Seven natural world wonders is in the voting selection process and at this moment, Vietnam has three sites near the top of the rankings: Fansipan Mountain, Phong Nha – Ke Bang national park, and Ha Long Bay. This is an online selection organized by New7Wonders or New Open World, which is taking place over four years, 2007-2011.
This information was reported in a local newspaper on February 23 and was a great source of pride for Vietnam. The newspaper also quoted Tia Viering, New7Wonders’ communications manager, congratulating Vietnam for having Ha Long at the top of the ranking list.
Democracy in action?
According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, New Open World (a non-governmental organization based in Switzerland) on July 7, 2007 launched the selection of the “Seven natural wonders of the world”. This selection, scheduled to finish in 2010, has attracted worldwide attention. Many countries are interested in this event and are seizing it as an opportunity to advertise and promote tourism, the website said.
In Vietnam, some state agencies launched campaigns calling for the people to vote for Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, Fansipan and Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park as new world natural wonders; the media supported this effort wholeheartedly.
If a person types the keyword “vote for Ha Long” (in Vietnamese) on Google, they can easily find 14,400 websites reporting this event.
Many newspapers have responded to this selection and guided people to visit website www.natural7wonders.com or www.new7wonders.com to vote for Vietnam’s landscapes.
A Deputy Minister visited the site to vote for Ha Long. A computer company presented 10 laptops to arrange at airports to serve visitors’ voting for Vietnam’s landscapes. Many websites are designed to guide people to the New7Wonders website to vote for Vietnam. A famous singer called on her fans to vote for Vietnam’s landscapes on her website.
The representative of the HCM City Department of Education and Training pledged to contribute at least one million votes for Vietnam because the department would call for 1.5 million students in the city to join in the selection. In addition, students will call for their families and neighbors to vote. Overseas, Vietnamese students in Japan called overseas Vietnamese students in Japan and other countries to vote for Ha Long Bay.
It is good to honor Vietnamese natural heritage sites, but should we “celebrate” this event?
Actual recognition
In a press release dated July 9, 2007, which is posted at http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/352, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) informed readers that to avoid misunderstandings, this organization stated that there is no relation between UNESCO’s World Heritage program and the New Seven Wonders of the World selection.
According to UNESCO, the New Seven Wonders of the World selection only reflects the opinion of a community of Internet users, not the whole world.
Actually, the selection is organized by The New7Wonders Foundation, which was established in 2001 by a Swiss-born Canadian filmmaker, museum curator, aviator, and explorer named Bernard Weber and based at Heidi-Weber Museum in Zurich, Switzerland.
Why is this organization organizing a selection of new world wonders? According to the New7Wonders website, because famous ancient wonders belonged to ancient people. Except for the pyramids, none no longer exist, so New7Wonders held an online selection to define new wonders of the world, but what is this all for? Fifty percent of net revenue raised by the New7Wonders Project is to be used to fund monument documentation and conservation efforts worldwide, according to the website.
The spokesman of UNESCO also said that the initiative by New7Wonders can’t contribute to the preservation of heritage sites after they are selected. According to UNESCO, evaluating natural wonders needs clear scientific standards.
The selection is a chance to advertise Vietnamese landscapes to the world but it is not a decisive factor for turning Fansipan Mountain, Phong Nha – Ke Bang and Ha Long Bay into world wonders under UNESCO’s requirements.
K.Anh – H.Cat
This information was reported in a local newspaper on February 23 and was a great source of pride for Vietnam. The newspaper also quoted Tia Viering, New7Wonders’ communications manager, congratulating Vietnam for having Ha Long at the top of the ranking list.
Democracy in action?
According to the Foreign Ministry’s website, New Open World (a non-governmental organization based in Switzerland) on July 7, 2007 launched the selection of the “Seven natural wonders of the world”. This selection, scheduled to finish in 2010, has attracted worldwide attention. Many countries are interested in this event and are seizing it as an opportunity to advertise and promote tourism, the website said.
In Vietnam, some state agencies launched campaigns calling for the people to vote for Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay, Fansipan and Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park as new world natural wonders; the media supported this effort wholeheartedly.
If a person types the keyword “vote for Ha Long” (in Vietnamese) on Google, they can easily find 14,400 websites reporting this event.
Many newspapers have responded to this selection and guided people to visit website www.natural7wonders.com or www.new7wonders.com to vote for Vietnam’s landscapes.
A Deputy Minister visited the site to vote for Ha Long. A computer company presented 10 laptops to arrange at airports to serve visitors’ voting for Vietnam’s landscapes. Many websites are designed to guide people to the New7Wonders website to vote for Vietnam. A famous singer called on her fans to vote for Vietnam’s landscapes on her website.
The representative of the HCM City Department of Education and Training pledged to contribute at least one million votes for Vietnam because the department would call for 1.5 million students in the city to join in the selection. In addition, students will call for their families and neighbors to vote. Overseas, Vietnamese students in Japan called overseas Vietnamese students in Japan and other countries to vote for Ha Long Bay.
It is good to honor Vietnamese natural heritage sites, but should we “celebrate” this event?
Actual recognition
In a press release dated July 9, 2007, which is posted at http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/352, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) informed readers that to avoid misunderstandings, this organization stated that there is no relation between UNESCO’s World Heritage program and the New Seven Wonders of the World selection.
According to UNESCO, the New Seven Wonders of the World selection only reflects the opinion of a community of Internet users, not the whole world.
Actually, the selection is organized by The New7Wonders Foundation, which was established in 2001 by a Swiss-born Canadian filmmaker, museum curator, aviator, and explorer named Bernard Weber and based at Heidi-Weber Museum in Zurich, Switzerland.
Why is this organization organizing a selection of new world wonders? According to the New7Wonders website, because famous ancient wonders belonged to ancient people. Except for the pyramids, none no longer exist, so New7Wonders held an online selection to define new wonders of the world, but what is this all for? Fifty percent of net revenue raised by the New7Wonders Project is to be used to fund monument documentation and conservation efforts worldwide, according to the website.
The spokesman of UNESCO also said that the initiative by New7Wonders can’t contribute to the preservation of heritage sites after they are selected. According to UNESCO, evaluating natural wonders needs clear scientific standards.
The selection is a chance to advertise Vietnamese landscapes to the world but it is not a decisive factor for turning Fansipan Mountain, Phong Nha – Ke Bang and Ha Long Bay into world wonders under UNESCO’s requirements.
K.Anh – H.Cat
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