Not every Induction Ceremony takes place to a soundtrack of waves! Vietnam Grand Chapitre’s event may well have been a first for the Chaîne in Asia.

Fusion Resort & Villas Danang provided the stage. The evening began on the Char Terrace with Champagne and canapés by Maître Restaurateur Chef Sakal Phoeung, a beloved figure in the Bailliage of Vietnam known for cooking that is as refined as it is warm. Five composed bites, Champagne Pol Roger in hand, as the light began its descent.

Then the ceremony moved to the beach itself. With waves as backdrop and the last of the golden hour overhead, the induction was led by Allen Wong - the Inducting Officer appointed by the Siège Mondial in Paris in his capacity as a Member of Conseils d’Administration and Magistral), together with Ravi Chunilal (Bailli Délégué of Vietnam). The role of sword bearer was performed by Norbert Simon, Member of the Conseils d’Administration and Magistral, who is Bailli Délégué of Austria. His presence gave the ceremony an added weight of international standing.

The setting - open sky, open sea, the sand of a country with one of the longest coastlines in Southeast Asia - felt less like a backdrop than a statement. The sacred rituals of an organisation approaching its eighth decade lost none of their gravity. And if anything, the open air gave them something more: a sense that what was being celebrated here belonged not just to a room, but to a place.

Twenty members were inducted or promoted that evening, a number that speaks for itself. Among them, a growing presence of Vietnamese members. A quiet but meaningful sign that the Chaîne in Vietnam is rebuilding its roots, and that its community is becoming as much of this country as it is of the world.

Dinner followed on the beachfront lawn, and the mood shifted to something looser and warmer. The BBQ spread was generous and proudly local - Mỳ Quảng at a live station, bún chả Hà Nội, charcoal-grilled lobster and wagyu ribs - the kind of table that invites people to linger. In keeping with the spirit of the evening, wines were served “vin de soif” style by Ly’s Cellars - three approachable selections flowing freely, the way wine should at a table with no reason to hurry. The highlight of the beverage selection, however, was Vê Đê Đi: Vietnam's only single malt whisky producer, whose spirits offered a distinctly local flourish to close the night.

Then the fire dancers took the beach. What had been a convivial dinner became something more alive - flames tracing arcs against the night sky, the sound of the sea beneath the music, and members who had arrived as guests now moving together on the sand. It was the kind of moment that belongs to no itinerary.

Some evenings earn their place in memory through spectacle. This one had that too, but what lingered was something quieter: the feeling that everything, from the tide to the table to the last arc of fire, had been exactly right. For even the most seasoned members of the Chaîne - those who have attended more Chapitres than they care to count - this was an evening that will not be easily forgotten.

Close your eyes, and it comes back: the salt air off the water, the warmth of the grill, the taste of something great just pulled from the fire, and the rare, uncomplicated feeling of wanting to be nowhere else but here.

Joey Thinh
Interim Chargé de Presse