Singer Hà Anh Tuấn and his friends will provide financial support for the 'Như Chưa Hề Có Cuộc Chia Ly' programme for its continuation. Photo vietnamnet.vn

 HÀ NỘI Singing sensation Hà Anh Tuấn, together with his family and the Viet Vision Advertising Company, will support the TV programme Như Chưa Hề Có Cuộc Chia Ly (Like There Was No Separation) with VNĐ4 billion (US$169,000).

The singer has revealed the information, according to Dân Việt newspaper.

The Like There Was No Separation programme, aired on Việt Nam Television (VTV) since 2007, aims to offer assistance free of charge to Vietnamese families across the country to find their missing relatives. Over the past 15 years, 1,800 families have been reunited thanks to the humanitarian programme.

Funding for its operation currently derives from community contributions and revenue from the YouTube channel. However, due to budget difficulties in recent years, the programmes would stop broadcasting after February.

The contribution from Tuấn and his friends will guarantee that the programme will continue for at least two years.

At his recent live show Chân Trời Rực Rỡ (The Glorious Horizon) on February 25, the singer and his inviting artist, rapper Đen Vâu, announced their donation of VNĐ500 million for the programme.

Members of his "FriendClub" have also raised VNĐ81 million and presented it to the host of the programme,  journalist Nguyễn Phạm Thu Uyên.

"Let's energise the team of people helping our compatriots look for their roots," Tuấn said.

The Viet Vision Advertising Company and the singer said they did not expect Like There Was No Separation to be interrupted while tens of thousands of families looking for relatives have applied for the programme and longing for the reunion day.

“I am happy and fortunate when music transforms into a living inspiration for me and the audience," he said.

"My family, friends, colleagues and I will make a small contribution to continue the journey of serving the Like There Was No Separation programme, which is also our honour. We hope that journalist Uyên and her colleagues never stop on that path. As long as we have strength, we still accompany the programme." 

Sharing with vietnamnet.vn, Uyên said: "Like There Was No Separation is grateful and, in the immediate future, would like to receive VNĐ2 billion in support for the first year and continue to mobilise support from the community to ensure the fund for its operation (VNĐ6 billion per year).

"After that, if it is stable, I will apply for support for the second year from Tuấn, his family and friends," she added.

This is the second time that the celebrated singer supported Like There Was No Separation financially. In 2020, at its most difficult time after 13 years of broadcasting, he donated VNĐ3 billion for its continuation.

Tuấn, a graduate of Technische Universitat Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, rose to fame in the Sao Mai – Rendezvous TV singing contest in 2006.

He has released 14 albums, including Acous’84, a production of nine songs in R&B which helped the singer bring home the Golden Album of the Year presented by HCM City Television in 2010.

The winner of numerous awards like Cống Hiến (Devotion), Mai Vàng (Golden Ochna) and Bài Hát Việt (Vietnamese Songs) Awards, Tuấn has become a favourite Vietnamese singer on YouTube, with more than 970,000 subscribers. 

He is also the initiator of many community and charity projects like Chồi Việt Nam (Vietnamese Buds) which takes care of disadvantaged children's health and helps them to go to school, or Rừng Việt Nam (Vietnamese Forest) that aims plant new trees covering bare land. VNS