Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

Teachers getting emotionless to avoid troubles
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VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese teachers complain that they always bear a too hard pressure in their job and that they have not been respected by the students and their parents as they expect.

A nursery school may receive a threatening gesture, if a parent sees a graze on the hand of his child after the school hours. The image and personal information of a general school teacher could be made public with the support of Internet, if parents do not agree with their children’s teachers. An old teacher may be abused just because he punishes a student for his mistakes. In order to avoid the possible troubles, teachers would rather turn a deaf ear to the students’ problems.

Dr Ho Lam Hong from the Hanoi University of Education has noted that people nowadays tend to think little and scorn of teachers, especially at private schools.

“Parents think that they pay teachers and they have the right to order what teachers need to do for their children,” he said.

A lecturer of the HCM City University of Education also noted that parents nowadays believe they have the right to tell teachers and schools what to do. “They would get boil over with anger just because of a graze on their children’s hands,” she said.

The lecturer said she herself could see with her eyes a colleague who was threatened by a man that he would apply the “law of the jungle” if the teachers did not admit her fault when causing the graze to his child.

Dr Dinh Quang Bao, Head of the Pedagogical Research Institute, has noted that nursery school teachers have a hardest job. They have to work hard at school to take care with tens of children, while they would be scolded just fore minor mistakes.

A teacher in Hanoi, who has special students – autism-suffered children – said that the parents of her students are all very friendly and constructive, because they understand the problems of their children. However, the teacher said she once got a sound scolding from a parent, who commented the teacher could not help anything to the child.

“A child stumbled and fell. And I received a slap on my face from her father. However, the father then apologized for his behavior, because he understood how hard I had to work to help his child,” she said.

A nursery school teacher in Cau Giay district said she has never been threatened by the hot tempered parents. However, she also has her problems. One of the students has a VIP father, who never wants to meet teachers to discuss about the student’s activities at school. The only thing which helped him contact the teacher is the envelop with money inside forwarded to the teacher at the beginning of every academic year.

Headmaster of the Dinh Tien Hoang people-founded School Nguyen Tung Lam has noted that parents nowadays, who are busy all the day with their works, tend to entrust the school with all the works relating to the education. Therefore, they would get angry if they receive the notices about the bad learning records of their children.

Mass media have been criticized heavily for “lending a hand” to the parents to conduct bad behaviors to teachers. Any mistakes made by teachers, even though they are minor, could become sensational stories on local newspapers. A literature teacher of Lomonosov Secondary School decided to resign just because of a mistake in a student’s essay.

Le Huyen

[jackbl]

HCM City: Market for infertile couples
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VietNamNet Bridge - Due to the sources of sperm and eggs in the hospital which cannot meet the needs of infertile couples, a “market” where sperms and eggs are traded has appeared in HCM City, according to Tuoi Tre.

This "market" is located in alley A1 on Cong Quynh Road, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1. A1 alley is widely known as the "infertile alley" or “alley of pregnant women” because many infertile couples rent inns here to live during their treatment of infertility at Tu Du Hospital.

There are 4-5 women in the alley who are both the landlords and intermediaries for the sperm and egg trade and seeking surrogate mothers for anyone in need.

One of these women is Ms. Ngoc, around 50 years old.

Ngoc told a Tuoi Tre reporter, who played the role of a woman who was seeking for a surrogate mother: "If you have to find a surrogate mother, I’ll help you. Although it is a bit hard to find one, but I will find people in the countryside for you."

She said the two sides would discuss about the price and told the “customer” to keep it secret. "It is extremely confidential because surrogacy is prohibited by law," Ngoc said.

She instructed: "The surrogate mother must pretend to be your husband's wife and they have to go to the hospital to perform necessary procedures. When she is pregnant, you have to bring her home or rent a room for her. You also have to hire someone to take care of her because she carries your child. You have to take care of her for nine months and ten days, until she gives birth. It will take time and money."

The woman also said that she would help seek an egg seller for the reporter. She advised the customer to invite the egg seller to live together to take care of her and to improve her health to obtain good eggs.

She then introduced an egg seller named Nhi, 28, to the reporter. Nhi said she had two children and "because of difficulties” she had to sell her eggs. She offered the price of VND14-15 million ($700).

As the reporter hesitated, Ngoc introduced another egg seller, named An, 19 only. An said she sold noodles on Cong Quynh road. This time Ngoc asked for VND15-16 million ($750) because An is younger than Nhi.

Another woman in A1 alley, named Thao, was willing to introduce a sperm seller to the reporter. She said that is a young, healthy man who was married and had children.

The reporter said she wanted to find a man with good sperms, Thao said that it is unimportant because the customer would have to use the sperms of another man, not the man she chooses if she takes him to the hospital’s sperm bank.

However, she suggested the customer to visit doctor C. This doctor will help take sperms of the selected man for insemination. Thao said that the price for sperms is only VND10 million ($500) while it is VND20-25 million ($1,000-1,200) for eggs.

This woman suggested making a fake ID to turn the sperm or egg seller into the husband of the wife of the customer. The price for such a fake ID is only VND2 million ($100).

The reporter saw the third intermediary named Nga, who arranged a meeting with the sperm seller at her home. This man is named Chau, 33, from District 8. Chau went to the meeting with a woman, who was introduced as his wife. He also showed the picture of a boy on his cell phone as his son. Chau agreed to sign a commitment to not claim the baby after the customer pays.

At Tu Du Hospital, which is very famous for infertility treatment in Vietnam, reporters found small ads of the so-called “Association of sperm donating students.” Making a phone call to the contact in the advertisement, a man named Thuong made an appointment the next day.

At the meeting, Thuong called himself “the executive” of the “Association of sperm donating students” for infertile couples. Thuong said he was a master's degree trainee at a university in the city.

He said the association has more than 30 members who are students of universities and colleges in HCM City. The price is VND10 million.

"Our members are poor students who do not smoke or drink. We have served many customers and the results are always perfect," Thuong said.

Compiled by P. Linh

[jackbl]

Vietnam falls 11 grades in Transparency International’s corruption index
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VietNamNet Bridge - According to the 2012 corruption perception index (CPI) released by the Transparency International (TI), Vietnam ranks 123 out of 176 countries and territories, dropping by 11 grades from last year.

More than two-thirds of the countries were surveyed as "very corrupt." Only 53 of 176 countries surveyed attained a "passing grade" of 50 out of 100 in the annual corruption report.

Two typical trios book ended the index, with Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand all tied on 90 at the top. Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan shared the ignominious end of IT's table, scoring just eight.

The world's largest economy, the US, could only manage a score of 73 - 19th in the standings, between the UK and Chile.

Vietnam, Laos and China have significantly downgraded in the rankings this year. Vietnam ranks 123 out of 176 countries and territories compared to 112th last year. TI's 2011 rankings included 180 countries and territories.

According to TI, the Vietnamese economy has many uncertainties in the context of a series of scandals associated with state-owned groups and the inefficient management of state-owned enterprises, making investors worry. The Vietnamese government has recently increased efforts to combat corruption, arrested some bankers and businessmen.

“After a year of focus on corruption, we expect governments to take a tougher stance against the abuse of power. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 results demonstrate that societies continue to pay the high cost of corruption,” said Huguette Labelle, the Chair of Transparency International.

Thai An

[jackbl]

Teacher whipped students with rod, students happy to get spanked
================================================== ====================================

VietNamNet Bridge – A new video clip has been posted on Internet showing a teacher whipping students on their faces. The noteworthy thing is that the students were still happy when they got spanked. It seemed that the students got too familiar to this kind of punishment.

The 2-minute video clip is believed to record the scene happened at a secondary school in HCM City. A teacher found out that their students did not fulfill the home exercises and said that they should be punished.

The students were told to choose one of the two kinds of punishment, either their names would be written down in the class’ record book, or they would get spanked. All of the students chose the latter. And every student was given four strokes of whip.

The teacher was a woman, about 30, who was correct and decent in a traditional long dress. Meanwhile, the students were all in bright green uniforms.

The students were asked to lie prostrate on the table, so that the teacher beat them with a rod. Before executing the punishment, the teacher warned that she would inform to the students’ parents about their learning records at the upcoming parents’ meeting.

A question has been raised that why the students preferred getting spanked to seeing their names written down in the class’ record book. If they had accepted the other option offered by the teacher, they would have avoided the heavy physical punishment.

Commenting on this, Van Toan, a reader of Giao duc Vietnam newspaper, said that no student would prefer bad marks or criticism from parents, teachers or friends. They might think that after they got spanked, their mistakes would be forgiven, while no evidence about their discipline violations would exist.

This also means that their parents would not be informed about their problems, and of course, the parents would not feel ashamed about their children.

“As such, the students would rather get spanked than becoming the shame to their parents. Why should we still punish them so heavily?” Toan commented.

He went on to write that the students who got spanked not only had to endure the physical pain, but also the spiritual pain, because they got spanked before the class and in front their friends. This could be the germ of the hatefulness that the students may always keep in their souls during all of their lives, which would prevent them from growing into useful citizens of the society.

A lot of video clips showing the teachers whipping students have been posted on Internet recently. While the punishment was considered quite normal in the past, this education method is not advocated by modern people.

The teachers, who beat students, had to face the wave of anger from the public. People believed that this is an anti-pedagogical method which must not exist in modern times

Prof Dr Pham Duc Duong, former Head of the Institute for South East Asia studies, said that he has a very good handwriting because he many times got punishment from the teacher who whipped on his five fingers with the ruler made of ironwood.

However, Duong said it would be better if teachers nowadays do not have to beat students but still can compel the obedience from their students.

“A teacher should become respectful in the eyes of students with his deep knowledge, good behaviors, while he should not think of forcing students yield to them by beating them.

Compiled by Thu Uyen

[jackbl]

E-business of worthless VND paper notes emerges
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VND10,000 and VND20,000 VND paper banknotes, which will be withdrawn from circulation starting on January 1, 2013, are now offered for sale on many websites and forums at prices up to four times higher than their face value.


Buyers of these bills said they want to buy the notes to keep them as good memories of the currencies or gift them to their friends as a souvenir or lì xì (lucky money) on special occasions like Tet Holiday (Vietnam’s Lunar New Year).

If you search keyword “Buôn bán tiền cotton” literally translated as “Trading in VND paper notes” on Google, you can receive millions of results like “If you are looking to purchase nice and cheap VND paper notes, please visit our store.”

Demand and supply

Following an announcement by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) in late October that the paper notes will cease to be legal tender starting from the beginning of next year, a new trend of e-commerce in VND paper notes has begun to emerge.

“If anyone wants to buy brand new VND paper banknotes for collection purposes at the right price, please contact me. Thanks for reading this information,” said a classified ad posted on a forum for Vietnamese parents in October.

SBV is no longer issuing the two aforementioned banknotes, while the State Treasury is taking back the remaining paper notes from the public, which will be exchanged for the currently circulated polymer versions at banks in Vietnam.

Pham Minh Hieu, an 32-year-old amateur money collector in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District, told Tuoi Tre: “Ten days ago, I bought five VND 10,000 banknotes listed at VND20,000 each one and one VND20,000 banknote at VND50,000 from an online trader.”

“I want to keep them as a good memory of an old currency that I guess will become an antique item in the next ten years,” he said.

The trend of collecting the notes is growing partly due to their colors. The VND10,000 paper note dubbed “The Queen of all VND banknotes” symbolizes luck thanks to its bright shade of red – a favorite color during Tet holiday.


Young traders

The sale of VND paper notes has become a lucrative business for young people with advanced technology skills who know how to run a successful e-business.

Online traders of these paper notes are few in HCMC and Hanoi. Among them is Nguyen Tan Tai, 23, an IT graduate in HCMC.

“As I studied IT at school, I built and designed my business website by myself. This helped save a lot of money,” Tai revealed. “I also used software to automatically place advertisements on a number of classified ads websites to promote my products.”

Tai has been a trader of old Vietnamese money and world currency over the last four years. Tai said he would shift his focus on promoting VND paper notes this Tet holiday season, as he believes that is the right time to sell.

Last year, from Christmas to one month after Tet Holiday, Tai sold 8 to 10 blocks of VND10,000 and VND20,000 paper banknotes (100 notes each block). In recent times, the young trader revealed that he sells up to ten sets of four different VND paper bills including 10k, 20k, 50k, and 100k per day.

The year-end is always a busy time for traders like Tai. Nguyen Nhat Tan, another young trader in the southern hub, sets a target of earning a profit of VND70 million (roughly US$3,400) from selling VND banknotes and 2USD notes as lucky money for Tet holiday.

Since the sale of VND paper banknotes as souvenirs is legal, Tan was not reluctant to share his secrets: “As far as I know, there are only four professional traders of VND paper notes in HCMC and three in Hanoi. We often do business deals online.”

Tan claimed himself to be the “general agent” because of his abundant supply and because he has a good relationship with a network of “big providers”.


The 21-year-old student, who is currently studying Real Estate Management at a university in HCMC, told Tuoi Tre that he often provides a large quantity of banknotes to smaller agents and earns a profit of VND 1,500 per note.

Hobby makes money

The most beautiful sound in the world is the sound of banknotes rustling, as some say. Most money traders started with the hobby of collecting money first. Now, their hobby helps them earn money.

23-year-old Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong nicknamed Pen Phuong, who has just received a bachelor degree in Business Administration from HCMC-based Foreign Trade University, is both a money collector and online money trader.

“At Tet holiday season, I often sell a lot of money. I earn more than VND10 million (roughly US$500) per month during this period of time,” she said. “Students that graduate with a degree in Business Administration can earn this amount of money only if they have had three years of experience.”

Thanks to her website suutamtien.com, Phuong receives about 20 phone calls from customers asking to buy VND paper banknotes every day.

“I sell whatever amount my customers want to buy, even only one banknote,” Phuong claimed.

Meanwhile, Nhut Tan told Tuoi Tre that he receives about 50 phone calls on average from his clients per weekday and more than 100 calls at the weekend, but just a few people really want to buy.

If his customers are in Ho Chi Minh City, Tan often makes a rendezvous with them at coffee shops for their business deals. But if his customers are not in HCMC, Tan or Phuong send the banknotes to their customers via post but, of course, the customers have to send them the payment via bank accounts first.

For Pen Phuong, thanks to her e-business website, it does not cost her a lot of time and effort to purchase VND paper banknotes from people, who do not know how and where to exchange them for the polymer notes, at cheaper prices than other sources.

“Many people have recently phoned me, asking me to come to their house to buy their VND paper notes. Some others, who hesitate to go to banks to exchange them for polymer notes, often search for money traders on the Internet and find my phone number,” Phuong said.

“I enjoy my job very much. In my opinion, if you focus on ways to make as much money as possible, your business will be dead. Just do it with your passion,” said the 23-year-old girl, who spends most of her time on this business, which she considers as her long-term job.

[Honey Boon]

Merry X'mas .....

[jackbl]

To all bros here:

Chuc Mung Giang Sinh

[vietboy]

Merry Christmas Broz!
Chuc Giang Sinh Vui Ve!

[whatever897]

hi bro.
giang sinh an lanh.
i'm currently trying to learn vietnamese language.
hoping to find some help here.
but 826 page. cant look one by one.
so hope somebody can help me translate this for me.
a facebook comment on picture of a friend(girl) with a guy(which is me)
"Nhjn nhu hai chj e mat giog nhau qua"
please help me translate this.
thank you very much. cam on rat nhieu.

i have done some research on some of the short form. but none can help me.
this is what i found. hope its useful to some bro here.

dt-điện thoại- call
wa - quá - so, such. example : so hot -nóng quá. such a smart student - một sinh viên thông minh quá
bjt,bt - biết - know
v - và - and
lh,lhe- liên hệ - contact
ntn - như thế nào - how. example: cv e ntn- công việc em như thế nào- how is your work?
hv- học viên - learners
tb- thông báo - announce
hag- hàng- goods
tt - thanh toán - make a payment
nv - nhân viên - staff
r -rồi - done, or something happened already.
ox - ông xã - darling,sweetheart . note: the female calls the male.
bx- bà xã - darling, sweetheart. Not
dat - giấc
"e"--em
"dc" ou
"đc"--được---yes or get sths
"cv"--công việc---job
"hp"--hạnh phúc---happy
"ng"--người--humain
"vd"--ví dụ---for exemple
"cty"---công ty
"ty" --tình yêu--love
"hs" - "học sinh"- "student"
"ĐH" - "Đại học" - "university"
"bt" - "bài tập" or "bình thường" - "homework" or "normal"
"tn" - "tin nhắn" - "message"
"tc" - "tình cảm" - "feeling"
"ch" - "chuyện" - "talk"
cug: cũng (also)
kn: kinh nghiệm (experience)
hnay: hôm nay (today)
j: gì (what)
t: tôi, tớ (I, the first person)
c: cậu (you: the second person)
hnao: hôm nào (some day)
ng: người (person)

[KangTuo]

Nhjn nhu hai chj e mat giog nhau qua = see both sister face same same

[whatever897]

Originally Posted by KangTuo

Nhjn nhu hai chj e mat giog nhau qua = see both sister face same same

lol. they say i got same face with the girl, look like two sister... wth...
anyway the proper way to spell that izzit like this...
Nhin nhu hai chi em mat giong nhau qua ?
haha. just wanna learn. thanks for helping. cam on rat nhieu.

[jackbl]

More foreign companies vanishing from Vietnam
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A number of owners of foreign-invested businesses in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighboring province of Dong Nai have suddenly disappeared, leaving behind empty manufacturing plants and a huge amount of unpaid wages to employees and taxes to the government.

The Dong Nai management board of the province’s industrial parks has recently revoked the investment licenses of 17 such businesses. Meanwhile the HCMC customs agency said 128 foreign invested businesses operating as outsourcers for other companies have also fled their locations, defaulting on VND400 billion worth of taxes.

Most of the business owners of the canceled projects in Dong Nai have returned to their home countries without completing the procedures to declare dissolution.

Some have even managed to secretly transport their machinery and equipment out of the plants, only leaving behind low-value machines that are not enough to cover the salary debts they owe to workers.

Similarly, the list of defaulting foreign-invested business owners in HCMC has repeatedly seen new names added to it.

Most have left behind enormous amounts of unsettled taxes, local authorities said.

The 100 percent South Korea-invested Silver Star Vietnam, for instance, still owes as much as VND29.6 billion worth of unpaid taxes, but all authorities found at its headquarters in Binh Tan District was a deserted land plot without a single piece of machinery.

Out of control

Doan Phi Van, deputy head of the agency that manages the investment sector under the HCMC Customs Agency, said authorities have trouble retrieving the unpaid taxes as they do not know where to find the defaulters.

Van said inspections of the businesses also face problems.

“Some businesses declare that their headquarters are in the city, but their manufacturing plants are located in other localities,” she said.

“Moreover, we have to inform them of the inspection before hand, which in fact gives them time prepare to pass the check.”

To deal with the issue, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has recently ruled that provinces and cities should withdraw the licenses of sluggish foreign investors.

“Any FDI projects that fail to proceed within 12 months of receiving the license without adequate reasons will be pulled out,” the ministry said in a statement.

[jackbl]

Workers and cohabitation: bad outcomes
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VietNamNet Bridge - Happy days of cohabitation end very quickly, leaving the consequences on female workers.

Those who live in the inns near Phuoc Long market in Phuoc Long B Ward, District 9, HCM City all know about the story of the couple named Vi and Ly, who are workers of a company in the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone.

Vi and Ly used to be students of the same college. In love for a time, they rent a room to live together and tragedy arose from it.

Without proper knowledge about safe sex and contraception, Vi got pregnant but she did not know about it. During that time, she still took contraceptive pills and antipyretics so the baby was affected. When the baby was three months old, he had high fever. The couple took the boy to the hospital and knew that he was retarded.

Vi said, after giving birth, she could not do anything because the baby was sick constantly. Ly’s salary was not enough to cover the cost of living. Vi opened a small grocery at the dorm room to make a little extra money and to take care of the child at home.

After a short period of time, she sent the child to a school for mentally-retarded children with monthly fee of VND1 million ($50) but the child was sick very often.

"Our life always revolves around money to pay rent, tuition for our child resulting in family conflicts, especially when my husband has to send money home to his parents. Many times I felt very tired and wanted to break up but I still love him and we have a child already..."

The couple has lived together for over 5 years and they are still not married. With a four-year-old child who is sick all the time, their life is more extreme.

The innocent children

Freetrend company in Linh Trung EPZ 1, HCM City has many workers who gave birth and left their babies in the toilets. Many innocent babies died.

Phuong, a worker at Freetrend, lived together with her boyfriend in a rent room. The happy life lasted for a few months. The couple then fell in repeated conflicts, which arose from difficulties in life. The conflict reached the peak when Phuong told her boyfriend that she was pregnant.

The "husband" immediately moved to another place. Phuong could not make abortion because the baby was too big. She went to the company with the abdomen wrapped around by cloth. Until the day of birth, because of the fear and shame, Phuong decided to throw the baby in the trash at the company. When people found the baby, the baby was dead.

In another case, during working hours, a female worker was tired so she asked her manager’s permission to leave but just few steps out the door, the woman fainted and blood ran from her body. At the hospital, doctors determined that she had delivered a baby a few minutes ago. The company’s guards searched the toilet and found the dead baby in the trash.

Such tragic stories are not rare in industrial parks and export processing zones in HCM City.

Marriage in hell

Lack of knowledge about safe sex, Ngoc, a worker of Freetrend company had to endure an unhappy marriage.

At the age of 18, Ngoc went from Dong Nai to Ho Chi Minh City to become a worker. A few months later, she acquainted Thinh, also a work and they decided to live together.

Too young and giving up school early so Ngoc did not have any knowledge about safe sex. Until the pregnancy was more than three months, she knew about it. A wedding took place quickly after that. Experiencing the life after the wedding, Ngoc regretted for her folly.

The married life is not easy because they came together too quickly and did not have time to know thoroughly about each other. Thinh was gentle and hard-working but very paternalistic. He decided to return to the countryside without consulting Ngoc. "Sometimes I wanted to break up but then I thought that it was my fault. I have a child so I cannot live on my own anymore," Ngoc said.

Even when they marry, happiness does not come to the couples who cohabited before marriage. Hanh and Thuy, workers of CCHTop Co. in Tan Tao Industrial Zone, broke up 5 months after their wedding surprised many people.

Everyone knows that they were in love and lived together for a long time before they married. During this time, Thuy had an abortion three times. After many days of struggle and overcoming hardships, they were married. But a month later, Thuy knew that she would never be a mother as a result of the abortion. Sadnees and Thuy’s unprovoked jealousy turn the marriage into hell. They decided to break up after five months.

Ms. Ngo Loi Loi, Head of Human Resources Department of Freetrend, said that every month, the company handles maternity policy for 600 women. In particular, one half of the birth certificates were not filed with the name of the father.

NLD

[jackbl]

Odd services for funeral
==========================================

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese people are always respectful of their parents. Therefore, when their parents and grandparents pass away, we always do everything possible to ensure that the dead will have a good life in the other world. However, in modern times, funeral rituals are gradually deformed.

With the concept that the afterlife is the same with the real life, many families try to hold big funerals. Many strange services have been offered to satisfy the need of the dead’s family, as long as they have money.

According to Nguoi Dua Tin newswire, the funeral services at the Phung Hung Funeral Home in Hanoi vary. Normally, funerals will be decorated in the traditional style, with a censer, candles, fruits, small cups of wine and water. For the picky and well-off families, the altar will be decorated sophisticatedly, with a big censer, two trays of fruits and food, horizontal lacquered boards, parallel sentences, big and nice coffin and a special altar worth of VND12-17 million ($600-800).

To meet the maximum demand of the dead’s family, many funeral service providers on Phung Hung road also offer scriptwriters for funerals. Depending on the lifestyle of the deceased when he was in the earth where there are different scenarios. For example, if he liked the Korean culture, his funeral will be organized in Korean style: the stage is in white and black; the receptionists have to wear Korean funeral costumes; the food includes sushi and Korean confectionery; the funeral music is also Korean music, etc.

Also, if one wants his dead relative to bless his family to be in prosperity in the future, he can ask soothsayers to choose good time for the funeral and make a funeral scenario.

Accordingly, the funeral will be held according to royal etiquette. The coffin must be made by rare wood, worth of at least $10,000. The hearse is a big one, with a team of coffin carriers in suits. The funeral script is written based on the information about the dead.

Rowing boat is the custom in many rural areas, which means carrying the spirit of the departed to bliss. But the custom is abused by funeral organizers to make money.

In a funeral in Son Tay, Hanoi, a funeral bandsman pretended to be the boatman. During the boat trip to the cemetery, despite the scorching hot weather, the boatman stopped rowing each several minutes in order to ask for money from the dead’s family. If the dead’s family gave him little money, the ferryman looked unhappy and did not row the boat. Thus the dead’s family had to put big banknotes in the ferryman’s hat so he rowed quickly.

Just like that, the journey from home to the resting place of the deceased was interrupted several times. With a distance of about 1km, the farewell to the deceased also took a few hours because of the boat driver.

Funerals are events of indescribable sadness, when a family says farewell to a beloved member. However, in recent years many families in the southern region make funerals noisy and funny events by hiring orchestras and dancing groups to perform at funerals. Such funerals have no tears of grief but noisy shows all night. Some families even hire troupes of gays who disguise as women in swimwear to sing, dance and perform jugglery at funerals.

HK

[jackbl]

Workers in industrial parks need further help and consultation
================================================== ====================================

VietNamNet Bridge – Many companies in HCM City’s industrial parks and export processing zones have organized activities to help improve male workers’ knowledge on reproductive health, marriage and to improve their cultural and spiritual life.

To help female workers to know how to protect themselves, the trade union of Pou Yuen Company, in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, holds several talks monthly on healthcare, contraception, the harms of abortion, etc.

"But they (female workers) live far from home and lack of entertainment facilities, so they cannot avoid stumbling and pitfalls," said Ms. Tran Ngoc Suong, chief of the clinic of Pou Yuen company.

Timely prevention

Suong said, once a female worker had fainted during work hours. The teammates took her to the company clinic for a medical examination. It turned out that the woman was 4 months pregnant. She cried a lot because she was only 20 years old, unmarried and did not know of her pregnancy.

She insisted to have an abortion. "I tried to help her understand that the baby was big and if she has an abortion it will be very dangerous and can cause later infertility,” Suong said.

Suong met the worker’s boyfriend to convince him to keep the baby. The two families then organized a wedding for them.

Female workers visiting the clinic with symptoms of abdominal pain are all provided with a pregnancy test. Once a worker went to the clinic with severe abdominal pain, doctors made a pregnant test, which determined that the woman was already pregnant. Putting on the ultrasound, the worker had a broken fetus out of the worm. Thanks to quick emergency aid at the nearest hospital, the worker was saved.

To prevent negative consequences that can occur from the lack of understanding about reproductive health, the trade union of Freetrend company in the Linh Trung 1 export processing zone regularly organizes talks on reproductive health, safe sex and delivers free condoms for workers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, a leader of the company trade union said that the box of condoms is always available in the office of the trade union for the use of workers. Initially, they were shy but now the box is always empty.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Ai, Deputy Director of the Reproductive Health Advisory Clinic of Marie Stopes International Vietnam (MSIVN) in Binh Duong, said that when workers came to the clinic for examination or counseling, consulting experts provided them with information about contraceptives, but there are many workers who were unintentionally pregnant several times.

Ai said that to raise awareness about reproductive health for workers, MSIVN has coordinated with the HCM City Youth Union to organize free gynecological examinations and consultation for female workers in industrial zones in HCM City. The program began in April 2012.

Many activities to attract workers

Mr. Huynh Ngo Tinh, Director of the Support Center for Workers in HCM City, said to create conditions for young couples who are in difficulties, the center annually holds the collective wedding ceremony. In 2011, the center held an impressive ceremony for 80 couples.

These coupes were presented with an ATM card with VND2 million ($100) in account, one pair of wedding rings, one wedding party table, two wedding costumes, a wedding album worth VND3.5 million. In addition, the brides and grooms were also provided with wedding cars, wedding cakes, photography, film, makeup, etc. In particular, they participated in a pre-marriage class.

This year, the center just organized a wedding for 120 couples on December 12.

In early 2012, the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union in collaboration with the Department of Health organized the "volunteer program for public health." The program provided reproductive health consultation and screening to over 4,000 workers and free health care, free medication and free medicines to 20,000 workers.

In addition, the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union organized a program "Being with young female workers" to provide them with defense skills; psychological, marriage, family consultation; reproductive health advice, nutrition, prevention of diseases, common diseases; free medical and drug allocation.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, deputy director of the Center for Social Affairs of the HCM City Labor Federation, said the focus of the center in 2012 was providing knowledge on reproductive health and safe sex to workers.

The Fund for Workers of HCM City also organized points of sale that supply cheap goods, free games and music shows, free phone calls, etc for workers.

Mr. Tran Thien Long, Deputy Director of the Fund, said: "The introduction of free playgrounds, attractive activities will attract workers to help them have a healthy spiritual and cultural life. They will no longer feel lonely and do not fall in love in a hurry."

NLD