Specialists at the School of South-Southeast Asia Countries under the Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok, Russia, love the Vietnamese land and people not only because of research projects and also a genuine feeling from the bottom of their hearts. They are devoted to spreading Vietnamese cultural values.
Head of the school Sokolovski Alexandre Yakubovitch is one of those specialists. He recently returned to Vietnam for his research and granted an interview to VOV. The following is the full text of the interview.
VOV: Welcome to Hanoi. Would you brief us on the activities of the school where you work?
Prof. Sokolovski: Established two years ago, our school was assigned to train specialists capable of developing Russia’s international relations in the Far-eastern region with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, namely Vietnam, Thailand, India and Indonesia. Specialists on Vietnam were trained 25 years ago when the Vietnamese Service belonged to another faculty. Proudly, the service has been known in the Far Eastern region, Moscow and many other Russian cities, even in Vietnam. One of our students, Vladimir Alekxei Sevsov, is now working as the cultural attaché at the Russian Embassy in Hanoi. Some others have become entrepreneurs running their private businesses here.
VOV: Currently, many Vietnamese nationals are residing in Vladivostok. Does your school establish close contact with the Vietnamese community there?
Prof. Sokolovski: Vladivostok is a gateway to other countries in the Pacific Rim. It has established General Consulates in many countries around the world, including Vietnam. The Vietnamese community in Vladivostok now numbers around 5,000 and we have established good relations with them. Located in the city is the Vietnam education centre which is assigned to disseminate Vietnam’s traditional culture, among other things.
We have established close relations with Vietnamese friends who are regular visitors to our university and teach our students in Vietnamese. Around 70 out of more than 100 students are studying Vietnam and learning Vietnamese. We often invite Vietnamese friends to our school to talk about the Vietnamese land and culture. We also celebrate anniversaries together. To welcome your upcoming traditional lunar New Year Festival (Tet), which will fall on February 17, we are preparing a Gala Concert where our students will sing songs in Vietnamese. Many of our students once visited Hanoi and they like the song “Reminiscences of Hanoi” very much.
We established a friendship society with Vietnam in the Premorie region and I was appointed as secretary. We coordinated with the local Vietnamese community in Vladivostok to jointly organise various activities, including the workshop “Vietnam in the modern world” with the participation of scientists, lecturers from the National University of Hanoi, our students and students from other Russian cities. The book “Vietnam in the modern world” was published to promote the image of Vietnam, and show our love to your country. You know Russian people have a saying “An old friend is better than two new friends”.
Every year, we organise a competition in which our students write essays about Vietnam in Vietnamese and Russian. We have just launched the competition to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the capital city of Hanoi.
Our university has a museum and we plan to organise an exhibition about your capital city as it is anticipating its 1,000th celebration by 2010. We often organise exhibitions about Vietnam here. For example, “The miracle of the Vietnamese economy”, and “The Vietnam War and Views from Different Times”. They are useful and resounding exhibitions because our people love Vietnam and the two countries established the strategic partnership. Many visitors asked me what the miracle of the Vietnamese economy is. I replied “There is nothing strange. If you visited Vietnam 10, 20 or 25 years ago, you could understand how Vietnam managed to overcome difficulties and make great strides in economic development today. From a country where people were provided with daily portions, it managed to produce everything, from clothing and footwear to automobiles, computer and other high-tech products.”
VOV: Could you brief us on your research projects on Vietnam?
Prof. Sokolovski: I am interested in discovering Vietnam and our research projects are focused on the Vietnamese language and culture. I wrote “Sketches of the Vietnamese Culture”, which will be re-published for the second time in short, and the book “The Friendship Bridge” featuring the partnership between the sisterhood cities of Hai Phong and Vladivostok. I also wrote many articles about Vietnam. In late 2006, a young colleague of mine and I published a book “A journey into the Vietnamese poem and literature world”. We also plan to publish the book “Writing about Vietnam with love.”
VOV: You have visited Vietnam and Hanoi many times. What is your impression of our country and the capital city?
Prof. Sokolovski: I visit Vietnam very often to serve our work. Every year, our faculty sends students to make fact-finding tours of Vietnam and I sometimes travel there to inspect their progress. I visited Vietnam in 1979 for the first time and I cannot remember how many times I have visited your country, but on average twice a year. I realise that Vietnam has recovered very quickly after the war. Hanoi has changed a lot. I am surprised by high-rise buildings and foreign representative offices which are mushrooming everywhere. Hanoi now looks like modern cities I have been to such as Hong Kong, Bangkok or Jakarta. However, I like Hanoi because it still keeps peace and tranquillity in it with old quarters and narrow lanes. I also like Ba Dinh Square, Hoan Kiem Lake, parks and the University of Technology area which I have visited many times during my research projects. This time I called on Hoan Kiem Lake as soon as I arrived in Hanoi. I strolled along the lake with my daughter who is studying in Vietnam. I am impressed by the newly-built statute King Ly Thai To who moved your capital from Hoa Lu (in northern Ninh Binh province) to Thang Long (now Hanoi).
VOV: Thank you for the interview.
(This interview was made by VOV reporter Hoai My) 
