From 8:00 on November 19, the atmosphere in the football ground on the campus of Zhanjiang Military Port was vibrant and bustling, as sailors from Vietnam, China, and Malaysia were preparing for the sports exchanges, including football, basketball and tug of war.
At the four corners of the football field were four portable speakers playing a famous Vietnamese song. Many Chinese and Malaysian sailors seemed to like the melody of this song. They held hands and danced to the rhythm of the song.
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Sailors from the three countries divided into two teams with 15 members each |
Lieutenant Junior Grade Luqman Hakim, a staff from the Malaysian naval ship, shared that he had learnt about this song before. He felt happy to have a chance to meet and exchange with Vietnamese sailors.
The special feature of the sports exchange was that participants from three countries were divided equally into two teams, called Friendship 1 and Friendship 2. During the sports events, language barriers didn't seem to be a big problem as they communicated with each other by wonderful goals, the spirit of teamwork and collective power.
With noble sportsmanship, players tried their best and gave the crowd a dramatic football match with spectacular goals. The rewards for the players are caps printed with the logo and name of each country. In addition to the enthusiasm of the players on the field, sailors from all three countries in the grandstand cheered loudly and clapped their hands enthusiastically.
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Participants in a joint photo |
Mohd Ferdaus Bin Alias from the Malaysian Navy’s ship shared that the sports activities helped bring all sailors from the three countries closer together, underlining that these activities would be unforgettable memories of the friendship among the countries participating in the exercise.
The great efforts of the amateur players from Frigates 016-Quang Trung in sports exchanges left a deep impression in the eyes of participants from other countries about the images of the Vietnam People’s Army in general and the VPN in particular. According to Commander Pham Hong Phu, Political Commissar of Frigate 016-Quang Trung, the VPN’s players engaged in all competitions held by the organizers. These competitions featured the spirit of teamwork and solidarity, thereby showing collaboration in addressing common problems, as well as consolidating and intensifying the existing friendship and cooperative relations among the navies of the participating countries. That was the message that the officers and sailors of Frigate 016-Quang Trung wanted to deliver to international friends via these sports exchange activities and the exercise as well.
Reported by Van Duyen from Zhanjiang, China
Translated by Quynh Oanh