The year 2025 marks the eighth iteration of Take Off. The 2024 Gala Take Off returned as a special edition, capping a year full of challenges yet brimming with emotions and hope. Eleven successful flights have delivered stories of the relentless efforts and aspirations of individuals contributing to a resilient and sustainable Vietnam.
In the 2024 Gala Take Off, audiences were welcomed into a warm and elegant space to meet the guests and speakers who contributed to the success of Take Off throughout the year. More significantly, the first episode of 2025 brought stories of ordinary Vietnamese people overcoming challenges and barriers to achieve admirable feats and create miracles.
One such individual is director Nguyen Quoc Hoang Anh, founder and director of Len Ngan cultural and artistic platform. As the opening speaker on the runway in 2024, Hoang Anh’s journey over the past year has exceeded his initial goals. He has made a remarkable impact by bringing traditional values closer to the public through innovative creations infused with modernity. His platform has successfully connected Vietnamese artists with international audiences, fostering cultural exchange and introducing new Vietnamese traditional music to the world. Hoang Anh’s efforts are a testament to the renewed vitality of Vietnam’s cultural and artistic heritage.
Another inspiring story is that of Hoang Thi Mu, a young girl who once carried her baby sibling on her back to school, determined not to drop out despite her hardships. In 2011, Mu lost her mother and brother to a flash flood. At the age of 9, she would walked 4 kilometers a day up steep mountain paths with her baby sibling strapped to her back to attend class, where her teachers took turns caring for the baby while Mu studied. Her journey involved gathering wild vegetables, cooking meals for the family, and nurturing her younger sibling. While her peers played, Mu was burdened with the responsibility of ensuring her family’s survival. Today, she is a senior at Guangxi University in China, having earned an ASEAN scholarship for her four years of undergraduate study. Mu’s 13-year journey from a little girl carrying her sibling to a scholarship student has been filled with sacrifices and tears, moving audiences to tears during the Gala Take Off.
The final speaker on the runway of the 2024 Gala Take Off was Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Phi Le. In 2000, as a high school math student at Lam Son Specialized School in Thanh Hoa, Phi Le won a Silver Medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). She is one of 11 Vietnamese female students to have earned medals in IMO history. After high school, Phi Le studied Telecommunications Engineering at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology. During her first year, she earned a Japanese government scholarship to study Information and Communication Technology at the University of Tokyo.
After completing her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in Japan, Phi Le received numerous offers to stay and work there. However, she chose to return to Vietnam to contribute to her homeland. Currently, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Phi Le is the executive director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research and Application and a lecturer in the School of Computer Science, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, where she mentors young talent.
In 2025, Take Off will continue to guide audiences through stories of resilient Vietnamese people overcoming hardships to achieve remarkable accomplishments. Every small act of meaning contributes to extraordinary achievements, creating miracles that inspire us all.
