and disappearance of each roof, each person with an old soul.
Bùi Xuân Phái (1920 – 1988)
On the bigger picture of the historical development of Vietnamese painting, only three quartets, the Indochinese Quartet, the Vietnamese Quartet, and the Legendary Quartet, stood out. These celebrities are talented technical players and symbols of creative power and courageous spirit in art.
Suppose we were to discuss the model for a painting. In that case, young people should not rush to the conclusion that they have the namesake as the person in the painting because the soul of a masterpiece must also come from a sophisticated and refined human being. Furthermore, the painting also captures the “ultimate” spirit of a person’s mortal coil. A case in point, one’s name is Thuy. Still, it was “em Thuy” (1943) who, at 24 years old, could forever fantasize about the dreamy and childish eyes and magical temperament of an 8-year-old girl, so we admire it sincerely, the golden moment of a lifetime.
It was unnatural for people of olden times to convert raw materials to high-grade paper like dó (poonah) and điệp for paintings and second-grade paper for votive papers sans reasonable purpose. Looking at the background in Dong Ho village, where only two painting houses were left, surrounded by duplicate votive goods, I felt the need to revive people’s love for the art of old and new.
To conclude, I have only one message to convey: Vietnamese paintings are aesthetic, Vietnam is beautiful, and Vietnamese inhabitants are pulchritudinous, but the Vietnamese soul must not be forgotten.
