Vietnamese in UK, Singapore celebrate Tet

The Vietnamese Intellectual Society (VIS) in the UK and Ireland on January 14 held an annual meeting to review its performance last year and a traditional Lunar New Year celebration for Vietnamese expatriates.

Speaking at the event, VIS chairman Nguyen Xuan Huan said that with more than 100 members mostly professors, associate professors, lecturers, and post-graduates at over 60 universities in the UK and Ireland, the VIS first aims to connect and support its members and then, develop the Vietnamese community in the UK.

He said in 2023, VIS will continue to expand its activities, not only in the academic field to connect and cooperate with other organisations such as the Embassy of Vietnam in the UK, the Association Vietnam-UK friendship, and Vietnamese associations in the UK to promote Vietnam-UK relations.

This year, for the first time, VIS and the Vietnamese students’ association in Oxford city jointly held a Tet celebration at Wadham College which attracted the members of the two associations, their families, and Vietnamese overseas living and working in the UK.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore and the Vietnamese students’ association in the country on January 14 held a Tet celebration for students who will spend the coming Lunar New Year festival away from home.

Nearly 100 Vietnamese students and guests attended the event which included typical preparation for a traditional Tet celebration like making "chung" cake, playing folk games, and delivering Tet wishes to family and friends.

The activities not only help Vietnamese students feel Tet atmosphere when staying away from home but also promote Vietnamese culture to foreigners.