Thuy Tram’s diary heads to the silver screen

Many young people are interested in well-known director Dang Nhat Minh’s latest film Dung dot, trong do da co lua (Don’t burn [it], it has a flame) – referring to Dang Thuy Tram’s diary – expected to be shot this month.

It features the life and work of the heroic army doctor who died in 1970 in the war.

It is based on the best-seller Nhat Ky Dang Thuy Tram (Diary of Dang Thuy Tram), published by the Writers’ Association Publishing House last year. In the US it was translated and also excerpted by several newspapers.

It is thought that the film’s name is based on the words uttered by a Vietnamese interpreter working for the US Army to prevent an American officer from burning the diary. The officer, who last year returned the diary to Tram’s family, remembered the interpreter’s insightful words.

Tran Thi Diem, a movie buff from Long An Province, believes Minh’s film will be both a critical and box-office success.

"Tram’s story is itself like a movie," she says in a letter to the HCM City-based Cinema & Theatre magazine.

After learning about Tram she spent more than VND100,000, a big sum for a student like her, to buy the Diary of Dang Thuy Tram. She says she gained valuable lessons about issues like comradeship and love for the country and people that she might not have otherwise.

Diem is just one of dozens of young readers who have written in about their feelings for Tram, hoping the film will soon be released.

Nguyen Van Tinh of Ha Noi writes that the actor playing Tram in the movie should herself be good in real life. "The producers need to be careful not to make a mistake in casting," he warns.

Provincial officials get a lesson in law

"Teacher, I’m your student," Vo Anh Hoa, head of Bac Lieu Province’s tax office, told a lecturer at a legal training programme for some 30 officials last month.

The programme was organised by the provincial government and the HCM City University of Law’s Short-Term Training Center.

Despite being a veteran himself, Hoa was respectful to the lecturers who were all young. "Just study, don’t play!" the 52-year-old told his fellow trainees most of whom had been working for more than 20 years.

Hoa believes improving their knowledge in other fields will help the officials work and serve people much better.

However, the lecturers, who were drawn from legal consultancies, seemed overawed about teaching the much older and experienced officials.

"They’re skilled and experienced while we’re still fledglings," lawyer Trinh Anh Nguyen, deputy director of the centre, said.

"Thanks to Hoa and his colleagues, we have also improved ourselves," Nguyen, who is now preparing for a training course for Ca Mau Province officials next month, added.

Source:VNS