The spouses of Vietnamese and Malaysian Prime Ministers, Le Thi Bich Tran and Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Dr. Wan Ismail, visited the SOS Children’s Village Hanoi on July 21, VNA reported.

Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Dr. Wan Ismail is accompanying her spouse, PM Anwar Ibrahim, in his official visit to Vietnam on July 20 – 21, the first of its kind to the Southeast Asian nation since he took office in December 2022.

Established in 1988 and starting operation in 1990, the facility provides family-based care for orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children. Nurturing nearly 600 children so far, it is now taking care of more than 200 kids.

At the visit, Tran expressed her hope that the officials and staff of the special village will continue to fulfill their duties in caring for abandoned, orphaned, and vulnerable children. She and her Malaysian counterpart took the occasion to present gifts to the children.

The wife of the Malaysian PM said she is impressed by the fact that 400 children had grown up well from the village and attained successes in life.

She said that despite going through wars, Vietnam and its people have always risen strongly. She also encouraged the children to continue contributing to and upholding the traditions of their ancestors, as their country is known for its spirit of self-reliance and resilience.

The same day, Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh, his visiting Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim and their spouses visited a book street in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district where they experienced an outdoor reading space and enjoyed Vietnamese coffee.

Walking around book booths, the two government leaders met and talked to local readers.

While they together enjoyed Arabica and Robusta coffee – a specialty of the Central Highland province of Lam Dong, PM Chinh told his Malaysian counterpart about the reading culture of Vietnamese people.

On this occasion, he introduced and presented to PM Anwar the poem collection “Nhat ky trong tu” (Diary in Prison) by late President Ho Chi Minh, the book “The World People’s Affection For President Ho Chi Minh”, and another book “Some theoretical and practical issues on socialism and the path towards socialism in Vietnam” by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

This is the first time PM Anwar has visited Vietnam. Despite his busy schedule, the two leaders spent precious time visiting the book street, reflecting the closeness and openness between the two leaders.

Earlier, on July 20, the spouses of Malaysian and Vietnamese PMs enjoyed a water puppetry performance at the Vietnam Contemporary Art Theatre.

A theatre representative and artists introduced water puppetry to the two ladies, who later watched some performances of the long-standing folk art of Vietnam.

Lady Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Binti Wan Ismail noted that she is impressed with water puppetry and hoped the art will be preserved and developed.