Reading contest on “Dang Thuy Tram’s diary” was launched in Laos

Vientiane (VNA) – A reading contest on “Dang Thuy Tram’s diary” was
launched in Laos on Jan. 14 to encourage Lao young people to study the life of a
Vietnamese doctor who sacrificed her life for the nation’s independence.

The diary of Dang Thuy Tram was discovered by a US officer after her death in
a raid by US troops. He bought it back home and later decided to contact Tram’s
family. The diary has since then been published in Vietnam and translated into
other languages, including Lao. There is also a film based on the book, “Don’t
burn”, which has won several prizes at both domestic and international film
festivals.

The contest is co-organised by the External Relations Commission of the Lao
People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), the Laos- Vietnam Friendship Association
(VLFA), the Lao Ministry of Information and Culture, Lao People’s Revolutionary
Youth Union (LPRYU) and Vietnam Cultural Center in Laos .

The contest, which will close in mid-May, aims to welcome Vietnam ’s 11 th
National Party Congress and the 9 th LPRP Congress as well as to celebrate the 80
th anniversary of Vietnam ’s Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the 56 th
anniversary of the LPRYU.

Speaking at the event, Secretary of VLFA Saikhong Saynhasin said he hoped that the
book will help educate the country’s young people in revolutionary ideal and
prompt them to contribute to the country’s development.

Winners of the contest will join a trip to Vietnam’s city capital of Hanoi and
the central province of Quang Ngai where Dang Thuy Tram died at a makeshift clinic
during the war./.