Omani Ambassador Saleh Mohamed Ahmed Al Suqri (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Hanoi (VNA) – The lunar New Year (Tet) festival is not only a special occasion for Vietnamese people but also a good chance for foreign diplomats in Vietnam to feel the traditional and cultural values of Vietnam.
Enjoying Tet festival in Vietnam for the second time, Omani Ambassador Saleh Mohamed Ahmed Al Suqri said he found that Tet is a chance for Vietnamese people to reunite with their families and meet friends and relatives to extend best wishes to each other. This is the time when happiness is found everywhere, together with hope for a peaceful new year.
During the festival, the diplomat enjoys “banh chung” (square glutinous rice cake) and visit beautiful landscapes in Vietnam - a country that he described as a heaven for tourists.
He expressed his belief that despite COVID-19 impacts, better days are waiting for Vietnamese people who always show a strong desire to rise.
On the occasion of the New Year, he wished Vietnam a future that is as bright as the smiles of Vietnamese people.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Ambassador Grete Lochen said this is the fourth and also the last time she has experience Tet in Vietnam as an ambassador.
Norwegian Ambassador Grete Lochen (L) (Photo: VietnamPlus)
She recalled her first Tet in Vietnam in 2019 when she and ambassadors from G4 countries (Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland) visited visually impaired children at Nguyen Dinh Chieu school in Hanoi where they made banh chung together. Despite the cold weather, she felt warmth from the friendliness and hospitability of the children, and loved to make banh chung herself. Since then, she has developed a special love for Vietnamese Tet, a festival for all regardless of their age, gender, capacity, social position or economic conditions.
The diplomat especially likes the Tet atmosphere in Hanoi. On the days ahead of Tet, the whole city seems to put on a new shirt because with many colours of spring flowers and plants. It can be felt from bicycles selling peach blossoms and kumquats along the streets, to hundreds of flowers sold in Spring flower markets, on big streets and even small alleys.
“But that busy, bustling atmosphere completely disappear on the morning of the first New Year day. Everything becomes quiet, peaceful and gentle to welcome the first day of the new year,” she said.
The diplmat also wished Vietnamese people a year of good health, happiness and prosperity, saying that she hopes the Year of the Tiger will provide more strength for both Vietnam and Norway to stamp out COVID-19 and boost economic recovery without leaving anyone behind.
At the same time, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Noh-wan who has experienced 10 Tet in Vietnam still feels excited when the longest and most important yearly anniversary comes. Vietnam and the RoK share many cultural similarities, including the traditional New Year celebration. Like any Vietnamese, he anxiously waits for the first guest to visit his resident, eat banh chung and present lucky money to children.
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Noh-wan (middle) (Photo: VietnamPlus)
This year is more special as it is the year when Vietnam and the RoK celebrate the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the RoK has provided Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment, while Vietnam has presented the RoK the strategic material of urea, he said.
Only through difficulties, one can realise who is his true friend, stated the diplomat.
Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama is a special diplomat who has enjoyed 20 Tet in Vietnam. He graduated a Vietnamese university and can speak Vietnamese fluently and knows as many folk songs and proverbs as any Vietnamese. For him, Tet is also very sacred and beautiful as it comes with family reunion meal, the joyful atmosphere, the blooming apricot blossoms on the streets, and unique "Tet smells" that can only be found in Vietnam.
Palestinian Ambassador Saadi Salama (Photo: VietnamPlus)
Witnessing changes of Vietnam over the years, he affirmed that there is a core value that has never changed among Vietnamese people – the family bond.
He said he hopes Vietnam will continue to have a good year in 2022 with the COVID-19 pandemic put under control.
“Looking back at the past, we can put our faith in a bright future. In the spring atmosphere and the joy of Vietnamese people, I feel something new and beautiful is coming,” he stated./.
