Edit The tale of "Tam and Cam"

The tale of "Tam and Cam", a predecessor to the Cinderella story, has been under attack by some for it's "inhumane" ending.
Several Vietnamese professors and critics of literature, however, have stood up for the full description of the folk tale

No happy ending
In the original version, the step-mother was sent a jar of preserves containing her own daughter's flesh. After eating it, and realising what the contents were, the step-mother also died of a "broken heart".
However, the Educational Publishing House made efforts to change the ending of the story in textbooks, cutting out the "bad parts".
In the revised version of the story from the 10th grade textbook, the part about the step-mother eating her daughter's flesh has been cut out.
The change has gained the support of many people, including parents, who think that the story's ending should teach a moral value that does not match the original version.
Defenders
The topic is not exclusive to the world of education curriculum, however. A number of professors and critics of literature have come to the consensus that the story is a cultural relic, which should not be tampered with.
Professor Phong Le, Former Head of the Vietnam Institute of Literature, said, “Tam and Cam is among the most popular folk tales in Vietnam. If read closely, it will become obvious that the moral implications are more complicated than what is sometimes understood. The ending of the story, as heinous as it might seem, is a result of the conduct of the step-mother and step-daughter.”
According to the professor, the original plot should not be altered, but teachers must explain to the students about the history and morality that brought about the tale in the first place.
If there is any lesson to be learned from the tale, he said, it is this: "People who behave in a cruel way will suffer horrible consequences." He added that, "If the ending of the story were to be changed, it should no longer carry the title 'Tam and Cam', but should be renamed, because it is not the same story."
Pham Xuan Nguyen, a literature critic, said, “If we change the story of Tam and Cam, other stories, such as the story of Thach Sanh would also have to be revised." "
He added that, if such changes were made, there would have to be a complete overhaul of Vietnamese folk verses as well, suggesting that such changes make for a less rich literary cultural tradition.
Dr. Do Ngoc Tong, from the Vietnam Institute of Education and Sciences, said that normally, when textbooks are changed, the publishing house or compiling group need to explain the changes. This is a good thing, he said, because it gives teachers room to tell the different versions of old stories.
In this case, though, Tong said that there was no explanation from the publishing house.

The story of Tam and Cam
Tam and Cam is a Cinderella story about a young beautiful girl called Tam whose mother died early, and her father remarried. After her father died she had to live with her wicked step-mother and step-sister, named Cam. Tam suffered abuse from the family, while Cam lived luxuriously.
Tam, however, was looked over by the Goddess of Mercy, who appeared regularly to console her, as well as to instruct her on how to deal with the evil tricks of her "sister" and "mother".
Much like the Cinderella story, Tam got married to the king as a result of a lost shoe.
The ending is different however. In the original Vietnamese version, Tam got revenge by telling Cam that her beauty secret was to take a bath in boiling water. Cam fell for the trick, and died.
Afterwards, Cam's body was cut up and made into a preserve that was fed to the nasty step-mother. In the end she also died.

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Child obesity on the rise in HCM City

The rate of overweight children at nursery and primary schools in Ho Chi Minh has sharply increased.
According to a survey from the Ho Chi Minh Nutrition Centre, the rate of obese children under five years old in the city was estimated at 2.2% in 1999, with the level reaching nearly 11% in 2010.
The centre also said that during the 2008-2009 period, the rate of malnourished children in local primary schools stood at 1.4%, while the rate of those suffering obesity was up to 28.5%.
A school nurse from the Tuoi Tho Pre-school No.7 in District 3, Le Thi
Hieu, said the school has more than 100 obese children. According to her, the school does done nothing to ensure a healthy diet for the children at school.
Truong Ngoc Anh, Head of Pre-school education of Binh Tan District’s Department of Education and Training said many schools should boost the amount of vegetables they grow and develop physical activities for the children. However, current playing ground space remains limited, particularly among non-state schools.
Doctor Do Thi Ngoc Diep from the centre said daily meals were now higher in calories, but children were doing less exercise.
“Nowadays, many children like playing games, using computers and watching TV more than physical exercise. They’re also forced to spend too much time studying which also restricts their physical activity,” she added.
Parents are also mistakenly helping their children grow fat by topping up already sufficient school meals.
According to Tran Thi My Hanh, Vice Headmaster of Anh Sang Pre-school in Binh Thanh District, said many teachers lacked knowledge about obesity prevention.

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National flag hoisted in Indonesia

A ceremony was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, on November 9 to hoist the national flags of countries participating in the 26th Southeast Asian Games, including Vietnam.

Present at the ceremony were representatives of the Jakarta administration, SEA Games organizing board, and officials, coaches and athletes of the participating countries.
Lam Quang Thanh, head of the Vietnamese delegation, and representatives of the national football squad, attended the event.


An organizing board representative presented the SEA Games logo and mascot to Thanh and wished Vietnamese athletes high results during the event.

Thanh said Vietnamese athletes will try their best to contribute to the success of the biggest regional sporting event.

A Vietnam Airlines plane landed in Jakarta on November 9, bringing first 160 Vietnamese athletes, including 41 track-and-field athletes, to compete in the Games.
SEA Games 26 will kick off on November 11 and last until November 22.

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Vietnam through to semis after East Timor win

Vietnam opened the door to the SEA Games' semi-final round after their 2-0 victory over East Timor yesterday at Jakarta's Lebak Bulus Stadium.

Vietnam with seven points from three matches returned to the top position in group B.

Vietnam, despite many attempts, found no way to get close to East Timor's net during the first half. The team, favoured as titleholders, was dominated by the islanders, who stand lower in the world ranking.


Their power was reduced at the 21st minute when Murilo Ribeiro de Almeida, their most important forward, was sent off after a direct red card because of a hit to Vietnam's defender Nguyen Ngoc Anh.

The turning point of the match came at the 51st minute when Nguyen Trong Hoang tore keeper Emerson Carlos Cesario's net with a close-range shoot.

Hoang received a long pass from Song Lam Nghe An team-mate Au Van Hoan. He managed it into the box. His first shoot touched Cesario and bounced back, but the midfielder did not miss it in the second time.

Ten minutes after his assistance for the opening goal, Hoan had his own goal. The right defender controlled a ball passed by Hoang and tapped it to Cesario's right corner.

The result would have been better for Vietnam if their forwards had done their duty. Nguyen Van Quyet, who scored a goal for Vietnam in the first match against the Philippines, missed at least three chances when he was in face-to-face with Cesario.

And his teammates Nguyen Thanh Luong and Nguyen Van Thang failed to score accurately.

"Vietnamese players wasted many good opportunities at goal. They could not play as well as they did at the local clubs," said Phan Anh Tu, general secretary of the Hanoi Football Federation.

"It seemed that they were strongly affected when Myanmar won over Brunei and took the group leading position. The pressure to return to the top was too heavy which made them play worse than expected," Tu said.

In the next match, Vietnam will play Brunei on November 12 while East Timor face Laos one day later.

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Viet Nam ready set go for Jakarta games

HA NOI — Viet Nam's 176-member contingent leaves for Jakarta today to compete at the 26th Southeast Asian Games which will begin tomorrow.

Vietnamese flag was hoisted yesterday in the flag-raising ceremony at the City Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Another flag hoisting ceremony will be held in Palembang, the major sport venue of the 26th SEA Games, today. 

The remaining 720 athletes and coaches will fly to Indonesia tomorrow and Friday. In total, 42 Vietnamese teams will take part in the Games, of which athletics sends the most, 55 members, with the aim of earning seven to nine gold medals.

Vfresh milk donated VND100 million (US$4,760) in cash to the team at the send-off at the National Sports Centre in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The Games, to run until November 22, will be hosted by Palembang (the capital of South Sumatra) and Jakarta. Palembang will feature 296 events while Jakarta will provide venues for 266. The track and field competition is scheduled from Saturday till Wednesday in Palembang.

"The Viet Nam team has trained hard and is fully fit," said head of the Viet Nam delegation Lam Quang Thanh.

It's the nation's largest group ever to go to the Games, with a target of at least 70 gold medals to rank in the top three.

It is predicted the first gold medal for Viet Nam will come tomorrow in the canoeing event with Tran Quang Long a top contender, Thanh said.

"On Saturday, Vietnamese athletes will continue to take part in other events such as taekwondo, karatedo, swimming, track and field and shooting. They will take more golds on that day," Thanh said.

Viet Nam also hopes to secure golds in wushu, judo, chess, weightlifting, shooting, billiards and snooker. One of its toughest tasks belongs to the men's under-23 football team.

Accommodation and transport in Indonesia has been taken care of, Thanh said.

"The Games organising board and Indonesian airlines Garuda have pledged to create favourable conditions for Viet Nam to move from Jakarta to Palembang and housing problems have been solved," he said.

At the 25th SEA Games held in Laos two years ago, Viet Nam won 83 gold, 75 silver and 57 bronze medals to rank second on the medal tally, close behind Thailand. — VNS

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SEA Games medallists set to win cash bonuses

Lien Viet Bank has set aside bonus money of VND1 billion (US$ 48,000) for Vietnamese medallists at the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.

In addition, the bank has pledged to award VND20 million to those who set a games' record.

Athletes who win a gold medal will be given VND5 million, while silver and bronze medallists will be awarded VND3 million and VND1 million, respectively.

 The bank also pledged to give each injured athlete VND5 million compensation if they have to withdraw from the competition.

The awards ceremony will be held in Ha Noi and HCM City one week after the SEA Games ends on November 22.

Football U19s win ticket to Asian Champs final

Viet Nam took the second group F ticket to the final round of the 2010 Asian Under-19 Football Championship on Tuesday at home.

After a 2-2 draw against North Korea at HCM City's Thong Nhat Stadium the hosts finished the group with six points from four matches.

So Yong-hyok heeled the ball into the back of the net after 25 minutes to open the score for the visitors. Five minutes later Sy Lam equalised close-range after a smart pass into the penalty box.

In the second half, the hosts went ahead after a header by Dinh Thang left Korean keeper Song Hwan stranded.

However, North Korea came back when Chung Hyok tapped the ball into the back of the net.

North Korea, on 10 points, finished top of the group.

National volleyball team worried about Kieu's fitness

Main attacker Ngo Van Kieu's injury will hamper the volleyball team's chances of winning a medal at the coming SEA Games.

Kieu, who stands 1.96 metres tall, has injured both his knees, for which he has undergone treatment since the national championships in April.

However, the Khanh Hoa Province-base athlete says he is fit enough to participate in the Games, which take place from November 13-20.

Meanwhile, spiker Huu Ha is recovering from a broken finger, though he is expected to be fully fit for the tournament.

Viet Nam have set themselves the target of finishing in the top three at this year's event. — VNS

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National squad face East Timor

HA NOI — Viet Nam are set to play its third SEA Games match against East Timor, who nearly caused an earthquake on Monday, in Indonesia today.

Ranked the lowest among the 46 members of the Asian Football Confederation, East Timor defeated the Philippines 2-1 to top Group B with six points after two matches.

Full of hope in advancing to the second round, the country needs only four points from their remaining three matches to make history.

East Timor, an SEA Games newcomer, travelled to Jakarta as

underdogs due to a poor international record.

While Viet Nam, as title favourites, lie in second place with four points, both their previous games have left much to the imagination.

As a result, coach Falko Goetz has refused reporters access to all U23 training sessions in a bid to withhold pressure and keep tactics a secret ahead of upcoming games.

In its first two matches, assistant coach Phan Thanh Hung said that Viet Nam were too subjective against its weaker opponents while strikers struggled with low balls and finishes.

Planning to change style against East Timor, Goetz has an additional problem with personnel.

Defender Huynh Phu, having had problems with his thigh, is expected to miss today's match while left defender Ngoc Anh has struggled with the sole of one of his feet.

Today the team will face East Timor's Murilo Ribeiro de Almeida who leads the race for best striker with three goals scored.

The ‘imported' player enjoys a significant physical and apart from his high balls skills, is capable of scoring with both legs.

During Group A activities on Monday, defending champions Malaysia drew with Singapore 0-0 while hosts Indonesia beat Cambodia 6-0. — VNS

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