Thousands of people throughout the country have, since mid-June,sent photos and text messages to raise funds in support of people andsoldiers working and struggling for the Vietnamese sovereignty of theHoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

Thephotos, which feature Vietnam's landscapes and people, have beenattached to a map of the country and digitalised in high resolution.They can be found at go.vn/biendong. The map will be presented as a giftto those on the islands along with the funds raised during thecampaign.

When the movement officially closed on July 18, manypeople still expressed their desire to contribute more photos, so thedeadline was extended.

The campaign was organised by theMinistry of Information and Communications, Vietnam Television, VTCTelevision, Vietnam Red Cross, and Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Anthem contest
A nationwide National Anthem Singing Festival will soon take place, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Thefestival will gather high school and college students to compete inthree regional contests in the North, Central and South.

Thecontest for the North will be organised in downtown Hanoi on August 17and 18, said Trinh Ngoc Chung, secretary of the Communist Youth Union.

Chung explained that the reason for the contest was that many young people today could not sing the national anthem fluently.

"Theministry is organising this contest to encourage students to sing thenational anthem so they can nurture their patriotism every day," hesaid. "Students will sing the song every Monday morning at the flaghoisting ceremony."

The national anthem, Tien Quan Ca (MarchingSong), was composed by Van Cao in 1944 and adopted as the nationalanthem of united Vietnam in 1976.-VNA