Presented by VVG. Click here or on our logo above to go to our Home Page

Bung Sang School of Music for the Blind, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Copyright © 1998-2008 Vietnam Venture Group, Inc. All rights reserved.   Updated   January 1, 2005

ADVENTURE IN THAILAND

A great success, the visit by two young men to Bangkok shows that there is a  5-year university degree program available for exceptional musicians who just happen to be blind.  Now, all we need is to find a way to raise US$ 30,000 with which to fund both lads for the full program. That program will include the first year to study and master the Thai language. No mean feat, but the two lads have already mastered English, French and Japanese. Then, over the next four years they will enhance their already accomplished music skills.  

Please do not be shy. 
If you or an organization that you work with will help, please let us hear from you by E-mail.

The idea came from a request from the students, made long ago, that they want to go every where and do every thing that sighted students can. "Why not?" we replied.  "Don't merely try your best, for that is an excuse for failure. Strive always for success!"

Their applications to the Vietnamese Conservatory of Music in Hanoi were denied.  Unofficially they were told that blind people are expected to play in cabarets but not in symphony or recital performances.

Undaunted, we made calls and found many interested people in Thailand who have only a bit more experience but are far less shy to try than their counterparts elsewhere.

VIETNAM AIRLINES donated two round trip tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok where Duong Chi Hung, 23, and Dang Hoai Phuc, 18, took the trips of their collective lives.  VVG was the co-sponsor for the trip. We provided all other aspects of control, logistics, and support.

Once before a lad from the Bung Sang School traveled abroad. Van went to study computer sciences in Japan.  A short year later, Van returned with many new skills.

This time the mission is for Hung (pronounced "home") and Phuc (pronounced "fope") to explore a four year, full degree program in music, leading to their' ability to return to Vietnam and compete with sighted musicians in their field.

The trip took less than 5 weeks to prepare.  Fortunately, that was enough time for the lads to practice new pieces that would bring enlightenment and joy to many professionals in Bangkok fortunate enough to hear them play.  Their seven near sleepless nights in Thailand, due to excessive levels of never-before dreamed of excitement, made their performances all the more remarkable.

We joked about some questions the boys receive from school friends, such as, "How do you eat? Do you ever hit your nose?"  Their response is a cool, "We eat with chop sticks, a spoon and fork. Do you use your hands?"  However, sighted people who first meet the blind are often uncomfortable.  Being sightless is the only disability that can be practiced by those who are not. 

The boys are always kind and generous.  However, the sighted often fail to mask their feelings with by making facial expressions.  However, these perceptive lads then pick up the strained vocal cues just the same, if  not better than, as if they had vision.

A reporter irked me who asked one of the kids, "If you had vision, what would you like to see?"  Phuc is a gentleman and replied, "The faces of my friends and teacher at school."  My reply was a bit more pointed. "He could also see the face of people who ask him dumb questions." I wonder if we will both be quoted?

A music director, on first meeting them, voiced doubt about the boys' ability to walk up two flights of stairs.  So they walked briskly up and ran down two flights. I enjoyed seeing shock on the director's face as Hung and Phuc performed different selections of Chopin's Nocturne well enough to bring tears to the eyes of some.  Listening was a thrill, but the emotional and physical strain on the boys from the performance was debilitating. They had only practiced five weeks. Their stamina had not yet been sufficiently built up to sustain 7 performances in four days.

However, their level of performance skill is extraordinary. It is a wonder only to those who have not  heard them play that symphonies gave the boys ovations, first chair musicians rushed to greet and encourage them, and university directors suggested that if Phuc spends the next seven years exclusively working on his piano skills with a proper teacher, mixed with a few hours to sleep and brief moments to eat, he will be national treasure.

Please now visit with Hung and Phuc as they bring 

"Bung Sang to Bangkok with Acclaim"

 

Photo Set One
(sighted readers may click on each photo for an enlargement)
Formal meetings with a university, and time to relax on the Chau Phraya River

Day 1 - Phuc (on left) & Hung (on right), just off the plane, relax at VVG's complex on the river in Bangkok	Day 2 - after a brief orientation, the lads meet the director oft Chulalongkorn University's Applied Art Department, and his music director	While the music director questioned  Hung's ability to climb 2 flights of stairs, he lost all doubt of Hung's music skills.	Phuc's rendition of Chopin's "Nocturne" brought exclamations of joy, if not shock, to many.  Tears welled up in the eyes of some of the others.	Day 3 - The weekend begins with thoughts of a river cruise and seeing the big city.

 

Photo Set Two
(sighted readers may click on each photo for an enlargement)
Sitting pool-side before listening to and then playing for the symphony orchestra

Day 4 - After all, they are going to be working very hard, so why not lounge by the pool and enjoy the place a bit?	Day 5 - Good will ambassadors, the boys meet the Director of Bangkok's Fine Art Department.	Day 5 - Brings the boys to their first Symphony rehearsal of Beethoven's 5th. But it was not all rest.	Day 5 - Word of Phuc's rendition of Chopin spread, and here it is his turn to play for the entire symphony!	Day 5 - Then it was Hung's turn to play for his keep.  His  Beethoven piece allowed the symphony to give an ovation to both lads.

 

Photo Set Three
(sighted readers may click on each photo for an enlargement)
Business meeting at more schools

Day 5 - The conductor asked to greet the lads.  Can job offers be far behind? Well, 7 years is not that long.	Day 5 - The long day draws to a close as Phuc is shown auditioning for Mahidol University's King Bhumibol College of Music.	Day 6 - The day starts early as the lads next audition at Ratchapat Music Institute. Here Hung plays Beethoven.	Day 6 - So overwhelmed, Kune Wawadee insists that the lads stay for a typical Thai lunch.	Day 6 - The good will ambassadors visit the Bangkok School for the Blind to the delight of its principal and chief administrator.

 

Photo Set Four
(sighted readers may click on each photo for an enlargement)
The first-ever "touching-tour" organized for the blind by the Royal Palace of Thailand

Day 6 - At the Bangkok School's computer center, the lads learn about new hard and software to help write music in Braille.	Day 7 - Exploring Thai culture, here they are at the Golden Stupa near the Emerald Buddha where the boys with escorts take part in  the first-ever "touching"  tour of the Royal Grand Palace	Day 7 - Here they explore the gilded Naga, or snake, with 5 faces of an angel.  The angelic symbol seems rather appropriate.	Day 7 - "Do you think the fish will nibble on our fingers?" Hung asks Phuc as the tour nears its end and they explore a fish bowl?	Day 7 is not yet over, but the tour is.  That evening they lads visit the Bangkok Symphony's dress rehearsal for 30 hours of  filming for three TV specials.

 

Photo Set Five
Here the boys are being hugged by a 2 meter long Python snake, and other delights

Wind-blown hair and smiles a mile wide, they lads ride in a river boat, going at break-neck speed to ...    where?	At the Snake Farm, the lads play with a small monkey. We had to carry one of boys out of the boat upon learning where they were. Guess which one?	Our heroes hold a 2 meter long python, not easy when you've feared snakes and not before been close to one, much less touched one	.Smiles come when Hung (on the right) realizes the snake head is not near him, until he learns what comes out of the "business" end in his hand!  Phuc's smile is due to the tickly tongue and pokey nose going inside his shirt!	Two very handsome & happy young men stand with a friend on the 18th floor overlooking downtown Bangkok and the Chau Phraya river on their last day of the trip.

 

Top of Page