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jackbl
07-12-2008, 09:15 AM
Vietnam is the 2nd largest rain exporter after Thailand in SEA.... if there is shortage, it may also affect the selling price to SGP....:(

Floodwaters cause heavy damage to rice in Tien Giang, Dong Thap
==========================================

Nhan Dan – 120 hectares of the newly-planted winter-spring rice were submerged due to a prolonged heavy rain in the past few days in Lap Vo district, Dong Nai province. 10 – 30% of this total area has been damaged.

Pumping stations in the district are currently draining off the water in order to plant rice seeds.

1000 hectares of the newly – sown winter-spring rice were also damaged by a prolonged rain coupled with floodwaters in interior field slowly receding in Cai Be district, Tien Giang province.

At present, the farmers in these districts are lacking in rice seeds to sow in the second phase due to the higher price of rice seeds while a big volume of rice for sale remains in stock.

jackbl
07-12-2008, 10:01 AM
Any kind soul who would be able to translate the below sentence for member bryanlewis??

"Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian. E ko biet gi ve no dau. Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot. E hieu ma."

Bryanlewis, are u able to tell us the sentence u sms her before she reply u?

bryanlewis
07-12-2008, 10:10 AM
Thanks but no. This message came out of the blue.:confused:

jackbl
07-12-2008, 10:21 AM
Oic, let's wait for bro sha_gua75, leeson, rjrj, vietnamlover, casanova03, technofreak, retsoor, etc... They possessed higher level of the language.... :)


Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian=Anyway u go sleep, dun make me get angry.

Thanks but no. This message came out of the blue.:confused:

jackbl
07-12-2008, 11:04 AM
Hi all and everyone,

I need your help to translate the below:

"Con viec kg on dinh ti nao"

I asked the gal "How's your work?" and the above is what she replied me..

I only know "My work is NOT stable .. "

May i know what is TI NAO?


Oic, let's wait for bro sha_gua75, leeson, KANGTUO, rjrj, vietnamlover, casanova03, technofreak, retsoor, etc... They possessed higher level of the language.... :)

the_e_ones
07-12-2008, 11:17 AM
Good news for Vietnam lovers... sourced from Thanh Nien Daily dated 07 Dec 08

Cheers and enjoy...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotels wary of economic slowdown, don’t plan rate hikes

Vietnamese hotels are not planning to increase room tariffs by much next year as occupancy rates dip as a fallout of the global economic slowdown, the industry association said.

In fact, many have decided to keep them unchanged or even reduce them.

Tao Van Nghe, chairman of the 42-member Ho Chi Minh City Hotel Association and general director of the five-star Majestic Hotel, said his and many other hotels do not plan to hike rates.

A few may put up their prices, but only by 5-7 percent and not tens of percentage points as in the past.

Le Hoang Yen, chairwoman of Vina Media Corporation, said: “We used to find it hard to convince hotels to reduce tariffs, but some say now they will lower room rates next year.”

Vo Anh Tai, director of Saigontourist Company, said some hotels agreed to cut room rates after reviewing 2009 contracts with his firm.

Since the tourism industry is now in a tight spot, Tai said service providers should cooperate to lower prices.

Airlines flying to Vietnam should reconsider fares since global oil prices have plummeted, he said.

“I mentioned this to a Vietnam Airlines deputy general director and he agreed with me,” Tai said.

Bui Viet Thuy Tien, director of Asian Trails Company, said her firm has convinced four- and five-star hotels in HCMC and Hanoi to cut their 2009 rates by 5-10 percent but those in the central region have yet to announce their plans.

The tariff cut helped send tour prices down by 10 percent, she said, adding her company is now trying to persuade transport companies to follow suit so that tour prices could become even cheaper.

The number of tour bookings for winter 2008-spring 2009 has plunged by 25-40 percent, she said.

Her European partners expect the tourism industry to bounce back by 2010, she said.

In HCMC, five-star rooms cost more than VND2.6 million per night on average, or 35 percent up from the same period last year.

Four-star rooms cost VND1.84 million, or 68 percent up, and three-star rooms around VND910,000 (US$53), or 47 percent up.

Nghe said hotels could earn profits if occupancy levels top 65 percent.

Dietmar Kielnhofer, general manager of the Sheraton Hotel Saigon, expected the hotel industry to start slowly next year, but pick up by the third quarter when the economic situation stabilizes.

John Gardner, general manager of the Caravelle Hotel, said his hotel is preparing to cut costs next year since business is likely to be down, but he does not expect the situation to be disastrous.

jackbl
07-12-2008, 11:49 AM
Yummy...... :p;)

Food festival kicks off in City
===================
The annual food festival ‘Tastes of the World - 2008’ opened in Van Thanh Tourist Park, 48/10 Dien Bien Phu Street, Binh Thanh District, HCM City, yesterday, 5/12/2008.

21 hotels and restaurants from 16 countries joined together to take part in the festival with many local restaurants from eight cities and provinces nationwide.

The highlight of this year’s festival is the World Food Culture Center (WFCC) of South Korea, which will introduce royal dishes promoted in the well-known TV film ‘Dea Jang Gum’.

Aside from featuring traditional cuisine of participating countries, the event also showcases their traditional arts including folk music and games.

Today, a seminar on modern and traditional Korean – Vietnamese cuisines will be held by the Vietnam Cuisine Research Institute with the participation of 20 Korean chefs.

Jointly organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam Tourism and Association and Saigontourist Holding Company, the festival continues until December 12.

By M. Hanh – Translated by Phuong Lan

jackbl
07-12-2008, 12:42 PM
Bro Bird, can you update us on what actually happened???

Oi !!!!! Bro wat time you left last night arh ...... you saw the raid bo around 10 plus ???? :p

First time I see it in L42 ..... at first I tot wat happen ...... suddenly so many girls ran about ..... actually they should just get to know some customers at the coffeeshop and sit around ..... can see some ran to the condo behind BUT those officers followed them in the end also got caught and upz the van . :(

jackbl
07-12-2008, 12:52 PM
Thats what our teens do a decade or 2 ago ....... :mad:


Glue sniffing on rise amongst HCMC youth
==========================
Glue sniffing appears to be an alarming new trend amongst many Ho Chi Minh City youth looking for a cheap high.

Teens report “ecstatic” feelings after inhaling the fumes from industrial-strength glue squeezed into plastic bags.

The glues are sold in stores around the city ranging from VND2,000-17,000 (US$0.12-1) depending on the tubes’ weight, according to S., a self-proclaimed addict in the city’s Tan Binh District.

S. said his glue-sniffing group had more than 100 members, most in their teens. He said one VND2,000 tube could be inhaled over 30 minutes while a tube costing around VND6,000-7,000 could be sniffed over an hour or more.

One morning early this week, reporters witnessed a group of six adolescents, including both males and females, sniffing glue out of bags in an Internet shop in Tan Phu District.

Outside the shop, tens of glue tubes were scattered on the ground.

Fifteen-year-old T. said they were just sniffing glue, not drugs.

Th., a girl in the group, said the cheap glue could produce feelings of euphoria and was less costly than other drugs.

T. said the group had been sniffing glue for months after being taught how to do it by older peers.

Local store owners said they regularly sold glue to many adolescents – sometimes tens of tubes at a time.

One store owner on Au Co Street, who wished to be unnamed, said that since 2006 he had discovered several teens purchasing glue to get high and had informed local police.

A vendor on Huynh Van Chinh Street said a group of about 10 youngsters gathers daily in a yard in font of the Huynh Van Chinh apartment block to sniff glue.

Many local residents had approached the group to warn them of the dangers, the vendor said, but received threats of attack from the group members.

A retired state worker living in the block said that in 2006, there were just a few glue sniffers in the area but now the number had risen to hundreds.

A police officer in the district said the local police department was aware of the dangers of glue sniffing. He said tests showed the glues contained harmful chemicals which affected the nervous system in similar ways to other street drugs.

But according to the officer, law enforcement is powerless to stop the practice as glue is not classified as an illegal “drug.”

Toxic effects

Reporters brought two types of glues – reportedly the most popular amongst teens – to the Hai Dang Joint-Stock Company which performs laboratory tests on substances to analyze their chemical make-up.

Test results showed that one of the glue brands contained at least three toxic substances including methylene choloride, ethyl acetate and toluene. The other brand contained the same substances as well as cyclohexane.

Professor Chu Pham Ngoc Son, technical consultant for the company, said each of the toxic chemicals were capable of producing euphoric feelings but that no research had been done on the effects of the combined substances.

Nguyen Huu Duc from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmaceuticals said glue sniffing can become highly addictive.

In addition to the short-term pleasurable feelings these chemicals induce, glue fumes can also cause drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, depression, delusion, insanity, and even unconsciousness and death following a high level of exposure.

Duc added that Vietnam hasn’t got any statistics on glue sniffing yet.

Source: Tuoi Tre

jackbl
07-12-2008, 12:55 PM
Scary case .... :o:( :eek:

Doctors didn’t steal kidney, says hospital
==========================
A southern metro-based obstetrics hospital has denied a patient’s allegations that doctors took out her kidney during an ovarian tumor surgery, according to a press conference held on Wednesday.


“We confirm that with an ovarian tumor surgery, it is impossible to take a kidney,” representatives from Hung Vuong Obstetrics Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 said. There was “no mistake in the surgery,” the hospital said.

Ovaries and kidneys are located 25 to 30 centimeters apart, so surgeons could not remove the kidney through the incision made to operate on an ovarian tumor, the hospital’s director Tran Son Thach said.

“Moreover, the operation lasted 85 minutes for surgeons to remove the tumor, cut out the ovaries and other related parts, so it is not long enough to take the kidney,” he told the conference held in HCMC.

More importantly, obstetricians do not have expertise in removing kidneys, according to Thach.

Urinary Department Head Tran Ngoc Sinh from Cho Ray Hospital who was invited to the conference, said patient N.T.N.T was given spinal anesthesia during the surgery, while kidney surgery requires complete anesthesia.

In addition, for kidney surgery, surgeons have to make an incision in the patient’s back, Sinh said. For ovarian tumor surgery, the incision is made in the lower abdomen.

The medical waste from the operation has also been identified as an ovarian tumor, not a kidney, Sinh said.

T., 53, complained to news agencies on Monday that she underwent ovarian surgery on November 26 last year at Hung Vuong Obstetrics Hospital and was released in December.

On November 2 last year T. had her health checked at the HCMC’s Medic Diagnosis Center. The test results showed she had a large ovarian tumor, while she was not suffering from kidney stones.

However, when she had a check-up at the medical center in October this year, the results said she didn’t have a left kidney.

She thought the test results might be wrong so she got a second test at Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital last month, which confirmed that she only had one kidney, making her believe the surgeons at Hung Vuong Obstetrics Hospital had stolen her other one.

Some experts supposed that T. had been born with only one kidney, and the 20-centimeter ovarian tumor had concealed the missing kidney in the scans. The rate of people born with one kidney in the world is one in every 1,100, which is not that rare, according to Sinh.

Thach told the conference that they still needed to contact the patient to give her more details.

Reported by Thanh Tung

rjrj
08-12-2008, 05:58 AM
Hi all and everyone,

I need your help to translate the below:

"Con viec kg on dinh ti nao"

I asked the gal "How's your work?" and the above is what she replied me..

I only know "My work is NOT stable .. "

May i know what is TI NAO?

"ti nao" or "chut nao" i think its like "at all"..so that sentence could be translated as "my work is not stable at all"

same as:

"em khong thich ti nao" = i don't like it at all

:)

bro i think we havevn't met..i'm not an active member :p

rjrj
08-12-2008, 06:04 AM
Any kind soul who would be able to translate the below sentence for member bryanlewis??

"Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian. E ko biet gi ve no dau. Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot. E hieu ma."

Bryanlewis, are u able to tell us the sentence u sms her before she reply u?

e ko biet gi ve no dau = i don't know anything about it

"Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot":

ma that ra = in fact
a e minh = we
doi xu voi nhau = treat each other
ntn = nhu the nay = like this
moi la = ?
tot = good

Hurricane88
08-12-2008, 07:14 AM
Good news for Vietnam lovers... sourced from Thanh Nien Daily dated 07 Dec 08

Cheers and enjoy...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotels wary of economic slowdown, don’t plan rate hikes

Vietnamese hotels are not planning to increase room tariffs by much next year as occupancy rates dip as a fallout of the global economic slowdown, the industry association said.



Great news -thank you for sharing...:)

casannova03
08-12-2008, 12:10 PM
e ko biet gi ve no dau = i don't know anything about it

"Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot":

ma that ra = in fact
a e minh = we
doi xu voi nhau = treat each other
ntn = nhu the nay = like this
moi la = ?
tot = good

good work there bro!!;)

VietnamLover
09-12-2008, 04:16 PM
Vietnamese: Sai đâu toi sửa đấy cơ mà
English: Which place is wrong, I fix that.

Vietnamese: Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian. E ko biet gi ve no dau. Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot. E hieu ma.
English: You go sleep. Don't make me upset. I don't know anything about it. In fact, how we treat each other is good. I understand.

Vietnamese: cong viec kg on dinh ti nao
English: The job is not stable at all.

technofreak
09-12-2008, 04:17 PM
e ko biet gi ve no dau = i don't know anything about it

"Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot":

ma that ra = in fact
a e minh = we
doi xu voi nhau = treat each other
ntn = nhu the nay = like this
moi la = ?
tot = good

Another gem is unearthed in RJRJ...Good work there!!

Jackbl, KT...We are so amateur in front of these tieng Viet sexperts...;)

Cheers,
Techno

casannova03
09-12-2008, 04:28 PM
You forget me ah...i aso amatuer lei:(

casannova03
10-12-2008, 03:44 PM
Jackbl, KT...We are so amateur in front of these tieng Viet sexperts...;)

Cheers,
Techno


Bro, i was browsing thru the earlier parts of this thread and saw that you went for Viet language lessons....how was it?

You think worth it or not? All this while i self learn but seems that will always get stuck after some time.(cos no new words from msgs or conversations with ba xa):(

does going for lessons helps a lot?

technofreak
10-12-2008, 04:11 PM
Vietnamese: Sai đâu toi sửa đấy cơ mà
English: Which place is wrong, I fix that.

Vietnamese: Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian. E ko biet gi ve no dau. Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot. E hieu ma.
English: You go sleep. Don't make me upset. I don't know anything about it. In fact, how we treat each other is good. I understand.

Vietnamese: cong viec kg on dinh ti nao
English: The job is not stable at all.

Another Viet sexpert!! :)

You forget me ah...i aso amatuer lei.

You learnt for 5 years still amateur?? Then what am I?? :rolleyes:

Bro, i was browsing thru the earlier parts of this thread and saw that you went for Viet language lessons....how was it?

You think worth it or not? All this while i self learn but seems that will always get stuck after some time.(cos no new words from msgs or conversations with ba xa)

does going for lessons helps a lot?

Going for Viet class teaches you the correct pronunciation, tonal markings...And proper way of addressing different people. I attended it for the certificate...As a sense of achievement. Actually more than 70% of the basic course syllabus we (for our levels) should know by now. Hence, taking the exam was a breeze as I completed in 5 minutes. Not trying to boast here, but with people of the calibre like Jackbl, Kangtuo and you etc. I reckon would complete it in under 4 minutes.

To build up your new vocabulary, since no new msgs with baxa, I suggest you going to get more "co giaoSSS" to improve further. That's what I'm doing...And for those words which I don't understand I would revert to my baxa to explain. How do I explain that I have new vocabulary each time? I just said that there's a thread online to improve Vietnamese...;)

Also, more "co giaoSSS" means more chances for exchange of bodily fluids, which in turn would "deepen" our understanding of the Vietnamese culture. For instance, I already acquired some tips for enhancing performance while having "bedroom golf" sessions...And with this I can impart to my baxa. 一石很多鸟 right?? :D

casannova03
10-12-2008, 04:34 PM
You learnt for 5 years still amateur?? Then what am I?? :rolleyes:

aiya...the time used is irrelevant...its the intensity and the frequency you used it that is important... like you said, outside co giaos are the real times i improve...cos my ba xa quite reluctant to teach too much....so em hoc tieng viet di kiem con gai ma!!! hahahaha:D

KangTuo
10-12-2008, 05:04 PM
but with people of the calibre like Jackbl, Kangtuo and you etc. I reckon would complete it in under 4 minutes.


JackBL is my Thay giao... i wil not match up lah.
take the test, probably i will fail.

cos no new words from msgs or conversations with ba xa)

To build up your new vocabulary, since no new msgs with baxa, I suggest you going to get more "co giaoSSS" to improve further. That's what I'm doing...And for those words which I don't understand I would revert to my baxa to explain. How do I explain that I have new vocabulary each time? I just said that there's a thread online to improve Vietnamese...;)


leran from amny cp giaossss.....Dangerous leh.
recently i just sms my girlfriend in vn. She called me and say how come i sms differently already.
example:
1) I used to sms "ok"... now i sms her "Uh".
2) bx dang lam gi becomes bx dag lam j
3) the eglish word "but"... use to be "ma" now i use "nhung"

:(

casannova03
10-12-2008, 05:10 PM
leran from amny cp giaossss.....Dangerous leh.
recently i just sms my girlfriend in vn. She called me and say how come i sms differently already.
example:
1) I used to sms "ok"... now i sms her "Uh".
2) bx dang lam gi becomes bx dag lam j
3) the eglish word "but"... use to be "ma" now i use "nhung"

:(


hahaha....be careful wor!! if me i also suspect la...haha such a big change...but then you can tok cork say learn from viet loving buddies lor...say we got one group always msg each other in tieng viet then some of them use like that then you learn lor..haha:D

RJ2004
10-12-2008, 05:31 PM
leran from amny cp giaossss.....Dangerous leh.
recently i just sms my girlfriend in vn. She called me and say how come i sms differently already.
example:
1) I used to sms "ok"... now i sms her "Uh".
2) bx dang lam gi becomes bx dag lam j
3) the eglish word "but"... use to be "ma" now i use "nhung"

:(

haha... didnt i mention before, must remember each gal how they msg differently one, if not sure got fox tail come out :D

technofreak
11-12-2008, 10:47 AM
aiya...the time used is irrelevant...its the intensity and the frequency you used it that is important... like you said, outside co giaos are the real times i improve...cos my ba xa quite reluctant to teach too much....so em hoc tieng viet di kiem con gai ma!

Then you tell her my trademark siggy...Khong gi co the thay the em, tai vi em la tat ca cua doi anh...;)

JackBL is my Thay giao... i wil not match up lah.
take the test, probably i will fail.

Too easy for you to fail anh oi...:)

haha... didnt i mention before, must remember each gal how they msg differently one, if not sure got fox tail come out.

Ya man...Better remember the style of texting each gal...;)

jackbl
11-12-2008, 11:56 AM
Greeting to all bro, when i reach hcmc, my viet level has sunk to Level 0, most sentences they said i dun understand more than 50%.... Sorry KT, pls dun address me as THAY GIAO, i felt shy, even myself cant survived the "storm" here... how to teach u?! We need to further improved ourself if we wan to "chiong" here :p

jackbl
11-12-2008, 11:59 AM
Thanks for sharing! If free, aybe we can meetup the bro active in this thread for coffee/beer after i go back sgp, me at hoc mon now :)

e ko biet gi ve no dau = i don't know anything about it

"Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot":

ma that ra = in fact
a e minh = we
doi xu voi nhau = treat each other
ntn = nhu the nay = like this
moi la = ?
tot = good

jackbl
11-12-2008, 12:01 PM
Thanks for sharing! Appreciate your help :)

Vietnamese: Sai đâu toi sửa đấy cơ mà
English: Which place is wrong, I fix that.

Vietnamese: Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian. E ko biet gi ve no dau. Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot. E hieu ma.
English: You go sleep. Don't make me upset. I don't know anything about it. In fact, how we treat each other is good. I understand.

Vietnamese: cong viec kg on dinh ti nao
English: The job is not stable at all.

technofreak
11-12-2008, 12:48 PM
Greeting to all bro, when i reach hcmc, my viet level has sunk to Level 0, most sentences they said i dun understand more than 50%.... Sorry KT, pls dun address me as THAY GIAO, i felt shy, even myself cant survived the "storm" here... how to teach u?! We need to further improved ourself if we wan to "chiong" here.

Very normal anh oi...For me I still need another 5 years to understand what the fark my baxa is talking to her friends/relatives...:)

Thanks for sharing! If free, aybe we can meetup the bro active in this thread for coffee/beer after i go back sgp, me at hoc mon now.

Where is Hoc Mon ha?? :confused:

Hurricane88
11-12-2008, 12:58 PM
Slave-masseuse investigation expands

Phan Cao Tri and his wife Phan Thi Yen
A Ho Chi Minh City massage parlor owner, accused of treating masseuses like slaves, was Tuesday found to be in possession of several fake masseuse certificates, police said.


Further investigations are underway into whether Phan Cao Tri and his wife Phan Thi Yen, owners of Tan Hoang Phat massage parlor in Thu Duc District, faked seals and state documents, an official from HCMC Police Department said Tuesday.

One of the fake certificates, purportedly issued in 2001, carried the name of someone who was then a departmental head as the deputy director of the HCMC University of Medicine and Pharmacy, police said.

Investigations were also continuing into allegations that two masseuses from Soc Trang Province suffered broken vertebrae while trying to escape the massage parlor on January 16. Local police, who had handled the case, are accused of failing to take appropriate action against parlor owner Tri.

Thanh, a massage parlor customer, said he had rescued one of the masseuses after local police took no action on his report of slave-masseuses being kept at the establishment.

On Monday, police arrested Tri, Yen and Yen’s brother Phan Viet Hau, for illegally detaining and extorting money from their female employees.

Police also seized a pistol and seven cartridges during raids conducted since last Saturday on parlors in Thu Duc District, Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces.

All the businesses allegedly detained women, beat them, forced them to perform sex acts on customers, controlled their meals, extorted money from them and locked them in dog cages as punishment.

Phan Van Vu, who worked as a waiter at the parlor, said the head of the neighborhood and a local senior policeman came to drink at the karaoke lounge every week. Hau arranged masseuses to join them every time they visited, Vu said.

Reported by Nguyen Bao

casannova03
11-12-2008, 01:07 PM
Very normal anh oi...For me I still need another 5 years to understand what the fark my baxa is talking to her friends/relatives...:)


Yap, in Sg, our language level is considered not bad but you have to keep in mind that VN gals actually lower their standards in order to communicate with us. SO....when you are in VN, our language level is only as good as 3-4 yr olds....at most 5-7 years old!!!! hahaha!!

I've spent 5 years and can only get the gist of what they are saying but dun understand what exactly they are talking about:(

So if you take 5 years can do that then you would have already overtaken me.. haha!!;)

naemlo
11-12-2008, 02:01 PM
So if you take 5 years can do that then you would have already overtaken me.. haha!!;)

I spent 5 yrs... n till now my only vietnamese is, "ba xa", "lam tinh", "du ma" :D

casannova03
11-12-2008, 03:08 PM
I spent 5 yrs... n till now my only vietnamese is, "ba xa", "lam tinh", "du ma" :D


Dun bluff....you also know 'em yeu', 'an com', 'nguoi yeu' etc....:D

naemlo
11-12-2008, 03:10 PM
Dun bluff....you also know 'em yeu', 'an com', 'nguoi yeu' etc....:D

Dunno lah.... I only know "kg tien".... :cool:

rjrj
11-12-2008, 04:58 PM
Thanks for sharing! If free, aybe we can meetup the bro active in this thread for coffee/beer after i go back sgp, me at hoc mon now :)

you're very welcome bro..just out of curiosity what r u doing over there? :D

casannova03
11-12-2008, 05:13 PM
you're very welcome bro..just out of curiosity what r u doing over there? :D

bro jackbl di vn gap ngoui yeu!! hahha:D

jackbl
12-12-2008, 11:48 AM
Hoc Mon is further west of HCMC, after Tan Binh, near District 12...
Hoc Mon is a "HUYEN" while District 1 is a "QUAN"....

Where is Hoc Mon ha?? :confused:

jackbl
12-12-2008, 11:50 AM
I m here to recee all the places that the bro recommended.... hihi :D

Spent a lot of money but got nothing :(

you're very welcome bro..just out of curiosity what r u doing over there? :D

Hurricane88
12-12-2008, 12:12 PM
Tasteful Vietnamese

A customer looks at the menu in the beautiful garden of Hoa Tuc Restaurant in HCMC’s District 1
Newly-opened Hoa Tuc Restaurant is a charming venue for fine dining in Ho Chi Minh City, where fresh, well-prepared dishes and the elegant setting will leave a lasting memory.


Just opposite the Park Hyatt Hotel and a two-minute walk from the historic Opera House, this restaurant and tea garden serves traditional Vietnamese fare with a contemporary twist.

Housed in the courtyard of a former opium refinery at 74 Hai Ba Trung Street, “Hoa Tuc” means poppy, and the theme is subtly apparent throughout. The green and purple interior makes it a perfect dining choice among foreign tourists and expatriates. The terrace, also known as the tea garden, is decked with cushions and lots of greenery.

The main dining area is an airy, white room with early 1900’s art-nouveau décor. Original columns of the colonial building combine with chandeliers made of bent copper tubing and rustic ceiling fans. Poppy patterns decorate the menu and shimmer in the framed wallpaper.

The restaurant offers a refined selection of classic Vietnamese, a mélange of dishes from north, south, and central areas which are traditionally prepared. The management recommends the entre “mixed platter of Hoa Tuc starters,” and “Hoa Tuc salad with seafood, fresh palm hearts and lotus stems.” For mains, both the “BBQ lemon grass beef with white noodle nest” and “sautéed glass noodles with crab and vegetable” are delicious. You can go local with “bo la lot,” a dish of grilled beef wrapped in a betel leaf.

The delectable array of desserts is the house specialty. Sample the sweet flavors of “banana and sago pearls in coconut cream” or “sesame sticky rice balls stuffed with bean paste in coconut soup” which are among the favorites.

In the tea garden, you can enjoy al fresco breakfast in the morning or romantic candle-lit dinners. There is an interesting variety of organic teas, green teas from Japan, and Korean rice tea plus a wide range of juices and shakes.

The wine menu is small but well- selected. Most are whites and roses imported from Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand priced between VND350,000 - 540,000 (US$21-32).

Reported by Thuy Nhien

technofreak
12-12-2008, 04:07 PM
Hoc Mon is further west of HCMC, after Tan Binh, near District 12...
Hoc Mon is a "HUYEN" while District 1 is a "QUAN"....

Em biet roi anh oi...:)

Yap, in Sg, our language level is considered not bad but you have to keep in mind that VN gals actually lower their standards in order to communicate with us. SO....when you are in VN, our language level is only as good as 3-4 yr olds....at most 5-7 years old!!!! hahaha!!

I've spent 5 years and can only get the gist of what they are saying but dun understand what exactly they are talking about.

So if you take 5 years can do that then you would have already overtaken me.. haha!!

Then let's go practise tonight...Have nuoc mieng will travel...;)

Hurricane88
14-12-2008, 11:47 AM
Dong declines on fears policy makers may seek weaker currency
The dong saw its biggest drop in a month on concern policy makers will widen the daily trading band and allow a weaker currency to support exports.


The currency traded near the lowest level in a month as Morgan Stanley this week said the dong may be devalued next year because of a widening trade gap, bad loans at local banks and the external debt owed by the government. The central bank last month expanded the dong’s trading band to 3 percent on either side of a fixed rate, from an earlier 2 percent.

“Investors are concerned about recent comments that the dong will weaken in the next few months so people want to hold on to dollars,” Vu Anh Duc, a senior dealer in the fixed-income department at Hanoi-based Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade, known as VietinBank, said.

The dong declined 0.2 percent, the most since November 7, to VND16,983 per dollar as of 3:30 p.m. in Hanoi, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The State Bank of Vietnam fixed Thursday’s reference rate at VND16,489 per dollar, versus VND16,491 on Wednesday, according to the bank’s website.

Authorities may widen the band further to 5 percent to support exports, Duc said.

Source: Bloomberg

jackbl
15-12-2008, 09:56 AM
Thanks for your translation, appreciated alot.

"ti nao" or "chut nao" i think its like "at all"..so that sentence could be translated as "my work is not stable at all"

same as:

"em khong thich ti nao" = i don't like it at all

:)

bro i think we havevn't met..i'm not an active member :p

jackbl
15-12-2008, 09:57 AM
Thanks for your translation, appreciated alot.

Vietnamese: Sai đâu toi sửa đấy cơ mà
English: Which place is wrong, I fix that.

Vietnamese: Thoi a ngu di dung lam e tuc gian. E ko biet gi ve no dau. Ma that ra a e minh doi xu voi nhau ntn moi la tot. E hieu ma.
English: You go sleep. Don't make me upset. I don't know anything about it. In fact, how we treat each other is good. I understand.

Vietnamese: cong viec kg on dinh ti nao
English: The job is not stable at all.

jackbl
15-12-2008, 10:54 AM
Hi, from the material that bro TF passed to me, the essential from his lesson is the ability to pronounce each vietnamese character, e.g NG, NH, etc... for vocabulary, this have to be learnt outside class.... thru self-learn or sms or reading newspaper, etc

You think worth it or not? All this while i self learn but seems that will always get stuck after some time.(cos no new words from msgs or conversations with ba xa):(

does going for lessons helps a lot?

technofreak
15-12-2008, 12:48 PM
Hi, from the material that bro TF passed to me, the essential from his lesson is the ability to pronounce each vietnamese character, e.g NG, NH, etc... for vocabulary, this have to be learnt outside class.... thru self-learn or sms or reading newspaper, etc

Hmmm...So your proCunTciation is very good already huh??? Wahaha :D

jackbl
16-12-2008, 01:44 AM
No, not very good yet. I think need to go there for a month to undergo thorough training then can consider pass... :p

Hmmm...So your proCunTciation is very good already huh??? Wahaha :D

jackbl
16-12-2008, 01:49 AM
A place to go for coffee and relax w/o those noisy music... :p

Coffee cup café
===========

Coffee Cup Café is a new location in Ho Chi Minh City for those who love unique furniture, especially antiques and faux antiques.


The woman who owns it has a passion for home decoration, making the Coffee Cup unique among the cafés near Turtle Lake. It is on the corner of Pham Ngoc Thach and Vo Van Tan streets.

The luxurious interior has the classical beauty of Victorian design.

Ornate tables and chairs adorn both sections of the restaurant to lighten up the space.

Customers can browse and purchase a selection of furniture on display while the shop offers a variety of drinks and food to choose from.

Highly recommended are the cinnamon apple juice and cinnamon cakes.

The owner buys these special cakes from the US. The aroma of cinnamon and coffee fill the shop evoking a feeling of old world charm.

Reported by Lan Anh

jackbl
16-12-2008, 01:53 AM
Cakes galore
=========
Banh ong (pipe cake) and banh day (roll cake) are traditional dishes of the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta. They are made for special occasions and traditional Khmer festivals such as Ok Am-bok (Moon God Festival) and Chaul Chnam Thmey (New Year Festival).

The provinces of Tra Vinh and Soc Trang are well-known for making the delectable treats.

The pipe cake consists of rice flour, refined sugar, coconut flesh, juice and salt.

To make pipe cakes, the ingredients are mixed together to create a dough. The dough is then stuffed into bamboo or metal pipes about 20 centimeters in length and three centimeters wide. Next, the pipes are covered with tin lids and steamed in a saucepan.

When the cakes are well-cooked, they are removed from the pipes and placed on green banana leaves.

Nowadays, many people also use the juice from the leaves of dua thom (Pandanus amaryllifolius) plant. The leaves can be kneaded with flour to create fragrant green cakes.

Pipe cakes are eaten with a mix of salt and sesame. The sweet smell and rich taste of coconut juice makes the treat especially delicious, while the hint of salt adds a savory element. The cakes are meant to be eaten slowly and savored.

While the Khmer in Tra Vinh Province are famous for their pipe cakes, the Khmer in neighboring Soc Trang Province are renowned for their banh day.

This kind of cake is made from wheat flour, soft coconut flesh, sugar and peanuts, and is shaped into rolls.

Part of the fun is watching the expert cake-makers create the treats before your eyes. The cakes are best when eaten hot and fresh and cost just VND2,000 (11 cents) each.

jackbl
16-12-2008, 02:03 AM
FYI...

Singapore school to provide grants for Vietnamese students
======================================
PSB Academy has announced it will provide scholarships and tuition grants worth totally 1 million Singapore dollars (nearly US$680,000) to Vietnamese students next year.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City, Azliana Abdullah, a PSB representative in charge of international enrolment, said from the SGD$1 million, 40 scholarships each worth SGD$20,000 ($14,433) and 20 tuition grants each worth SGD$10,000 ($6,716) will be given to qualified Vietnamese students in 2009.

The SGD$1-million is part of a PSB scholarship program worth SGD$8 million ($5.4 million) for international students from nations including Vietnam, China, India, the Republic of Korea, among others, she said.

The scholarships and tuition grants will facilitate studies for students who apply for the Business Administration Bachelor Program with training curriculum provided by the California State University in the US, said Azliana.

Interested candidates can contact the Vietnam Hop Diem (Vietnam Center Point) Training Center who will select qualified recipients in Vietnam on behalf of PSB, she added.

Candidates can also access websites including psb-technologies (http://www.psbacademy.edu.sg) and www.vietnamcentrepoint.edu.vn for further information.

Reported by Tuong Nhi

Hurricane88
16-12-2008, 10:39 AM
Cyber crime rising as users remain unaware

Young people at an IT event in Hanoi.
Hi-tech crime is on the upswing in Vietnam and many internet users are not sufficiently aware of the dangers of ineffective information security shields, experts have warned.


“Hackers have targeted not only the information of financial companies, banks and e-commerce websites but also government offices,” says Tran Van Hoa, head of the Ministry of Public Security’s Hi-tech Crime Prevention Department (C15).

He warns that local hackers have become mercenary and begun coordinating their activities with counterparts in other countries. This marks a shift from hackers targeting notoriety, Hoa notes.

“There have been more and more cases [recently] when hackers have attacked servers and websites to access credit card [information] and illegally transfer money,” he says.

Vu Quoc Thanh, vice president of the Vietnam Information Security Association, says there is low awareness of information security among local enterprises and organizations.

A recent survey by Bach Khoa Internetwork Security Center (BKIS) found 300 new viruses being detected every day during the past few months, up to four times the figure for the first six months this year.

In 2007, there were a total of 86,752 viruses detected in Vietnam for a daily average of 18.49.

“Investigations found most of the viruses of Chinese origin installed through the backdoor after an attack to access the computer at any time they want,” says BKIS Director Nguyen Tu Quang.

“Many Internet security centers abroad have also confirmed China to be a giant virus factory,” he adds.

Vietnam used to be one of the 10 countries with the greatest amount of spam emails in the world. Most of the emails, few of them in Vietnamese, probably were sent from zombie computers by botnets under foreign management.

Reported by Truong Son - Vinh Bao

jackbl
16-12-2008, 01:56 PM
Was caught in a jam for 30min at a road junction along NKKN street at 5pm... simply frustrated... some due to road work... :mad:

City leader wants traffic problems fixed before Tet
=================================
Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan has ordered authorized agencies to keep a close eye on the city’s traffic problems and fix them immediately in the lead-up to Tet.

Quan said the agencies must curb traffic problems in their areas from now until the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, which falls on January 26.

They should prevent traffic jams and quickly clear them if they occur, and severely penalize people violating traffic rules, he said.

The committee has already told contractors to ensure safety and smooth flow of traffic at places where they are carrying out road work by having workers on three shifts and tarmacking the road immediately after finishing work.

It has also entrusted the Department of Transport with providing up-to-date traffic information to the media.

Reported by Minh Nam

jackbl
16-12-2008, 02:00 PM
Bro, lets move the vietnamese news to "Tieng Viet Lovers" thread :p;):D

Helmet law one year anniversary: thousands of lives saved

jackbl
16-12-2008, 02:01 PM
NGO gifts helmets to 1,200 children in Hanoi
===============================
The Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF) Saturday organized the Helmets for Kids ceremony at Hanoi’s Hoang Hoa Tham primary school to mark the recent global release of a report on child injury prevention.

The report, by World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, said a leading cause of injury and death among children around the world is head trauma from road accidents that can be prevented by wearing a helmet.

Helmets for Kids was sponsored by the Vietnam Helmet Wearing Coalition (VHWC), a public-private partnership established by the foundation in 2001.

Its members include, among others, AIPF, Australian aid agency AusAID, the National Traffic Safety Committee and WHO.

Reported by Vinh Bao

jackbl
16-12-2008, 02:06 PM
No wonder the roads always jammed!!! :mad:


Removal of barriers leaves unpaved streets behind
=================================
Many contractors have failed to properly pave the street after being forced to remove several street barriers by local authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Thanh Nien has found.

Inspectors from the HCMC Department of Transport has recently fined several constructors and ordered them to remove the barriers after a Thanh Nien report reflected residents’ complaints they were dysfunctional and misused.

However, some constructors have flouted the law by leaving the street unpaved after removing the barriers, including those on Tran Quang Dieu Street in District 3 and Pham Van Hai Street in Tan Binh District.

Previously, people living in District 3, and the districts of Phu Nhuan and Tan Binh had complained that the street barriers remained in place for no discernible purpose, created traffic jams and were a public nuisance.
Residents said workers were using the barriers just to store materials and tools, or even bigger equipment.

Reported by Minh Nam


Was caught in a jam for 30min at a road junction along NKKN street at 5pm... simply frustrated... some due to road work... :mad:

jackbl
16-12-2008, 02:12 PM
What a waste! Never had the chance to visit vietnamese porn site till date... anyone got another? :D

Ten arrested in porn website investigation
===========================
Police in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday arrested 10 suspects allegedly involved in the operation of a pornographic website and charged them with “distribution of depraved material.”


Police plan to press similar charges against two other suspects.

In mid-November, police from the Ministry of Public Security shut down the biggest illegal sex website ever operated in Vietnam.

Police seized 17 computers, eight hard drives, three laptops and more than 100 CDs during subsequent raids on the suspects’ houses last month.

Investigators said more than 20 people had been involved in operating the site over the past few years.

Nguyen Tang Truong of HCMC is accused of establishing the website on his own before recruiting three others as site administrators.

The website was originally promoted as an “education forum for a healthy teenage sex life” but Truong allegedly posted photos, stories and movies of sex acts, investigators said.

The forum attracted around 300,000 members and more than 1,650,000 postings about sex. It also held offline meetings in many places around the country, police said.

Distribution of depraved materials in Vietnam carries a penalty of a jail term of up to 15 years.

Reported by Dam Huy

jackbl
16-12-2008, 02:31 PM
Vietnam ranked high among disaster-prone nations
===================================
Historic flooding left at least 22 people dead or missing in Hanoi in late October

Vietnam ranked sixth out of 10 countries most affected by weather catastrophes from 1998 to 2007, according to Germany-based NGO Germanwatch.


Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh were the countries with the highest frequency of extreme weather, the report adds.

Germanwatch filed the 4th edition of its Global Climate Risk Index 2009 at the United Nations climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland on Thursday.

The Global Climate Risk Index 2009 analyzes which countries are particularly affected by weather extremes. It presents a ranking of those countries most seriously affected in 2007 and in the past decade, through an analysis of the impacts of weather-related events like storms or floods.

Over the past decade, Honduras, Bangladesh, and Nicaragua were ranked as those countries most affected, the report says.

It also says that in 2007 alone Vietnam ranked eighth of out 10 countries devastated by weather catastrophes.

Last year, natural disasters claimed the lives of 346 people in Vietnam with losses estimated at US$1.64 billion, calculated in purchasing power parities (PPP), according to the report.

The hardest-hit countries in 2007 were Bangladesh, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Nicaragua, and Oman, says Sven Harmeling, senior advisor for climate and development at Germanwatch and author of the study.

Of the 10 worst-hit countries last year, nine were developing economies.

Poorer countries were much more affected than richer ones, Harmeling adds.

Germanwatch is an independent nongovernmental organization (NGO) that monitors trade, environment and the relationship between developed and developing countries.

The report also says that natural catastrophes last year cost the globe dearly.

More than 15,000 people around the world died in 2007 from extreme weather events, a record number in recent years.

Damage caused by these events amounted to more than $80 billion with many more people severely affected, through storms, floods and other weather extremes, the report notes.

People in less developed countries have a much harder time coping with such events compared with their peers in industrialized countries.

And while no single weather catastrophe can be directly attributed to global warming, the changing climate will most certainly lead to an increase in their frequency and intensity in many parts of the world, the report warns.

The report recommends that governments should promote initiatives and measures to help people raise their disaster response capacity and work together in order to prevent and minimize the impacts of natural disasters.

Maarten van Aalst, associate director of the Red Cross, says that besides providing assistance when disaster strikes, the most effective response is disaster risk reduction.

"Preventing or reducing the impacts of the increasing hazards is crucial. Practical risk reduction options include, for instance, better early warning, drought resistant crops or reforestation to prevent floods," he says.

freefuck
17-12-2008, 08:35 AM
Can any bro help to translate the following text means? Thanks.:)

Bo luat hinh su chuog 2 khoag 1 Dieu 9 co quy dinh..Neu ai vo tinh gay THUONG NHO cho ng khac.De lai hau qua lam tan nat trai tim ng do thi fai chiu khung hinh phat la CHUNG SONG tron doi voi ng do..Y la k hoi tiec,co lo tai ma nhu diec,y fai biet cuog quyet,nog nang va kich liet,y la fai chiu thiet,xai tien k dc tiec,y cho toi suc tan,luc kiet, y vay moi la y thiet..Hii dag lam j do Be yeu ?

casannova03
17-12-2008, 12:00 PM
Can any bro help to translate the following text means? Thanks.:)

Bo luat hinh su chuog 2 khoag 1 Dieu 9 co quy dinh..Neu ai vo tinh gay THUONG NHO cho ng khac.De lai hau qua lam tan nat trai tim ng do thi fai chiu khung hinh phat la CHUNG SONG tron doi voi ng do..Y la k hoi tiec,co lo tai ma nhu diec,y fai biet cuog quyet,nog nang va kich liet,y la fai chiu thiet,xai tien k dc tiec,y cho toi suc tan,luc kiet, y vay moi la y thiet..Hii dag lam j do Be yeu ?

can't exactly translate the whole chunk but sound like some chat line advertisement you received in VN???;)

Hurricane88
17-12-2008, 12:56 PM
Tourist arrivals plummet in Vietnam as global downturn bites

Expedited visa application process can boost tourism revenues by 10 percent, an expert says
Vietnam is set to miss its target of attracting five million international tourists this year as arrivals have dropped off sharply, industry officials say.


Hotels and tour operators are struggling and dropping their rates amid the steepest fall in arrivals since the 2003 SARS crisis and then bird flu outbreaks a year later that scared tourists away from Vietnam and other Asian destinations. This time, the global economic downturn is the main factor.

Next year, the tourism sector – which employs more than 10 percent of Vietnam’s workforce – faces zero growth or worse, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh, warned at a Hanoi conference last week.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has asked the government to spend US$20-30 million on a global marketing campaign to draw back visitors next year and after.

VNAT said such a campaign, which would follow a smaller advertising campaign on CNN and the Discovery Channel, could be financed from a newly-announced one billion dollar economic stimulus package.

“The number of international arrivals has been down for months, but the situation has seriously worsened since October,” said Vu The Binh, a senior official at VNAT.

That month, fewer than 300,000 international visitors arrived in Vietnam, a drop of almost 12 percent since October last year, according to VNAT figures.

By November, arrivals were down 22 percent year-on-year, part of this was due to the shutdown of Thailand’s airports by protesters.

Despite strong growth rates early in 2008, only 3.87 million tourists have come to Vietnam in the year to November, with arrivals from the US, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan all down, the tourism ministry said.

“We forecast that arrivals in 2009 will fall 20-30 percent from 2008 because of the global economic crisis,” said Binh. “So we need to invest more in tourism products to make them return to Vietnam in late 2009 and 2010.”

Tourism operators have echoed the complaints.

“Our clients from the US and Europe, especially France, Britain and Germany, have been down since midyear,” said Nguyen Hang Quy of Huong Giang (Perfume River) travel agency in the former royal capital of Hue.

“It’s because of the international downturn,” he told AFP. “And 2009 will be more difficult. We are now trying to seek out new markets in Asia.”

Tourism accounts for 4.5 percent of Vietnam’s emerging economy and had been forecast to generate 3.7 billion dollars this year. The sector makes up 10.8 per cent of the workforce of its 86 million people.

A conference in Hanoi early this month was told that Vietnam could boost tourism revenues by at least 10 percent if it eased up visa regulations and expedited the process through online applications and visas-on-arrival.

The cumbersome visa application process was the “largest obstacle to establishing Vietnam as a global destination,” said a Tourism Working Group paper presented by Baron R. Ah Moo, the CEO of Indochina Hotels and Resorts.

“Due to the processing time... last-minute travel to Vietnam is not an option and has been replaced by weekend trips to Phuket, Bali, Macao and Singapore,” he said in a paper he presented at the Vietnam Business Forum.

Source: AFP

casannova03
17-12-2008, 01:07 PM
Bro jackbl and hurricane88.... thanks for the constant update of vietnamese news!! It must have taken some effort to post up these news, even if you cut and paste!!;)

kudos for the efforts!!:D

Hurricane88
17-12-2008, 01:24 PM
Bro jackbl and hurricane88.... thanks for the constant update of vietnamese news!! It must have taken some effort to post up these news, even if you cut and paste!!;)

kudos for the efforts!!:D

You are most welcome...it's ok for me...just to share with all readers...:)

jackbl
17-12-2008, 01:29 PM
Just a 5min job only.... hope more bro will be aware of the news of vn, esp HCMC, and the region around it.... You will see that i seldom post news about the North cos I have less contact and less favourable about that region :D

Bro jackbl and hurricane88.... thanks for the constant update of vietnamese news!! It must have taken some effort to post up these news, even if you cut and paste!!;)

kudos for the efforts!!:D

jackbl
17-12-2008, 01:35 PM
Transsexuals find new body doesn’t ensure happiness
==================================

There are no official statistics on the number of transgender people in Vietnam and how many undergo gender reassignment surgery.

But post-operative transsexuals say the painful and expensive medical procedures they endured didn’t give them the normal lives they were expecting.

Several local transgender men have sought sex change operations overseas because the surgery is not performed in Vietnam.

In 2000, singer Cindy Thai Tai, who spent US$30,000 for sex reassignment procedures in Thailand, became one of the first locals to go public about her gender reassignment surgery.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nhu of Binh Dan Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said he wasn’t familiar with any cases of local women undergoing surgery to become men. However, men seeking surgery to become women were relatively common.

Surgically altering a man’s sexual organs to resemble a woman’s was simpler than making a woman’s resemble a man’s, he said.

Dr. Nhu estimated more than 100 Vietnamese transsexual men, most aged around 30, had undergone sex reassignment surgery abroad to become women.

Much pain

Many transsexuals said they had suffered terrible pain after sex reassignment surgery and had been poorly informed about post-operative procedures, including the need to take female hormones for the rest of their lives.

“Most transsexuals in Vietnam have only focused on the surgery and used hormones inconsistently,” Dr. Nhu said. “Their post-operative care was also neglected by doctors.”

Lan Vy, who works for an AIDS awareness charity targeting transsexuals called Bau Troi Xanh (Blue Sky), said she had paid $2,000 for breast implant surgery in Thailand in 2002.

“It was like tearing off parts of your flesh,” she said. “They anaesthetized just a part instead of the whole body as I expected. They locked me on the operating table and covered my eyes before making incisions.”

Vy said she underwent more surgery two years later, which was even more painful, to modify her genitals.

“The surgery lasted for six hours and was horribly painful,” she said.

Transsexual Thai Thanh from HCMC said she had undergone sex reassignment surgery twice at a cost of $5,500.

“I couldn’t feel the pain from any particular part of my body because it was too terrible,” Thanh said.

The language barrier meant she was not properly informed of postoperative procedures, Thanh added.

Little gain

Nguyen Hong Khanh, chairman of Bau Troi Xanh Club, said a recent survey of 300 young homosexuals in HCMC found most of them had suffered discrimination from their family and the public.

Khanh said even after undergoing gender reassignment surgery many transsexuals were unable to live normal lives.

“I can never be a truly normal woman,” said Bau Troi Xanh Club’s Lan Vy said. “I always wish I could marry and enjoy a happy life with a man.

“Some men just like to experience a strange feeling when being with us and then they leave, saying they have to marry a real woman and have children,” she said.

Thirty-five-year-old singer Ai Xuan, who underwent surgery in Thailand in 2004 to become a woman, said the surgery was her last choice after three failed suicide attempts, partly motivated by constant discrimination.

Xuan said her boyfriend had left her recently because, although his family had recognized her as his wife, she couldn’t bear his children.

HCMC hairdresser Tuyet Nhung said her appearance was at odds with her identity papers, which said she was a man. “I am unable to sell my motorcycle or my house,” the 27-yearold said.

Some transsexuals said they had been rejected by their parents, brothers and sisters, who were shocked at their new appearance. Many had resorted to prostitution to pay for their treatment and beauty upkeep.

Reported by Nhu Lich

jackbl
17-12-2008, 01:41 PM
Have u visit MP which gals are forced into this line????

Women tell of massage parlor horror: police raid
==============================
Women in a Ho Chi Minh City massage parlor raided by police on Saturday said they were victims of a tyrannical boss who treated them like slaves.

More than 130 women, who worked for the Tan Hoang Phat massage parlor, located at Street No. 4, Thu Duc District, told the police they had been detained, beaten, ripped off financially and forced to perform sex acts on customers.

They said they had to work from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. every day and were not allowed to go out, while those who tried to escape or did not agree to perform sexual acts would be beaten, threatened at gunpoint or imprisoned in dog cages by the parlor manager, Phan Viet Hau and his brother-in-law Phan Cao Tri.

“In nine months, I have seen more than 10 girls try to escape but they were captured, tortured by Tri and put in dog cages,” one of the women, identified only as L.T.B.Y, said.

The owner, Tri, only gave the massage staff half a fish and a small bowl of soup every meal for a fee of VND2.6 million (US$153) per month.

Extra food cost VND50,000-80,000 ($3-4.70) each meal, the women said.

Tri and his men also held “birthday parties” every month and forced the women to give them presents of VND500,000-1 million ($30-60).

The women also had to pay a fee of VND15 million ($880) to visit their families and VND50 million ($3,000) to quit the job.

There was also a “tuition fee” to “learn” sex acts from a man named Phan Quoc Cuong. One of women said they were beaten if they refused.

Hau, 23, was also a loan shark, lending the women money with interest of 10 percent.

Police said many families had to pay Tri to bail their relatives out.

Police arrested Hau and some others but could not find Tri.

They said they seized guns, ammunition and many documents at Hau and Tri’s houses Sunday.

According to police, they raided the den after receiving four letters on Friday.

Reported by Dam Huy

freefuck
17-12-2008, 02:57 PM
can't exactly translate the whole chunk but sound like some chat line advertisement you received in VN???;)

Maybe, it one of my frind sms. how about these?

A se cgag han che chi ug trg cviec thoi.va cug se yeu m e thoi.a biet e rat sanh doi va co ban linh nhg doi rat kho lg k the noi trc dc dieu j do vay e fai than trog trog moi viec nha.a se k chiu dug noi nêu co dieu j k hay xay ra dvoi e e yeu ah,:)

jackbl
18-12-2008, 01:08 AM
Bro, be careful of their new inforcement.... :(


Foreigners in the firing line in latest traffic crackdown
===================================

Police in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday started fining foreigners and overseas Vietnamese caught breaking traffic rules as part of a wider campaign to improve traffic law compliance.

HCMC Traffic Police Chief Vo Van Nhuan said police will use video recorders to prove traffic infringements. Fines will be issued at the scene, with no exemptions granted to foreigners or overseas Vietnamese, he said.

Offenders may have to produce identity documents, such as visa documents, a permanent or temporary residence card or registration document of temporary residency, at the scene and pay a fine at an office later.

However, Nhuan said passports would not be kept in all cases by traffic police.

For people under diplomatic immunity, traffic police will issue documents noting their breaches. The document will be forwarded to the municipal Department of Foreign Affairs consular division, which will handle the case and forward the result to the HCMC Police Department.

In cases where motorists fail to stop, police will send fine documents to local authorities to present to the offenders.

Nationwide inspection

The HCMC inspections began Tuesday in response to an instruction by the Ministry of Public Security to step up enforcement traffic laws. The crackdown is scheduled to continue until February 15 of next year.

The ministry’s road traffic police division (C26) is also increasing surveillance of passenger coaches, especially those traveling between northern and southern provinces.

Major inspection points will include 1A, 5, 51, 14 and 18 national roads and stretches of road that are prone to accidents.

Police in all cities and provinces have been instructed to suspend the licenses of coaches found making severe traffic code infringements, such as speeding by more than 35 kilometers (21 miles) an hour, carrying 50 percent or more passengers than allowed or carrying passengers on top of the coach.

Police will also order owners of overloaded coaches to return passenger fares and arrange other coaches to transport them to their destination, Tien Phong newspaper quoted Vice Chief of HCMC Traffic Police Le Kim Thanh as saying.

As part of the campaign, a team of 70 traffic police will conduct roadside breathalyzer tests. Fines will be issued to drivers found to have a Breath Alcohol Content (BrAC) higher than 40 milligrams per liter.

jackbl
18-12-2008, 01:15 AM
Used many short forms.... make our learning path very difficult... now i got headache after reading the sms... making me wanna give up learning viet ... :mad: :( :o

Maybe, it one of my frind sms. how about these?

A se cgag han che chi ug trg cviec thoi.va cug se yeu m e thoi.a biet e rat sanh doi va co ban linh nhg doi rat kho lg k the noi trc dc dieu j do vay e fai than trog trog moi viec nha.a se k chiu dug noi nêu co dieu j k hay xay ra dvoi e e yeu ah

jackbl
18-12-2008, 10:03 AM
Transport officials say removal doesn’t mean end
==============================
Ho Chi Minh City Transport Department Tuesday announced a plan to remove 116 barriers on 25 streets around the city by January 18 to prepare for the Tet holiday and claimed more would be erected in the near future.

Street barriers have been set up surrounding several projects throughout the city and the department has been urging contractors to finish their work.

The plan, aimed to ease local transportation during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday starting on January 26, will be carried out on main streets such as Ton Duc Thang, Dinh Tien Hoang, Tran Hung Dao, Ham Nghi, An Duong Vuong, Lac Long Quan and Ly Chinh Thang.

Dau An Phuc, deputy head of the department’s Traffic Management office, said 226 street barriers are occupying 85 streets around HCMC including 132 around an environmental hygiene project, 56 for a drainage project and 11 for an urban improvement project.

Many projects being launched at the same time have adversely affected the city’s traffic and residents’ daily activities, Phuc said, adding that some large street barriers, where there’s still much work to be done, will only be narrowed.

The department also noticed about 50 new street barriers on smaller streets but provided no further information on the projects.

Next year, there will be 56.7 kilometers of new roadway along 61 more streets to be dug up as the projects continue, mostly on the city’s main thoroughfares, said the department.

Phuc noted that many contractor’s this year have made errors concerning street barriers, including several being set up without legal permits and some causing dangers to city commuters.

The department this year has imposed a cash penalty totaling VND5 billion (US$294,300) on the violators, with fines in the first half of the year accounting for only one quarter of that amount, Phuc informed.

Reported by Mai Vong – Dinh Muoi

Was caught in a jam for 30min at a road junction along NKKN street at 5pm... simply frustrated... some due to road work... :mad:

City leader wants traffic problems fixed before Tet
=================================
Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan has ordered authorized agencies to keep a close eye on the city’s traffic problems and fix them immediately in the lead-up to Tet.

Reported by Minh Nam

jackbl
18-12-2008, 10:04 AM
FYI ;):p

Vietnam Airlines offers online flight-booking
==============================
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines launched its new website Monday, enabling passengers to book domestic flights online.

The airline said the website, Vietnam Airline Portal (http://www.vietnamairlines.com), is part of a commitment to improve the quality of its services.

As of February 2009, online booking will be available for international flights as well, the carrier said.

The website, which is still being developed, is updated several times a day with flight schedules and other information pertaining to the airline’s products and services.

It is expected to offer a range of other services by June 2009, enabling customers to make online payments and change their flight schedules among others.

Vietnam Airlines said it plans to accept payment via the five most popular credit cards including VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX, JCB and Diner’s Club.

Source: VNA

Hurricane88
18-12-2008, 12:31 PM
Miss Vietnam is the People’s Choice at Miss World 2008

Vietnamese beauty queen Duong Truong Thien Ly Tuesday was announced winner of Miss World 2008’s People’s Choice Award
Vietnamese beauty Duong Truong Thien Ly has won the People’s Choice Award at the Miss World 2008 contest in South Africa, the pageant’s official website announced Tuesday.


The 19-year-old native of Dong Thap Province raised in Ho Chi Minh City, won the award with 13,157 ratings, far ahead of second-placed Miss Ukraine, Iryna Zhuravska, who logged 3,180.

On the grand final night last Saturday, organizers said the award was not being included “due to technical reasons beyond control” and pledged to announce it on Monday. Russia’s Ksenya Sukhinova was crowned Miss World 2008 after beating 108 other international beauties.

Earlier, the 1.67-meter tall Thien Ly had said she was unlikely to win the crown due to her modest height.

However, global bookmakers had said Ly is among the top contenders, according to globalbeauties.com.

According to postings on November 20, Boyle Sports ranked Ly and Miss Ecuador as tied for third at 12 to 1 odds while Ly was also ranked third by Stan James’ ranking with odds of 14 to 1.

Bet 365 ranked Ly in equal fifth position with Miss Namibia at 12 to 1 odds. Ly and Miss Trinidad and Tobago shared the fourth position in Game Bookers with odds of 13 to 1.

Ly, a second runner up at Miss Universe Vietnam 2008, had the best pre-competition odds of any Vietnamese Miss World contestant.

She was chosen to attend the pageant in Johannesburg, South Africa, to replace Miss Vietnam 2008 Tran Thi Thuy Dung, after Dung was disqualified for not having graduated from senior high school.

Source: Thanh Nien

jackbl
19-12-2008, 01:14 AM
Language won’t hamper traffic crackdown, police say
==================================
English-speaking traffic policemen will be deputized to deal with foreigners caught flouting traffic rules in the latest safety crackdown in Ho Chi Minh City.

Under the traffic crackdown, HCMC police this week began fining foreigners and overseas Vietnamese caught breaking traffic regulations.

The no-exemption policy has been welcomed by several foreign expatriates in HCMC who said people of all nationalities should be treated the same under the law.

A UK citizen, who only wished to be identified as Cleves, told Thanh Nien Daily Wednesday that everyone who broke Vietnam’s traffic laws should be punished.

Paul Finnis, director of Saigon Children’s Charity, concurred. But he said he was worried about the language barrier which could hinder communication between policemen and foreign offenders.

“If I am stopped by a traffic policeman, how would we communicate?” Finnis said.

Speaking with Thanh Nien Daily Wednesday, HCMC Traffic Police Deputy Chief Lieutenant-Colonel Tran Thanh Tra, said the city police force would dispatch fluent English-speaking personnel to handle foreigner-related traffic infringements.

They would also be trained in how to handle a range of situations, Tra said.

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Nguyen Van Anh, head of the Immigration Department under the municipal police force, said his department would send interpreters fluent in other foreign languages to the scene in case foreign offenders could not speak English.

Vehicle renters also face fines

Owners of motorbikes rented by foreigners also face fines of VND100,000 to VND200,000 (US$5.9- 11.8) if their customers break traffic regulations, Lieutenant-Colonel Tra said, and could also be impounded.

Owners of hire cars could also be fined VND1 million to VND2 million ($59-118) if their customers break traffic laws, he said.

If foreign offenders flee the scene, the owners of their rented bikes or hire cars would have to pay their clients’ fines, Tra added.

When stopped by the police, foreign offenders may have to produce identity documents, such as driving licenses from a Vietnamese agency, visa documents or a permanent or temporary residence card, at the scene and pay a fine at an office later.

But their passports would not be kept in all cases by traffic police.

For people under diplomatic immunity, traffic police will issue documents noting their infringements. The document will be forwarded to the municipal Department of Foreign Affairs consular division, which will handle the case and send the result to the HCMC Police Department.

Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Anh said his staff had been trained to distinguish between various documents granted by Vietnamese agencies, including those indicating diplomatic immunity.

Anh said police would take action against foreign offenders who confront on-duty traffic policemen.

Call for improved road safety

While supporting the crackdown, Cleves and Finnis also said they were looking forward to better road safety in HCMC.

“The police should make more effort to stop dangerous drivers rather than just focus on minor offences,” Cleves said.

Finnis said he was very worried about children aged under 14 not wearing helmets.

He called for better policing of helmet laws to ensure all children wore helmets while riding motorbikes.

Bro, be careful of their new inforcement.... :(

Foreigners in the firing line in latest traffic crackdown ===================================

Police in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday started fining foreigners and overseas Vietnamese caught breaking traffic rules as part of a wider campaign to improve traffic law compliance.

jackbl
19-12-2008, 10:06 AM
Cyclo sightseeing
================
Cyclo or pedicab tours are an increasingly popular way to see the sights of Vung Tau, the seaside resort town 125 kilometers by road southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

The sight of groups of tourists, sitting back in pedicabs enjoying the views of Vung Tau, has become common. The cyclo drivers can take their passengers to local beauty and historical spots, as well as local markets to purchase souvenirs.

Not only do the tourists get to enjoy the pure air, the outdoors and the scenery, they can also learn about local life.

Tourists can stop at famous Vung Tau sights such as the White Villa, Nirvana Meditation House, the statue of Christ, the lighthouse and other places named in guidebooks. They can take photos and chat and joke around with the cyclo drivers.

According to the cyclo drivers, each group of travelers has its own preferences. Westerners like to travel after dinner while Asians prefer going in the early evening. Tours usually cost between VND40,000 to VND50,000 (US$2.50-3) an hour.

Vung Tau pedicab tours usually take two forms, a set route and a choose-your-own route. Normally, foreign travelers take the choose-your-own, but still take in the sights of Vung Tau’s long beachfront and the area around the mountain.

Recently, Medicoast, an international health care center in Vung Tau, has been offering its patients cyclo tours. The fresh air and relaxing nature of a cyclo circle is considered appropriate for medical tourists, including the elderly.

The Tourist Pedicab Trade Union of Thang Tam Ward was recently set up, after receiving approval from the Vung Tau People’s Committee and the Labor Union.

Union members were given uniforms and start-up capital. They have also been trained in the basics of local history, culture and communication by the staff of Sammy Hotel.

Pedicab tours usually depart at Sammy Hotel at any time that suits the customer.

For more information on pedicab tours, contact:

Sammy Vungtau Hotel
157 Thuy Van St.,Thang Tam Ward, Vung Tau Town.
Tel: (84.64) 854 755/56/57/58/59
Fax: (84.64) 854 762
Sammy Hotel (http://www.sammyhotelvt.com) or email: [email protected]

Medicoast Center
165 Thuy Van St., Thang Tam Ward, Vung Tau Town
- - - M E D I C O A S T - - - (http://www.medicoast.com.vn) or email: [email protected]

Reported by Kim

jackbl
20-12-2008, 10:14 AM
Nowadays, VN is very concern about road safety.... When u are there, please follow their rules hor ;)


Elevator company supports traffic safety project for kids
====================================
A fictional character called Mr. Otis Safety and employees of the Otis Elevator Company presented 621 helmets to students at Hoa Mai Pre-School in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3 early this month.

The visit by Mr. Otis Safety is part of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation’s (AIP) “Helmets for Kids” project which aims to address the epidemic of child deaths on Vietnam's roads since 2000.

During the visit, Mr. Otis Safety taught children about the importance of wearing helmets when riding with parents on streets.

The organizers of the project recognized that most schools in Vietnam were not built with traffic safety in mind. Schools are often located on busy streets with high traffic flows.

Most schools don’t have parking lots or side lanes for parents to use to wait while the drop off and collect their children. The widespread construction work around HCMC also often presents difficulties for parents ferrying their children to and from school.

Hoa Mai Preschool is on the Truong Dinh – Dien Bien Phu crossroad, which has some unfinished construction work and regular traffic jams.

AIP Executive Director, Mrs. Mirijam Sidik said: “Our project does not only target the children, their parents and teachers but we also hope to spread the traffic safety concept more widely through world-of-mouth. We expect that more and more people here can recognize the importance of protecting children with helmets.”

In addition to lessons about helmets and their importance, Mr. Otis Safety also presented some interesting short lessons about using elevators and escalators safely.

Mr. Otis Safety is a friendly mascot designed by the Otis Company and used in their worldwide traffic safety awareness campaigns.

Wearing motorbike helmets became compulsory in Vietnam in December 2007.


By Truong Son

jackbl
20-12-2008, 01:39 PM
wondering why this thread so quiet these few days? where have all the bros go to??? :(

Hurricane88
20-12-2008, 03:08 PM
wondering why this thread so quiet these few days? where have all the bros go to??? :(

Newbies dare not to ask for translation...hihihi....worried kena scolding....so quietly trying to learn somewhere else...:)

The veterans are already experts in tieng viet so nothing much to ask...:)

buon oi la buon...:p

casannova03
20-12-2008, 03:25 PM
hahaha!! true true!!

Now recession also la...less chionging = less contact with gals=less need to translate the language liao :p

jackbl
21-12-2008, 01:01 AM
To make this thread a bit busier, i will start the ball rolling. A fren sms to send me greetings... "Chuc Jack 1 ngay moi An Lanh va Ma dao thanh cong"... Anyone know the true meaning of the 2 highlighted phrase?

Newbies dare not to ask for translation...hihihi....worried kena scolding....so quietly trying to learn somewhere else...:)

The veterans are already experts in tieng viet so nothing much to ask...:)

buon oi la buon...:p

PuNkDeViL
21-12-2008, 01:14 AM
Hi to the expert here... can help me translate a sms send by my ba xa

"ong xa ngu chua ba xa khong ngu duoc"

thank and appericate for the help :D

jackbl
21-12-2008, 01:06 PM
I tried the one at ZEN PLAZA, not bad .... ;)

Japanese slow food
==============

The Sushi Bar restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City is well known for serving authentic Japanese sushi and drinks.

Located in the city center, the restaurant is outfitted in modern Japanese style, reasonably priced and has polite professional service.

The menu’s wide range of Sashimi and Sushi (raw fish or seafood with rice wrapped in seaweed sheets) is made from fresh fish imported from Japan daily.

“The Sushi Bar Roll,” which is a customer favorite, contains several kinds of fish and vegetables.

A recent addition on the fast food menu, Ca ngu voi rong nho bien (Sea grape and ground yam on tuna fish) is highly recommended.

Another taste sensation is the moriwase which contains salmon, tuna, octopus, prawn, eel and the eggs of salmon, shark and shrimp. It is a dish that has many colors to inspire the appetite.

Another specialty is sour ginger. Most Japanese dishes have it. Legend has it that by eating sour ginger you will increase your life-span. Eating food with ginger also helps keep the body warm.

The wine list has an extensive selection of Japanese wine and fermented drinks including the ladies’ favorite - home made apricot wine - plus more than 30 types of imported spirits and wines from around the world.

After the main course, you should try the Sushi Bar’s own-recipe ice cream made in various flavors such as Sakura (Cherry), Wasabi (Green radish) and Goma (Sesame).

Private rooms are available upstairs. The restaurant also caters for celebration parties. Home delivery within Ho Chi Minh City is available.

THE SUSHI BAR ADDRESS:

2 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3 823 8042
Mobile: 090 390 7634
Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

5F, ZEN PLAZA, 54-56 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3 925 0377
Mobile: 090 390 7634
Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Reported by Thuy Tien

casannova03
21-12-2008, 02:21 PM
can help me translate a sms send by my ba xa

"ong xa ngu chua ba xa khong ngu duoc"

thank and appericate for the help :D

Ong Xa= Lao gong/husband/hubby

Ngu=sleep/stupid

chua=already

Ba Xa= Lao po/wife/wifey

Khong= cannot/can't/no

Duoc= can/ ok/

So in the context of this sentence, the layman/conversational meaning will be:

'Hubby sleep already? Wifey cannot sleep'

duoc in end is used emphasize the negative connotation of the action of sleeping.

Just like our chinese: Lau gong shui le ma? Lau po shui bu zao/liao.

In the vietnamese language, it is vital to look at the sentence and understand what the person is trying to convey to you, especially when using SMS where there is no 'sound' indication. It would be useful for beginners to try and second guess the reply by using the knowledge of your previous SMS to her..the reply should be somewhere along the line.

It will be useful if you can get to know a few commonly used words(i.e home=nha; sleep=ngu; eat=an; etc.), then learn the important key words to join the sentence (i.e and=va; but=nhung; if...then=neu...thi; etc).

Once you get to know the few key joining words, expand your vocab further by using the language more or reading up dictionaries....then you can use your improved vocab and mix and match to form sentences...

Using the correct way of mixing and matching will only get better with practice...sometimes when you devise your own word joining sentences but the gal dun understand (SMS reply: khong hieu), you will know you've made some grammatical error liao...dun worry...try again till she knows....

This was how i learned....;)

Cheers!!:p:p

Pongo
21-12-2008, 03:42 PM
Hi to the expert here... can help me translate a sms send by my ba xa

"ong xa ngu chua ba xa khong ngu duoc"

thank and appericate for the help :D

this sms don't look good ... coz it will lead to u ask them why cannot sleep ... den they will say this n that den finally they will say cannot slp becoz thinkin "work no good no money" den ....... :D

capri4163
21-12-2008, 04:58 PM
Oxa, can go ochard tower send me $200, em very sad you know...:D

Reaper
21-12-2008, 06:58 PM
I tried the one at ZEN PLAZA, not bad .... ;)

Japanese slow food
==============

The Sushi Bar restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City is well known for serving authentic Japanese sushi and drinks.

THE SUSHI BAR ADDRESS:

2 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3 823 8042
Mobile: 090 390 7634
Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

5F, ZEN PLAZA, 54-56 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (08) 3 925 0377
Mobile: 090 390 7634
Opening hours: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Reported by Thuy Tien

Just to add, if you want to go to the Le Thanh Ton outlet, reservations is a MUST!!!! if not, expect a waititng time of at least 20-30 minutes.

Im my personal opinion, I find the Le Thanh Ton outlet better ther the Nguyen Trai one.

This is one restaurant I will highly recommend.

jackbl
22-12-2008, 02:29 AM
HCMC set for three flood tides before Tet
===========================
High tides in Ho Chi Minh City will cause flooding three more times before Tet late next month in districts situated along rivers and canals and low-lying areas, according to the city authorities.

The tide is likely to be as high, or higher, than during last year’s corresponding period, the Steering Board for Flood and Storm Control said.

It urged local authorities, especially in districts 12, Thu Duc, Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi and Binh Chanh, to speed up construction of 151 embankments, repair eroded banks and drain water.

District 12 and Go Vap should finish 18 out of their 35 key constructions this month, it said.

Reported by Mai Vong

jackbl
22-12-2008, 09:38 AM
Surviving the street vendors in Vietnam
===========================
There’s one simple way to scare tourists away from Vietnam: have street vendors pester them to buy stuff.

At a pho (Vietnamese noodle) store on Pham Ngu Lao Street in Ho Chi Minh City, I saw a foreign tourist saying he had been solicited six times by a shoeshine boy.

Street vendors bug almost everyone at train stations, sightseeing spots, souvenir shops and food courts.

Some continue to do it no matter how many times you say, politely, that you are not interested in buying their stuff.

Of course the vendors, mostly poor people migrating from other provinces, have the right to earn money. And they deserve to be helped.

The images of vendors with their pushcarts laden with flowers or food trudging along streets can be touching.

City and local authorities across the country have reacted to the problem by banning them.

That alone won’t do.

At the government level, there must be clear policies for local authorities to manage the hawkers. A government agency can be designated to issue licenses to vendors.

Then, those who violate rules by obstructing traffic or causing public annoyance can have their licenses revoked.

Until something like this happens, tourist guide books on Vietnam might need to have a separate section on how to survive/escape street vendors.

By Huynh Ngoc Chenh

Hurricane88
22-12-2008, 09:47 AM
this sms don't look good ... coz it will lead to u ask them why cannot sleep ... den they will say this n that den finally they will say cannot slp becoz thinkin "work no good no money" den ....... :D

Hahaha...this is sharing from experience...:)

jackbl
22-12-2008, 11:48 AM
Gala feasts
=========

What a night out on Xmas eve will get you in Ho Chi Minh City.

With less than a week to go for Christmas, it is a good time to look at what hotels and theme parks in HCMC are up to.

For Christmas this year, most hotels are upgrading their buffets to gala dinners. Activities accompanying the buffets include variety shows, Santa Claus distributing Christmas present and raffle ticket draws.

In the downtown area, the five-star Rex Hotel (141 Nguyen Hue St., Dist. 1) will launch a gala dinner on Christmas Eve (December 24) from 7 p.m-12:30 a.m., with a buffet, a variety show and a lucky draw. Tickets are US$75 for an adult and $40 for a child, including wine and soft drinks.

The five-star Majestic Hotel (1 Dong Khoi St., Dist. 1) will celebrate Christmas with a gala dinner from 7:15 p.m. until midnight on December 24. The buffet goes with a cocktail welcome on party and a variety show that includes live music, dancing and the performance of martial arts. Participation costs an adult $66 and a child $33, with free flow of wine, soft drinks and mineral water.

Most hotels in Cho Lon, the city’s Chinese quarter, such as Thien Hong (52 Tan Da St., Dist. 5), Bat Dat (238 Tran Hung Dao B St., Dist.5) and Dong Khanh (2 Tran Hung Dao B St., Dist.5) will celebrate Christmas with buffets of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, live music and gifts. Adults are charged VND200,000 ($11.80).

Among the theme parks, Van Thanh (48/10 Dien Bien Phu St., Binh Thanh District) and Tan Cang (A100 Ung Van Khiem St., Binh Thanh District) will entertain customers on Christmas Eve with a buffet and a variety show, give gifts to children and award prizes to customers winning the lucky draw. Adults will have to pay VND200,000 to join the event.

In particular, the Saigon Ship Restaurant (Bach Dang Quay, Dist. 1) will be where people welcome Christmas while crusing the Saigon River from 7 p.m.-11 p.m. on December 24. The ship will do the Bach Dang Quay-Ben Nghe Port-Bach Dang Quay route between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. during the gala dinner. Cost per customer is VND300,000 ($17.60).

Reported by Tien Dat

jackbl
22-12-2008, 11:00 PM
The 2,000 dong food store
=================
Amid inflation and rising food costs, there’s one rice kitchen thriving on serving customers dishes costing a total of VND2,000 (US$0.12).
For this princely amount, you can have a basic, nutritious Vietnamese meal that includes, for example, eggs, fried pork meat and vegetable soup.

The only requirement besides paying VND2,000 is that you have to be poor.

As the sign outside the rice kitchen on Third Street, Lu Gia Housing Compound in Ward 15, District 11, states: “only serving poor college students” and those who are “truly poor.”

The place is becoming increasingly popular among college students, passers-by, homeless residents and lotto ticket sellers in the area, who come for a full lunch they at least can afford.

Two local women – one in her 30s and the other in her late 50s – from a nearby church called Tan Phuoc opened the store in mid-August.

Locals say the women don’t want to talk much about their motivation for running this “charity” place and months ago, even avoided reporters coming here for a story.

“We charge VND2,000 each serving so that people would feel like this isn’t charity, that they really earn the meal,” says Yen, one of the two founders.

The kitchen operates only from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This allows Yen and others in her church group enough time to prepare food and cook for at least 500 people.

My, a businesswoman, said her passion for the rice kitchen stemmed from her poor childhood.

“Providing meals for poor students will remind them that there are still good people in the society,” My said. “When poor students succeed in life, they, in turn, will devote themselves to serving the country and poor people so that nobody is poor.”

My prefers increasing the number of servings a day, instead of the number of serving days.

On serving days, the volunteer cooks and servers rise at 4:30 a.m. and stay until 2 p.m. to clean up after the customers have gone.

“Months ago, we used to prepare two or three dishes per serving but now that has come down to one dish and a vegetable soup due to rising food costs,” says 58-year-old Han, another member of the group.

The actual cost to cook each serving is, in fact, VND8,000 ($0.47).

The two women spend about VND6 million ($351) per month to rent the location, and after using the VND1 million ($58) that they normally receive from their 500 customers pay during each serving day, they must contribute in between VND2 million and VND3 million ($117-175).

And that doesn’t include the cost for electricity, water and gas.

Each customer is provided with a slip at one end and exchanges it for food at the other.

Fifty-year-old Tran Bon, who sells lottery tickets, came to know of the place from others who also sold lottery tickets in the area.

“I used to spend between VND8,000 and VND10,000 ($0.47-0.59) for lunch so this has allowed me to save quite a bit,” he says. “I guess this is somewhat like giving it to us for free because VND2,000 normally can get you only rice.”

For the past month, Le Thai, a freshman from Dong Thap Province at the University of Technology –Vietnam National University in HCMC, has patronized the shop.

“It even tastes better than the canteen food at my college,” Thai says.

Like many other members that run the store, Han refuses giving his last name for the same reason, which is the less notice the better.

During the four months the shop has been in operation, Han says he has witnessed some “not quite pleasing” incidents. There was one time he had to refuse to serve one family.

“One member was wearing gold and we knew for sure they weren’t poor.”

The shop doesn’t plan to come up with any procedure to check the customers’ background.

Those who run it say they just “know” who deserves to be served.

Reported by Huong Le-Van Khoa

jackbl
23-12-2008, 10:31 AM
Sex websites worried, excited over peer’s closure
=================================
Many pornography websites operating in Vietnam have become very nervous following the shutdown in mid-November of Index of / (http://www.mocxi.com), but others see it as an opportunity to fill the space.

Police from the Ministry of Public Security on November 17 said they had closed down the website Index of / (http://www.mocxi.com) and detained 10 people considered most active in running it over the past few years.

The website had been promoted as an education forum “for a healthy teenage sex life,” but had become a full-fledged pornography site.

The closure of mocxi.com has prompted the MT sex forum, which has many members, to announce an indefinite blockade of any boxes “that have anything to do with sex.”

The forum will be temporarily transferred into a non-sex forum, according to an MT notice.

Many illegal sex websites remain in existence but are no longer enabling new people to sign up or allowing members to post stories, photos or movies of sex acts.

There are also many big websites that are not worried at all.

The administrators of the CNH forum, while informing its members of the mocxi.com’s shutdown, have guaranteed that people accessing the CNH website are “absolutely protected” and “all your information is extremely confidential.”

Forum LX also explains to its members why and how mocxi.com collapsed, and even informs it is recruiting designers to expand operations.

The mocxi case is also leading to a trend where more foreigners living overseas will replace Vietnamese residents to mod (moderate) illegal sex websites operating in Vietnam.

Vo Do Thang, director of Athena network security and administration training center, says many students don’t know that posting photos or movies of sex acts is illegal.

Reported by Dinh Dang


What a waste! Never had the chance to visit vietnamese porn site till date... anyone got another? :D

Ten arrested in porn website investigation
===========================
Police in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday arrested 10 suspects allegedly involved in the operation of a pornographic website and charged them with “distribution of depraved material.”

Reported by Dam Huy

jackbl
24-12-2008, 12:57 AM
Meaning less viet gals coming to sgp to work??? :D

Vietnam gender ratio could result in social disorder: experts
======================================
Experts are warning of increasing sex-related crimes and general social disorder if the highly unnatural level of gender imbalance in the country is not addressed.

They were speaking at conference in Hanoi Monday on “building a project to intervene in elements that affect gender at birth,” organized by the General Department of Population and Family Planning.

The male to female ratio in Vietnam has climbed from 105:107 to 112:100 in the 1999-2007 period, said Pham Nang An, deputy head of the population and family planning bureau under the department.

He said the ratio was alarming as it was far beyond the natural gender ratio of 103-106:100.

The 112:100 ratio was similar to China’s in 1987, An added. It had been estimated that in 2004 in eight to ten years, there could be “40 to 60 million missing women” in China.

An warned that rising gender imbalance in Vietnam could lead to social disorder and an increase in sexual crimes.

Pham Ba Nhat, head of the bureau, attributed the ratio to the traditional preference for male children in Vietnamese society.

Nhat said gender diagnosis during pregnancy and abortion of female fetuses was the main cause of the imbalance.

He added that elsewhere in the nation, that when baby girls were born, some parents informed authorities that the babies were adopted; thus they had the right to give birth to more babies. Vietnamese law regulates that a couple can only have two children at the most.

Prof. Nguyen Duc Vy of the Central Maternal Hospital said there was a need to distinguish between legal abortion and abortion based on gender. The latter must be banned, he added.

Vy said there should be a ban to abort fetuses of more than 12 weeks old, except for birth deformities, as at this time the fetus’s gender could be known.

Nguyen Dinh Cu, head of the Institute of Population and Social Issues, said surveys showed that more than 66 percent of pregnant women knew their fetus’s gender before giving birth, and up to 98 percent of the cases were thanks to ultrasonography check-ups.

Cu said the percentage showed that the implementation of the population ordinance, which bans parents from choosing their baby’s gender by any means, was lax.

He added there had been no penalties prescribed so far on violators including parents, doctors, and medical staff relating to checking fetuses’ gender so far.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuong from the institute said authorities should offer better welfare policies for the elderly and farmers as they still bore in mind that sons were the only people they could rely on to take care of them during old age. Daughters are considered outsiders as they have to live with their husbands’ families after their marriage.

Another conference in Ho Chi Minh City last month disclosed that around three million Vietnamese men will have difficulty finding wives by 2030 due to the rising gender imbalance.

Reported by Nam Son

jackbl
24-12-2008, 11:34 AM
Wishing Everyone Merry X'mas and Happy 2009!

jackbl
24-12-2008, 11:46 AM
Hot and spicy
===========================

A fiery Cham curry is a must for visitors to Cham villages in the Mekong Delta’s An Giang and Soc Trang provinces and the central region’s Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces.

Cari cha (cha curry) is a Cham dish, usually served with com ni (rice cooked with coconut juice and spices).

Cha curry is similar to an Indian curry but it has a thicker sauce. Its main ingredients are beef, goat meat or mutton but sometimes duck or chicken is used as a substitute.

The different types of meats create a unique flavor but goat meat is regarded as the most delicious.

Goat meat, usually plentiful in Cham villages, can smell bad if processed the wrong way. To remove this strong smell, people usually either make goats sweat by beating them and making them run around or they press acupuncture points on their body before slaughtering them.

Cha curry is considered delicious if it is very hot. This fire is created by combining fresh capsicums, chili powder and other spices. The fatty taste of coconut juice also makes the dish attractive.

The Cham-style curry is usually accompanied with rice vermicelli or bread, even though the best accompaniment is com ni.

Visitors to Cham villages in the Mekong Delta’s An Giang and Soc Trang provinces and the central region’s Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan provinces should try Cha curry for themselves. It is great to sit on the floor of an airy stilt house to enjoy this Cham specialty.

Reported by Diem Thu

jackbl
25-12-2008, 10:54 PM
越南将封禁 泄漏国安或经济机密博客

(2008-12-25)

(河内路透电)越南信息与通讯部昨天宣布,所有透露国家安全或经济秘密的博客将一律被禁止。
  报道这项消息的《新河内报》引述该部所发出的通告说,博客应该促进联系以及信息的分享。

  此外,在创作博克时必须按照越南的传统和法律,并使用“干净”的越南语。该通告也指出,作为博克主机的 互联网服务供应商必须为这些博客的内容负责。

  互联网的使用在近年来已越来越普遍,而博客更是广受越南人的欢迎。据信息与通讯部的越南互联网中心透露 ,目前越南约有2100万名互联网用户,占了越南总人口的25%。去年,越南的互联网用户只有1770万, 2006年则是1470万人。

  据《越南青年报》本月初的报道,该部计划与雅虎和谷歌合作,以便为博客们“创造最良好和健 康的环境”。

  今年8月,越南政府颁布了一项新法令,以有效管理互联网和电子商务信息的供应和使用。

jackbl
25-12-2008, 10:57 PM
HCMC and Hanoi will ROCK if VN win the Cup on Sunday!!!

Vietnam brings AFF Cup within reach
==============================
Fans nationwide were delirious last night after Vietnam posted a dream victory over Thailand in the first leg of the 2008 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup final at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium. 2 -1

carmeo88
26-12-2008, 12:45 AM
HCMC and Hanoi will ROCK if VN win the Cup on Sunday!!!

Vietnam brings AFF Cup within reach
==============================
Fans nationwide were delirious last night after Vietnam posted a dream victory over Thailand in the first leg of the 2008 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup final at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium. 2 -1

Yes, we now can support Vietnam. Vietnam! Vietnam! Vietnam!:D

jackbl
26-12-2008, 01:14 AM
Official calls for delay in personal income tax law
=====================================

The Personal Income Tax Law is due to take effect in a week but one senior government official has suggested delaying the tax to stimulate investment and consumer spending in the face of continued economic difficulties.

Le Quoc Dung, deputy director of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had prepared two options for the implementation of the law – delaying the introduction of the law to July 1 next year or implementing the law, as originally planned, on January 1 but with exemptions for some sectors.

“We will have time to check and make the law more effective if we delay its implementation,” Dung said. “In the second option, the MOF plans to reduce the capital gains tax for stock trading. But in my opinion, the economic slowdown hasn’t only hit stock market investors, it’s affected everyone.

“So people will be hit hard if we don’t delay the implementation of the law.”

Dung said some regulations of the law, such as deductions for dependants, were not “suitable” for the current economic climate.

“Under the Personal Income Tax Law, the deduction for each dependant is VND1.6 million (US$100) and the tax-free threshold is VND4 million ($238) a month. But these levels are not appropriate because double-digit inflation has devalued incomes of employees by one-quarter,” he said.

Delaying the tax to give workers more take-home pay would increase consumer spending, he said.

Problems clarifying dependants

Local people found the definition of a dependant too complicated. According to the Personal Income Tax Law, the dependant can include children aged under 18 years of age, disabled people of all ages, unemployed spouses and retired and unemployed parents.

A citizen named Dinh in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu District said he was struggling to prove his grandmother, who he takes care of, was a dependant.

Dinh used his and his father’s birth certificates to prove she was his grandmother but her name isn’t on his permanent resident registration so he isn’t sure whether the local administration or the office which issued his grandmother’s permanent resident registration will confirm the dependency.

Thanh, who lives in HCMC’s District 1, said she supported her brother, who earns low income, to raise his two kids, by giving him a monthly allowance. But according to the law, she is not allowed to make deductions for the children because their parents are still alive.

Many people have also written to Thanh Nien expressing their unhappiness with the Personal Income Tax decree on dependant deductions, particularly the clause that states a person can only be counted as a dependant only if their monthly income is less than VND500,000 ($30).

HCMC Tax Department Chief Nguyen Dinh Tan said taxpayers could ask their local administration or the agency that issued their dependants’ permanent resident registration to confirm their relationship.

Source: TN, TT

jackbl
26-12-2008, 02:02 AM
Officials call for new laws against prostitution
=====================================
A five-year campaign to eliminate the sex industry has increased public awareness but new laws are needed to make the campaign more successful.


Many new anti-prostitution forces have been created to stop prostitution in Vietnam, Le Duc Hien, deputy head of the Anti-Social Evil Bureau under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said at a press conference Tuesday.

The 2003-2008 campaign has helped more than 6,500 or 60 percent of wards and communes nationwide to be free from prostitution, according to Hien.

However, the Bureau reported that the number of sex workers has increased 0.9 percent over the five-year period to nearly 31,000 in 2008, while those sent to reeducation centers decreased from 3,700 in 2003 to 1,500 this year, pointing out that 70 percent of women who left the centers returned to prostitution.

According to the bureau, there are no specific penalties for pornographic acts, making the campaign less effective.

Hien said the ministry this month will recommend “setting up laws against prostitution,” at the national conference, with an emphasis on child sex-abuse, to replace the current anti-prostitution legislation.

Statistics from the bureau showed that Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City top the list of prostitution cases.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, around 4,500 women in Hanoi were suspected of prostitution involvement while HCMC had 20,000.

The ministry’s investigation also revealed that the industry recently has made cross border connections with foreigners organizing sex worker operations.

Reported by Thai Uyen

jackbl
26-12-2008, 02:17 PM
The match will be play on Sunday 28 Dec 2008, 8pm. Will show LIVE in Starsport, not not on Channel 5 :(

Yes, we now can support Vietnam. Vietnam! Vietnam! Vietnam!:D

carmeo88
26-12-2008, 03:13 PM
Go GL there to watch lah...:)

jackbl
26-12-2008, 04:05 PM
Festooned streets set the mood in Vietnamese cities
======================================
Expats prepare to celebrate the difference on Christmas Eve.

Residents of major cities in Vietnam have been taking to the streets in large numbers to soak up the festive mood created by glittering props, brilliantly lit Christmas trees and any number of jolly Santas greeting them.

In Ho Chi Minh City, major commercial centers have emerged the favorite haunts.

As the countdown to Christmas Eve begins, many foreign expatriates living in HCMC are also planning a night out on the town to enjoy the festival in a country that bears few similarities with their own.

Victoria Roe, a UK designer teaching in Vietnam, said it would be fun to go out with friends and watch people revel in the atmosphere, a far cry from her country where people would go to pubs with their families and friends to celebrate the festival.

“We want to walk around the streets to celebrate. We also want to move around to see people thronging the streets. It is fun to go out to see what is happening,” Roe said.

But Roe also admitted she would feel homesick, and would make sure she would go back home next year.

Roe and her boyfriend, who works for the British Consulate General in HCMC, plan to meet with his colleagues and others from different countries to enjoy Christmas Eve.

“There is a real mixture of people not going home, so we will gather together.”

For Kimberly Brennan, a US volunteer who works for the Saigon Children’s Charity, tonight will be her first Christmas Eve in Vietnam.

Like Roe, Brennan finds it very interesting to watch people on the streets.

“I particularly like looking at the children wearing Santa outfits, which does not happen in my country. They look very cute,” Brennan said.

Like Brennan, Australian Nadia, an English teacher, is also going to spend her first Christmas Eve in Vietnam.

Nadia said the major difference between Christmas in Vietnam and Australia is that in her own country, people can only see Christmas lights in their separate communities while in Vietnam, they can go downtown.

David Henry, who teaches at the Vietnam International School, said he would have dinner at his friend’s house instead of taking to the streets.

“I’m too afraid of the traffic in HCMC,” he said.

Police advisory

HCMC police have warned foreign visitors to be vigilant about their possessions because many pickpockets and other thieves will be in the crowds on festive days like Christmas Eve, particularly at the downtown area in District 1.

Handbags or cell-phones are particular targets. Expats are thus advised not to carry handbags on their shoulders but hold them in their right hand instead.

Valuables and important documents should not be kept in the handbags.

Foreign tourists are also asked to remain alert about vendors pestering them to buy goods.

Foreigners who are robbed can dial (08) 3 838 7200 to report the incident to the city police’s investigative agency (PC14), the police department said.

Those who are staying in the backpacker area can go to the Pham Ngu Lao Ward police station, at 66 Bui Vien Street in District 1 for assistance.

Colder weather

While it will not be a white Christmas in Vietnam, it is going to be colder than usual everywhere in the country, according to weather experts.

Southern provinces are expected to experience the lowest temperature this year at around 17 degrees Celsius.

Deputy director of the Southern Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center (SHMFC), Le Thi Xuan Lan, said a cold weather spell originating from Russia’s Siberia had swept through southeastern China and reached northern provinces on Sunday.

Lan said temperatures in northern provinces will drop dramatically, as low as zero degrees Celsius in Lai Chau and Son La provinces.

In Hanoi, the temperature will continue to fall and hover around 10 degrees Celsius in the coming days.

In central provinces, the cold spell will linger on, while temperatures in the resort town of Da Lat in the Central Highland’s Lam Dong Province will drop to eight degrees Celsius.

In southern provinces, two tropical turbulence systems have developed southeast of the Spratly Islands and are forecast to cause rain in coastal provinces. The systems could combine with the strengthening northeastern wind to cause rough weather in the East Sea.

The lowest temperature in southern provinces is forecast in Binh Phuoc and Dong Nai provinces in the coming days at 16 degrees Celsius.

Two other cold spells are forecast for Vietnam between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

jackbl
26-12-2008, 04:10 PM
This will help the locals to improve their foreign languages :p

HCMC radio to broadcast in foreign languages
======================================

Voice of HCM City People radio (VOH) will launch some foreign language channels next year, including in English, French and Chinese, its director Nguyen Chau Ky said.

Speaking at a press conference December 25, he said the launch follows suggestions by foreign diplomats interested in knowing more about Vietnam’s economy, law, culture and other aspects.

VOH also plans to broadcast in Korean, Japanese, and Khmer, he said, promising existing channels would improve quality and broadcast longer.

Starting January 1, AM 610 KHz news channel would be on the air 20 hours a day compared to 18 ½ now, while FM 99.9 MHz entertainment trade information channel would become 24x7, up from 19 hours a day now, he announced.

VOH would set up a station in Soc Trang Province to broadcast FM 99.9 MHz channel to the Mekong Delta, he said.

Bui Van Quoc, former sales manager of TNS Media Vietnam, revealed the results of a survey on the habits of VOH’s listeners: “Despite the increasing popularity of the Internet and cable television, many Vietnamese are still keen on popular radio programs.”

jackbl
26-12-2008, 04:13 PM
Activities to welcome New Year in HCM City
=============================

Many festivities and special events have been organized in the center of the Ho Chi Minh City and in remote areas to welcome 2009.

A merry festival themed “Ho Chi Minh, a civilized, modern and humane city” will take place at the September 23 Park on Le Lai Street in Pham Ngu Lao Ward of District 1. The event includes a series of cultural, artistic, entertainment and cuisine activities.

During the festival, participants will enjoy special shows of both traditional and modern music performed by some of the city’s most well–known artists. There will be funny traditional games, traditional dances, singing and dancing contests for children and teenagers.

At an exhibition to showcase the political, economic, cultural and social achievements of the city, people will be able to see photos, models and posters that demonstrate the city’s determination to integrate into the global economy.

A section of Le Lai Street will be transformed into an “Art Road” displaying traditional musical instruments. Southern folk operas (cai luong) and shows of don ca tai tu (a combination of ancient southern tunes, Binh Dinh classical opera and Hue ceremonial songs) will be performed on a floating stage on an artificial pond in the park and on wooden barges on the banks of the pond.

The festival will begin at 8 p.m. on December 26 and end at 12 a.m. on January 2, 2009.

Aside from such festival, many other activities will be organized on streets in the center of the city, including Dong Khoi, Nguyen Hue, Le Loi, Le Duan, Nguyen Thi Nghia and the Ben Thanh Market roundabout, in Phu My Hung Urban zone, Tan Thuan Processing and Export Zone in District 7, Linh Xuan Processing and Export Zone in Thu Duc District, Tan Binh Industrial Park, District 12 Cultural Center, Gia Dinh 2 Park and in amusement parks in remote areas.

On January 1, 2009, city authorities will organize a special event at Tan Son Nhat Airport to welcome the first tourist of year.

Maybe got ESCORT to show u around the HCMC :D

jackbl
26-12-2008, 04:18 PM
City attempts to cut down on crimes perpetrated by foreigners
=============================================

Ho Chi Minh City police will work with the municipal Immigration Department to investigate and deal with foreigners residing illegally and committing crimes in the city, HCMC Police deputy head Colonel Phan Anh Minh said.

Some aliens sleep on outdoor benches in HCM city

Most of the criminals are from African countries, Colonel Minh told Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper.

He said any foreigner found without a passport or valid identity papers will be deported.

If they don’t leave the country and keep committing crimes, they will be prosecuted for entering the country illegally, he said.

Colonel Minh said the country needed to work with the International Organization for Migration to ensure such criminals were returned to their home countries.

He called on city residents not to unintentionally assist by renting houses or motorbikes or exchanging foreign currencies without sighting valid papers.

Crimes committed by foreigners are increasing in the city. Colonel Minh said, with foreigners using many tricks to swindle money, such as using false papers to withdraw money from banks and stealing money while pretending to buy something at shops.

jackbl
26-12-2008, 04:24 PM
Vietnam population reaches 86 million
===========================
Vietnam’s population has topped 86 million while its density has risen to 260 persons per square kilometer, the General Department of Population and Family Planning announced at a meeting held to mark Vietnam Population Day (December 26) in Ha Noi on December 25.

In the first nine months 864,000 babies were born, 5 percent higher than in the same period last year. The number of third children was 93,053, which was 10 per cent increase over the same period last year.

2008 is the second when the fall in the birth rate does not meet the Government’s target. The crude birth rate thus dipped by just 0.1 percent over the Government target of 0.3 percent.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan was among those who attended the meeting.

jackbl
26-12-2008, 04:48 PM
More teenagers get HIV, says official
=========================
A campaign held in the countryside to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS
The number of under 16-year-old children infected with HIV in Vietnam has increased for years, said a health official.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long, head of the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department, Ministry of Health, said that 756 HIV-afflicted children were reported last year, and at present, all provinces and cities in the country have teenage HIV carriers.

Dealing with the situation, the Ministry of Health is working other ministries and agencies to strengthen medical care for HIV infected mothers and treatment for children. Its target is that 90 per cent of HIV mothers and their children receive treatment during the pregnancy period and take anti-HIV medicine for their lifetime.

jackbl
27-12-2008, 03:42 AM
Central bank weakens dong to drive exports, economy
===================================

The central bank Thursday fixed the dong’s rate 3 percent down against the dollar to boost exports, as the country’s economy expanded at its slowest pace in nine years and the trade deficit widened.


The State Bank of Vietnam fixed the daily reference rate at 16,989 dong to the dollar from 16,494 Wednesday.

Policy makers have retained the currency trading band at 3 percent a day, said Nguyen Quang Huy, head of the bank’s foreign-exchange department.

Gross domestic product grew 6.2 percent in 2008, after expanding by a record 8.5 percent last year, the government said in a statement Wednesday.

Export growth slowed in the last three months as stagnating global economies cut back on the import of Vietnamese garments and coffee as currencies in neighboring markets weakened.

Vietnam’s currency has fallen 5.5 percent this year against the dollar compared with an 18 percent slide in the Indian rupee, 14 percent decline for the Indonesian rupiah and a 13 percent slump in the Philippine peso.

The move is necessary since the government is trying to boost exports, said Do Ngoc Quynh, chairman of the Vietnam Bond Forum in Hanoi and head of currency and debt trading at the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, the nation’s second-biggest lender by assets.

“Other currencies in the region have declined considerably against the dollar, but the dong hasn’t dropped that much.”

The currency has tumbled 35 percent since the end of 1994.

“The State Bank of Vietnam will take necessary action to maintain the dong at this rate,” the bank said in a statement on its website.

Following the central bank’s decision, local banks started adjusting their foreign exchange rates.

The dong was quoted at 17,260/17,400 per dollar on Vietcombank’s website Thursday afternoon, up from 16,985/16,989 Wednesday.

The dong traded at 17,200 to 17,300 a dollar at Vietinbank, or Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade.

Free-market rate

At moneychangers’ in Hanoi, or the so-called black market, the currency traded at between 17,230 and 17,520, local newswire VnExpress reported.

Commercial banks said their dollar supply has fallen since moneychangers offer higher rates for the greenback.

Nguyen Phuoc Thanh, general director of Vietcombank, the country’s largest lender, said dollar banks’ inflows have tumbled since export earnings are down as are remittances, foreign portfolio investment and tourism arrivals.

He admitted that the dollar is being traded at much higher prices on the black market than at banks, who are unable to attract sellers despite fixing the buying price at the allowed ceiling rate.

Meanwhile, the plunge in global prices has boosted imports, according to Thanh.

Nguyen Duc Vinh, chief executive officer of the Hanoi-based Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank, or Techcombank, said after the banks’ recent cuts in lending rates and extension of loans, more import contracts are being signed, keeping demand for the dollar high.

A HCMC-based footwear company said it had failed to buy US$50,000 to pay for imported consignments despite continuously contacting banks for the past week.

While commercial banks do not have enough dollars for selling to businesses, they have a surplus of dollars set aside for lending after some of their customers failed to prove they could raise dollars for repayment.

Bui Thi Mai, general director of the Hanoi Building Bank, or Habubank, said, as a result, though banks are unable to find customers for dollar loans, they remain cautious.

“If there is an assurance that the exchange will be stable at a certain level, businesses and banks can calculate their risks and the dollar supply will increase since speculation will reduce,” she explained.

Trade deficit widens, inflation slows

Vietnam’s trade deficit widened to a record $17 billion in 2008, from $14.1 billion last year, according to preliminary figures provided by the government Thursday.

The current account deficit may grow to $12.1 billion, or 12.3 percent of GDP, next year from an estimated 11.7 percent this year, according to a Credit Suisse Group research report dated December 17.

“The dong is facing downward pressure due to the current-account deficit,” said Yuichi Izumi, an economist at Nomura Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The State Bank wants to guide the dong lower to support exports.”

A slowdown in the rise of consumer prices may have provided more room for the central bank to weaken the dong.

Consumer prices are estimated to fall 0.68 percent this month from November, only the third decline since March 2007, on the back of lower food and fuel prices, according to figures released by the General Statistics Office Thursday.

Consumer prices rose 19.9 percent in December from a year earlier. The annual inflation rate was 24.2 percent in November after reaching 28.3 percent in August, the highest since at least 1992.

Overall, food and beverage prices, which account for nearly 43 percent of the goods basket used to calculate the consumer price index, fell 0.13 percent in December, with grain prices declining 2.36 percent.

Prices in the category including transportation fell 6.77 percent from November, according to the statistics office report.

Plummeting world oil prices have led to a sharp cut in retail prices for gasoline.

The government has cut petrol prices twice this month, adding to a series of reductions since August that have left the most commonly used grade of gasoline 42 percent cheaper from its peak last July.

Prices in the category including construction materials declined 2.36 percent month-on-month, the office said.

Domestic steel companies are facing difficulties due to slowing demand, with the government using higher import tariffs to allow producers to clear stockpiles, the Vietnam Steel Association said last week.

Property projects are short on working capital, economist Scott Robertson of the HCMC-based Dragon Capital wrote in a note last week.

Slowing inflation has allowed the central bank to cut its benchmark interest rate by 5.5 percent since October to 8.5 percent now.

“The government’s cooling measures were perhaps too successful,” Joseph Lau, a Hong Kong -based economist at Credit Suisse Group AG, wrote in a note dated December 17. “Domestic demand is reportedly waning.”

But consumer prices are expected to increase in January, when demand surges during the Lunar New Year festival (Tet) late next month, economist Le Dang Doanh told Thanh Nien Daily Thursday.

The consumer price index (CPI) is estimated to have risen 22.97 percent this year, down from the government’s initial forecast of 24 percent.

“Decelerating inflation is a good sign, but the economy still shows worrying signs, as the trade deficit is high and government revenues are down due to decreasing prices of some major export items like rice, rubber and crude oil,” he said.

The government may keep the inflation rate down to a single-digit level in 2009, but it has to assign top priority to combating an economic slowdown, Doanh said.

“With commodity prices falling, headline inflation is expected to drop to single digits by end-2009, although core inflation (excluding raw food and energy) could fall more gradually,” Ben Bingham, Senior Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund, said in a statement December 18.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff (With inputs from Bloomberg)

jackbl
27-12-2008, 03:16 PM
Vietnamese footballers on verge of making history
================================

A welcome spurt in skills and confidence is based on some important changes in style and approach.

Over the one week that we have followed the national football team from Singapore to Bangkok, we have been very surprised by the progress they have made.

They have proven to be much better in encounters against stronger rivals in Southeast Asia than before.

The improvement is especially marked by confidence. Twenty days ago, they were a mixed-up bunch in the clash against Thailand in Phuket that they lost by two goals to nil.

However, the Vietnamese players were in quite a different psychological state in the first leg of the final at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium on Wednesday.

All the pressure may have been lifted off their shoulders after they reached the goal set by the Vietnam Football Federation of advancing to the semifinals.

What is more important, however, is that the players have learned essential lessons after every match.

They have been frequently encouraged by the enthusiasm and sharpness of Coach Hendrique Calisto in his strategies.

Despite being the guests, the Vietnamese players were calm and able to take the pressure from their opponents.

This can clearly be seen in the toughness displayed by the pair of central fullbacks Nhu Thanh and Phuoc Tu; the diligence of left fullback Quang Thanh and right fullback Viet Cuong and Quang Cuong; the safe play of midfielders Minh Chau and Tai Em; and the dynamism of striker Viet Thang and left winger Tan Tai.

Midfielder Vu Phong has brought his skills into play and striker Cong Vinh has been in good form again. Most importantly, Duong Hong Son has prove to be very sharp goalkeeper, making his teammates feel more confident.

The Vietnamese players have improved most in strategy. Calisto has often said he wanted to set up a special way of playing for the Vietnamese players so that they could be strong enough to fight Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia dispelling any confusion in terms of style.

The Portuguese coach’s belief and consistency has made the Vietnamese team more aware of the need to set up their own style of play.

Earlier, the Vietnamese players didn’t have a clear strategy. They either played attack or counterattack.

Now Calisto has formed a distinct style. When playing at home, they attack continuously with the whole team moving. When they play away, they play safe in their part of the field with strikers and midfielders supporting the defense when they don’t have the ball. Once they have the ball, they attack with 1-2 combinations, moving fast to create space for themselves and to sow confusion among the rivals. When necessary, they are able to slow down the pace of the game and rob opponents of their momentum.

To implement their game plans successfully, the players need to understand each-other well and work with each-other rather than showcase their personal skills.

Of course, they need more time to improve themselves strategically and physically, but the Vietnamese players have become a solid team.

A week in Singapore and Thailand gave us a chance to better understand Calisto. He is very close and helpful to his players outside the field but he can get angry easily when his players under-perform. His anger aims to push his players to perform better.

It is pleasing to see the Vietnamese team improve a lot, especially in two unforgettable wins away in Singapore and Bangkok.

The team has one more match, the second leg of the final at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium on Sunday, to prove their real progress.

Hopefully, Calisto and his players will make history for Vietnamese football.

By Quang Tuyen

The match will be play on Sunday 28 Dec 2008, 8pm. Will show LIVE in Starsport, not not on Channel 5 :(

Cum_Luver
27-12-2008, 03:21 PM
bro jackbl,
nice meeting you.

Vietnam will win it after what they show by beating Singapore and then Thailand in the first leg of the final.
They should beat Thailand and be the Champion of Suzuki Cup 2008.

carmeo88
27-12-2008, 03:56 PM
bro jackbl,
nice meeting you.

Vietnam will win it after what they show by beating Singapore and then Thailand in the first leg of the final.
They should beat Thailand and be the Champion of Suzuki Cup 2008.

Same prediction here, Mot, Hai, Ba! Vietnam! Vietnam! Vietnam! :D

pussyman72
27-12-2008, 04:01 PM
bro jackbl,
nice meeting you.

Vietnam will win it after what they show by beating Singapore and then Thailand in the first leg of the final.
They should beat Thailand and be the Champion of Suzuki Cup 2008.

Wah lau bro CL how can u said my beloved country lose :( lol but never mind lar i now got 2 country to support lol

jackbl
27-12-2008, 04:21 PM
越南今年投资剧减一成

(2008-12-27)(河内综合电)因经济增速放缓,越南国内今年的投资总额降至580万亿越南盾,相当于该国国内生产总 值的39%,低于2007年的45%。
  据路透社报道,由规划与投资部经营的《投资报》昨天报道说,将大约20%的通胀率考虑在内,越南今年的 投资总额较去年减少了10%以上。

  越南今年的经济增长率为6.23%,远低于政府目标,也低于去年8.5%的增幅。同时通胀率触及19. 9%,贸易逆差扩大20.6%至170亿美元。

  越南预计2009年投资总额将会持稳,占该年gdp的比例料为39.5%。政府预计明年gdp的增幅为 6.5%,而国际货币基金组织(imf)的预估值为5%。

  《投资报》刊登专文,对2008年越南经济情况作了小结。文章说,高通货膨胀是2008年越南经济最令 人关注的问题。越南高通货膨胀始于2007年底,2008年上半年不断加剧,今年前11个月消费价格指数( cpi)同比增长23.25%,比上年12月增长20.71%,为1991年以来cpi涨幅最大的年 份。

  在“2001-2005年”五年计划中,cpi年均涨幅为1.5%,而“2006-2010年”五年计 划头3年cpi成倍增长,2006年为6.6%,2007年为12.63%。今年预计为21- 23%。

jackbl
27-12-2008, 04:24 PM
My prediction will be a DRAW at Hanoi My Dinh Stadium....

Same prediction here, Mot, Hai, Ba! Vietnam! Vietnam! Vietnam! :D

jackbl
27-12-2008, 05:39 PM
Personal income tax law delay unlikely: official
=======================================

A proposed delay in the Personal Income Tax Law, due to take effect next week, is unlikely to be approved by the National Assembly, a senior official has said.

National Assembly Office chief Tran Dinh Dan said as the parliament had ratified the introduction of the law on January 1, any changes to the start date had to be agreed by the National Assembly Standing Committee and then brought before a full session of the National Assembly, which is not due to meet until May.

“Even when the proposal is approved by the Standing Committee, we still cannot decide on any change before the law’s start date.” Dan said.

The Personal Income Tax Law has some articles relating to the Corporate Tax Law, which will also be introduced on January 1 and will be affected by a delay.

Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh said the issue would be considered by the Standing Committee tomorrow.

The government was asked to delay the introduction of the Personal Income Tax Law to stimulate investment and consumer spending in the face of continued economic difficulties.

Earlier this week, Le Quoc Dung, deputy head of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee, said the Ministry of Finance had prepared two options for the implementation of the law – delaying its introduction to July 1 next year or implementing the law, as originally planned, on January 1 but with exemptions for some sectors.

“We will have time to check and make the law more effective if we delay its implementation,” Dung said.

Many citizens also voiced their unhappiness and confusion over the clauses relating to deductions for dependants. Critics said the clauses defining dependants were too complicated.

Reported by Xuan Toan

Official calls for delay in personal income tax law
=====================================
The Personal Income Tax Law is due to take effect in a week but one senior government official has suggested delaying the tax to stimulate investment and consumer spending in the face of continued economic difficulties.

Source: TN, TT

jackbl
28-12-2008, 02:24 AM
Subscriber surge jamming cell-phone networks
===============================

With the number of users skyrocketing, network jams of the sort that usually occur only on festive days have plagued major cell-phone service providers over the last two months.

Quoc Dung, reporter of a Hanoi-based technology magazine, subscribes to both military-run Viettel Telecom and state-owned Vinaphone network services, but sometimes he has not been able to make calls using either.

Dung says he can hardly receive or make calls between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. “Sometimes the problem with my Vinaphone cell lasts for three consecutive days.”

Viettel subscribers may contact others using the same network normally, but not to others, forcing him to try several times to reach someone, Dung says.

Mobile network providers have launched so many promotion programs to attract more customers while paying little attention to their service quality, he says. “If they keep doing that, network jams will persist.”

Vinaphone subscriber Bui Anh Tuan from Hanoi usually cannot text or call others although the phone screen displays strong signals, while Phuong of FPT Company has just switched from Vinaphone to another network after failing to send messages to a MobiFone subscriber.

Officials of the network providers explain that the numbers of calls and messages made through cell phones have surged over the same period in previous years.

Viettel received more than 160,000 new subscribers over the past week and Vinaphone 80,000. Market leader MobiFone had 250,000 new subscribers, and expects to have 30 million users by the end of this year.

Dinh Viet Hung of MobiFone told Thanh Nien that they invest a lot in network quality and thus users don’t face any problems though there are many of them.

MobiFone and Viettel Friday evening announced steps they have taken to prevent network jams during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday which starts on January 26.

Hung said MobiFone has finished expanding its capacity to meet twice the demand for calls during normal days, three times the messaging demand and four times the demand for general packet radio services (GPRS).

MobiFone has also added 100 people to its round-the-clock service team and hired 15 foreign technicians to solve potential network problems.

Viettel Telecom Deputy Director Tao Duc Thang said the provider plans to upgrade 3,000 existing base transceiver stations (BTS) and set up 2,500 new BTS, 60 mobile stations in the areas with frequent network jams.

Vinaphone officials also met Friday morning to discuss network jams but have not revealed how they will cope with the over bad.

Reported by Truong Son

jackbl
28-12-2008, 02:31 AM
Fans face AFF Suzuki Cup final ticket crunch
==============================

Thousands of fans have run into difficulty trying to buy tickets for tomorrow’s Vietnam-Thailand clash in the second leg of the 2008 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup final in Hanoi.

The ticket prices have been increasing every hour and it is very likely they will be sold out before the match.

On Wednesday, Vietnam Football Development Joint Stock Company (VFD) sold 15,000 tickets at My Dinh Stadium to fans who had been queuing in Hanoi’s chilly weather.

The next day, ticket scalpers were out in force at My Dinh and Hang Day stadiums as well as on websites and internet forums.

Friday, the ticket office at Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) headquarters at 18 Le Van Phuc Street in Hanoi – the last official ticket outlet – opened.

During the day, the VFF sold tickets to agencies and fans who had booked the tickets through Football Ticket Online - VFD Jsc - Trang ch? (http://www.aleale.com.vn).

Though there were barriers and security guards, fans fought their way to the fifth floor of VFF headquarters to buy tickets.

“When I was climbing up with the crowd, I felt the staircase shaking. I was afraid it would collapse, so I came back down,” said Phuc Thinh Company employee Tran Quoc Viet, who was still breathing hard.

“I think VFF should check and let those fans with letters come up to the office to buy tickets in an orderly fashion,” Viet said. “It would be safe and save a lot of time.”

However, few fans were able buy tickets when they reached the ticket office.

NCS Company software expert Pham Thi Anh Ngoc said she had a hard time accessing Football Ticket Online - VFD Jsc - Trang ch? (http://www.aleale.com.vn) and was only able to book two tickets.

She said she could access the website at 6:30 a.m. and four minutes later it announced the tickets had sold out.

An estimated 30,000 tickets have been sold so far, with fans getting about half of the tickets. The remaining tickets have been snapped up by scalpers.

At My Dinh Stadium, tickets were being offered at around VND2-3 million (US$115-172) for two tickets, depending on seating. The face value of the most expensive ticket is VND300,000 ($17.2).
A ticket tout said, “These tickets are complimentaries as well as tickets booked via agencies and over the internet.”

“Today, I am selling them at a bargain because I need to get some cash.”

He said the tickets would be much more expensive today and tomorrow.

Some people who secured tickets are reselling them at cheaper rates than scalpers, but finding these people is difficult. Tickets are also available on websites such as webtretho.com, vatgia.com and muare.com.

Reported by Hong Minh-Le Tung-Phan Hau

Vietnamese footballers on verge of making history
================================

jackbl
28-12-2008, 02:58 PM
Next time when u go to hcm maybe u will be rob/bluff/fraud by the non-locals :(

HCM City to have camp for foreign wanderers
===============================

VietNamNet Bridge – Building a camp for wandering foreigners in HCM City is seen as a solution by the Ministry of Public Security to deal with foreign crimes, particularly crimes committed by African people.

Some provinces and cities in Vietnam, especially HCM City, are facing the fact that many foreigners, mostly African, live in their areas without resident registration. Some of them commit fraud and robbery.

Major General Pham Quy Ngoc, Chief of the General Department of Police, said that it is very difficult for police and related agencies to detect and deal with foreign criminals of this kind. When they are arrested, these people don’t cooperate with local authorities. They attempt to speak in their own language.

Other difficulties for police are associated with laws and funds. According to Major General Ngo, most of the countries where these criminals bear nationality don’t sign judiciary interdependence agreements with Vietnam so Vietnam can’t extradite them. Competent agencies are also having difficulty finding funding to buy air tickets to send these people back home. In many cases, when the foreign criminals arrive at the airports in their home countries, they are refused by the host countries, and sent back to Vietnam.

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Bich, Chief of the Police Agency for Social Order Crime, said there are around 500 African wanderers in HCM City.

Some provinces and cities have reported to the Ministry of Public Security about this situation. In early December 2008, the Police Agency for Social Order Crime delivered an announcement on the activities of foreign criminals, their tricks and preventive measures to provinces and cities.

Major General Ngo said the General Department of Police has suggested the Ministry of Public Security combine with the Foreign Ministry to consider the granting of visas to Africans or signing agreements with related countries that in case their citizens commit crimes in Vietnam, they have to receive them back home.

In some cases, before granting visas to enter Vietnam, competent bodies can ask foreigners to show their return air tickets and prove their financial capability.

“The model of a camp for foreign wanderers is under consideration as well. The police also plan to check and classify this subject. This complicated situation can’t continue longer,” he said.

(Source: Dan Tri)

City attempts to cut down on crimes perpetrated by foreigners
=============================================

Ho Chi Minh City police will work with the municipal Immigration Department to investigate and deal with foreigners residing illegally and committing crimes in the city, HCMC Police deputy head Colonel Phan Anh Minh said.

jackbl
28-12-2008, 05:16 PM
Vietnamese students bad in English, why?
============================

VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), along with universities, have agreed that university graduates generally have poor English skills, which do not allow them to use English in their jobs. However, they have not agreed on who is to blame in this case.

Universities: it is MOET’s fault

The demand for learning English is very big

According to universities, MOET reserves 150 periods for teaching English at the university-level in the ministry-set curriculum. Therefore, universities design 240 periods of English for their students. Meanwhile, students need to have at least 480 periods in order to earn a score of 450-500 on the TOEIC; the minimum level students need to have to be eligible to be employed by businesses.

As such, universities have said that the problem lies in the fact that students do not have enough English periods to improve their English skills.

Nguyen Thi Phuoc Tra, English Lecturer from Quang Nam University, said that 240 periods are not enough for students to go into detail. Tra affirmed that in order to have students who can communicate well in English, it requires more time. She said that it is necessary to remove some periods from other subjects to focus on teaching English to students.

In fact, a lot of universities have spontaneously adjusted curriculum structures to make it more reasonable for students. The HCM City Technique and Technology University, for example, has been providing credit-based English training with 450 periods of English.

MOET: it is the fault of universities

MOET’s Deputy Minister, Banh Tien Long, said that in terms of English training quality, the ministry only has a part of the responsibility, while universities have to take the bigger responsibility for students’ poor English skills.

Long said that 54% of universities, nowadays, do not check the English level of students. As a result, students with bad English skills are put in the same class as students with good skills. On average, there are 48 students in every class, which proves to be a very high number. Meanwhile, there are only 28 computers in a linguistic lab, which proves to be a very small number. And there is only one period in the lab for every 10 English periods.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Luong Ngoc, Dean of the Foreign Language Faculty under the HCM City Banking University, pointed out that it is illogical to ask students, who experience seven years of studying English in general schools, to learn English from the beginning of university.

However, other experts believe that learning English from the start of university is a necessity. According to ETS (Educational Testing Service), the English level of Vietnamese students proves to be very different, by 50 to 850 TOEIC marks. Meanwhile, the survey conducted by IIG at 18 universities in Vietnam showed that first-year students can get a score of 220-245/990 marks on the TOEIC.

At a recent workshop on English skills of Vietnamese students, experts heard reports that show 49.3% of students, from 59 surveyed universities, can meet the requirements in English, while 18.9% cannot meet the requirements, and 31.8% of students need further training.

The reports also said that the majority of university graduates cannot use English in their jobs.

(Source: Dan tri, Sinh vien Vietnam)

jackbl
29-12-2008, 02:41 AM
Vietnam gets AFF Cup 2008
============================
VietNamNet Bridge - The Hanoi-based My Dinh National Stadium exploded in the last minute of the second leg final match of the AFF Suzuki Cup as striker Cong Vinh headed the ball in Thailand ’s goal to draw the game at 1-1, making Vietnam the new champion of Southeast Asia.

In the first leg of the final in Bangkok on Dec. 24, Vietnam won 2-1 over Thailand. With the draw match on Sunday, the team secured a 3-2 victory over Thailand.

This is the first time Vietnam has won the AFF Cup championship for decades.

Thailand opened the score with a header by Dangda at the 21st minute, but they failed to keep their edge over the hosts.

The champion received bonus of $100,000, while the runner-up took $50,000 bonus. The two third teams were Singapore and Indonesia.


Tonight will be a sleepless night for Vietnamese football fans.

jackbl
29-12-2008, 03:02 AM
Mobifone completes network upgrade
==============================
VietNamNet Bridge - Mobifone has annouanced the completion of a plan to enhance its network capacity to meet rising demand of subscribers during the peak hour of the coming Lunar New Year.

Over the last three years, Mobifone has installed three more MSC Alcatel switchboards in Hanoi , HCM City , Can Tho and four other MSC Huawei switch boards in HCM City , Da Nang and Can Tho to bring the total network capacity to nearly 20 million subscribers.

Mobifone has also invested in upgrading the capacity of short message services (SMS) to mimimise network obstruction and expanding GPRS capacity to ensure service for the entire network.

Experienced network obstruction in peak hours during the Tet festivals in 2006 and 2007, the company carried out the upgrades in order to ensure smooth communication during peak hours of the coming lunar new year.

(Source: VNA)


Subscriber surge jamming cell-phone networks
===============================

With the number of users skyrocketing, network jams of the sort that usually occur only on festive days have plagued major cell-phone service providers over the last two months.

Quoc Dung, reporter of a Hanoi-based technology magazine, subscribes to both military-run Viettel Telecom and state-owned Vinaphone network services, but sometimes he has not been able to make calls using either.

Reported by Truong Son

jackbl
29-12-2008, 03:17 AM
Wanted to report a new influx of Viet FL in GL but not sure whether this is an appropriate place to post the info.... Please advice.

Hurricane88
29-12-2008, 11:22 AM
Wanted to report a new influx of Viet FL in GL but not sure whether this is an appropriate place to post the info.... Please advice.

One off reports should be ok...:)

technofreak
29-12-2008, 01:10 PM
Wanted to report a new influx of Viet FL in GL but not sure whether this is an appropriate place to post the info.... Please advice.

Please own time own target carry on...;)

Bro jackbl...Pls translate if u can:-

Em cam giac minh ko that long voi em. Em rat that long voi minh. :)

jackbl
30-12-2008, 03:46 AM
Was eating near to LOR 24 and saw that there are quite a handful of viet FL. The damage will be $30.... looks so so but saw 1-2 look not bad... they are all hanoi...

Wanted to report a new influx of Viet FL in GL but not sure whether this is an appropriate place to post the info.... Please advice.

jackbl
30-12-2008, 03:52 AM
I felt you not truth to me. I very disappointed with you.

Bro jackbl...Pls translate if u can:-

Em cam giac minh ko that long voi em. Em rat that long voi minh. :)

jackbl
30-12-2008, 12:36 PM
Traffic accidents claimed 28 lives a day in 2008
===============================

The number of traffic accidents fell by nearly 13 percent this year, officials told a traffic safety conference on Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City.


According to statistics released by the National Traffic Safety Committee, an estimated 11,500 accidents occurred this year, killing 10,039 people 12.7 percent lower than last year but still an average of 28 a day.

The committee said the number of people injured in traffic accidents dropped 24.8 percent this year to 7,400.

Road traffic accidents accounted for 97 percent of the accidents, with the remaining 3 percent occurring on railways and waterways.

The committee set a target of a further 5 to 7 percent decrease in the number of traffic fatalities next year.

The latest figures were “a good sign” as the country’s transport infrastructure continues to decline while the number of vehicles on the road rose, according to officials.

Of Vietnam’s 55 cities and provinces, Dong Nai Province and its neighbor Ho Chi Minh City had the biggest decline.

Meanwhile, six localities recorded increases in the number of road traffic fatalities over the past year, with Binh Duong and Tien Giang provinces topping the list.

Nguyen Huu Chi, chairman of Tien Giang Province People’s Committee, said the province had worked hard to prevent traffic accidents and Tien Giang traffic police had become known as “the toughest in Vietnam.”

Chi and authorities from other provinces said that traffic accidents frequently occurred on national highways, accounting for 46.5 percent of accidents and 51.2 percent of fatalities.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai expressed concern that the death toll was still high, more than 10,000, and the number of traffic violations was increasing.

Hai said efforts to improve traffic order had not been enough.

He asked the Ministry of Transport to compile a list of traffic blackspots,

which required more traffic control staff and improved infrastructure. Hai said fixing the sites of frequent traffic accidents could be funded by the government’s $1 billion stimulus package.

Hai suggested that the ministry cooperate with the Ministry of Public Securities and the traffic safety committee to have cameras installed to record traffic violations, with the fines collected used to pay for the cameras and other devices.

He requested traffic officials of all levels to maintain traffic safety for New Year’s Day this Thursday and the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday in January.

Reported by Minh Nam

jackbl
30-12-2008, 12:41 PM
Hard times bring wedding worries
============================
Because the wedding gift money didn’t cover the cost of their modest wedding party, her husband had to borrow VND4 million (US$236) from his relatives.

The couple only ordered eight tables at VND650,000 ($38) each.

The global economic slowdown has resulted in a dramatic slump in orders from overseas customers of Vietnamese factories and thousands of workers have either been stood down or had their hours cut.

So they try to make their weddings as simple as possible: gowns rented at between VND100,000 to VND200,000 ($6-12), wedding cakes a little bit bigger than a handspan, sometimes even fake cakes, menus comprising of four dishes with enough for only a tiny portion for each guest.

Mai Thi Duy Phuong, the manager at Tan Vinh Loc restaurant in Binh Tan District , where many Ho Chi Minh City factory workers celebrate their marriages, said some brides tried to leave their wedding jewelry, traditionally gifts from their new in-laws, to pay for their wedding parties.

“We don’t have the heart to take it,” she said. “If I were in their place, I couldn’t bear it.”

Guests then often advise each other to eat something before attending a wedding party. They come in T-shirts and jeans - no skirts, dresses or make-up for the female guests.

Restaurants for workers’ weddings are simple affairs. Sometimes it’s just a house with 30 tables, of 10 guests each, with different wedding parties separated by sheets of plywood.

Nguyen Xuan Thong, from the northern province of Ha Tinh, and Dinh Thi Hai from the nearby Nghe An Province, spent only VND5.8 million ($341) for their wedding last month.

“We could not pay for it all,” said the couple, whose total income is about VND3 million ($177) a month.

Despite their efforts, almost all factory workers are haunted by wedding debts.

They either borrow money to pay for the day or plan to use the wedding gift money, known as greeting money, to pay for the party but their guests don’t give enough.

Sometimes couples are hit with both problems.

Workers’ weddings “are even plainer this year,” said Tran Cam Hong, owner of Dai Nam restaurant in Binh Tan District, which has hosted around 70 parties a month this wedding season.

A survey conducted among HCMC industrial parks showed that only 30 percent of worker couples who were in love dared to marry, and among those married, only 13 percent were thinking about having children.

Le Thi Bich Thuy, owner of Lien Thuy restaurant in the district, said there had been fewer workers’ weddings at the restaurant compared to the same time last year. Thuy said more than half the wedding parties had only five tables of guests or fewer.

Thuy said some couples had paid a deposit but had to postpone their weddings because they had been laid off.

Their meager incomes not only caused prospective brides and grooms to think hard about getting married but also meant their guests were unwilling to come and greet them.

Many couples are most worried about “no-shows,” when fewer guests show up than expected.

As a result, some wedding parties last until midnight because the brides and grooms start their parties later than the due time, hoping for more guests to come.

Tan Vinh Loc restaurant’s manager Phuong said the restaurant had to accept orders of four to five tables with no fixed ending time; otherwise, workers don’t dare to book.

“It’s all due to difficulties the workers cannot avoid and we understand,” she said.

Hong of Dai Nam restaurant said last week that worker Luong Thi Lan and her husband waited until 8 p.m. but the guests only filled six of the nine tables they had booked.

Worker Dao Van Khoa of Dewberry Company in Binh Duong Province and his wife said that around 20 guests didn’t come to their wedding earlier this month.

And they still owe VND2 million ($118) for the party.

Nguyen Hai Hao and Duong Thi Thang, celebrating their marriage at Tan Vinh Loc restaurant last week, are among the few lucky couples as the greeting money just met the cost.

“We wouldn’t know what to do if that hadn’t happened,” they said.

Source: TT, SGGP

zhu star
30-12-2008, 05:22 PM
New Year is round the corner. Anyone can suggest some usual and unusual new year greeting in Viet. Thanks

jackbl
31-12-2008, 11:55 AM
New Year: Quiet Hanoi, lively HCM City
===========================

VietNamNet Bridge – While entertainment activities in Hanoi during the New Year 2009 are not so different from normal days, residents in HCM City have many choices for their New Year holiday.

Hanoi: Where will we go this New Year?

It is really a challenge to find a good place to relax during the New Year holiday. There are too few entertainment centres in the capital city.

Hanoians don’t have the habit of going to night clubs to enjoy music or go to theatres to watch dramas as frequently as Saigonese so it is difficult to find a place to free your mind during a holiday. The chorus “I don’t know where to go, what to play” is repeated again this New Year.

Many Hanoians go to Hoan Kiem Lake to watch public music shows. A small number of them welcome the New Year like Westerners by joining New Year’s Eve parties at luxury hotels such as the Sheraton and Sofitel Metropole. A small group leaves Hanoi to discover tourist sites.

There will be few entertaining activities for Hanoians during the first days of the New Year. The Youth Theatre, the most popular theatre in the capital, has decided to close its doors during the New Year holiday to give its artists a chance to relax. People who planned to go for a drama will have to change their plans.

Watching movies may be the best choice for now. Normally, Megastar combines entertaining activities with film shows during the New Year holiday, but this year it is busy with the construction of two new Megas so it will not organise extra activities.

The National Cinema Centre, meanwhile, may become an attraction because the centre has been upgraded into a complex of cinemas, a game centre, fast food shops and supermarket to follow Vincom Tower.

Home box offices in the capital city will continue screening Christmas movies like Bolt, Transporter 3, Twilight, and Four Christmas. However, two new films will be introduced on January 1, 2009, The Spirit and Australia.


HCM City: Hundreds of flowers bloom

Features of Christmas on HCM City’s streets and shopping malls are becoming less prominent to give space for the New Year’s atmosphere, which is also a time for entertaining activities.

A free music show named “Longing for Vietnam” will take place in the evening on December 30 at 23/9 Park, featuring famous singers like Dan Truong, Thanh Thao, Phuong Thanh, Nguyen Phi Hung and others.

The last day of the year will get warm with the “New Year’s Eve” show at the Lan Anh Stage. This is a special charity show with Phuong Thanh, Nguyen Phi Hung, My Le, Hoang Le Vy, Luong Bang Quang, Duy Manh, Sy Luan, Van Quang Long, etc. Ticket revenue will be donated to disabled children.

The final round of the Star-Model of New Generation contest, organised by the PL Model Training Company, will be held at the Youth Cultural House on December 30.

Children will have their own play, arranged by Idecaf, entitled “Mermaid’s Daughter” at the Ben Thanh Theatre on December 31.

A drama named “Love World” will be introduced at the 5B Theatre.

Night clubs will also have special music shows.

Bich Hanh – Thanh Chung

jackbl
31-12-2008, 01:24 PM
Families and schools letting students down
================================

Declining family values and inattentive schools mean students are not being properly equipped with the skills they need to become good citizens, a conference in Ho Chi Minh City heard last week.


Early this month, the General Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security reported that nearly 2,300 students across the country had been charged with crimes, including serious crimes such as murder.

HCMC People’s Procuracy, meanwhile, recently reported 18 students from the city had been charged with crimes such as murder and rape this year.

A conference, held by the HCMC Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs last Thursday, heard many students resorted to violence for the most trivial reasons.

A counselor from Phu My Secondary School said she has dealt with many cases where students began fighting for such reasons as “he’s a nerd” or “I asked her something and she didn’t reply.”

Parents and teachers at the conference also said students were carrying knives to school or joining gangs that stripped their victims in the street to belittle them.

Insufficient care

Students’ morals have become shaky because of unstable family and school environments, experts stated at the “Child violence at school: Status and Solutions” conference.

Vo Phi Chau, an official from District 4’s Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Office, said, “Students now are not given enough chances to share their thoughts and problems with adults, so they are often badly influenced by their friends.”

Students, in fact, who do not receive sufficient guidance from adults, are often left to learn from their environment which is filled with violent games and websites.

They also lack knowledge about the law, experts said. Many young people were unaware it was illegal to have sex with their teen girlfriends or cut down electrical wires from power poles to sell it.

While schools are required to teach students life skills, most of them fail to do so, not even giving students an understanding of the law or how to behave properly in different situations, conference attendees said.

They also said that the life skills classes had been cut back from four classes a month to two.

Reap what you sow

The violence of adults, including teachers and parents, towards children is also a main reason for students’ aggressiveness, the conference heard.

Many graduates of teaching courses do not have enough skills to deal with class situations and analyze their students’ behavior, so they often resort to violence, said Principal Tran Thi Hien of Nguyen Van Be Secondary School in Binh Thanh District.

Phan Thanh Minh, head of Children Protection under the HCMC Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said many teachers were aware that violence towards students was not good, but they couldn’t help it because they didn’t know what to do in certain situations.

From 2005 to 2007, while domestic violence has tripled and community violence has increased seven times, school violence has increased 13 times, according to the statistics of Children Care and Protection Bureau under the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Last month, Plan – an international organization working to improve children’s lives in developing countries – released a survey of 499 Vietnamese children that found 94 percent were physically and mentally punished at school.

Ninety-three percent, meanwhile, suffered violence at home, according to the survey.

Seeking solutions

Several schools in District 4 were able to reduce violence perpetrated by teachers and students by setting up a mail-box for students to give suggestions to the principal.

Le Thi Thanh Nha, from HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, suggested training teachers in psychology to help them cope better in the classroom.

Conference participants also urged the introduction of life skills training into schools so that students can protect themselves from bad elements and choose suitable behavior for themselves.

Counseling centers should be established at schools, as studies show most of the students turn to counselors when they have problems, not parents and teachers, according to the conference.

Source: Agencies

KangTuo
31-12-2008, 10:30 PM
Was eating near to LOR 24 and saw that there are quite a handful of viet FL. The damage will be $30.... looks so so but saw 1-2 look not bad... they are all hanoi...

which part of Lor 24? I drive pass but see no girl look vietnamese...

KangTuo
31-12-2008, 10:39 PM
My prediction will be a DRAW at Hanoi My Dinh Stadium....

You are so chun in your prediction

Vietnam gets AFF Cup 2008


http://i39.tinypic.com/2ebfm39.jpg
This photo is taken when Vietnam beat Thailand on 24 Dec.
On 28 Dec I was in Vietnam. Once Vietnam win the Cup, I saw many many bikes proceeding to D1. JAM like hell... taxi also do not want to drive me back.

jackbl
31-12-2008, 10:43 PM
From GL main road, u turn left it will be Lor 24. They will stand on the pathment.... Got time we go down together, we leave not far away each other... :D

which part of Lor 24? I drive pass but see no girl look vietnamese...

jackbl
31-12-2008, 10:46 PM
Just win lose or draw only... very easy... say say only. I thought of buying at SPORE pool, but later withdraw the idea cos seeing draw will be bored, but this DRAW is very exciting. 94min then score :D

I watched it at coffee shop opp HM... 1 group watch AFF Cup, another watch Newcastle v Liverpool....

The group watching VN v THAI, majority are VN fans......

You are so chun in your prediction



http://i39.tinypic.com/2ebfm39.jpg
This photo is taken when Vietnam beat Thailand on 24 Dec.
On 28 Dec I was in Vietnam. Once Vietnam win the Cup, I saw many many bikes proceeding to D1. JAM like hell... taxi also do not want to drive me back.

KangTuo
31-12-2008, 11:07 PM
From GL main road, u turn left it will be Lor 24. They will stand on the pathment.... Got time we go down together, we leave not far away each other... :D

huh? you know where i leave? I may be going out again later. How?


Just win lose or draw only... very easy... say say only. I thought of buying at SPORE pool, but later withdraw the idea cos seeing draw will be bored, but this DRAW is very exciting. 94min then score :D

I watched it at coffee shop opp HM... 1 group watch AFF Cup, another watch Newcastle v Liverpool....

The group watching VN v THAI, majority are VN fans......

I watch in VN with all the viet... even more exciting.
The atmosphere after the match is damn shiok and happy. You never get it in SG. Heard from my girlfriend that VN waited 49years to win a cup.

jackbl
01-01-2009, 05:05 AM
Counted abt 13FL working there, abt 5 not bad :D (One man's meat is another man's poison)

Was eating near to LOR 24 and saw that there are quite a handful of viet FL. The damage will be $30.... looks so so but saw 1-2 look not bad... they are all hanoi...

Hurricane88
01-01-2009, 10:36 AM
Happy New Year to all members of SBF and contributors of this thread...:)

jackbl
01-01-2009, 05:15 PM
Have a coffee, learn English for free
==============================

Master Cup, a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City that doubles up as an impromptu English language class, is becoming increasingly popular among young Vietnamese.

Its employees and customers speak English with each other while four teachers from English language schools turn up regularly to speak with customers.

Situated at 314/1B Dien Bien Phu, it was opened in 1996 by American couple Jerry and Barbara Wyatt.

There is also some structured learning done here through a discussion every Friday evening on a certain theme chosen by the teachers or customers.

Waiter Tran Ngoc Hai, who has worked at the café for just three months, already speaks English fluently. “I am very confident about using English” he says.

Le My Ngoc, a student at the HCMC International University, says: “You should not be apprehensive about your English. The teachers help you pronounce correctly.”

Anh Tu and Thanh Truc of the HCMC University of Transport and HCMC Foreign Trade University say they regularly go to the cafe to improve their English and read books about British and American cultures and browse through the Oxford English Dictionary.

Jerry and Barbara used to work at Starbucks, the global coffee chain. They have been living in Viet Nam for eight years and know about people’s difficulties in learning and speaking English.

Psychiatrist Nguyen Van Khue, 60, a regular customer, says he plans to organize an English “club” for his staff based on the Master Cup model.

The café also attracts young foreigners who come to chat with the locals.

“I have lived in Vietnam for two years. I love this country. Vietnamese students are very friendly and interested in learning English,” Liz, an American woman and a patron of the cafe, says.

By Thanh Thanh – Translated by Khanh Huynh

jackbl
02-01-2009, 02:03 AM
Foreigners allowed to buy apartments in Vietnam from today (1st Jan 09)
==============================================
According to the Construction Ministry, around 10,000 of 80,000 foreigners living and working in Vietnam are eligible to buy property, specifically apartments in commercial housing projects.

The resolution stipulates five groups of foreign individuals and organizations that are eligible to own houses in Vietnam for terms of up to 120 years.

These include individuals who invest directly in Vietnam or who are hired for management positions by local or foreign-invested companies in the country; foreigners who receive certificates of merit or medals from the president or government for their contributions to the country; foreigners who work in socioeconomic fields, hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and who possess special knowledge and skills that Vietnam needs; foreigners who are married to Vietnamese residents; and foreign-invested enterprises operating in Vietnam that need to buy houses for their employees.

Most foreigners working in Vietnam currently have to hire apartments at high rents of between US$600 and $1,000 per month.

Lawyer Nguyen Van Hong, who works as a legal consultant for an Australian company in Hanoi, said many of his foreign friends had recently asked him to help them to buy an apartment.

Director Tran Minh Thong of a property company in Hanoi also said many foreigners have asked to buy apartments at the Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh residential zone in Cau Giay District.

Experts said the move to allow foreigners to own apartments and other social housing projects could have positive impacts on the property market which has slowed down recently.

In force

The resolution is among several documents that will take effect today.

In the economic sector, wholly-owned foreign firms are allowed to join the local distribution and retail market from today under Vietnam’s commitment to the World Trade Organization

Also from today, local enterprises start to pay lower corporate tax of 25 percent, down from 28 percent. They are also allowed to pay tax later than previously.

The personal income tax law will also take effect from 2009, which stipulates that the taxable income threshold is VND4 million ($238) monthly for both locals and foreigners working in Vietnam, with taxpayers allowed deductions of VND1.6 million ($95) for each dependent.

In social sectors, the government starts to provide unemployment insurance under a decree that stipulates that Vietnamese employees who have signed contracts of a least a year will be eligible to get unemployment insurance and will receive compensation of 180 percent of a month’s salary for each year they have worked when losing her/his job.

Under a decision by the Prime Minister, civil servants and soldiers who have low incomes will be paid a monthly support of VND360,000 ($21) apiece in the first four months of this year.

The basic salary at state-owned enterprises will be increased to between VND650,000 ($37) and VND800,000 ($46), from between VND540,000 ($31) and VND620,000 ($35), while those of FDI enterprises will be increased to between VND920,000 ($53) and VND1.2 million ($69), from VND800,000 ($46) and VND1 million ($57).

In HCMC, the new land price adjustment will be implemented from today, with the highest price in District 1’s Dong Khoi, Le Loi and Nguyen Hue streets rising to VND81 million ($4,600) from VND67.5 million ($3,860) per square meter, while the lowest price is in Can Gio District’s Thieng Lieng residential area at VND110,000 ($6.30) per square meter.

Registration fees for cars with less than ten seats in HCMC will rise to 10 percent up from 5 percent.

Reported by Xuan Toan – Minh Nam

jackbl
02-01-2009, 02:06 AM
The sector that could save us all
=========================
In the current difficult times, the tourism sector could be Vietnam’s economic “savior,” bringing in money and promoting the country’s image at the same time.

So far, the country’s highest tourism office has made some progressive steps: organizing conferences that gather tourism experts; arranging meetings among provincial administrations to encourage cooperation; and setting a goal of having 100 discount tours nationwide as part of a larger campaign to revive the sector.

Other countries also understand that boosting their tourism industry might be the key to preventing economic recession.

Look at our neighbor Thailand.

Following the departure of protestors, who disrupted the country’s main international airport for more than a week, Thailand’s tourism ministry promoted the campaign titled “Apologies Thailand” in an effort to woo disgruntled tourists back into the country.

The price for a six-day tour was around US$300 and there were also 100,000 free airline tickets and other benefits.

Though Vietnam did not experience such a political crisis, we must act in order to lure tourists here now and in the future.

There are many ways to do this.

Our custom officials could smile more often. Surely a smile at an immigrant point could have a huge effect in lifting the country’s image as a friendly and welcoming place.

Hotels and restaurants could offer further discounts. Some resorts and major hotels even require tourist companies to pay deposits in order to keep reservations.

We can initiate a nationwide forum where people can give their suggestion to improve Vietnam’s tourism.

Another solution could be a campaign to encourage residents to clean up their neighborhood, as well as join force in reducing the numbers of beggars, pickpockets and overly pushy street vendors that target foreign tourists.

So far this year, there have been only 4 million international tourists to Vietnam, compared to 14 million to Thailand, 18 million to Malaysia and nearly 9 million to Singapore.

Four million is a modest number.

If we don’t act now, it will take us quite a long time to catch up with other countries in the region, let alone use tourism to fight economic recession.

By Nguyen Van My

jackbl
02-01-2009, 02:16 AM
Begin sex education early, advise experts
=================================

Experts are calling yet again for the introduction of sex education at secondary school levels, saying it is needed to guide safe behavior among the youth.

Love and sex is blooming among the youth, mainly because of early physical and psychological development, and the influences of foreign cultures and modern lifestyles, psychologist Quang Duong told a conference on “Sex Culture among Ho Chi Minh City Youth” held here last week.

“It is a flow that we can’t stop but we should direct it in a safer way,” Duong said.

Luu Phuong Thao from the HCMC Development Institute noted that “premarital sex is a common phenomenon in society during its development and urbanization.”

Over the past few years, many articles, including some foreign ones, have mentioned a “sexual revolution” in Vietnam.

"Some people have said it is a time of sexual revolution in Vietnam but it is a bit quieter than that, than what happened say in America in the 1960s and 1970s, but it's growing," Reuters quoted psychologist Khuat Thu Hong as saying.

Principal Nguyen Bac Dung of Tran Dai Nghia High School said “to direct the flow,” a combination of oriental and western cultural values needs to be applied.

However, some foreign-sponsored media programs, applying content and values of the West, have made young people feel that they can have sex before marriage as long as it is safe sex, said Doctor Nguyen Huu Nguyen of the HCMC Development Institute.

“After many years, these programs achieve technical objectives, which is to cut down the rate of abortion, but raise the number of teenagers having premarital sex,” Nguyen said. “It means that they fail to protect Oriental cultural values.”

The southern metro recorded nearly 111,000 cases of abortion in 2007, a reduction of 3,000 over 2006, according to a conference on protecting the health of mother and child held by the HCMC Reproductive Health Protection Center early this year.

Nguyen also questioned whether it was enough to give the youth sex education by merely offering them condoms and campaigning for safe sex.

Le Thi Thanh Nha, deputy head of Culture and Information Office under HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “The most important thing is to make the youth raise questions about their own lifestyle.”

Nha said in older times, people reached puberty when they were 17 to 18 and often got married at the same time, while puberty now occurs between 13 and 14 and people are getting married mostly at 24 to 25.

This means that people previously started their married lives almost at the same time they were physically ready to have sex, but now youth have a gap of more than 10 years.

She said adults therefore have to direct and guide young people to deal with problems on their own.

Nha, who used to be a practicing psychologist, says, “Every night, I used to receive around 300 messages from teenagers about loss of periods and abortion.”

Duong suggested establishing a consultancy office related to love, sex and sex education in an individualized manner, as each individual has his or her own demands and thoughts about sex.

Dung of Tran Dai Nghia High School also said sex education must be introduced as part of the “citizen’s education” that is currently part of the school curricula and basically impractical.

Nguyen Dinh Toan, who is in his twenties, is not too impressed with the expert opinions, which “are what the elderly think about sex among the youth.” Most of his friends are in favor of premarital sex and see no problem with it, he says.

A survey conducted among Vietnamese youth in 2007 found that young people had sex for the first time at around 19 years of age.

Of 7,548 teenagers interviewed from 42 provinces and cities, 7.6 percent said they’d already had sex.

Reported by Nhu Lich

jackbl
02-01-2009, 02:28 AM
Students take a Tet vocation
========================

With the shortage of funds a chronic reality as students, many who study in big cities work hard to pave their way home for Tet.

Tet is above all a time for the entire family to get together, so it is a homecoming season that has people from all over the world making a beeline to their homes in Vietnam, typically to the provinces and villages.

Students from the provinces who are studying at big cities are no different in making plans to go home for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays. However, since it is an expensive proposition for them, many are now busy doing part time jobs to save enough money to get home in time.

Nguyen Van Vu of the Da Nang Economic University says he is working for a coffee shop as a waiter from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. for the monthly pay of over VND1 million (US$58.62).

“Some days I am exhausted, but I feel encouraged when I think I will not have to call my parents to help with the transportation fares for Tet,” Vu says.

Working part time is also a chance for him to gain experience, he adds.

Some students work as wedding waiters and waitresses for VND100,000 ($5.86) per event.

Female students with a good appearance find work as receptionists at year-end events and parties held by event management companies. This job, according to most students, is rather leisurely but well paid.

In Ho Chi Minh City, during this season, the municipal Student Support Center, along with schools’ youth unions and employment websites introduce hundreds of students to seasonal jobs everyday.

Tuan Hung of the HCMC Open University says he comes to the support center around this time every year to find jobs.

This year he is working as a motorbike guard for a fashion shop on Le Van Sy Street in District 3 for VND50,000 ($2.93) per shift starting from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“Although the semester exams are coming, I try to arrange time to earn money for going home,” Hung says. “Many days I do not get home until 1 a.m. while I have class at 7 a.m. I am very sleepy during class, but I have to try!”

Not all students work as part time employees, some act on their entrepreneurial spirits.

A group of students from Da Nang City’s Dong A College, for example, have pooled their money for selling flowers as they heard this year flowers are scarce. They have already assigned a student who lives in the Central Highlands resort town of Da Lat to source flowers locally.

“We hope that we are making a good investment. Our money for the next month is all invested into the business.”

Tet away from home

While most students living far from home are busy finding and doing part time jobs, others say they will not go home for Tet due to financial problems and high transportation fares.

The city’s Department of Transport recently said this Tet could see smaller increases than usual in train and bus fares because of the steep fall in fuel prices.

However, it is still not easy for students to afford the fares.

“Usually I pay VND90,000 ($5.28) for a bus trip to my hometown, but the fares increase three to four times during the year-end season,” says Le Anh Minh of HCMC University of Technology from central Quang Ngai Province.

“It will cost me nearly one million dong ($58.62) for a round trip,” Anh says.

“Instead of moving heaven and earth to earn money for my bus fare, my parents can use the money to buy some banh chung [square glutinous rice cakes] and other traditional dishes for Tet,” he says.

Truong Minh Trung, a student of Economic Department at the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, says the coming Tet will be the third Tet that he will not spend with his family, staying on at the city to work part time.

Quynh Huong from the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities, meanwhile, says she will stay at the city this Tet not to earn money but to join a volunteer program organized by her school.

“Although I feel sad I cannot meet with my family during Tet, I feel luckier and happier than those children who have no home and parents,” Huong says.

“So, I want to visit, share and do something for them so that I am not sad during the holiday but can also help lessen their feelings about their disadvantages.”

Reported by Thanh Nien staff

jackbl
02-01-2009, 01:47 PM
Travel agents to offer big discount in 2009
==============================

Visitors will have the opportunity to take part in domestic tours at cheap prices, following a large-scale promotion campaign by the tourism industry starting January, 2009, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism recently announced.


The promotion campaign will last from January to September 2009. So far this year, many hotels have committed to reducing their service prices by 30-50 percent. Vietnamese Airlines has also pledged to provide a special offer on tickets, a decrease of 30-50 percent, for domestic and international flights.

In addition, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has worked with airlines and suppliers of transport, tour guide, shopping, food and drink services, encouraging them to join in the promotion campaign with the aim of luring more holiday-makers.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has initially chosen 20-30 major travel agents and 100 tours for the promotion campaign.

Source: VOV

jackbl
03-01-2009, 03:31 AM
Increase in roadworks in city 2009
==========================

Contractors will remain digging through out next year, a total of 56.7km of roads in Ho Chi Minh City will be worked on, up 14 percent on this year.

Much of the construction is due to three urban projects, East-West Highway, Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal and water supply projects which have been under construction since 2008.

In 2008, contractors finished 49.6km of streets, about 43 percent of the total distance of projects under construction.

Streets that are being worked on: Truong Chinh, Tan Hai, Ly Thuong Kiet, Nguyen Trong Tuyen and Pham Van Hai in Tan Binh district, Tran Quang Dieu, Dien Bien Phu, Tran Quoc Thao and Ly Chinh Thang in district 3, Nguyen Kiem and Le Quang Dinh in Go Vap district, and Phan Dang Luu and Dinh Tien Hoang in Binh Thanh district.

Among the 56.7km of roadworks in 2009, the Management Board of HCM City Environmental Hygiene Project will be responsible for 37.5km, including 9.6km of streets along the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe canal, 6.8km of Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Tran Khanh Du and Tran Quy Khoach streets in district 3 and others.

The Management Board of East-West project and Water Environment will be in charge of 6km, including Su Van Hanh, Tran Binh Trong and Thuan Kieu streets. The Management Board of Urban Upgrade projects will take care of 13.2km.

In 2010, contractors will have 9.626km of roads left to work on.

By Trung Khanh – Translated by Truong Son

jackbl
03-01-2009, 03:32 AM
People prefer to stay home during New Year
====================================

HCM City tourism companies say the number of people choosing to travel during New Year is 20 percent below their target.

Fiditourist Tan Dinh Travel Company said it had been hoping to sell 2,000 foreign and 5,000 domestic tours but it has yet to reach 80 percent of the number.

The tour operators blame the global financial crisis and the fact that New Year is too close to Tet this year.

According to them, many tourists have chosen to go to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, or Cambodia instead of Thailand because of the political upheaval there. At home, Con Dao is the top destination.

Tour prices have risen just 5 to 10 percent compared to 40 percent last year, they say.

With the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism planning to run a promotional campaign from January to September, tour prices could fall further next year.

Con Dao is an archipelago in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province where the French colonialists imprisoned political prisoners in the infamous “tiger cages”.

By My Hanh – Translated by Thuy Doan

jackbl
03-01-2009, 12:41 PM
Less gals to see :(

Only one Miss Vietnam a year under new rules
=====================================
There will be only one national beauty contest a year and contestants must have completed high school at the very least, under new regulations issued this week by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.


The winner of the national beauty contest will be the only one with the “Miss” honorific, the ministry says, adding that multiple “Miss” titles have caused confusion in the country.

Under the new rules, only Vietnamese women of at least 18 years of age with a clean police record, having finished high school education and not undergone cosmetic surgeries or sex changes are eligible to compete in beauty contests.

Beside the national contest, only one local beauty contest can be approved a year, the regulations say.

Also, an agency can only organize one contest at the most in two years, and it has to publicize its rules and conditions within 10 days of getting approval. It will also have to give away the awards on the final night itself, and strip titles off any winner found violating the contest’s regulations.

Miss Vietnam 2008 Tran Thi Thuy Dung stirred public outrage last year after she was found not to have graduated from high school, one of the pageant’s entry requirements.

She was barred from competing in the Miss World 2008 pageant in South Africa last December, but has not been dethroned so far.

Meanwhile, winners of some pageants in Vietnam have faced many difficulties in claiming their awards as old regulations didn’t specify payment deadlines for contests.

Some winners, including Miss Tourism Vietnam 2008, Phan Thi Ngoc Diem, and Miss Ao Dai Vietnam 2006, Than Thi Hoang Dieu, had to seek help from the media and take legal action to obtain their awards from the organizers.

Reported by Y Nguyen

Hurricane88
03-01-2009, 11:33 PM
Tet products hit market but buyers keep away

The newly opened South Korean supermarket Lotte Mart in District 7. With Tet approaching consumption normally surges at this time but not this year.
With just over 20 days to go for Tet (Lunar New Year), businesses are busy churning out new products for the year’s top shopping season, but things are duller than normal.


Many food businesses in and around Ho Chi Minh City remain confident demand will be high for their products despite the global economic meltdown.

Huynh Gia Huynh De Limited Company has processed around 500 tons of poultry, 20 percent more than last year.

The company bred the birds itself, vice chairman Chau Nhut Trung said.

Phu An Sinh Food Processing Company has set up a slaughterhouse meeting hygiene and safety standards at Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

Its director, Pham Van Minh, claimed Phu An Sinh would have 400 tons of free-range, chicken meat.

It is raising another 100,000 chickens, he said.

The new abattoir will also supply sausages and pork paste.

Minh promised that his company’s products, sold through 110 retailers in the city, would be 10-20 percent cheaper than its competitors’.

CP Vietnam has promised to supply 7,500 tons of frozen chicken for Tet and 500,000 eggs a day.

The Dong Nai Industrial Food Corporation said its D&F brand products do not contain growth hormones and only permissible quantities of antibiotics.

Vissan Limited Company said it has faced problems recently but would still increase supply by 15 percent compared to last Tet.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang and Long An provinces expect to supply 1,200-1,500 tons of seedless watermelons at between VND12,000-15,000 a kilogram.

The Mat Troi Do (Red Sun) brand of watermelon is said to be sweeter than others and keeps for seven to ten days.

The farmers have harvested 30-35 tons of the fruit per hectare, earning VND180-200 million ($10,300-11,400) each.

Beverage prices in HCMC have remained stable ahead of Tet.

“In the past, shops would hike prices several times within a month before the holiday,” the owner of a beverage shop in District 8 said. “No one dares do so this year.”

In Hanoi retailers said products are already in the market but there has been little buying, with consumers still waiting for promotions.

At the Nguyen Van Cu Supermarket, few customers even glance at the Tet gift hampers containing cookies, candies and beverages, whose prices have only increased slightly since last year.

A supermarket employee, Do Thi Hoa, said, “I think consumers are waiting for prices to be lowered or for promotions.”

At Vinaconex Supermarket, the gift hampers are not even displayed due to the low demand.

The supermarket said it would launch a promotion only two weeks before Tet.

“Consumers are waiting for big promotions,” it said, adding sales are expected to rise next week.

Electronic and electrical supermarket Pico Plaza has also seen little buying though it launched a promotional campaign two weeks ago.

A supermarket employee said demand for household appliances would rise a few days before the Tet holidays.

Bad season for clothes

At the apparel section at large HCMC shopping malls like Parkson, Diamond Plaza and Zen Plaza, the common refrain is that prices have not been increased. They also sold a lot at 30-70 percent discount in the last two months.

While this should be the busy period for garment businesses, many said business has been dull. Many will continue their sales programs until Tet.

Ngo Thi Bau, general director of Nguyen Tam Garment and Textile Company which owns the popular FOCI brand, said the number of items sold has not decreased much but the profit has dried up.

“The primary concern now is to prevent losses and any business that can do that can be considered successful,” she said.

Ngo Tu Tam, director of Son Kim Company, owner of WOW brand and distributor of Elle and Jockey products, said sales during the recent Christmas season only increased 15-18 percent instead of the normal 30 percent.

“We probably would not have sold anything if we had not offered discounts,” she said, adding that top-range products have the lowest demand.

She said producers should cut costs and focus on convenience rather than fashion.

There are only 20 days to go for Tet but many dressmakers are only working in the day. In other years they would have to stay up late, sometimes overnight, Hoa, a seamstress who sells her products at Tan Binh and An Dong markets, said.

“It has never been so bad,” she said.

Reported by Quang Thuan – Mai Phuong

Hurricane88
03-01-2009, 11:46 PM
Money will stimulate spending
Raising wages and reducing the cost of consumer products are the keys to stimulate Vietnam’s consumption.


Cash flow accounts for 60 percent of economic growth in Vietnam but the cash flow crunch has been making for a sluggish economy this year.

The country’s exports are facing difficulties because its markets have shrunk and products are no longer competitive.

Solutions to boost exports include opening new markets, lowering export duties and reducing bank loan interest rates to help exporters reduce their prices. Import duties should also be raised slightly.

To stimulate domestic consumption, the most important factor is to cut the prices, which are on average still 20 percent higher than last year.

Several electronics businesses have recently slashed their prices significantly and have enjoyed good sales as a consequence.

Many garment firms have used the same method.

At the same time, some businesses have tried to push their prices higher for the Tet shopping season, which increases the chances they will be losers in the year’s biggest shopping season.

For macro policy makers, one thing they can do to stimulate consumption is to raise the minimum wage.

First, this is the matter of fairness as consumer prices have increased by 20 percent year on year but wages have remained the same.

People just can’t spend more when prices have risen and their incomes haven’t.

By Ngoc Minh

jackbl
04-01-2009, 03:34 AM
Time for them to SPEND again???!!!

About 100,000 overseas Vietnamese to return for Tet festival
=========================================

The number of overseas Vietnamese returning home for the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival through Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to increase by 15-20 percent in the coming days, according to a customs officer at the airport.

At present, between 6,000-7,000 Vietnamese nationals enter Ho Chi Minh City through the airport and the number will rise considerably in a couple of days, says Le Tuan Binh, deputy head of the airport’s Customs Department.

The Youth Union chapter at the airport has set up volunteer groups to help the immigrants complete customs procedures in a short time.

About 100,000 overseas Vietnamese are expected to return for Tet celebrations this year which will fall on January 25 and last for three days.

Source: VOV

jackbl
04-01-2009, 12:24 PM
Cultural values of traditional Vietnamese wedding
=================================

The traditional Vietnamese wedding is one of the most important ceremonies in Vietnamese culture.

It consists of an engagement ceremony taking place usually half a year or so before the wedding. A marriage ceremony includes asking permission to ‘receive’ the bride, receiving the bride at her house, bringing the bride to the groom's house, and the reception for the bride and groom's family and friends.

Traditional symbols of Vietnamese marriage are a couple of pigeons, betel leaves and areca nut and the indispensable words "song hy” (double joys). This phrase as Chinese characters 囍 shows the joy for the both families.

At the wedding, members of both families often wear ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dress) and khan dong (headdress). The bride and groom’s attire are brighter and more brilliant than everyone else’s.

The marriage ceremony is held in front of the ancestor altars at homes of both families. On the morning of the wedding day, the groom’s family will bring gifts, including betel leaves and areca nuts, wine, tea, fruits, cakes, a roasted pig and a pair of big dragon and phoenix candles which are placed in boxes covered in red cloth.

Candle lighting is one of the most important rites. An old man who has a good manner of speaking and high status in the family will represent the groom's house to burn the candles and pray for happiness, luck and prosperity.

The light represents life, faith, wisdom, love, and earth and sky. After which, the couple’s thoughts shall be for each other rather than for themselves. Their joys and sorrows shall be shared alike.

The groom and bride will exchange wedding rings. The groom’s mother gives her daughter-in-law jewelry, including gold bracelets, earrings and other valuable gifts. Members of the two families will also wish the newly wedded couple a long and happy life and offers them presents and money.

After bringing the bride to the groom's house, an elderly kind-hearted woman who has a happy life and many descendants will spread a sedge mat on the couple’s bed in order to bring luck.

Today, a Vietnamese wedding organized according to traditional manners and customs has gradually fallen into oblivion. It only exists in a few rural areas.

Most modern Vietnamese weddings reduce some traditional ceremonies. The reception occurs immediately after the procession ceremony, often at a restaurant or a banquet hall in the afternoon or evening, instead of taking place at either couple's house.

The couple will be recognized in law as husband and wife after receiving the marriage certificate. However, according to national culture, the wedding with the attendance of both families, all relatives, friends, and neighbors is conclusive proof to recognize them as a married couple.

Nowadays a lot of Vietnamese couples have been influenced by Western styles, including wearing white wedding dresses and black tuxedos. But they still choose Vietnamese traditional wedding costumes for traditional ceremonies.

Vietnamese traditional weddings attract many foreign visitors. A problem with a modern wedding is that the party does not usually take place on time. It takes 1-2 hours to receive guests and then the wedding ceremony can start.

By Staff writers – Translated by Vu Khanh

jackbl
04-01-2009, 12:31 PM
Ministry issues new policy for beauty contests
======================================

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Tuesday issued a policy for organizing beauty contests to replace the one issued in 2006.

The new policy restricts the number of beauty pageants to be held every year. The National Miss Pageant, the Region, Industry or Organization Queen Pageant will be held once every year. The Beauty Pageant in a province or a city will be held every two years.

The candidates must be over 18 years old, graduated high school, and have not had cosmetic or sex reassignment surgery.

Only the winner in the national beauty contest can win the title ‘Miss’. The titles for smaller pageants will be ‘Queen’ or ‘Beauty’.

It also sets out the responsibilities of organizers, as well as the requirements of the Ministry to them. The organizers have to prove their financial viability if they want to organize a pageant. They have to send copied profiles of entered final contestants to the licensing authority after the semi-final and have to award prizes and certifications to winners in the final.

In addition, it gives the licensing authority, instead of the organizers, the power to deal with violations. The licensing authority can take away the titles of the winners if they violate policy or other laws.

The new policy will take effect 15 January.

(Source: Tuoi Tre Newspaper) – Translated by Thuy Doan

Less gals to see :(

Only one Miss Vietnam a year under new rules
=====================================
There will be only one national beauty contest a year and contestants must have completed high school at the very least, under new regulations issued this week by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

jackbl
05-01-2009, 12:10 AM
A ‘village’ with more than city comforts
===========================
If you are looking for space or a place to unwind, to treat our family to a getaway weekend or celebrate your honeymoon, there is a quite area on the Saigon River bank that is just the ticket.

Six kilometers from downtown, the Thao Dien Village offers guests the space they need in a luxurious, colonial setting.

The newly opened “village” is a 13,000 square meter complex on Nguyen Van Huong Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s plush District 2.

The complex comprises a 22 room colonial-style hotel called An Phu, an event hall, a water puppet theater and other facilities. Active sorts can make use of the fitness club with a variety of workout programs on offer, a sumptuous spa welcomes those in need of deep relaxation and its riverside pool is a good place to cool off. The greenery that surrounds the complex and the spacious lawn overlooking the river are ideal for children to “burn” their energy.

Thao Dien Village has four restaurants with different styles that seem to have something for everyone.

Well-known Vietnamese fine dining establishment Ngon Restaurant has opened its second location here with a beautifully decorated, dark wood traditional dining room. Ngon is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with main courses ranging from VND 120,000 to VND340,000 (US$6.84-19.40).

Next door is a slightly funkier and less formal Japanese restaurant where the staff are all smiles, the sashimi is fresh and the menu is extensive and well priced. Only a handful of items on the twelve-page menu run over VND100,000 ($5.7). Of the Asian options, however, it’s the Chaba Thai Restaurant that has people talking. The soups, curries, vegetables and desserts are purported to be the best in town.

The Villa Romain Restaurant beneath the hotel offers fine Italian dining with views across the lawn to the river. Upstairs, the hotel rooms are spacious with wooden floors, there are terraced areas and yet another lovely pool.

The traditional water puppetry show, held three times per week, is well worth a visit by itself.

Thao Dien Village is an antidote to the hectic city life and if you’re in need of a getaway, but short on time, schedule a day of two at the An Phu Hotel.

Reported by Thuy Nhien

jackbl
05-01-2009, 01:45 AM
Airfare may be more expensive in 2009
============================
VietNamNet Bridge – Airlines have said that airfares may increase in 2009, as the Value Added Tax Law, effective as of January 1, 2009, stipulates that air tickets will be imposed 10% in VAT instead of the current rate of 5%.

In general, the Ministry of Finance always releases documents guiding the implementation of laws before they become valid. However, the ministry has not promulgated any documents on the issue, which has made airlines puzzled with their airfare policies.

Jetstar Pacific Airlines, for example, said that it only found out yesterday morning that the airfare is subject to a 10% VAT in 2009. Meanwhile, the air carrier has still not developed airfares for the upcoming year, while old airfares will no longer be valid.

An official from the airline said that while waiting for the new airfares to be fixed, the airline will temporarily charge passengers the old airfares plus 5% VAT.

The official said that the airline is working on developing new airfares for 2009 based on the Circular No 103 promulgated by the Ministries of Finance and Transport. It is expected that there will be different airfares depending on passengers’ choices. The economy ticket for domestic routes is expected to be higher than VND 1.7 million, the ceiling airfare level which was previously applied.

Meanwhile, the national flag air carrier, Vietnam Airlines, said that airfares will not change until the end of March. Therefore, the airline will ‘bear’ the 5% VAT for passengers until the new airfares are announced. The airline has also committed to keep the airfares unchanged for the Tet holiday.

Analysts believe that with the removal of the ceiling airfare scheme, together with the 10% VAT to be applied, it is completely possible that the airfares will increase in 2009.

(Source: VNE)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 02:10 AM
A hidden terror
============

VietNamNet Bridge - Not many tourists who go to Phu Quoc know that the island was home to one of Vietnam’s most infamous war-era prisons.

Phu Quoc is well known as a beautiful beach destination with white sandy beaches, turquoise waters and pristine forests. When I think of Phu Quoc, I picture myself flopping on a breathtaking beach drinking coconut juices by day and cold refreshing beers by night. But what is paradise for tourists today was once hell on earth for tens of thousands of Vietnamese revolutionaries, who were imprisoned here first by French colonial forces and later by the US-led southern Vietnamese puppet regime.

The French first built a prison on Phu Quoc to keep insurgents, but during the American War, the structure was expanded to cover an area of 40 hectares. It could hold up to 40,000 Vietnamese political prisoners at one time. After the Tet Offensive in 1968, the prison was quickly filled with captured soldiers and was at its peak in terms of prisoners held.

It was modestly surrounded by a wire fence with a number of sentry posts dotted around, no doubt offering prison guards a rather wonderful, if completely incongruous, panoramic view of the breathtaking coast and lush, tropical hills on the island. Today, there is little left of the original prison. Most of the structure was built out of corrugated iron that was easily torn down by locals after all the prisoners were released in accordance with the Paris Accords, which were inked on January 27, 1973.

On the site today, you will find a couple of dilapidated houses made of corrugated iron and a small, two-storey museum. It is only VND3,000 for a ticket into the museum so it won’t hurt your wallet too much to investigate inside – not that there’s a huge amount to see. There is a small bookshop with a number of memoirs written by former prisoners for sale. There is a small office for the museum’s staff and a larger room with a mock-up of Phu Quoc island.

More of the actual vestiges of the prison are displayed on the first floor. On the wall there are black and white photos showing the different ways people were tortured, as well as portraits of people who died there. A board lists 26 types of rather gruesome torture performed, including boiling prisoners in a lotus-shaped iron pot, hammering a nail into the prisoners’ body, or burying prisoners alive, which sounds more like execution than torture.

A piece of text on the board states that three prisoners were boiled to death in 1969 and another three suffered the same fate two years later. One prisoner, Duong Van Men, who came from Cu Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City, witnessed this all first hand. The man was also placed in the pot and only escaped death as the prison guards thought he had died. The museum has other objects, which were used to torture the prisoners, including long, rusty nails.

There are also small wooden and metal instruments that prisoners used to try and dig escape tunnels with. Most interestingly, there is also a rusty dustbin, the centre piece of a daring escape in 1971. Two prisoners hid inside in the bin and then placed wet sacks above their heads before fellow inmates put burning charcoal on top.

The prisoners in the bin could breathe through a metal straw that ran past the burning charcoal. The bin was then left to be taken outside and dumped by the prison guards. The two men successfully escaped doing this and one year later another two also managed to escape in this fashion. Documents state that there were 42 jailbreaks from the prisons with more than 200 inmates escaping to freedom.

Hundreds more were less fortunate and quickly recaptured or foiled from within. No doubt the punishment for those captured might have involved a stint in the “tiger cage” or an isolation cabin, which were both used as isolation-cum-torture chambers. You can see both outside the museum. In the cabin prisoners would have had no room to move around and no sunlight. It would have been cold at night and burning hot in the daytime.

Prisoners could be left inside for long periods; there are reports that some lost their sight as a result of this. The cage was even more brutal. A horizontal cylinder of metal and barbed wire that prisoners were forced to crouch inside. If you moved, fell over or lay down you would continually cut or scratch yourself on the barbed wire. The prisoners were forced in after stripping down to their underpants, so there was little to protect them.

In the cold weather, the jail keeper threw water all over the prisoner in a routine known as “refreshing the tiger.” On hot days, the jail keeper would throw salty water all over the cage, which was called “seasoning for the tiger,” which quite literally rubbed salt in the prisoners’ open wounds. It also made the sun burn their skin more quickly. Sunburned, scabby and scalded and left in the outdoors, numerous prisoners are said to have died inside the cage.

It is estimated that more than 4,000 prisoners could have died because of the brutal treatment and torture dished out at Phu Quoc prison. A recent exhumation discovered more than 800 remains, bringing the number of remains exhumed to date to more than 1,200; there is a collective grave with more than 100 remains. The search continues for the remaining corpses. There is also a project to restore part of the prison to educate present generations of its brutal history and highlight the horror of war.

(Source: Time-out)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 02:16 AM
Ha Long Bay welcomes 5,000 tourists on New Year’s Day
============================================
VietNamNet Bridge – 386 tourist ships carrying 4,900 passengers, including 3,700 foreigners, left Bai Chay tourist wharf in the northern province of Quang Ninh to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO-recognised World Natural Heritage site, on the first day of 2009.

According to the Ha Long Bay’s Management Board, the Bay welcomed more than 2.65 million tourist arrivals in 2008, up by 48.8 percent against 2007. The number of foreign tourists reached 1.71 million, increased by 67.6 percent over 2007.

Quang Ninh is launching a campaign to encourage locals and foreigners to vote for Ha Long Bay to be one of the seven world wonders on New7Wonders: Welcome to the official global voting platform of New7Wonders (http://www.new7wonders.com) website.

(Source: VNA)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 02:31 AM
Let the sunshine in
==============

VietNamNet Bridge - With a beautiful beach, an endless supply of fresh seafood and a string of hopping bars in the evening, you simply can’t go wrong in Nha Trang.

Nha Trang has long been a popular destination for both local and international tourists. Its long sandy beach lined with coconut palms is the stand-out attraction of this large city located on Vietnam’s south central coast. Entire days can quite easily be whiled away relaxing in the sun, chasing a tan, recovering from a hangover or simply de-stressing. In fact, a beach city like Nha Trang can be a highly therapeutic place.

It is tourist friendly. In Hanoi, the tourist patch is the Old Quarter. In Ho Chi Minh City, it is District 1 and the strip that runs along Pham Ngu Lao. In these areas, many of the local folk can speak English reasonably well. This means information on tourist services, onward journeys and local sights is easy to obtain.

Nha Trang also has its traveller’s zone, where you can book boat trips, rent motorbikes and pick up tickets for planes, trains and automobiles to your next destination. Located along and parallel to a few blocks of beachfront, the place to stay in Nha Trang is in the small district known as Biet Thu. Mini-hotels and guesthouses abound in this area and the beach is never more than a five minute walk away.

More up-market accommodation in high rise hotels is available further up the beach road, if you don’t mind a long walk or a taxi ride at the end of the night. This is worth bearing in mind, because a night or two of your holiday will inevitably be spent in one or more of Nha Trang’s great bars. The jewels in the crown of the bar scene here are the Nha Trang Sailing Club and the Louisiane Brewhouse, two long established watering holes right on the beach.

The former is a stunning complex with restaurants, a bar and a nightclub, where drinks after a hard day on the beach can be followed by a meal and some jiving on the dance floor. For many, it is the last stop of the night. The latter is a beer lover’s paradise, open all day but not so late into the night. Four different beers are brewed on the premises and can be enjoyed on the brew house’s waterfront beach lounges or by the pool.

Away from the beach, you will find a number of popular bars, such as Crazy Kim’s, Guava, Shorty’s and the Why Not Bar, which all have their own unique atmospheres. There are eating options galore in Nha Trang with Indian, Italian, Japanese and other international cuisines well represented. But, by the seaside, the choice is obvious: seafood. Outside restaurants throughout the tourist area, you will find fresh prawns, squid, lobster and fish.

Customers can specify which creature they want to dine on and watch it flipped onto the barbeque. However, you can find better seafood experiences where the locals eat. One such place is Bien Tien Hai San, a restaurant about three kilometres along the main beach road, north of town. In fact, there are many seafood eateries out this way, which are worth a visit.

Other local specialties, available away from the tourist strip in the streets around the main market, include fried rice-flour pancakes (banh xeo), fish noodle soup (bun ca) and fresh roll-your-own spring rolls (nem nuong). Going hungry in Nha Trang is not even remotely possible. Apart from the above-mentioned sedentary activities of sunbathing, drinking and eating, Nha Trang does have a few more active pursuits on offer.

Diving is big here, with a few operators competing for business underwater. All-day-boat trips to the surrounding islands with frequent stops for swimming and snorkelling are also popular with the young backpacking crowd. The Cham Towers across the river are also worth a visit for those hungry for history and architecture.

Despite all of the possibilities, whenever I go back to Nha Trang, I find myself gravitating toward the beach by day, the street food and seafood at meal times and the bars by night. It’s a failsafe routine that I thoroughly recommend.

(Source: Time-out)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 02:34 AM
1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

New Year is round the corner. Anyone can suggest some usual and unusual new year greeting in Viet. Thanks

jackbl
05-01-2009, 08:41 AM
TRAVEL IN BRIEF 2/1
===============

Big City hotels slash rates to entice guests

Thirty leading hotels in HCM City agreed early this week to cut by 30 per cent their room rates in a move to lure visitors to the city. Truong Vinh Tho, head of the HCM City Tourism Department’s travel division, said the lower room rates launched by three-to five-star hotels would help make it possible for tour operators to launch attractive packages for visitors. Tho said the rates would eventually be even lower because hotels would offer discounts on other special rates for their preferred tour operators.

To promote the country’s tourism, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism also announced that Vietnam Airlines would discount fares by 30 per cent for guests from key markets to create a strong promotion programme from next January to September.

HCM City radio to launch foreign-language shows

The Voice of HCM City Radio station will start broadcasting foreign-language channels, including English, French and Chinese next week. The station’s director Nguyen Chau Ky said the addition of the new languages on the air was made following suggestions from diplomats. He added the station also has plans to broadcast programmes in Korean, Japanese and Khmer languages.

Golden Sand Resort wins best hotel award

Swiss-Belhotel Golden Sand Resort&Spa in Hoi An has been selected as the best hotel in the Swiss-Belhotel and resort network for 2008 at the group general managers’ conference this year. The resort managed by Swiss-Belhotel International is recognised as having made the best achievement in service quality and professional management. The annual conference was attended by the group’s executives from around the world.

Lam Dong seeks Gov’t OK for int’l air routes

The provincial authority of Lam Dong has asked the Government’s permission to open international air routes from Lien Khuong Airport in Da Lat to Singapore, South Korea, Laos and Cambodia, to attract foreign tourists and boost its export of vegetables and flowers. They have also negotiated with airlines on the opening of air routes to Lien Khuong. Lien Khuong Airport currently has been providing services to two daily flights between from HCM City and one flight between Ha Noi.

(Source: Viet Nam News)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 10:11 AM
Can Tho air terminal inaugurated
=======================

VietNamNet Bridge - A plane carrying Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other Government leaders touched down a runway of the newly-built Can Tho air terminal at 10.30am on January 4, kick-starting a new air route between Hanoi and Can Tho city in the Mekong Delta region.

After three years of construction, the first phase of the terminal has been completed, with a 2,400m-long and 45m-wide runway capable of receiving big aircraft such as Airbus 320 & 321 and Boeing 737. With a total floor area of 2,400sq.m., the terminal can serve 400 passengers per hour and 400,000 passengers per year. Its ground control facilities meet international standards.

At the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung praised the Southern Airports Corporation, Can Tho City and the construction workers for their great efforts to put the terminal into operation. He encouraged investors and contractors to continue with the second phase of the project to ensure that Can Tho International Airport will be completed and operational in 2010 as scheduled.

He asked Can Tho city to fully exploit the airport to develop its economy and serve as a gateway to other regions in the country as well as the world.

Once completed in 2010, the terminal will launch flights to Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia in Southeast Asia and Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan in Northeast Asia.

(Source: VOV)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 10:20 AM
抗议遭虐待 越南台商鞋厂4000员工罢工
==========================

  (联合早报网讯)据越南官方媒体今天报道,清化省(Thanh Hoa)境内一家台商鞋厂的将近4000名员工已展开罢工,抗议雇主涉嫌虐待劳工。

  台湾中国时报引述「越南青年报」 (Thanh Nien daily)的报道称,位于清化省的Sun Jade鞋厂,员工大多数是女性。工厂员工指控来自大陆的经理羞辱并毒打他们。

  越南青年报及其他报纸指出,员工也表示,鞋厂拒绝给予病假及丧假,如果没上班,经常被会扣一整个月的薪 水。

  目前尚未联络到该公司和当地工会干部发表评论。这是该工厂自去年6月以来第3度罢工。

jackbl
05-01-2009, 10:22 AM
远朋国际在胡志明市 设首家荣寿司连锁店
===========================

  远朋国际(Apex-Pal International)表示,它的旗舰品牌荣寿司(Sakae Sushi)已经于两周前在越南胡志明市的Nowzone Fashion Mall开设在当地的第一家连锁店。

  这家店位于时尚地区,主要吸引年轻、新潮和喜爱食物的顾客。该店是由远朋授权予Healt hy Food Jonit而开设的。

  该公司表示,将在未来的三年里增设两家分店。虽然现在有大量的外资涌进越南,但饮食业仍受投资者的青睐 。因为越南的饮食业尚处于萌芽状态,这对远朋来说是一个机遇。由于更多女性走向工作岗位,因此,便宜、方便 又有营养的食物的需求会上升。此外,还有很多年轻富有的顾客,渴望尝试新的口味。借助日本料理在当地的受欢 迎程度,荣寿司应该可以在当地餐饮市场分一杯羹。

  集团总裁符标雄说:“我们很高兴能找到好的合作伙伴打开越南这个市场,这样使我们离目标更近了。结合越 南饮食业的丰富知识,相信我们的产品肯定能被当地人接受。”

  包括这个新店在内,荣寿司已在中国、新加坡、马来西亚、美国、印尼、菲律宾、泰国等8个国家的13个城 市开设了60多家连锁店。

jackbl
05-01-2009, 01:30 PM
Tet travellers in store for crowded buses, few taxis
===================================

VietNamNet Bridge - Buses and taxis will be crowded or in short supply during the Tet (lunar New Year) holiday, complicating plans for many people who traditionally return to their homes for the largest festival in the country.

Last week, the Viet Nam Road Department said the public’s transport demands during Tet could not be met. Transport demand is forecast to rise by 10 to 15 per cent, but many transport enterprises cannot afford to buy new vehicles to cater to the rise in demand.

The department asked the local transport offices for a plan on ways to meet Tet transport demands and urged organisations, agencies and companies to help their own staff get home for the lunar New Year.

However, Vo Tien Loi, deputy director of Quang Binh Transport Department, said it was difficult to get more buses, as the department did not have provincial approval to buy the vehicles.

Crammed buses

Nguyen Van Dong, deputy chief of Nghe An Province Traffic Police, said dealing with the current situation of crammed buses was already a difficult job.

Dong said that a shortage of buses had resulted in bus drivers cramming too many people onto their buses. In some cases a 15-seat bus will carry about 40 people, which is quite dangerous.

According to the head of traffic police Do Dinh Nghi, many people avoid going to bus stations to catch buses but prefer to hail them nearer to their homes.

Nghi said minimising this bad habit would ease the situation.

In HCM City, the Eastern Bus Station sold about 800 tickets for 20 routes from HCM City to other localities from the 24th to 28th of lunar December (mid January).

The station also confirmed that customers, who had booked tickets had nothing to worry about, according to Thuong Thanh Hai, deputy director of the station.

Under commitments between enterprises and the department of transport, ticket prices cannot increase by more than 60 per cent. Hai said those found to have violated the price rise rule would not be allowed to operate but punished.

Though HCM City and Binh Duong Province used more than 800 buses for New Year’s Day last Wednesday, the buses were still overcrowded with large numbers of people travelling to entertainment centres. There was an increase of between 2,000-3,000 bus travellers, said the HCM City’s transport department.

Taxis

Demand for taxis during the holidays was also too large to meet, according to Nguyen Van Doan, a driver at Thanh Nga Taxi Company in Ha Noi.

The driver said the shortage was not due to a lack of taxis or too many customers, but a shortage of taxi drivers.

"We work all through the year, and we should at least have some days off to visit friends and relatives," said Doan.

However, customers can at least enjoy falling taxi fares. Duong Tien Thu, chairman of the 27-7 taxi co-operative said a low fare of VND7,500 per km was applied on Wednesday for four-seater cars and VND8,000 for seven-seater taxis.

In Ha Noi, fares can be even lower. Some taxi agencies, such as Ba Sao, Thanh Nga or Hung Vuong, charge VND7,000 per km, and VND5,000 per km for the next 20km.

(Source: VNS)

jackbl
05-01-2009, 04:54 PM
Singapore introduces spring festival in City
==============================

VietNamNet Bridge - Many Vietnamese people have chosen Singapore as a favourite destination for their holiday during the upcoming traditional Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

In response, the Singaporean Tourism Board has launched a programme to introduce a special spring festival in Ho Chi Minh City to attract more Vietnamese people to the island nation.

The “Chunjie” spring festival will take place from January 3 to February 15, 2009 with three main events: a festival to welcome Tet in Chinatown, a Chingay parade and a Singapore River Hongbao festival.

The spring festival will begin with a firework display on January 3 and lion dances performed by 11 art troupes from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Thailand and Singapore.

Tourists can enjoy the jubilant atmosphere of festivities, shopping, cuisine and the special cultural features of people of Chinese origins. In addition, there will also be a wide range of Buddhist activities held in 169 year-old temple Thian Hock Keng.

(Source: VOV)

jackbl
06-01-2009, 01:35 AM
Education in coastal areas: letters fell into water
==============================

VietNamNet Bridge – Students in the coastal areas of Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Kien Giang generally give up on school early, or they study in accordance with the tide’s ins and outs.

Dropping out to go to sea

Tran Cham, a man in Bien Dong A hamlet in Vinh Trach Dong commune in Bac Lieu town, said that families here do not allow their children to go to school. The children have to go fishing in the sea to earn money and get food.

Tran Cham has nine children, but none of them can read or write. Cham related that he has an eldest son, 11, who once went to school, but he dropped out when he finished the first class.

Son Thi Val, 10, a student of the 2nd class of Thuan Hoa Primary School in Vinh Trach Dong commune in Bac Lieu town, related that earlier this school year, there were seven children in the hamlet going to school, who all received gifts. However, five of them began staying home. Only two of them still go to school, Val to the second class, and another girl to third class.

“My friends have dropped out to go out to sea,” Val said.

The home of Nguyen Minh Toan, 14, in Kinh Dao Dong Hamlet in Dat Mui commune in Ca Mau province, was red with merit certificates given by Dat Mui primary school to Toan and his brothers. However, none of the nine brothers finished primary school. Toan related that he and his brothers just learnt to read and calculate, and then dropped out to go to sea.

Ho Ba Loc, in Dat Mui commune, related that he really wants his daughter to go to school, but he is afraid something bad may happen to his daughter, his only child, as the schools are too far from home.

Ho Thi Thao Nguyen, his daugther, is still wearing the uniform of Nguyen Viet Khai High School. However, in fact, she dropped out when she finished the 10th class. Now she is running a small café to earn money.

Students decide learning hours

The Phu Hung High School gathers students from communes in Cai Nuoc district in Ca Mau province. The school’s Principal Nguyen Van Phu said that five students have dropped out so far this year as they cannot follow other students.

The Khanh Hung secondary school has only 200 students. According to Principal Nguyen Van Nghi, the average drop-out ratio is 6%. More students drop-out in dry season as they can easily get jobs during that time.

The Dat Mui High School reported the drop-out ratio of 4-5%.

Teacher Tang So Da related that the learning hours here depend on students’ working schedule. When water levels go down, students go out to the sea, when water goes up, they go to school.

Dao Minh Nam, a border guard, said that the soldiers here have been trying to set up a classroom for the children of the coastal villages, which has several students burning with a desire to learn. However, Nam said, sadly, that as the students learn in accordance with the water levels, they have not received much progress in learning.

The statistics released by the Ministry of Education and Training showed that Cuu Long River Delta has the highest drop-out ratio nationwide, 3.1%. Ca Mau province has seen 2.7% of primary school, 7.5% of secondary and 9.05% of high school students drop out. In Bac Lieu province, the ratio is 6.1%.

(Source: Tien phong)

jackbl
06-01-2009, 09:19 AM
Six trends of Vietnamese youth in 2008
========================================
VietNamNet Bridge – There were no big “scandals” related to youth this year, but some trends emerged. VietNamNet reviews some prominent trends of young Vietnamese people in 2008.



1. Blogs rise, forums fall

The information that Yahoo 360 might close in early 2008 shocked Vietnamese netizens. But luckily, Yahoo continues to maintain this blog service, which is the top information sharing channel of Vietnamese youth at present.

The golden age of the online forum, meanwhile, has passed, as netizens now prefer blogs. Blogs have become not only online personal diaries but also the common houses of youth.

It is predicted that in 2009, Vietnamese netizens will continue working on Yahoo 360 and other hot social networks like Facebook and MySpace.


2. Hi-tech students

Young people used online forums, blogs and Yahoo Messenger as tools of entertainment and they also used Internet resources to serve their studies.

Sharing documents, online classes, accessing e-libraries, etc. were online study methods of many students. Some universities are covered with wireless Internet, allowing students to search for documents on their campuses.

However, because of limitations in foreign language, Vietnamese youth haven’t taken full advantage of available sources of data on the Internet.


3. School “Misses” bloom

Student beauty contests were held everywhere, from general schools to universities. The goal of these contests was to honour the “beauty and knowledge” of female students, but some scandals related to such contests marred this intention.


4. Salsa and belly dancing enchant youth

Burning and sexy salsa and belly dancing enchanted Vietnamese young people. Salsa and belly dancing classes appeared everywhere, attracting a lot of students.


5. Online body show

Uploading sexy photos or clips of themselves on the Internet was a trend of Vietnamese teenagers in 2009. Not only girls but also boy students posted sexy photos and clips of themselves on blogs or forums to “become famous”. One of the most shocking clips in 2008 was the one in which two boy students are kissing to the cheering of their friends.


6. Early marriage

Many students got married before or immediately after graduation. Some of them were parents at just over 20. Many teen stars got married in 2008, such as MC Thanh Van, Van Buri, singer Dang Nguyen and Miss Audition Ngoc Anh.


Lan Huong

KangTuo
06-01-2009, 10:59 AM
Contirbuting some tieng viet sms from a viet gal...

Me: Sao e kg an com? (Why you don't eat?)
Gal: E chi muon an cung a thoi

Me: E lai geylang, e lam o dau? (You come geylang, where you work?)
Gal: E van o 155 van lam o do. Luc nay e k duoc thay a nen e thay buon moi lai kl

Me: E dung buon neh. Cuoi cho a thay.( Don't be sad, smile for me to see)
Gal: Cho du e co cuoi di nua. Thi do chi de tu an ui minh chu dau co het buon dau. 21 nay e ve en roi e chuc a o day that vui va hanh phuc ben gia dinh nha a yeu.

Gal: Vay thi e va a cung cuoi nha, E k hieu tai sao toi bay gio e van k the nao quen duoc a nua

Any bro wish to interprete her sms?

naemlo
06-01-2009, 11:06 AM
Delete posting.

jackbl
06-01-2009, 02:34 PM
Me: Sao e kg an com? (Why you don't eat?)
Gal: E chi muon an cung a thoi
I only want to eat with you only


Me: E lai geylang, e lam o dau? (You come geylang, where you work?)
Gal: E van o 155 van lam o do. Luc nay e k duoc thay a nen e thay buon moi lai kl
I still at 155 still work there. Just now I cant see u so I sad just come ...

jackbl
06-01-2009, 03:58 PM
Me: E dung buon neh. Cuoi cho a thay.( Don't be sad, smile for me to see)
Gal: Cho du e co cuoi di nua. Thi do chi de tu an ui minh chu dau co het buon dau. 21 nay e ve en roi e chuc a o day that vui va hanh phuc ben gia dinh nha a yeu.
xxxx ... 21 days I go back vn already I wish here really happy and happiness with family, darling.

Gal: Vay thi e va a cung cuoi nha, E k hieu tai sao toi bay gio e van k the nao quen duoc a nua
Like that I and you also smile, I dun understand why till now I still cannot get used to you

naemlo
06-01-2009, 10:43 PM
Urgent urgent, I need assistance in Viet. Help me construct these few sentences.

"I'm going to Saigon on XX/XX (date). You go to the airport and pick me up at XXXXhrs (time). I also book hotel for us, bring your clothing too."

Thanks thanks.

casannova03
07-01-2009, 02:29 PM
Urgent urgent, I need assistance in Viet. Help me construct these few sentences.

"I'm going to Saigon on XX/XX (date). You go to the airport and pick me up at XXXXhrs (time). I also book hotel for us, bring your clothing too."

Thanks thanks.

I try...

Anh XX/XX(date) muon di Saigon. Em xxxx gio(time) lai san bay tim anh. Anh mua ve o khach san cho 2 nguoi roi, em dem quan ao cua em lai luon.

naemlo
07-01-2009, 02:37 PM
I try...

Anh XX/XX(date) muon di Saigon. Em xxxx gio(time) lai san bay tim anh. Anh mua ve o khach san cho 2 nguoi roi, em dem quan ao cua em lai luon.

Thanks thanks. Cam on. :D

casannova03
07-01-2009, 02:42 PM
no problem!! so free to go saigon hor?? hahaha....:D

naemlo
07-01-2009, 04:23 PM
no problem!! so free to go saigon hor?? hahaha....:D

More than a yr no go. No good for me :D

jackbl
07-01-2009, 06:24 PM
Hi bros, i am helping 1 of my fren to ask abt whether u know where to buy vietnamese DVD songs, film, comedies in sgp? if u also have those, are u able to "copy" for me? thanks in advance :D

jackbl
07-01-2009, 06:46 PM
Chinese New Year Greetings:

1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi = Cung chúc tân xuân = Happy New Year

1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

jackbl
07-01-2009, 09:46 PM
Time to earn $$$ before new year

With Tet approaching, people flock to city markets again
=======================================
The gloom of a few weeks ago seems to have lifted in HCM City, with consumer spending increasing sharply ahead of the Lunar New Year (Tet) on January 26.

Most wholesale and retail markets are bustling again, including Tan Binh (Tan Binh District), Binh Tay (District 6), An Dong (District 5), Tan Dinh and Ben Thanh (District 1).

Garments, footwear, cakes, candies, jams, dried foods, and household items are flying off the shelves.

Sales at Binh Tay is up 20-30 percent from December, Huynh Thuc Bao, a manager of the market, said.

Earlier predictions that this Tet season would be slow have flown in the face of the encouraging developments, Bao and managers at some other markets said happily.

The prices of confectionary and jams have risen by VND3,000 – 5,000 per kilogram. Dried melon seeds now cost VND48,000 per kilogram, Indian dates VND20,000, Arab dates VND28,000, tamarind candy VND48,000, chestnut VND175,000, and gingersnap VND27,000 - 34,000.

Because of natural disasters in September and October, the supply of farm produce and fruits for production of jam fell by around 10 percent, some market managers said.

But the output of confectionary and jam is still adequate to meet demand, they said.

jackbl
07-01-2009, 11:35 PM
Ten events of 2008 selected by VietNamNet readers
======================================

VietNamNet Bridge – 2008 witnessed many events and changes. Let’s review the year through the 10 most outstanding events as chosen by VietNamNet readers.


1. Inflation and economic stagnation

Vietnam entered 2008 with confidence and optimism based on 2007’s achievements (highest GDP growth rate in many years, highest FDI attraction, record high export revenue, etc.). The country, therefore, was shocked when inflation hit 25% in mid 2008, affecting all aspects of the economy. A lot of enterprises reported losses, cutting down output, laying off workers, operating perfunctorily, or going bankrupt. People had to tighten their belts. Unemployment became a real threat.



The Party, the state and the government quickly collected suggestions from researchers, prestigious international institutions and brainstormed solutions for the situation.



For the first time in many years, the Party Central Committee held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the economic situation. The Politburo, after that, issued an instruction on solutions to combat inflation, to stabilise macro-economics. The government concretised the instruction with various policies and methods to control the monetary system, to tighten spending, etc. And inflation was curbed.



Nevertheless, when the anti-inflation solutions had just taken effect, the global economic crisis hit Vietnam. The country faced economic stagnation.



The government in November announced a group of five solutions to prevent economic downturn, replacing the eight groups of solutions to curb inflation, and an economic stimulus package worth $6 billion.



Vietnam now has to confront an entirely new circumstance: It needs to curb inflation while preventing economic slowdown, and deal at once with urgent problems and long-term ones.



2. The “Deluge” in Hanoi

Heavy, prolonged rains, know as the “Deluge”, struck Hanoi from early October 31 till November 3, turning the capital city into a river. Water flew into houses, up to over 1m depth in some areas, and stayed there for many days. For the first time, Hanoians went out into the street to catch fish. Flooding killed 18 people, including some pupils. Food became scarce and costly.



Natural calamities are something that man can’t always predict in advance, but the way Hanoi authorities dealt with the flood was problematic.



Political scientists say that a natural disaster is a test of a government, and the Hanoi government was said to have failed this one. The city’s water drainage system was ineffective in the flood. In addition, the forecast ability of hydrometeorological organisations was proven to be very poor.



3. Vedan scandal

The environmental disaster related to Vedan was uncovered, ringing an alarm bell throughout all of society. In 14 years, this factory discharged a huge volume of untreated waste water into the Thi Vai River, averaging 105,600cu.m per month, through a secret sewer network.



Vedan was still uncooperative with competent agencies after the case was exposed. Many local people sued the company for personal damage.



After Vedan, many other cases were brought to light: Miwon discharging waste water into the Red River (Phu Tho), Nha Xa craft village, Saigon-Ha Nam Beer Plant, Dong Viet Hai Co., Ltd, etc. killing the Nhue River, etc.



The violations happened over a very long time and local residents raised their voice many times, but competent bodies didn’t know.



The National Assembly session was burning with discussion of Vedan. Environmental managers admitted that they didn’t pay proper attention to the environment. For the first time, standards on water environment were added to the country’s five-year development plan.



The government began realising the significance of the environment in comparison with economic interests. In August, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung rejected a $5 billion steel project in Van Phong Bay, Khanh Hoa province of South Korea’s Posco group for environmental reasons.



However, many big projects have been and may be approved without environmental reports. Scientists have warned that the bauxite project in the Central Highlands will be an environmental disaster.



4. Launching Vinasat-1 telecom satellite

The first commercial telecom satellite of Vietnam was launched into orbit at 5.17am, April 19, 2008 at the European Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, South America. This event heralded a new age for the telecom and information sector.



Together with more than 200,000 km of optical cable on land and under sea, the modern digital microwave system, VINASAT-1 has contributed to modernising national information facilities, improving the capacity and safety of the information network and accelerating the supply of telecom, IT, Internet and television services for people in remote, mountainous areas and on islands.



5. Vietnam wins AFF Cup for the first time

Millions of Vietnamese people will never forget the moment when striker Cong Vinh headed the ball into the goal of Thailand in the last seconds of the second leg of the final of the ASEAN Cup 2008. The sweet victory came as a dream. For the first time in the 49-year history of the event Vietnam had won the ASEAN football championship.



6. Melamine and aftermath

The melamine scandal spread from China to the whole world, including Vietnam. Many countries had to hunt dairy products sourced from China.



It was rumoured that hundreds of litres of Chinese milk containing melamine had been sold in the market. The melamine ‘storm’ hit Vietnamese people’s lives, particularly families that had babies and dairy companies.



Food hygiene and safety agencies warned consumers to protect themselves in the context that food products were out of control. Through this call, these agencies admitted their helplessness.



7. PCI corruption scandal

The Japanese media in June reported that officials of the Pacific Consultants International (PCI) company confessed that they had bribed a Vietnamese official, Huynh Ngoc Si, Director of the HCM City-based East West Avenue Project Management Unit, to win a consulting contract for this project.



The East-West avenue project began on January 31, 2005 with total investment of VND9,864bil (US$616.5mil), including VND6.394bil ($399.6mil) of official development assistance (ODA) from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).



The avenue will be 22km in length when completed, running from National 1A highway to the Hanoi highway. The project includes the following major sub-works: the 1.49km Thu Thiem tunnel, five overhead bridges, eight regular bridges, five crossroads, seven to 10 pedestrian bridges, one new road of over 5.6km in Thu Thiem, upgrades of three old bridges and other works.



According to Japan, four officials of the PCI declared that from 2002 to 2006, they gave more than $800,000 USD to Huynh Ngoc Si to win the contract.



The Ministry of Public Security set up a special team to investigate this case. Si was dismissed from his posts on November 19. The case went to trial on December 9. Si was banned from leaving Vietnam pending investigation.



Because of this scandal, Japan stated it would suspend its ODA grants for Vietnam.



8. The stock market plummets

Despite the efforts of state agencies, the stock market fell to its lowest level ever. The VN-Index is currently wavering around 300 points, compared to 927.2 points in late 2007. The HASTC-Index has plunged to less than 100 points, compared to 323.55 points in late 2007.



It is forecast that the stock market of Vietnam won’t recover in the coming time because sources of investment capital for this market are limited.



9. Expansion of Hanoi

The National Assembly approved the expansion of Hanoi on May 29. Accordingly, the country’s capital is now four times larger, totalling nearly 3,000sq.km, after it was merged with Ha Tay province, Vinh Phuc province’s Me Linh district and Dong Xuan, Tien Xuan, Yen Binh and Yen Trung communes in Hoa Binh province’s Luong Son district.



10. Former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet passes away

The bad news spread on June 11 about the death of former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, one of the most prominent leaders of the Doi Moi period. Thousands of people gathered on the road from Thong Nhat Palace to the HCM City Cemetery to see the former PM to his last resting place.


VietNamNet

jackbl
08-01-2009, 12:50 AM
Hi,

I need help for translation. I asked a gal which year she is born, she replied "Tuoi Suu".... Anyone knows what that means? Thanks!

jackbl
08-01-2009, 02:37 AM
Can let me know the title of those songs that u sing very well in the pub when u goin with me? I wan to listen to them at home :p

no problem!! so free to go saigon hor?? hahaha....:D

jackbl
08-01-2009, 02:44 AM
Hi,

I need help for translation. My fren sms this to me on the New Year: "sum hop voi gia dinh tran day niem vui"... I only managed to figure out..."unite with family xxx joy". Anyone knows the meaning of "tran day"???

KangTuo
08-01-2009, 09:49 AM
Some time I got too confuse with the language...
Me: Sao e kg an com? (Why you don't eat?)
Gal: E chi muon an cung a thoi
I only want to eat with you only

Eat with you.... isn't it written as: An voi anh/em

With = 'voi' or 'cung'

Me: E lai geylang, e lam o dau? (You come geylang, where you work?)
Gal: E van o 155 van lam o do. Luc nay e k duoc thay a nen e thay buon moi lai kl
I still at 155 still work there. Just now I cant see u so I sad just come ...

k duoc thay a nen e thay buon = I cant see u so I sad
the word 'nên' is use here as 'so', I see a number of sms from my HM girl using 'nên' also... that is why sometime i also use it.

but looking at the vdict,
'nên' = ought to
in this context, the word 'so' should be: v́ thế, v́ vậy, v́ thế cho nên, v́ lẽ đó
example: I was ill and so I could not come (tôi bị ốm v́ vậy tô không đến được)

Gal: Vay thi e va a cung cuoi nha, E k hieu tai sao toi bay gio e van k the nao quen duoc a nua
Like that I and you also smile, I dun understand why till now I still cannot get used to you

k the nao quen duoc a nua = cannot get used to you
my intepretation is:
cannot forget you

quên = forget
quen biết = get to know

sometimes gals sms "quen" without the sign, it is difficult to understand whether they want to know or want to forget someone...

casannova03
08-01-2009, 11:53 AM
Can let me know the title of those songs that u sing very well in the pub when u goin with me? I wan to listen to them at home :p

No la where got very well.....haha ok only la...

anyway i dunno which ones you talking about. but i'll just list those i remembered i sung that day...

1.) Ngo Nhu Giac Mo

2.) Em Se La Nguoi Ra di

3.) Boi Vi Anh Yeu Em (Phan Dinh Tung)

...this one by technofreak that i remembered...

4.) Anh Khong Muon Lam Nguoi Thu Ba

...can try download this song too... not bad..

5.) Anh Khong Muon Lam Kho Em (Lam Chan Khang or Kin)
(Lam Chan Khang's version more nice , my feelings..)


Enjoy!:D:D

jackbl
08-01-2009, 02:40 PM
I am not properly trained on VIET, so i cant explain much to you. I used my experience to translate the sentences...

"With" can be 'voi' and 'cung'....

"nen", i also found from dictionary it is also THEREFORE

if she means cant forget, then she shd use "k the nao quen a duoc".... i dun know why she used "nua"

Sorry, not to say bad about her, I felt sometimes their sentence construction is not as good as what we think they should be.....

Some time I got too confuse with the language...

Honey Boon
08-01-2009, 05:23 PM
This song: Lưới Tình (Minh Tuyết)

nice ..... must listen before go to sleep :D

rjrj
08-01-2009, 05:50 PM
Hi,

I need help for translation. My fren sms this to me on the New Year: "sum hop voi gia dinh tran day niem vui"... I only managed to figure out..."unite with family xxx joy". Anyone knows the meaning of "tran day"???

"tran day" = full

tran day niem vui = full of joy

:)

jackbl
09-01-2009, 12:34 AM
Thanks. Where did u find out the meaning? I look into dictionary but cant find. Can u write the words out in vietnamese for me? :)

"tran day" = full

tran day niem vui = full of joy

:)

casannova03
09-01-2009, 12:45 PM
I am not properly trained on VIET, so i cant explain much to you. I used my experience to translate the sentences...

"With" can be 'voi' and 'cung'....

"nen", i also found from dictionary it is also THEREFORE

if she means cant forget, then she shd use "k the nao quen a duoc".... i dun know why she used "nua"

Sorry, not to say bad about her, I felt sometimes their sentence construction is not as good as what we think they should be.....

Maybe i can try and explain with my thoughts on this issue.......

Actually, from what i heard from my wife, there is a varied way with which to use the language. It really depends on the situation,the person you are speaking to, the topic and the mode of communication. It really depends. The same word can be used as another way of putting across another idea in another situation.

For example, using the language in an sms could be different from verbally speaking to the intended party. There is an element of "casual-ness" in an sms which you dun really use when speaking verbally.

Also, it doesn't help that in Vietnamese, the same meaning can be brought across by using a myriad of sentence construction.

So i think it does not have anything to do with language proficiency but rather the different exposure to the usage of the language:D

In addition, one word in english can be translated in a few ways in vietnamese. This adds to the difficulty of using the language. For example the word "because" can be translated to "boi vi" or simply "vi" depending on the usage. We will tend to use just "vi" in informal settings like in an sms or in a conversation but in written form, we will tend to use "boi vi" so that its more appropriate.

Another example is the word "why". It can be translated as "tai sao", "vi sao" or simply "sao". It depends on how and where you used it in a sentence. I'll just cut and copy from Vdict for the example of different usage below......

Translation: tại sao, v́ sao

1.)why was he late?
sao anh ấy đến muộn?

2.)why not?
tại sao không?

3.)that's the reason why
đó là lư do v́ sao

4.)not to know why
không biết tại sao



Lastly, i believe that understanding the "vowels indicator" - the little indicators on top or below of the vowels - is very important. For it really tells you the meaning of the intended word in a sentence. (and we dun have them in a SMS so it makes our translation a bit harder:()

Sad to say i haven master it! hahaha
So normally i will make translation based on the previous msg sent, the anticipated response and the probable replies....:D (I think this method quite effective!)

Hope my thoughts helps!!!;)

Reaper
09-01-2009, 01:30 PM
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/_Reaper69_/Vietnam/55d29053.jpg

Lets see if this works.

The above link is to a diagram I just created that shows the "pitch" and "pronounciation" of the 6 tones used in Vietnam

jackbl
09-01-2009, 01:45 PM
Good news to bro who wan to matchmake vn gal!!!

越南将设立国际婚介所
====================
(河内法新电)越南副总理范家谦下令当局制订越南第一家国际婚姻介绍所的计划,计划书最迟在6月以前提呈总 理阮晋勇。
  范家谦也下令越南驻外大使馆采取措施,“保护越南公民在婚姻的合法权益。”

  越南政府网站昨天在报道这则新闻时说,这个计划将立法管制婚姻介绍业务,有助于保护越南妇女免受羞辱和 家庭暴力的伤害。

  非法媒人近年大増,从南部湄公河三角洲诱骗贫困农家的年轻女子参加“相亲”集会,甚至安排上百名越南女 郎让有意娶妻人士挑选,而这些人大多数是到越南进行短期“结婚假期”的韩国和台湾男子。

  越南警方曾多次突击这类集会。去年11月,警方突击胡志明市一栋出租屋子,逮捕七名韩国男子、两名越南 媒人和161名越南妇女。

  传媒也曾报道韩国和台湾发生越南妇女被新婚丈夫虐待的事件。

  韩国和台湾两地的文化传统,都重男轻女,强调嫡子传宗接代。

  韩国在去年6月取缔利用种族老套或歪曲资料的婚姻介绍所,以纠正虐待外国妻子、离婚和某些自杀案的趋势 。

韩国也展开协助外籍新娘适应韩国生活的计划。

  韩国当局表示,去年结婚的新人,有11%是异族通婚,而农夫和渔民的新郎占了异族通婚的4 0%。

jackbl
09-01-2009, 01:59 PM
Viva old Saigon
============

Viva Saigon Food Market serves popular dishes from the three regions - north, central, and south Vietnam - including Hue beef noodles, Vietnamese salads, snails with diced pork and ba ba sweet dessert.


The food market is uniquely designed with alleyways, sign-posted from one to eight, reminiscent of village markets or old Saigon. The food stalls even have antique windows, staircases, old long play records and Pham Duy’s song books, which are hard to find in modern HCMC to help create the old-world feel.

Located in the largest shopping complex in Vietnam, Lotte Mart, District 7, Viva Saigon Food Market is the place to eat and meet on busy shopping days.

Reported by Vinh Bao

jackbl
09-01-2009, 04:57 PM
For those in hcmc, its another PARTY you can go on 11th Jan.

Teen party to be held
================

The company specializing in activities for teenagers, Yeah1, is to celebrate its 2nd anniversary at HCMC Youth Culture House in district 1 at 6pm January 11. The birthday party ‘Fruit Tea Gala Night’ will gather various local singers, dancers and teen models.


For those who addicted to Vietnamese Teen Pop music, tickets are a must as confirmed teen pop singers and performers include Quang Vinh, Bao Thy, Khong Tu Quynh, Tony, Luong Bang Quang, Wanbi Tuan Anh, Sy Luan, Jenny, Song Yen, Dong Nhi, Toc Tien and La Thang.

Teenagers can express their emotions and show off their dance moves in the Free Battle Event, where everyone can do free break-dance. They can imitate celebrities in ‘30s being celebrity’. They will also have a chance to meet and have photographs with about 110 teen models.

The competition events, which have been set up on the Yeah1 forum, can register to compete for the top prize of VND3 million ($175).




The highlight of the party is the contest, ‘Prince and Princess of the Streets’. Opened to all members of the Yeah1 Forum, girls and boys can enter or vote in the competition for best looking.

The party will be spiced up with the break-dance performance by the HCM City’s leading dance group’ Big South’.

Tickets are free. Conditions to receive tickets are posted on the Yeah1 forum: http://photo.yeah1.com/showthread.php?t=75008.

The birthday party will be broadcast live on the Yeah1 TV Show on STCV4. The main sponsor is Tan Hiep Phat Co.Ltd. with its new brand Fruit Tea

By Truong Son

jackbl
09-01-2009, 06:09 PM
AFF Cup winners walk away with big bonuses
===================================

Members of Vietnam’s national football team will receive a total bonus of VND9.3 billion (US$530,670) for winning last year’s AFF Suzuki Cup, football administration announced Wednesday.


The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) said VND7.6 billion ($434,000) of the total cash would be divided between the team members according to a ranking system.

There are also gifts worth VND370 million which include a car from Suzuki and an LCD television.

VFF said everyone on the team, including players, the Portuguese coach Henrique Calisto, officials and doctors, would be paid according to their contribution and could expect sums of VND300 million, VND200 million, VND150 million or VND100 million.

The remaining VND2.6 billion in cash would be for personal bonuses - VND430 million for Calisto and VND230 million each for players Duong Hong Son, Le Cong Vinh and Nguyen Vu Phong.

Son will walk away with a tidy sum having also won the cup’s Most Valuable Player award of $5,000.

Vietnam won the AFF Suzuki Cup last December after defeating arch-foe Thailand 3-2 on aggregate. VFF and sponsors are providing the bonuses, VFF said.

Reported by Lan Phuong - Quang Tuyen

jackbl
10-01-2009, 12:40 AM
Students’ laptops a curse in disguise?
=================================

Many university students convince their parents to buy them expensive laptops for school only to neglect their studies for pornography, online games and chat rooms.


A third-year business student at Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Economics, Le Duy T., convinced his mother to buy him a laptop by saying that he needed it for research.

“Without a laptop, I can’t study!” he told her.

But ever since his mother bought him the computer, T. has spent less time studying and more time chatting, listening to music and downloading and watching films. He stays up most nights until 3 or 4 a.m., glued to the screen without spending a minute on his school assignments.

Huynh Van Ph., a student at the Ho Chi Minh City Information Technology College told his parents he needed a computer for studying as well. “It’s useful to have a laptop,” he says.

“We can access sex websites for free anywhere there’s Wi-Fi,” he says without a hint of irony.

A student at HCMC’s Vocational College No.8, says he saves more than VND500,000 (US$29.58) per month playing games on his computer rather than paying heftier fees at Internet shops like he used to.

Another student at the college, Tuan A., says he plays games all day everyday.

Classmate Thanh T. says “We mainly use computers to play games,” adding that users often find Wi-Fi hotspots so they don’t have to worry about slow connections at Internet cafes.

Truong The S. from the University of Economics says he uses his laptop to “save” him when he runs out of money or loses a football bet.

“I’ve had the laptop for five months, but I’ve only used it a couple of times because it’s usually at the pawnshop,” he says.

Reported by Nguyen Thanh Nam

jackbl
10-01-2009, 02:25 AM
HCMC announces five days off for Tet
==================================

The HCM City People’s Committee has announced a five-day holiday for Tet later this month.

All city agencies will be closed from January 25 to 28 but since January 25 falls on a Sunday, the 29th will be a holiday too.

The People's Committee has asked all organizations, households, and others to fly the national flag during Tet.

Tet, the lunar New Year festival, is the most important Vietnamese holiday. It marks the time for family reunions, exchanging gifts and best wishes, and generally welcome a new year with gaiety.
Source: Tuoi Tre – Translated by H.Mien

KangTuo
10-01-2009, 10:02 AM
my sms to the gal:

moi ngay a o geylang uong ca phe, a thay ban e lai ngoi choi voi ban a. Nhung e chi o 51 lam va uong bia voi nguoi khach, kg biet di ngoai gap a. A buon wa.


long sms from the gal:

E tu ngay qua day den gio chi biet tien tien a la nguoi dau tien e nghi den o sin nay. Nhung a da lam mat di cam nhan cua e a biet kg? A thay ban a va ban e cung thay vay a gion e kg? E thay ban a nt dien thoai ban a dua ban e di lam di bien con a thi sao. Hom do e kg di lam doi a ca ngay a dua e ra bien dua ngoi a lai doi ve. A co nghi den cam nhan e kg?

Care to interprete?


My reply to her:

A co nghi den cam nhan e. E co biet a tim e 1tuan roi kg? A nt e nhieu nhung e kg tra loi. Hom no a biet e doi a dua e di bien, a cho e doi lau. Hom no di bien a buon vi a lam viec kg dc nen chi di 1ti, a lai e ve nha.

jackbl
10-01-2009, 11:44 AM
Enjoy your trip to vn and hope to see u back soon and many sms fr your NEW galsssssssssss..... :D
my sms to the gal:

KangTuo
10-01-2009, 11:54 AM
Enjoy your trip to vn and hope to see u back soon and many sms fr your NEW galsssssssssss..... :D

Thanks. This will be a short and busy trip... anyway everytime i go vn i only enjoy having my girlfriend by my side.

Waiting for you to intro gals to me before i can post many sms here. :p

jackbl
10-01-2009, 05:28 PM
Floral street welcomes spring to HCM City
============================

The Nguyen Hue avenue of Ho Chi Minh City is undergoing a major transformation to become a floral street to welcome the nation’s biggest festival – Tet (Lunar New Year), which will fall in late January this year.


One of five huge counterfeit watermelon fruit for the festival (Photo: TTO)
This year’s floral festival, lasting from 19h, Jan. 23 (the 28th day of the last month of the Rat Year) to 22h Jan. 28 (the third day of the new year), is the sixth ever so far hosted by the HCM City People’s Committee and financed by the city’s businesses. It has become the city’s most awaited festival every spring.

About 100,000 pots of flowers and bonsai will be brought in from different regions nationwide, not including fresh flowers supplied by flower growing centres in Da Lat central highlands city and the southwestern region, to decorate the 800m long road.

The one-way floral road will begin with a garden of 100 ancient trees of mai - apricot trees with yellow flowers, the traditional Tet flower in the southern region.

The road then will be divided into seven sections with different themes depicting Vietnam ’s countryside with stacks of yellow straw, green bamboo trees, rice fields, make-shift bridges crossing small canals.

The road will ends at the Bach Dang port with a field of green watermelon plants and a 5-m high artificial watermelon fruit.

In addition to various arts and music performances along the floral road, the festival also includes a 15-minute firework in the New Year’s eve.

Source: VNA

jackbl
10-01-2009, 09:56 PM
My humble try:
From the day i come over to now, I just know about money money. You are the first person I think of in sgp, but you make my feeling lose, you know? You see your fren and my fren see each other, u angry me? I see your fren sms your fren bring my fren go beach, and u? That day I no go work wait for u whole day bring me go beach XXXX ..... U hv think of my feeling or not??

XXX is those that i dun understand.

long sms from the gal:

E tu ngay qua day den gio chi biet tien tien a la nguoi dau tien e nghi den o sin nay. Nhung a da lam mat di cam nhan cua e a biet kg? A thay ban a va ban e cung thay vay a gion e kg? E thay ban a nt dien thoai ban a dua ban e di lam di bien con a thi sao. Hom do e kg di lam doi a ca ngay a dua e ra bien dua ngoi a lai doi ve. A co nghi den cam nhan e kg?

Care to interprete?

Hurricane88
11-01-2009, 10:57 AM
Students’ laptops a curse in disguise?

Students play online games with their laptops at a Ho Chi Minh City dormitory. Many students say they don’t use the devices for studying.
Many university students convince their parents to buy them expensive laptops for school only to neglect their studies for pornography, online games and chat rooms.


A third-year business student at Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Economics, Le Duy T., convinced his mother to buy him a laptop by saying that he needed it for research.

“Without a laptop, I can’t study!” he told her.

But ever since his mother bought him the computer, T. has spent less time studying and more time chatting, listening to music and downloading and watching films. He stays up most nights until 3 or 4 a.m., glued to the screen without spending a minute on his school assignments.

Huynh Van Ph., a student at the Ho Chi Minh City Information Technology College told his parents he needed a computer for studying as well. “It’s useful to have a laptop,” he says.

“We can access sex websites for free anywhere there’s Wi-Fi,” he says without a hint of irony.

A student at HCMC’s Vocational College No.8, says he saves more than VND500,000 (US$29.58) per month playing games on his computer rather than paying heftier fees at Internet shops like he used to.

Another student at the college, Tuan A., says he plays games all day everyday.

Classmate Thanh T. says “We mainly use computers to play games,” adding that users often find Wi-Fi hotspots so they don’t have to worry about slow connections at Internet cafes.

Truong The S. from the University of Economics says he uses his laptop to “save” him when he runs out of money or loses a football bet.

“I’ve had the laptop for five months, but I’ve only used it a couple of times because it’s usually at the pawnshop,” he says.

Reported by Nguyen Thanh Nam

jackbl
11-01-2009, 11:25 AM
I posted this news yesterd liao... u never read my previous postings hor .... :(
Students’ laptops a curse in disguise?

jackbl
11-01-2009, 12:15 PM
Now then i know that their year end bonus is issued before NEW YEAR...

City firms to pay workers Tet bonus despite hardship
=====================================

Though many Ho Chi Minh City companies have suspended or cut back on production due to the economic downturn, they still plan to pay their workers Tet bonuses.


Apparel and footwear companies plan to pay a bonus of VND900,000 on average.

Phong Phu Textile Corporation has promised each worker VND6 million, with Nguyen Thi Lien, chairwoman of its labor union, saying: “The company gave each employee VND7 million in 2008. Though business has been very bad, it is still trying to pay the same amount.”

On average, State-owned companies plan to pay VND3-5 million, foreign firms will pay VND2.5-3 million, and domestic private firms, VND1.2-3 million.

Again, there are exceptions -- like Thep Viet Company which plans to pay VND8-25 million and Duc Phat Bakery Company which is considering an amount of VND15 million.

The Tan Binh District Labor Union said all enterprises in the district have vowed to pay 50-80 percent of workers’ January salary in advance.

All 156 firms in District 1, 57 of 67 firms in Cu Chi District, 151 of 273 firms in District 12, and 136 of 179 units in District 2 are set to pay Tet bonuses.

Many gave their workers leave of absence right from December for Tet due to a shortage of orders. Tet is on January 26 this year. But they still paid full salaries plus VND300,000 for transport.

Natural Choice Company, a pottery and porcelain producer in Cu Chi District, has not received any orders and so plans to relieve workers on January 17 after paying them December and January salaries plus a month’s bonus.

Though Tan Binh Company suffered losses, closing one factory and laying off 636 workers last year, it has promised to pay a month’s basic salary as a year-end bonus.

Some companies in Tan Binh District said they would subsidize half or the entire transport costs of their staff. Some have also promised gifts in addition to a Tet bonus.

Nguyen Van Xem, deputy chairman of the District 12 Labor Union, said the union would help 500 workers who cannot return home celebrate Lunar New Year in the city.

By Mai Huong – Translated by Hoang Yen

jackbl
11-01-2009, 04:18 PM
Be careful of your belongings when u are walking on the streets!!!

Camera snatchers steal Kodak moments
============================

Photographer H.T. employs three security guards every time he takes a picture.


He began using them after his US$5,000 camera and 200 gigabyte memory card were stolen from around his neck on the street in front of the city’s Central Post last November.

A series of expensive camera robberies in Ho Chi Minh City have caused much anxiety for the area’s amateur and professional photographers.

Another photographer, who wished to be known only as H.V., told Thanh Nien two men on a motorbike snatched his camera along with his tripod last month when he was taking advertising pictures for a karaoke shop at the corner of Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street and Cach Mang Thang Tam Street in District 3.

On of the robbers even turned around and gave him a big smile, he said.

H.V. said the camera was worth thousands of dollars but the pictures saved on the memory card were irreplaceable.

He said he had seen more than 30 camera robberies near his shop on District 1’s Nguyen Hue Street last year.

A foreign tourist had his Nikon camera snatched there recently and had to be hospitalized after being pushed to the ground by the robbers, H.V. said, adding that “robberies happen almost every week here.”

Photojournalist T.L. said thieves grabbed his VND62 million ($3,400) camera from out of his hands on Dong Khoi Street.

Many photographers have begun using stronger camera straps or chaining their equipment to their bodies to prevent robberies.

A strong strap wrapped around his hand helped T.H. keep his VND100 million “treasure” on New Year’s Day when two thieves tried to grab it.

But not before they dragged him on the ground, T.H. said.

Reported by Le Anh Du

jackbl
11-01-2009, 08:29 PM
U may take the opp to buy cheaper goods....

Busy times during pre-Tet rush
===================================

VietNamNet Bridge - With just over two weeks before Tet, home services and beauty salons and others have been bustling with shoppers eager to snap up promotions.

Gift and cake orders

Dong A (East Asia) Bank has tested a program for customers to send and receive remittances and gifts. The Bank will provide the service for free.

The Bank has also coordinated with Coop Mart, Sai Gon Supermarket and Nguyen Kim Electronic Appliance Center to help customers send gifts for their relatives, most are electrical appliances.

The ‘Big C’ system has established two warehouses in the southern and the northern regions to pack and transfer Tet gifts in order to prevent late deliveries and goods shortages during the Tet.

The system also gives customers more choice by preparing small gift baskets, fromVND49,000 -VND1 million ($2.75 - $56).

The number of customers ordering gifts has increased 10 percent from last year.

Food producers have been busy making regional specialties such as Tet cake, Soc Trang red rice, sausages, clam worm sauce and Buon Ma Thuot coffee amongst others.

Muoi Xiem Rice Pancake and Tu My restaurant has begun ordering services for Tét cake at VND32,000 - VND37,000 and glutinous rice cake at VND12,000.

Cakes can be ordered by phone and delivered to your house.

Decorating homes at knock-down prices

Most businesses specializing in maintaining, repairing, decorating or tidying houses have also been sending out marketing staff to entice customers with promotional deals. For example, customers can pay just VND40,000 per hour for air-conditioners to be cleaned or VND20,000 for their homes to be tidied.

Beauty salons have also been doing great business in hair extensions, hair dying, eyelashes, manicures and other such services at 10 - 20 percent discounts.

(Source: SGGP)

jackbl
11-01-2009, 08:37 PM
Its afterall not cheap to buy medicine in vn nowsaday

Drug prices to rise in 2009
================================

VietNamNet Bridge - Drug Administration of Viet Nam director Truong Quoc Cuong warns that pharmaceutical products – especially domestic medicines made from imported materials – are likely to cost more this year.

And the Viet Nam Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing and Trading Association estimates that the rise could be between 4 and 10 per cent.

"The inflation and high Consumer Price Index of last year will limit pharmaceutical investment in 2009," the director said.

Higher costs for electricity and wages would add to the pressure to raise prices.

The drug administration director said that the prices of many drugs had already risen 5 to 10 per cent since November in Ha Noi’s pharmaceutical centres such as Ngoc Khanh, Lang Ha, Van Mieu, and Hai Ba Trung.

Tenders for the supply of medicines to hospitals and public health institutions would be made transparent and carefully monitored to mitigate the rises.

A national tender system would be piloted for commonly used medicines and changes to the drug reserve fund recommended to the Government, he said.

Authorised agencies would monitor drug prices and severely punish violations.

Expensive

Ha Noi pharmacy owner Nguyen Ngoc Trung said some imported medicines, including antibiotics and speciality drugs, had become more expensive.

The wholesale price of Zinnat 500mg has increased from VND207,000 to VND226,000 a box; Efferalgan from VND33,000 to VND37,500, and insulin from VND72,000 to VND88,000.

Several drug importers and distributors have put pharmacies and hospitals on notice that drug prices are set to rise.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, of Ha Noi, is among the many to have been affected by the higher prices.

"I bought the US-made digestive drug Lactylase for VND60,000, about US$4, in early 2007," she said.

"Now it costs VND78,000 – an increase of almost 30 per cent in 18 months.

"Sometimes when the world price of crude oil falls, you see lower prices for petrol and transport.

"But I’ve never heard of anything but higher prices for drugs, again and again," she said.

Health Ministry data shows a monopoly over the import and distribution of pharmaceutical drugs does not exist in Viet Nam.

Instead, there is fierce competition between 425 foreign-owned pharmaceutical distributors and 90 direct importers.

But Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint-stock Company general director Pham Thi Viet Nga said the continuing financial crisis would heavily impact the market.

The depreciation of the dong against the US dollar would affect Viet Nam’s makers of medicinal medicines already very reliant on imported pharmaceutical materials, she said.

"Obviously, there is pressure from the competition between drug companies in Viet Nam and prices might have to be adjusted," she added.

But any adjustments should be carefully considered so as to benefit both the companies and society."

Hau Giang is among Viet Nam’s major drug companies.

The company plans to maintain its revenue and start construction of a $8.5 million-factory that meets the WHO-GMP standard this year.

"We have an advantage in our nation-wide distribution and sales system," the general director said.

(Source: VNS)

jackbl
12-01-2009, 01:06 AM
Phu Quoc still paradise
=================

VietNamNet Bridge - Previously Phu Quoc had been a secret. Anyone who visited at the turn of the century will recall a sleepy island with few tourist services and not much by the way of infrastructure.

And despite the talk of a construction boom, for many years nothing much changed. But there are now signs of a more mass-tourist friendly Phu Quoc emerging. The on-going construction of two main, long roads from Duong Dong town to Cua Can commune in the north and to An Thoi town in the south will make remote parts of the island more accessible than ever before. Construction on the new international airport broke ground recently, boosting the government’s dream to turn Phu Quoc into an international beach destination.

What is good news for the State’s coffers and investors might be bad news for those who came to Phu Quoc, because of the fact it was off the tourist map and free from tacky resorts. While infrastructure was limited, you could still jump on a motorbike and drive around the island; there’s nothing like turning down some random bumpy road only to discover a white sandy beach with turquoise waters at the end. You could sit back in a hammock, order fried squid from a local family and sip on a cool beer and smugly grin as though you had discovered a lost paradise.

It’s not like Phu Quoc has suddenly turned into Ko Samui, mind you. For the time being many of the beaches on the island remain untouched. Away from Duong Dong town at the end of the under-construction roads there’s still plenty of untouched paradise for those who need to get away from it all.
Flopping around on these beaches, you’ll find it hard to disagree with the travel website that recently voted Phu Quoc as one of top five hidden beaches in the world; although there is a certain irony to promoting a destination’s hidden quality

The island is also ideal for snorkelling and scuba diving. In the middle of the island you will find tropical forests on a low mountain range which makes for good trekking. The forest’s diversified fauna and flora makes it a conservationist’s dream. One of two famous springs on the island is Da Ban, just outside of Duong Dong by a large lake, which supplies fresh water for the islanders. The only way to reach the spring is to take a 10-minute trip on a sampan – it is $10 for a return trip. Large rocks form small ponds around the spring, which make for ideal baths.

Tourists sit in the sun, reading novels, munching on grilled shrimp. The only dilemma is whether to order a fruit juice or a cold beer. You can easily find a secluded spot should you wish to bathe au naturel. The setting is postcard perfect with majestic rock formations and pristine forests all around.

Later on in the evening, you may spot a few signs of what might be to come if tourism continues to grow on Phu Quoc. On the beach a number of new bars have opened catering for the young, sunburned and thirsty travellers. Among them, Ahoy is said to be the biggest. It features an underground bar. On one particular visit business is slow.

In fact, there are only three customers. Undeterred by the measly crowd a resident Filipino band plays a rousing set. But Phu Quoc is not for bars or late nights. The three customers all head off for an early night. Tomorrow morning paradise island awaits.

(Source: Timeout)

jackbl
12-01-2009, 02:34 PM
Ha Long tourism in 2008
===================

Over 2.65 million visitors came to Ha Long Bay in 2008, an increase of 48.8 percent over 2007. Of those 1.71 million were foreign visitors, a 67.6 percent increase, the Bay’s management board has said.

The management board organized a vote to nominate Ha Long as of one the seven natural wonders of the world. The voting took place at Hoang Gia (royal) International Park and Bai Chay Tourist Wharf attracting over 18,000 votes.

The reduction of littering, throwing mud into the sea, begging, and using dynamite to catch fish have been a priority for local authorities.

Houseboats and ships operating on the sea were managed well to ensure security for tourists, the board said.

At present, there are 595 houseboats with 2,168 people on the bay, 90 percent of people have signed a pledge to protect Ha Long.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has officially announced the first ‘99 tours’ with 50 percent discounts for package tours on the morning of January 4.

These 99 tours focus on potential tourism markets such as China, France, western countries and Russia.

The promotional tours on the program to attract international tourists and stimulate domestic tourism in 2009 has brought the participation of 37 international travel companies, 61 hotels, many restaurants and transport firms.

Promotional tours for domestic tourists will be announced next week.

The same morning, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism also made the promotional website Impressive Vietnam! (http://www.promotours.gov.vn) public.

By staff writers – Translated by H.Mien

jackbl
12-01-2009, 09:46 PM
Students' money also wanted to bluff ... :mad:

Thousands of students swindled
=======================

VietNamNet Bridge – More than 1,000 students in HCM City paid nearly VND500 million ($29,400) to buy train tickets to return home this lunar New Year, but their money has “run away”.

Several months ago, a private company, Anh Tuan Trade – Service – Transport Co., Ltd. sent staff to universities and colleges in HCM City to market a super-cheap transport service for this Tet. It told students they could save up to 30%.

As the service was attractive, many universities helped their students to buy more than 1,000 tickets, valued at nearly VND500 million ($29,400).

On January 8, the company’s director Chau Gia Nguyen announced that his cashier had stolen the money and ran away so his company couldn’t hire coaches to serve students anymore.

Under pressure from schools, Nguyen said he would return money to students on January 10. It is suspected that this firm tried to break the contracts with students to avoid losses. However, as Tet is approaching, students say they can’t buy tickets to return home.

Hong Bang University invited a lawyer to look into the case and the Anh Tuan Company has agreed to provide services for this university’s students at a contracted price.

The Chairman of the HCM City Students’ Association, Le Quoc Phong, affirmed that the association will not let any student involved in this case have to stay in HCM City this Tet. The association is seeking alternative services for these students.

At the same time, the Saigon Railways Station said it will provide tickets at a half of normal fares for students.

PV

jackbl
13-01-2009, 08:26 AM
Thieves move into higher leagues, residents urged greater caution
==============================================
High walls, barbed wire, bigger locks, and even the presence of guards are not deterring thieves in Ho Chi Minh City, who have become more sophisticated in planning and executing their operations, police say.


They are urging residents to be on the alert for more skillful thieves and take extra precautions.

The number of robberies in 2008 increased three percent year on year to 2,000, only 700 of which were busted and 866 people penalized, city police figures reveal.

More than VND10 billion (US$573,900) was lost to motorbike robberies as the police could only manage to retrieve 820 out of 2,229 motorbikes reported stolen. Motorbikes topped the list of stolen items.

For the past several months, thieves have succeeded in stealing dozens of motorbikes from outside offices, stores, hotels and restaurants by making a commotion nearby to distract security guards.

City police official Trinh Kim Son said that at least one guard must be assigned to stay and keep an eye on the vehicles, no matter what happens.

Housebreaking has also turned more professional, police said, noting that burglars are spending several million dong on tools like strings, ladders and pincers of all types.

In the middle of last year, a motorbike and other valuables were robbed from a four-storey house on District 1’s Tran Dinh Xu Street despite the house’s high, barbed wired wall.

The robbers had climbed to a terrace nearby and moved to the house’s roof, police found out later.

They removed the ceiling ventilating fan to enter the house, got the keys to unlock the four gates on the ground floor and left with their loot.

In November, a resident in Phu Nhuan District’s Ward 7 lost three motorbikes. She locked the door from the inside but the housebreakers used pincers to prise it open. They were aided by the fact that the door had an opening that gave the pincers a grip.

The same trick was used last Wednesday in a house in Go Vap District to steal VND500 million($28,700) worth of cash and jewelry.

Son said some residents were wrongly focusing on using bigger locks. He said they should take other precautions as well, including ensuring that there were no slits or holes in doors that the thieves could use.

Reported by Dam Huy

jackbl
13-01-2009, 08:31 AM
BTW playing fireworks and crackers in vn is illegal hor ;)


Tet fireworks to be set off in 58 localities
==============================

Fifty eight cities and provinces will set off fireworks on the eve to welcome the lunar New Year, which falls this year on January 26.


In Hanoi, a 15-minute display will take place at 16 spots in the inner city and suburbs, including Hoan Kiem, West lakes and the My Dinh Stadium.

In Ho Chi Minh City, artistic displays are scheduled at 12 sites as part of the city’s program to usher in Tet.

Localities around the country will also organize numerous cultural and arts events to mark the arrival of the New Year.

Source: VNA

jackbl
13-01-2009, 08:47 AM
Bro KT, now i can understand what the wordings in RED means, i will try to give it a shot at it:
"If I ever smile again, that is only for consoling myself, still will be sad"

Gal: Cho du e co cuoi di nua. Thi do chi de tu an ui minh chu dau co het buon dau. 21 nay e ve en roi e chuc a o day that vui va hanh phuc ben gia dinh nha a yeu.

jackbl
13-01-2009, 09:25 AM
1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi = Cung chúc tân xuân = Happy New Year

2) Cung hỉ phát tài = "Congratulations and be Prosperous"


Chinese New Year Greetings:

1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi = Cung chúc tân xuân = Happy New Year

jackbl
13-01-2009, 10:13 AM
Good morning guys, sorry to trouble u guys to help me to translate this sentence. It is a greeting sentence, but without the sign I cant interpret it fully..... "Chuc anh mot ngay moi bat dau moi su tot dep va that vui"

Hurricane88
13-01-2009, 10:32 AM
Good morning guys, sorry to trouble u guys to help me to translate this sentence. It is a greeting sentence, but without the sign I cant interpret it fully..... "Chuc anh mot ngay moi bat dau moi su tot dep va that vui"

My dict told me like this:

Wish you a new day everythings will be good and fun

Carrot007
13-01-2009, 12:57 PM
Good morning guys, sorry to trouble u guys to help me to translate this sentence. It is a greeting sentence, but without the sign I cant interpret it fully..... "Chuc anh mot ngay moi bat dau moi su tot dep va that vui"

For your tieng viet standard, it will be an insult if I translate the entire sentence for you, right... hahaha !

So here are some translations which you may find useful...

mới = new
bắt đằu = begin
mọi = every
sự thật = truth, real
tốt đẹp = fine, good
vui = happy

jackbl
13-01-2009, 02:52 PM
No la... its ok. I got a fren, most ppl think he cant/dun know vietnamese well, but his level of vulgar vietnamese language is WAY above me... Words like CCB, LJ, KNN, etc.... :D

Thanks for lending a hand. Have u started to learn any viet song? Will bring u to sing after u learned 1 song :D:p

For your tieng viet standard, it will be an insult if I translate the entire sentence for you, right... hahaha !

jackbl
13-01-2009, 03:48 PM
Need your help again.... and other bros too...

"Em co mot mat cam em ko the noi ra duoc". Anyone knows what is the meaning of the words "mat cam"?

So here are some translations which you may find useful...

Carrot007
13-01-2009, 04:03 PM
No la... its ok. I got a fren, most ppl think he cant/dun know vietnamese well, but his level of vulgar vietnamese language is WAY above me... Words like CCB, LJ, KNN, etc.... :D

Thanks for lending a hand. Have u started to learn any viet song? Will bring u to sing after u learned 1 song :D:p

You have to teach me how to sing what... in return, I can also teach you some viet vulgarities if you like... hahaha ! In fact, there's a book which has all those words inside... it is called "Making out in Vietnamese", avaliable in all Times bookshop :)

Carrot007
13-01-2009, 04:21 PM
Need your help again.... and other bros too...

"Em co mot mat cam em ko the noi ra duoc". Anyone knows what is the meaning of the words "mat cam"?

I search all my dictionary and can't find mat cam, so I guess it could be a spelling mistake. Maybe it should be: mặc cảm = complex.

She has a complex problem which she can't say it out.

Just my guess.... may not be correct.

jackbl
13-01-2009, 04:51 PM
Thanks again for your help. I think she doesnt mean MAC CAM, because there is another sentence also have the words ... "Bay nhieu cung du de em mat cam voi anh roi"... anyone know the meaning of this sentence too??? :confused:

I search all my dictionary and can't find mat cam, so I guess it could be a spelling mistake. Maybe it should be: mặc cảm = complex.

She has a complex problem which she can't say it out.

Just my guess.... may not be correct.

rjrj
14-01-2009, 01:21 AM
Thanks again for your help. I think she doesnt mean MAC CAM, because there is another sentence also have the words ... "Bay nhieu cung du de em mat cam voi anh roi"... anyone know the meaning of this sentence too??? :confused:

i think bro carrot007 is right

to be honest i kinda like a viet WL now. Been seeing her for almost 2 weeks. I dont know if it's just me, but for some reason, the more i read back the sms posted, the less i trust her coz her msgs sound very similar to those over here, like the way she felt about her work, the way she expressed her feelings abt me, etc.

jackbl
14-01-2009, 01:25 AM
The employment rate for VN is still very bad..... working at restaurant is only paid US$57

Human traffic flows in Ha Tinh
==========================

Lured to a brothel in the north-central province of Ha Tinh by a man who promised her VND1 million (US$57) a month for a job at a nice restaurant, Tai’s story is all too common in the region.

The 23-year-old woman was seeking work in the southern provinces, the dream of many impoverished women in the central region, when she was approached by the man, who posed as an everyday xe om (motorbike taxi) driver, in May.

She was lucky enough to escape three days later when her captors allowed her an unmonitored bathroom break.

Tai said she had gotten them to ease their control by feigning insanity with incessant laughing and eating.

But for most women who end up shackled by the yoke of human trafficking, the stories don’t end as luckily as Tai’s. Many women and girls, including very young children, have been lured into indefinite slavery at Ha Tinh’s Ky Anh District brothels.

Often kidnapped, many of the sex workers are paid next to nothing, or even nothing.

Police say that traffickers almost always promise good salaries for good jobs working at restaurants or as housemaids before forcing the women into prostitution which is illegal in Vietnam.

Ky Anh District police said that those fortunate enough to escape often do so by somehow contacting their family members, who then contact police to extract their nieces, daughters and sisters from the brothels.

But the district’s brothels themselves, the most notorious in the region, continue operating.

Rescue efforts

Ha Tinh Province police made their biggest arrest in recent months early last December when they apprehended Vo Quoc Nguyen and Nguyen Thi Sau for human trafficking and sexual exploitation after one of their victims, Vi Thi Huyen, escaped and informed police.

Police said Nguyen had lured three girls aged 13- 14 to work as prostitutes since last September.

He had told them they would work as housemaids, according to police reports.

Investigators said that Nguyen had sold Huyen and Vi Thi Huong from Nghe An Province to Sau for a total of VND2 million (US$114).

After forcing them to work as prostitutes, Sau then sold Huyen to her neighbor Tran Thi Thuy for VND1 million and the girl continued to be forced to work as a prostitute.

On October 7, Huyen managed to escape from Thuy and found her way to Ky Anh District police.

Last June, police rescued fifteenyear-old Dinh Thi Thuy of Quang Binh Province from a Ky Anh brothel that operates openly as the “Thanh Hoa Restaurant.”

Thuy’s father, Dinh Minh Tho, had informed police that he had found Thuy working there three weeks after she went missing. The girl said she had been forced into prostitution by the restaurant’s owner, Nguyen Thi Oanh.

Nguyen Thi Toan from Ky Anh District had been looking for her fourteen-year-old daughter Nguyen Thi Men since she went missing March 16 last year.

A week after the disappearance, she found the girl at Nam Hai Restaurant, rumored to be a brothel, in the district’s Ky Tien Commune. However, people at the restaurant prevented Toan from meeting her daughter.

Toan told the police she had seen her daughter at the establishment but investigators reported that they could not find Men when they returned to the restaurant.

A tip off that the girl was living with her friend in Quang Binh Province’s Tuyen Hoa District proved fruitless as police said they had failed to find the girl when they visited the locality.

Women and children fall into oblivion as brothel district swallows lives

Reported by Truong Quang Nam

jackbl
14-01-2009, 01:51 AM
I have just asked a gal abt this sentence, when i wrote "...mat cam.." she immediately said the 2 words is "COMPLEX"!!! Later I asked why not write "mac cam" then she said the person write wrongly... Thanks Carrot!!! You are great!

I search all my dictionary and can't find mat cam, so I guess it could be a spelling mistake. Maybe it should be: mặc cảm = complex.

She has a complex problem which she can't say it out.

Just my guess.... may not be correct.

jackbl
14-01-2009, 09:31 AM
Miss World 2008 choses Vietnam as first stop on charity tour
===============================================

Miss World 2008 Ksenia Sukhinova at a press briefing in Ho Chi Minh City last Wednesday. The Russian is in Vietnam on a charity tour, her first as the beauty queen. Miss World 2008 Ksenia Sukhinova of Russia arrived in Ho Chi Minh City last Wednesday, beginning an 18-day charity tour of Vietnam her first since she won the world’s premier beauty contest last month.


She expressed her happiness at being able to help disadvantaged people in Vietnam in a press briefing at HCMC’s Sheraton Saigon Hotel.

Sukhinova is accompanied by Miss World Organization’s Chairwoman Julia Morley and American-Vietnamese Hoang Kieu, the president of Antibody Antigen Supply Inc. (RAAS) group.

Morley said they chose Vietnam for the first charity tour because the Vietnamese are “special people with a strong will.”

Sukhinova will participate in many activities during her visit, including handing over houses to the poor and joining some cultural events.

After spending 1st 2 day of the journey in the central resort town of Nha Trang, she will visit Hanoi, a few northern provinces, the central localities of Thua-Thien Hue, Quang Ngai and Da Nang, as well as the Mekong Delta provinces of Kien Giang, Tien Giang and Hau Giang.

The journey, which is estimated to cost more than VND20 billion (US$1.16 million), will close in HCMC.

On January 25, which is also the last day of the 2008 lunar year, the beauty queen will celebrate Lunar New Year’s Eve at HCMC’s September 23rd Park.

Sukhinova’s predecessor Zhang Zi Lin of China couldn’t come to Vietnam as scheduled due to some personal problems but Hoang Kieu said she would join the tour from January 12.

Sukhinova said she wants to outdo the Chinese in terms of a Miss World’s charity tasks. According to Kieu, Zhang had raised more than $30 million from around the world in her one-year term.

Kieu said the trip was the first step of his company’s 2009 charity program. He thanked local authorities and organizations for assisting RAAS with its projects, citing the VND180 billion ($10.35 million) raised in Kien Giang so far as an example.

Sukhinova was crowned Miss World 2008 last December in South Africa. The 22-year-old is a student pursuing a science degree from the Tyumen Oil and Gas University.

RAAS will organize the Miss World 2010 contest in Nha Trang Town on the central coast, according to an agreement signed last July.

Morley said she is keeping abreast of Vietnam’s preparation work for the event.

“We must work hard together to do it correctly and beautifully,” she said.

Reported by Trong Kha

Hurricane88
14-01-2009, 11:53 AM
Thanks again for your help. I think she doesnt mean MAC CAM, because there is another sentence also have the words ... "Bay nhieu cung du de em mat cam voi anh roi"... anyone know the meaning of this sentence too??? :confused:

My dict told me it means:

that amount also enough to let me feel complex with you

jackbl
14-01-2009, 12:20 PM
What dict did u use? maybe i can try out.

The meaning of this sentence is unclear... why feel complex??... anyway not i write one so i also dun know what is feel complex... ;)

My dict told me it means:

that amount also enough to let me feel complex with you

Hurricane88
14-01-2009, 12:41 PM
What dict did u use? maybe i can try out.

The meaning of this sentence is unclear... why feel complex??... anyway not i write one so i also dun know what is feel complex... ;)

My Vn fren translates la...:)

jackbl
14-01-2009, 01:09 PM
Wow, then the english level also not bad lor... If ur fren is a man, dun mind u can intro, else if is a lady, then I leave it to u... :D

My Vn fren translates la...:)

jackbl
14-01-2009, 01:23 PM
Welcome back!!! Hope to see u post your experiences, the wedding proceedings, etc here. thanks!

Thanks. This will be a short and busy trip... anyway everytime i go vn i only enjoy having my girlfriend by my side.

Waiting for you to intro gals to me before i can post many sms here. :p

jackbl
14-01-2009, 02:31 PM
I will disclosed the whole SMS here for everyone to learn/share the experiences.... Anyone care to try to interpret/translate? (I know what i meant liao)

"Em xin loi da lam anh ko vui. nhung em rat ngai. va em co mot mat cam em kg the noi ra duoc. mong anh cho em a. Em cam on anh rat nhieu. da quan tam den em. em lam cai nghe. da ko hay. Bay nhieu cung du de em mat cam voi anh roi. anh gian em ko a"

I have just asked a gal abt this sentence, when i wrote "...mat cam.." she immediately said the 2 words is "COMPLEX"!!! Later I asked why not write "mac cam" then she said the person write wrongly... Thanks Carrot!!! You are great!

jackbl
14-01-2009, 02:51 PM
Hi all, I found this in the NUS Vietnamese community forum talking about Sammyboy. Anyone can translate that???

bạn lamb là nam hay nữ? Nếu là nam, bẩu nó vào sammyboyforum, có nguyên 2 cái thread dạy tiếng Việt theo sinh hoạt hàng ngày. Iem quên mất cái tên chính xác của cái box mà nó nằm trong, h́nh như là "Adult Discussion". Nhưng tên 2 cái thread th́ iem nhớ chính xác, nó là "Tieng Viet Lovers club", và "Vietnamisation Program". Giáo tŕnh ở trong đó, theo iem là theo rất sát sinh hoạt hàng ngày. Iem biết có vài bạn VnCNUSers cũng đóng góp vào việc hoàn thiện bộ giáo tŕnh (iem ko tiết lộ ai đâu, dĩ nhiên là có iem ở trong đấy)

jackbl
14-01-2009, 02:59 PM
A post by 1 member there... :D

Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:39 pm Post subject : Re: Giáo tŕnh học tiếng Việt
Tieng Viet lovers club: 115 pages, as of now - some are rubbish, but generally S'porean guys in that forum found it useful

Vietnamisation Program: not as useful as the other 1, but i found this thread quite interesting
_________________


Hi all, I found this in the NUS Vietnamese community forum talking about Sammyboy. Anyone can translate that???

jackbl
14-01-2009, 03:08 PM
Got a quotation for teaching vietnamese on 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 basis. The lady quoted me $30 per hour. :eek: She is doing HR/recruitment for the company. She is from Hanoi. She had taught japanese and korean business man when she is working back at hanoi. :rolleyes:

Carrot007
14-01-2009, 03:43 PM
Got a quotation for teaching vietnamese on 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 basis. The lady quoted me $30 per hour. :eek: She is doing HR/recruitment for the company. She is from Hanoi. She had taught japanese and korean business man when she is working back at hanoi. :rolleyes:

When you learn Tieng Viet from a Teacher from Hanoi, she will teach you in the northern accent. When you talk to the girls in JC or GL, they will have a little difficulity in understanding you (but still ok), and then when they reply you, you totally catch no ball (!!!), because 90% of these girls are from the south (HCMC) and they speak in the southern accent.

So it depends on your motive to learn the language:
If you wanna learn the correct form and wanna do business in Hanoi, Northern accent is the right choice.
If you wanna improve your communication ability with the girls in JC or GL or to cheong in HCMC, then southern accent will be better, this you do not need a teacher, just learn from JackBL... hahaha ! :D

By the way, the people from the north and south don't like each other very much.

jackbl
14-01-2009, 08:07 PM
How to imagine a teacher's pay is less than S$100 per day???? :confused::eek:

Long day, low pay
==============================
Educators say teaching assistants’ low salaries aren’t enough to ensure children are clean, fed, rested and safe throughout the day.


Teaching assistant Nguyen Thi Anh Tuyet at the Nguyen Viet Hong Primary School in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3 starts her day at 7:30 a.m. tidying up the classroom before school.

She washes used dishes from the day before and washes any towels or cleaning rags that have been left out.

During students’ break times, Tuyet and her colleagues are tasked with supervising the children, making sure they play safe and don’t get into fights.

If a student is injured after a fall or accident, parents often blame the assistants.

Tuyet and other assistants feed the students at lunch, clean them up after meals and playtime and then make sure they take their naps.

As many Vietnamese schools don’t let out until 5 p.m., Tuyet’s day is a long one.

After school, she has to clean up the classroom while also keeping an eye on the students whose parents are late to pick them up.

“My day ends when the last student is picked up by his or her parents, at around 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” she says.

Teaching assistants throughout the city often work between 10 and 12 hours per day, says Principal Vu Thi Tho from Luong The Vinh Primary School in Go Vap District.

It’s not only the long work, but the “invisible” pressures that get to them, says Nguyen Viet Hong School Principal Tran Thi Hanh.

Assistants must watch over the children even when they sleep, essentially acting as a second mother, she says.

Such a job is tough especially if the assistant already takes care of her own kids at home in addition to the dozens she looks after at school all day.

Hanh says the assistants are held responsible for any problems the students cause outside of class.

“Things are especially tough in the beginning of the year, when order has yet to be established. Assistants have to keep reminding kids to obey the rules,” she says.

Teaching assistant Ngo Thi Le of Nguyen Viet Hong School says the assistants have to understand each student’s psychology to deal with them appropriately.

“If parents find them with untidy clothes and hair, they will not be pleased,” Le says, adding they will also complain if their children do not gain weight every month.

“If you don’t really love children, you can’t work as a teaching assistant,” Hanh says.

But she argues that the greatest challenge for teaching assistants is not the children, it’s the pay.

Hanh says that each assistant at her school is paid between VND600,000 and VND700,000 (US$34.21-39.91) each month.

Teachers at the To Vinh Dien Primary School in Binh Thanh District are paid between VND800,000 and VND1 million ($45.61-57) per month.

But as local prices continue to climb, VND800,000 is not enough for a family to feed, house and educate its children.

Principal Dam Thi Minh Ngoc of Song Lo Primary School says the school has increased its teaching assistant salary from VND800,000 ($45.61) to VND1.2 million ($68.41) a month.

“But it’s still low compared to the cost of living in the city,” Ngoc says.

Hanh says, “many teaching assistants quit after working for a couple of months” due to the low salaries.

Tham, a former primary school teaching assistant in the city, says it was hard for her to cover the cost of living with her salary and the job was so exhausting that she didn’t have time or energy to find extra work.

“Although I loved the students so much, I had to quit,” she says.

Several schools have begun trying to improve their teaching assistants’ salaries.

This school year, Nguyen Viet Hong School has asked parents to pay extra fees to support the assistants, Hanh says, adding that if the parents agree, assistants will receive VND400,000 to VND500,000 ($22.80-28.50) more per month.

Phu Nhuan District authorities have recently allowed local primary schools to charge extra fees of VND50,000 ($2.85) per month to increase assistants’ pay this school year.

Good assistants should receive the same benefits of tenured teachers, according to Le Ngoc Diep, head of Preschool Education Bureau under the HCMC Department of Education and Training.

Source: Tuoi Tre, SGGP


The employment rate for VN is still very bad..... working at restaurant is only paid US$57

Human traffic flows in Ha Tinh
==========================

Lured to a brothel in the north-central province of Ha Tinh by a man who promised her VND1 million (US$57) a month for a job at a nice restaurant, Tai’s story is all too common in the region.

Hurricane88
15-01-2009, 10:49 AM
When you learn Tieng Viet from a Teacher from Hanoi, she will teach you in the northern accent. When you talk to the girls in JC or GL, they will have a little difficulity in understanding you (but still ok), and then when they reply you, you totally catch no ball (!!!), because 90% of these girls are from the south (HCMC) and they speak in the southern accent.

So it depends on your motive to learn the language:
If you wanna learn the correct form and wanna do business in Hanoi, Northern accent is the right choice.
If you wanna improve your communication ability with the girls in JC or GL or to cheong in HCMC, then southern accent will be better, this you do not need a teacher, just learn from JackBL... hahaha ! :D

By the way, the people from the north and south don't like each other very much.

Hahaha...northern accent is more authentic...southern accent is luan luan kong...more like rojak...:)

Hurricane88
15-01-2009, 11:10 AM
Three arrested for making fake foreign liquor

Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoc Mon District Police Tuesday arrested three men on charges of making fake foreign liquor.

Nguyen Hoang Giang, 30, from Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta, and Nguyen Tan Phat, 31, and Duong Phu Thanh, 22, both from HCMC, were caught making the fake liquor on Monday by the municipal Economic Management Police, in cooperation with the district police.

The police confiscated almost a thousand bottles of fake foreign liquor, more than 200 empty bottles and raw materials.

The municipal police have assigned the district police to further investigate the case.

Reported by Dam Huy

Honey Boon
15-01-2009, 11:56 AM
I remember see this word "phat" in many signboard in Q5, china town. I think it means 发,right? :D

Huat ai.... Viet also want to huat

1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi = Cung chúc tân xuân = Happy New Year

2) Cung hỉ phát tài = "Congratulations and be Prosperous"

casannova03
15-01-2009, 03:00 PM
You have to teach me how to sing what... in return, I can also teach you some viet vulgarities if you like... hahaha ! In fact, there's a book which has all those words inside... it is called "Making out in Vietnamese", avaliable in all Times bookshop :)

i have read this book before:D

haahaha....its all about the informal way of saying vietnamese and if i remember correctly it has a section on things you say when quarrelling or fighting with someone...hahha!!!

I showed my wife and she says indeed some of the words or sentences are indeed RUDE and are essentials for a fiery encounter or fuel for a fight...

Good recommendation!:D

jackbl
15-01-2009, 04:46 PM
Meatlovers only
============================
The Brazilian all-you-can-eat BBQ at Au Lac do Brazil is not for anyone on a diet.

This authentic churrascaria provides a full selection of churasco (grilled meat): beef steak, pork, sausages, lamb and chicken, all served rodizio style.

Waiters bring meter-long skewers to the table and slice off large portions of everything they have until you say stop.

On average, US$40 gets you a non-stop assault of lamb, pork, beef, shrimp, salad, bread and a wide array of sauces, dips and dressings ranging from simple mustard to more exotic Brazilian chili blends.

For those going a la carte, the feijoada beef and bean stew is a lesser known treat and the shrimp thermidor is one of several tempting shrimp options, featuring succulent shrimp, onion, potato, and a layer of mozzarella cheese and tangy gravy.

A carefully-selected wine list and shelves of liquor fit well in a setting where beer might seem a little too plebeian an accoutrement to all the meat.

For those who are enchanted by the majestic Amazon River, the samba and the vast beaches of Brazil, Au Lac do Brazil is a place that should not missed. On the ground floor is a bamboo and thatch-roofed bar where you can order excellent Caipirinha along with other cocktails and wines to cool you down after wearing yourself out of the dance floor, which opens Tuesday to Saturday.

Au Lac do Brazil is a refined way to satisfy the ravenous carnivore inside of us all. Check out its long-established venue at 238 Pasteur Street, District 3 or its newly-opened spot at Sky Garden II, Phu My Hung in District 7.

Reported by Thuy Nhien

lhhuy1
15-01-2009, 06:00 PM
"Em xin loi da lam anh ko vui. nhung em rat ngai. va em co mot mat cam em kg the noi ra duoc. mong anh cho em a. Em cam on anh rat nhieu. da quan tam den em. em lam cai nghe. da ko hay. Bay nhieu cung du de em mat cam voi anh roi. anh gian em ko a"

I will try my best to translate this.

"I am sorry I did make you unhappy. But I feel uneasy. And I have one uncomfortable/uneasy thing I can't say. I hope you wait for me. I thank-you very much for caring about me. I work this job that's not nice. That much is enough to make me uncomforatable/uneasy with you. Are you angry with me?"

lhhuy1
15-01-2009, 06:22 PM
Hi all, I found this in the NUS Vietnamese community forum talking about Sammyboy. Anyone can translate that???

bạn lamb là nam hay nữ? Nếu là nam, bẩu nó vào sammyboyforum, có nguyên 2 cái thread dạy tiếng Việt theo sinh hoạt hàng ngày. Iem quên mất cái tên chính xác của cái box mà nó nằm trong, h́nh như là "Adult Discussion". Nhưng tên 2 cái thread th́ iem nhớ chính xác, nó là "Tieng Viet Lovers club", và "Vietnamisation Program". Giáo tŕnh ở trong đó, theo iem là theo rất sát sinh hoạt hàng ngày. Iem biết có vài bạn VnCNUSers cũng đóng góp vào việc hoàn thiện bộ giáo tŕnh (iem ko tiết lộ ai đâu, dĩ nhiên là có iem ở trong đấy)

Friend, lamb, are you a guy or girl? If you're a guy, tell him/her to go to sammyboyforum, there are two threads that teach vietnamese language used for daily use. I forgot the name exactly of the section where it belonged to. I think it's called "Adult Discussion". But the names of the two threads I remember exactly are "Tieng Viet Lovers club" and "Vietnamisation Program". The teachings in there, from my understanding, are exactly used daily. I know a few friends, VnCNUSers, also contributed to the teachings ( I will not disclose who, of course there's me there)

jackbl
16-01-2009, 01:13 AM
Bro travelling and living there be careful. Beware of the COLD

Frost to hit North until Tet
========================

A week-long frost in the north of Vietnam has pushed temperatures down to 4-5 degrees Celsius, causing temperatures lower than last year’s, by around 0.2-0.5 degrees.

In southern Vietnam, where sunny weather is experienced all year round, has also seen temperatures drop to17-18 degrees.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said that temperatures nationwide will be lower than previous years from January to April.

In particular, January and March will see two cold snaps each.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development warned farmers and provincial administrations to keep tabs on the weather. Farmers must halt sowing seed and protect seedlings.

The chilly weather has people entering hospitals in their droves, especially the elderly, said the General Hospital in the central province of Da Nang January 14.

Since the beginning of January, 220 patients from the central provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and the city of Da Nang have been hospitalized due to the weather. Most of them are over 50 years-old. 21 have suffered cerebral haemorrhage, 35 encephalomalacia (a softening of the brain), 10 myocardial infarctions and 26 with low blood pressure.

By P.Hau, Ng.Hung - Translated by Uyen Phuong

jackbl
17-01-2009, 01:15 AM
Thank you very much!!! May I invite you to be our "GUEST" translator here in this thread. Your language is very good!!! 5-points for you before you accept this task... hihi :D;):p

Friend, lamb, are you a guy or girl? If you're a guy, tell him/her to go to sammyboyforum, there are two threads that teach vietnamese language used for daily use. I forgot the name exactly of the section where it belonged to. I think it's called "Adult Discussion". But the names of the two threads I remember exactly are "Tieng Viet Lovers club" and "Vietnamisation Program". The teachings in there, from my understanding, are exactly used daily. I know a few friends, VnCNUSers, also contributed to the teachings ( I will not disclose who, of course there's me there)

jackbl
17-01-2009, 02:20 AM
Shortage of space fuels parking lot rip-offs
==============================

Private parking lots which have proliferated in HCMC’s District 1 openly flout price regulations.
The tickets stated that the parking fee was VND2,000 (US$0.12) but the attendants charged VND3,000 ($0.18).

“You should be happy to find a parking lot. If you don’t want that price, just clear off,” the attendant said.

Parking rip-offs like this are becoming more common near Ben Thanh Market in District 1. As the market doesn’t have a proper parking lot, many households nearby have been providing the service to market-goers for years.

But even then demand outstrips supply, paving the way for exorbitant fees.

In a queue to get in one of the parking lots, Phuong from District 8, told Thanh Nien she had once offered to pay VND20,000 for her bike because everywhere was full.

The HCMC municipal administration regulations stipulate city wide parking fees for motorbikes range from VND2,000 to VND3,000 each time. Motorbike owners have to pay the highest fee only when they park their vehicles in the evening at recreational centers, hotels, restaurants, and major markets like Ben Thanh, An Dong, Binh Tay, or Kim Bien.

Illegal fees

But many private parking lot owners all over the city overcharge - charging VND5,000 or even 10,000 a time.

On Ton That Thiep Street in District 1, sidewalk parking lots, holding hundreds of motorbikes on the pavement and in rented houses, charge VND5,000.

A source close to the owner of the parking lot told Thanh Nien that the owner was running many lots which overcharged customers in different areas.

The parking lots on Nguyen Sieu and Nguyen Van Chiem Streets in District 1 also charged VND5,000 a time, while one lot on Nguyen Trung Truc Street asked for VND10,000.

The staff at the Nguyen Sieu parking lot even said there was a 15 or 20 minutes parking limit.

No signs or tickets

In front of the headquarters of the HCMC Customs Agency in District 1, two parking lots receive bikes for VND5,000 without issuing tickets for their owners.

“No need to get the ticket. We remember bikes and their owners,” an employee told Thanh Nien but parking lot owners are required by law to issue tickets that show their name and display signs advertising fees.

The parking lot at the Nam Ky Khoi Nghia-Huynh Thuc Khang intersection in District 1 does not display prices while tickets at the impromptu parking lots on Ham Nghi Street, Phan Chu Trinh Street next to Ben Thanh Market, and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street show no official seals.

jackbl
17-01-2009, 08:53 AM
Nearly 1mil teachers with no Tet bonus
===========================

VietNamNet Bridge – “While businesses can give hundreds of thousands to millions of VND in Tet bonuses to their labourers, nearly 1mil teachers in nursery and general schools won’t receive Tet bonuses,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan in a letter.

Nhan has sent a letter to leaders of provincial and municipal localities, asking for help for the nearly 1mil teachers who aren’t scheduled to receive Tet bonuses.

He wrote: “Vietnam’s economy is now facing big difficulties and challenges which have been affecting the lives of people, including teachers.

“The Lunar New Year 2009 is coming. While businesses can give from hundreds of thousands to millions of VND in Tet bonuses to their labourers, nearly 1mil teachers in nursery and general schools won’t receive Tet bonuses.

“Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training would like to kindly request that chairmen of People’s Councils, chairmen of People’s Committees, chairmen of the Fatherland Front call for donations and funds from local budgets, in order to assist teachers, especially teachers in mountainous areas, on islands and in remote areas, so they can enjoy Tet, so their lives are less deprived on Tet days, so that they can have offerings to worship the ancestors, so that their children can have new clothes and banh chung on Tet days.”

Prior to that, in order to help students ease difficulties, the Ministry of Education and Training called on teachers, students and people to donate money, clothes, textbooks to help poor students go to school.

After four months of donation, over VND17bil, over 1mil textbooks and many study aids were raised. As such, some 1mil students in difficult areas have new clothes which can help them overcome the coldness of the winter and enjoy Tet.

Just one day after the letter by the Deputy Prime Minister was published on the mass media, nearly VND2bil had been raised.

The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group PetroVietnam has donated VND500mil to teachers in the 10 provinces of Dong Thap, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, An Giang, Ninh Thuan, Tay Ninh and Phu Tho.

The Investment Consultancy and Trade Promotion Company has given VND500mil to teachers of 10 provinces: Dien Bien, Son La, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Hoa Binh.

Viettel, the military telecom corporation, has announced the donation of VND600mil for 12 provinces in the Central Highlands and central region, namely Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Lam Dong, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Quang Nam, Phu Yen, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Bac Giang.

Le Van Kiem, a veteran and Labour Hero in the renovation period, has given VND300mil to teachers in six provinces: Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Binh Thuan, Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Tri and Quang Binh.

The Ministry of Education and Training said that they will remit the money to localities and instruct directors of education and training departments to allocate the money to teachers before Tet and report to the ministry when the task is fulfilled.

(Source: Dan tri)

jackbl
17-01-2009, 09:25 AM
Lunar New Year Greetings:

1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi = Cung chúc tân xuân = Happy New Year

2) Cung hỉ phát tài = "Congratulations and be Prosperous" 恭喜发财

3) Van su nhu y = 萬事如意

1) Chuc Mung Nam Moi = Cung chúc tân xuân = Happy New Year

2) Cung hỉ phát tài = "Congratulations and be Prosperous"

jackbl
17-01-2009, 09:44 AM
Weather forecast for vn from now till Lunar New Year!


More cold, endless drizzle, flood tides forecast for Tet
====================================

Northern and southern Vietnam have been warned to prepare for a cold Tet, or lunar New Year.

The National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre reports that severe cold with prolonged drizzle can be expected and may continue throughout February in northern Vietnam.

Temperatures in the northern highlands have continued to fall.

For example, the temperature dropped 3-4 degrees to 1-2 degree Celsius in Lai Chau province’s Sin Ho district on Wednesday.

Hanoi has not been immune from the cold.

Temperatures dropped to 9 degrees in Son Tay district and 7 degrees in Ba Vi district, also on Wednesday.

The cold was forecast to end Saturday and re-appear four to five days later with prolonged drizzle, said the centre’s deputy director Nguyen Lan Chau.

“Consecutive cold spells are likely through Tet,” she said.

Highland provinces, especially Lao Cai and its Sa Pa Township, should prepare to cope with the bitter cold that accompanies frost and hoarfront.

Water levels in northern rivers continued to decline.

Water in Hong (Red) River, Hanoi , ranged between 1.82.1m and was forecast to drop to 0.9m by late February.

In Ho Chi Minh City , southern Hydrometeorology Forecasting Bureau deputy director Le Thi Xuan Lan said southern provinces could expect two more cold spells from now until Tet.

Each would last two or three days.

The forecaster attributes the cold to the north-eastern monsoon.

Temperature in HCM City on Jan. 15 fell to 17 degrees, the lowest since 2000. The temperatures in Dong Nai province fell to 16 and to 17.5 degrees in Binh Phuoc province.

The lowest temperatures were recorded in 1975 – 13.6 degrees.

Meteorologists warn of flood tides to 1.4m in the Sai Gon River during Tet.

The low temperatures carry the danger of flu or colds while hectares of ochna and jasmine have failed to bloom in the Thu Duc district and district 12 because of the chill.

Farmers of Binh thuan province’s Ham Thuan Nam district fear they will be without money for Tet after their major source of income, dragon fruit, has also failed.
Tet eve falls Sunday next week.

Source: VNA

jackbl
17-01-2009, 10:55 AM
Anyone can help with translation below? The previous conversation was I am "acting" as a fren of a gal, but in fact I am not. I tell her I m XXX, how are you? Then she replied :
"Anh la ai? Noi thiet kg thoi an don. Noi!!"

I managed to understand most except those i highlighted in Larger font.

jackbl
17-01-2009, 02:38 PM
Hanoi to have three more four-star hotels
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In 2008, the Hanoi Tourism Corporation attained a total turnover of VND 2.9 trillion, an increase of 30% over 2007. It also contributed over VND 296 billion to the National budget, an increase of 51.5% compared to the previous year, the corporation announced on January 13th.
This year, the Hanoi Tourism Corporation plans to achieve a growth rate of from 20% to 25%, and to equitize its three subsidiary companies, while at the same time providing high-quality tourism services for the ASEAN Indoor Games in October of this year.

In addition, the corporation will also aim to complete the construction of three four-star hotels in Hanoi, and speed up the pace of construction of several projects in order to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of Thang Long – Hanoi.

Source: HNM

Translated by Vu Hung

lhhuy1
17-01-2009, 03:05 PM
Thank you very much!!! May I invite you to be our "GUEST" translator here in this thread. Your language is very good!!! 5-points for you before you accept this task... hihi :D;):p

:)
Yeah sure. I am actually vietnamese and living overseas for many years so I am fluent in both languages. I would be happy to help you.


Anyone can help with translation below? The previous conversation was I am "acting" as a fren of a gal, but in fact I am not. I tell her I m XXX, how are you? Then she replied :
"Anh la ai? Noi thiet kg thoi an don. Noi!!"

I managed to understand most except those i highlighted in Larger font.

"Who are you? Tell me the truth or I will give you a beating. Tell me!!"