Hanoi (VNA) – Theopening ceremony of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31),which will take place on May 12 night at My Dinh National Stadium, will depict a beautiful, friendly and hospitable Vietnam, which is striving, together with other ASEAN member countries, to grow stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

That is the aim of the ceremony, said Do Dinh Hong,Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and Vice Chairman of theSub-Committee for SEA Games 31’s opening and closing ceremonies.

After a parade and a hoistingceremony of the national flag of Vietnam and the flags of ASEAN and SEA Games 31, 11 outstanding Vietnamese athletes will carry the torch andlight the Games cauldron, followed by a three-chapter show.

The first chapter, themed“Friendly Vietnam” will feature the unique cultural identity of Vietnam as wellas the hospitality and friendliness that the country offers to people from allcountries in the region and the world.

Meanwhile, the second chapter will highlight a “Strong Southeast Asia”, with the message that the strength of a connected ASEAN community will bring the bloc a strongposition in the world.
 
The third and last chapter will have the theme of “Shining Southeast Asia,” reflecting the strengthfrom the solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and other ASEAN membercountries for a strong community and rising role of the association in theworld arena.

A highlight of the event will be the use of state-of-the-art technologies,including mapping, augmented reality - AR, and extended reality – EX, amongothers.

Notably, the symbols of 40 sports will be displayed using the Dong Hofolk painting art, a traditional craft of Vietnam, through graphic images.

The show will be rounded off with an enticing ensembleperformance of the Games’ official song “Let’s shine”, which will gatherpopular Vietnamese musical artists, the saola mascot, 110 dancers, and 250athletes. The song by composer Huy Tuan is about the people born with a missionto strive for new summits and leave behind difficulties on their journeys bypassion and extraordinary efforts, and with support from friends. They togethershine in the welcoming and hospitable atmosphere of host Vietnam.

Director Huy Tuan said that a special version of “Lets’ shine” for SEA Games 31’s opening ceremony will be presented at the event, bringing a nice surprise to audience. Famous Vietnamese singers will perform the song with saola mascot, the symbols of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups and 11 Southeast Asian countries.

Earlier, the song’s MV was introduced to the public via SEA Games 31’s official channels.

Tran Ly Ly, Acting Director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism’sdepartment of performing arts and the general director of the opening ceremony, said that the organising committee has had only two months to prepare for theceremony.

Competitions in the framework of SEA Games 31, themed “For astronger South East Asia,” are taking place in Hanoi and 11 nearby localitiesuntil May 23./.