VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi (L) presents the prize to Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung (Photo: VNA)

The awards were initiated in 2008 by the Vietnam News Agency’s Sports & Culture newspaper, and the family of the famous late painter Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1988), to honor those who contribute to spreading love for the capital city. Speaking at the event, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung thanked the VNA and Bui Xuan Phai’s family for organising the awards which, he said, have made an imprint in the heart of many Hanoians. The awards were classified into four categories: Grand Prize, Idea Prize, Job Prize and Work Prize.  This year, the Grand Prize was granted to cultural researcher Huu Ngoc, who has contributed to connecting Vietnamese culture with the wider world.

Born in 1918, Ngoc has a profound knowledge of French, English, German, and Chinese. He has written 34 books, including a prized book entitled “A Sketch of Hanoi Culture” in French and English, which was given by the Vietnamese Government as a gift to the heads of state at the 7th Francophone Meeting in the capital city in 1997.  

This year two Job Prizes were awarded, one to the Hanoi administration for the establishment of the Hoan Kiem Lake walking street, which is closed to traffic on weekend nights, and another to Paul George Harding, a US war veteran, who has helped clean the capital’s lanes by removing posters from walls.
Late writer Bang Son, with his two books “Hanoians’ wandering pleasure” and “Hanoians’ cuisine pleasure” and photographer Nguyen Huu Bao, with his photo book “Beloved Hanoi”, received the Work Prize.