In mid-May, 2009, the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada, working with Chinese-Vietnamese in Toronto and Mississauga, held an art performance entitled “Light for life” to raise funds for an eye surgery charitable programme launched by the VNIO. The performance attracted such Vietnamese singers as Viet Hoan, Thanh Thanh Hien and Quynh Phuong. It raised US$9,160 (around VND160 million).

On behalf of the Chinese-Vietnamese community in Toronto and Mississauga, singer Viet Hoan presented the proceeds to the VNIO on July 9.

Dr Do Nhu Hon, director of the VNIO, thanked the community for their generosity and promised to use all the money to provide eye surgery for poor people in the near future. He expressed his desire to see similar events in the future to strengthen ties between Vietnamese people in Canada and their homeland.