Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

Vietnamese measure richness in luxurious cars and smart phones
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VietNamNet Bridge – Experiencing the difficult period in economic development, Vietnamese still spend billions of dollars on luxurious cars and smart phones.

Vietnam had imported 31,469 cars by the end of November, worth $643.88 million, an increase of 28.8 percent in quantity and 16.1 percent in value.

The two in the collection of luxurious cars owned by Nguyen Duc Thuy, who was the owner of Xuan Thanh Saigon Football Club.

More Rolls-Royce, Lexus in Vietnam

Vietnam has been importing cars from 20 countries and territories, including the US, UK, Germany and France, the suppliers of luxurious cars. From the four markets alone, 2,433 cars have been imported so far this year, worth more $90 million.

Vietnam has imported 13,094 cars so far this year from South Korea with the import turnover of $150.749 million.

Analysts have noted that more luxurious models have been used by Vietnamese. Though the car market sometimes got dreary in 2013 with the low sales of domestically assembled cars, the imports of luxurious cars still have been increasing steadily.

The sharp increase in the number of luxurious cars in Vietnam was the reason why the first authorized dealer of Rolls-Royce was opened in June 2013. By that time, some 70 Rolls-Royce had been imported.

Lexus, another luxurious car brand, also made its official presence in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2013.

$1 billion on mobile phones

The latest report of GFK, a market survey firm, showed that Vietnamese spend $1 billion to buy new mobile phones ever year. About 17 million mobile phones have been sold so far this year, including 7 million high end products.

The high growth rate of 156 percent of the Vietnamese smart phone market, the highest in South East Asia, is an attractive figure to any manufacturer.

Being a poor country, Vietnam has listed itself among the countries with the highest growth rate in telecommunication. Every Vietnamese possesses 1.4 mobile phones, a half of which is high end smart phones.

The noteworthy thing is that Vietnamese spend big money on luxurious products not because they need the products, but just because to show off their richness.

A survey on smartphone users in Asia Pacific conducted by Ericsson Consumerlab found that Vietnamese use smart phones for five basic purposes - making calls (99 percent), making messages (95 percent), surfing on Internet (68 percent), accessing to social networks (38 percent) and for other purposes (35 percent).

64 percent of Singaporeans use smart phones to access to social networks, 82 percent to surf on Internet, 75 percent to send emails and 70 percent install apps. Meanwhile, the figures are 38 percent, 68 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent, respectively, for Vietnam.

The figures showed that Vietnamese use hi-tech phones just to conduct the operations they can do with normal phones.

Commenting about the luxurious car imports, Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong said the import turnover increase in the context of the current difficulties showed that a part of the Vietnamese have not cut down expenses despite the economic recession.

He said the government needs to apply a more flexible taxation policy, under which a high tax need to be imposed on luxurious cars to restrict the imports.

Nam Phong

[jackbl]

On Vietnamese and the Vietnamese identity
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HANOI – Is the defiant four-year-old boy with the family name from the British Isles and the given name from Vietnam becoming bilingual?

His one word answer to a different question from his mother warmed her Saigonese heart. “Khong,” he said, meaning “no.”

So what if he was refusing to do something she had asked him to do, like putting down the iPad or something. What mattered was not what he said but how he said it.

And perhaps he will need to speak Vietnamese if he wants to actually be Vietnamese, and not just another monolingual American like his father. That, at least, is the notion that my new friend Nhuong advanced the other day when we chatted at the Bookworm, the capital’s English language bookstore.

Nhuong, speaking English quite well, was curious about how her mother tongue was faring in my big phat extended Vietnamese-American family. All considered, I would have to say it is complicated. But it is interesting to think that, while Nhuong would surely consider my wife Vietnamese, she might not say the same about my wife’s seven younger siblings, even some who were born in Vietnam, because of their lack of fluency.

“If they can’t speak Vietnamese,” Nhuong declared, “then they really aren’t Vietnamese.” So Viet Kieus who cannot speak the native tongue, in her view, really are not Vietnamese at all.

An interesting point of view. I explained that my wife, the eldest of eight siblings, arrived in the U.S. in the first grade speaking no English. By the end of the year, she was fully fluent and served as her parents’ translator while they struggled to learn the new language. But today my wife says her Vietnamese still is not nearly as polished as the English of the Vietnam-born colleagues she manages here for an international company.

Far be it from me to judge the quality of her siblings’ Vietnamese, but I know that I have rarely heard them use it, even in conservations with their parents. The older ones, especially, seem to understand a fair amount; in addition to their parents, they spent a lot of time with their ba ngoai (maternal grandmother) and ba noi (paternal grandmother). Growing up, they all took Vietnamese lessons on Saturdays – part of the proud immigrant community’s effort to preserve their identity and culture. First-generation immigrants to America want to honor and preserve their culture – but they know that assimilation is more important.

Certainly through the multicultural American eyes they are considered Vietnamese – Vietnamese-American, to be more precise – even if they struggle with the mother tongue. They still look Vietnamese, they still visit Little Saigon, they still eat pho ga (Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken). They are perceived as Vietnamese and perceive themselves as Vietnamese as well. Tell them they are not Vietnamese and they might take offense. Immigrants losing their mother tongue is nothing new; America is home to millions of millions of people with Spanish surnames who do not speak Spanish, and millions of Asians who only speak English.

But I get Nhuong’s point. In another week, my American-born sister-in-law will arrive. She is certainly a Vietnamese girl in America, as were many of her sorority sisters at university. She certainly knows her way around Orange County’s Little Saigon. But her Vietnamese, I am sure, is quite limited. This could be quite a culture shock experiencing the real Saigon and the one and only Hanoi for the first time. I wonder how she will feel when she needs to find a shopkeeper, say, who speaks a little English.

When we came to Vietnam three years ago, we thought the chances were good that the little guy could become fully fluent in Vietnamese. We would hire a Vietnamese nanny, maybe even put him in Vietnamese preschool. We were pleased, also, that his older brother and sister, now ages 12 and 10, would study Vietnamese in their international school.

To encourage them, I proposed a competition with a wager, promising a few bucks if they proved better at Vietnamese than the old man. The girl, 10, is far beyond my “taxi Vietnamese” and delights old folks in the Old Quarter with her rudimentary questions. But the boy, 12, has switched to Spanish because, strangely, Vietnamese is not offered in middle school. (Spanish is fine though; that was his mother’s third language.)

Still, the greatest hope lies with the little guy. He understands a lot of Vietnamese, I am told by his mother and his nanny. But he prefers English, and he is stubborn.

So when they ask him to speak Vietnamese, he usually just says that one word: “Khong!”

It is a start, anyway.

[jackbl]

Will Vietnam change time zone to GMT+8?
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VietNamNet Bridge – Some scientists and analysts believe that Vietnam would gain bigger benefits in its socio-economic development if it applies the GMT+8 time zone instead of the current GMT+7. The issue remains controversial.

Vietnam was once advised to change the time zone into GMT+8 many years ago by a Japanese economist.

As all the regional economic centers, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taiwan) are located in the GMT+8 zone, the financial news always “go ahead” of Vietnam and Thailand because the markets open sooner than Vietnam and Thailand.

Therefore, the negative impacts, if they occur, on the finance market would seriously influence Thailand and Vietnam. Meanwhile, since the other regional markets close one hour earlier, investors and economic policy makers would have one more night to think carefully until the markets open the next morning.

What happened with the 1997 Asian financial crisis could be seen a valuable lesson for Vietnam. The Bangkok stock market then incurred the “tsunami” when investors rushed to bargain stocks away. Meanwhile, the Singaporean market, which ignited the tsunami, closed the door one hour before.

This explained why the then Thai Prime Minister Thaksin in 2001 announced the intention of applying the time zone GMT+8 to foster the Thai economy, even though Thailand is geographically further than Vietnam from the GMT+8.

The GMT+8 time zone would also help shorten the night and lengthen the day.

If so, cities would light up later than currently. Street lamps would be turned on at 6.30 am or 7 am instead of 6 am as currently. This is enough to save trillions of dong.

And people would go to bed sooner. At present, they go to bed at 10 pm, which means that they use electricity for four hours, from 6 pm to 10 pm. But if the new time zone is applied, they would use electricity for 3-3.5 hours only.

Doan Huu Nguyen, a reader, in the email to VTC Editorial Board, affirmed that this is a very cheap and easy method to help save electricity, especially when Vietnam still faces the power shortage, while the Electricity of Vietnam is hungry for capital to develop electricity plants.

Some scientists have also agreed that the GMT+8 would bring more benefits. At present, people finish their working hours at 5 pm and get home at 6 pm, when it is dark. But with the GMT+8, they would get home when it is still light, and they can delay the turning of the light on for one hour.

GMT+8 would also help create more jobs and accumulate demand. If people finish working hours when it is still light, they would try to go shopping, playing sports or taking extra works, which would create more GDP to the society.

Meanwhile, if people leave the office late, when it gets dark, they would rather to go home instead of joining other activities.

Especially, the GMT+8 solution has been applauded by economists. In principle, the smaller the difference between the Vietnam time and international time is, the better it would be for Vietnam.

This explains why Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which are located at a lower longitude than Vietnam should apply the GMT+7 time zone, but they are applying the GMT+8.

Mai Chi

[jackbl]

Vietnam through a young expat’s eyes
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Having lived in Vietnam for three years and cycled from Hanoi to Saigon in just one month, a young Canadian girl wants to learn even more about Vietnam and its people.

She dreamed of telling her own story of VN in a book read by many people across the globe. Her dream suddenly came true in June when Moon Travel Guides, a top publishing house based in the US, hired her to write a guidebook about Vietnam.

The lucky girl is 25-year-old Dana Filek Gibson. Her friends in Saigon gave her the nickname Little Na because she is petite. She speaks Vietnamese well, enjoys driving a motorcycle, and loves Vietnamese street food.

The more I travel, the more I love VN

Dana has to work every day from 7am to midnight to meet her March deadline. She acts as a tourist to collect information about hotels and restaurants in popular tourist destinations, recording the details as she goes.

Dana takes time to find information before travelling to a certain city or province. She says it is much easier to find information about tourist attractions in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi by doing research on the Internet or asking experienced tour-guides. For attractions in rural areas and the countryside, she asks local people or her friends for information.

Dana said she became interested in studying about VN because it helped her understand more about its culture and history. She told Tuoi Tre that when she first came to Saigon in 2010, she was much impressed by several tourist attractions such as the Reunification Palace, the Notre Dame Church, and Ben Thanh Market, but she took them at face value. However, after researching these sites, she began to find Vietnamese history more and more fascinating.

Dana told Tuoi Tre that she loves learning about Con Dao Island because its history is important to Vietnamese people. Her favorite beachside city is Da Nang and the mountainous area she loves most is the northwest.

Dana also said she loves local people. “I’ve been in Vietnam for a long time and have talked to many Vietnamese in Saigon, Hanoi, and Da Nang. I’ve realized local people are very kind,” she revealed.

She said foreign tourists appreciate the hospitality and friendliness of Vietnamese people. When she cycled from Hanoi to Sa Pa to Dien Bien Phu with her parents earlier this year, they were welcomed by locals warmly and made to feel they were part of their families.

From the letter in 1964 to “rip-offs”

Dana said she would never forget a story told to her by an old Vietnamese man she met in Tra Vinh when she was in the Mekong Delta region to collect materials for her book. When she was walking around Hang pagoda in Tra Vinh province, a local man in his 70s appeared and began talking to her.

He told her many interesting stories about antiquities, tourist attractions, and historic relics in Tra Vinh, including Hang pagoda. Before leaving, the old man showed her an old letter sent to him by an American military official nearly half a decade ago.

In the letter, it was written that in a town where just a few people could speak English, he [the old man] spoke English very well and was a kind and honest person. It urged visitors of the town to ask him for help. The writer’s signature was at the bottom.

Dana believes that the biggest problems that Vietnamese tourism authorities have to deal with are rip-offs and scams that target foreigners. “If a product is worth VND10,000, it is acceptable if you sell that product to foreigners for VND12,000, but it’s not fair if it is sold for VND30,000,” she said.

In her guidebook, Dana will provide readers with some tips to avoid being ripped off or fall victim to scams. She suggests that tourists request the price of an item before paying, bargain for a cheaper price, or simply select the best option from shops that sell similar products.

She hopes her book will become a dependable guide for tourists to Vietnam, especially for those hailing from America.

When asked about whether or not she can compete with Lonely Planet, Dana replied that she just hopes that her book is able to offer tourists more choices. “Most western tourists don’t like to buy tour packages because they cannot explore a real Vietnam,” Dana said. “If everyone reads Lonely Planet and goes to the places it recommends, there is no real Vietnam any more. So I hope my book will have its own readers,” she added.

After graduating from the Writing faculty at Emerson University based in Boston, Massachusetts in 2010, Dana came to HCMC in Vietnam to learn about Asian culture.

During her first year in the city, she was a teacher at some major English schools. She said she enjoys teaching kids but her passion for writing is stronger. In 2012, she began her own column in Asia Life Magazine, titled “Odd One Out,” a lighthearted take on expat life. She also writes in-depth features about Vietnamese culture, such as the Chicken Beauty Contest in Hoc Mon, a rural district of HCMC.

Dana says that after finishing her travel guide, she will continue to write about Saigon, where she first fell in love with Vietnam and where she has lived for three years.

“The more I study about Vietnam, the more I love it and realize that it is part of my life,” Dana said.

“I’m very happy. This opportunity (writing a guidebook) is not for everyone. I find it very meaningful to study about Vietnam and to travel. It’s very hard to find a job at newspapers or magazines, especially in the US and Canada where employers often prefer experienced people to youth" - said Dana Filek Gibson.

[decent02]

Anybody know the translation in tieng viet....拜太岁

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by decent02

Anybody know the translation in tieng viet....拜太岁

Not sure whether they have such practices... I try to search for 1 hour but cannot find

[jackbl]

Vietnamese New Year customs
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The Lunar New Year Festival is the most important popular in Viet Nam as during the time, Vietnamese people practice a number of New Year customs.

1. Clean and decorate the home

One of the first preparation steps to welcome Tet Holiday is cleaning and decorating the house.

It is a common belief that cleaning the house will get rid of the bad fortunes associated with the old year.

Vietnamese usually carefully sweep and scrub the floor, begin for the cleaning is the ancestor altars then ahead to the kitchen where is believed that the Kitchen God exists.

Some make up with new paintings, flower vases while others make the house newer with a new color painting wall or some colorful ribbons.

2. Literally means "getting new clothes"

Likely to some other biggest holidays, Christmas, New Year’s Days, Thanks Giving, either Tet Holiday brings to all people a new look through new clothes.

This is often the most exciting part of the Vietnamese New Year among children.

Parents usually purchase new clothes and shoes for their children a month prior to the New Year. However, children cannot wear their new clothes until the first day of the New Year and onward. The best outfit is always worn on the first day of the year.

3. Sending the Kitchen Gods to the Heaven (Ong Tao)

It is important to offer a farewell ceremony “The Kitchen God” to the Heaven Palace on 23rd (seven days prior to Tet holidays) because he needs to report to the Emperor what has happening through the year.

An interesting vehicle for the God is “Carp Fish.” People said that the bigger the carp is the faster the God could reach up the Heaven. And Vietnamese usually send the carp to the Kitchen God by grilling and praying at the kitchen.

4. New Year's Eve

A common and significant task that happens on New Year is New Year’s Eve, when all people gather and pray for the incoming year.

It is also time for the Kitchen God returning. At the stroke of midnight all problems from the previous year are left behind and mayhem ensues.

5. The aura of the earth

Giao Thua is the most sacred time of the year. Therefore, the first houseguest to offer the first greeting is very important.

If that particular guest has a good aura (well respected, well educated, successful, famous, etc.), then the family believes that they will receive luck and good fortune throughout the year.

The belief of "Xong Dat" still remains nowadays, especially among families with businesses.

6. Apricot flowers and peach flowers

Flower buds and blossoms are the symbols for new beginning.

These two distinctive flowers are widely sold and purchased during Tet.

Apricot flowers (Hoa Mai) are the yellow apricot flowers often seen in Southern Viet Nam. Hoa Mai are more adaptable to the hot weather of southern regions, thus, it is known as the primary flower in every home.

Peach flowers are the warm pink of the peach blossoms that match well with the dry, cold weather from the North.

7. Giving away red envelopes (filled with lucky money)

This is a cultural practice that has been maintained for generations. The red envelopes symbolize luck and wealth.

This greeting ritual and Li Xi is also known as Mung Tuoi, honoring the achievement of another year to one's life.

Before receiving the red envelope, children must send some best wishes to their ancestors.

The amount of money would grow up to the children age.

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by jackbl

Not sure whether they have such practices... I try to search for 1 hour but cannot find

the Viet chinese knew where to pray to tai sui...the grand duke jupiter...there is popular temple in d5 where they go to pray to tai sui yearly near Tan Da...local xe om around there should know how to go...

Viet who are non chinese dun know about praying to Tai Sui...so dun bother to waste time talking to them...best way is to get their full name, birth date and find the conversion of lunar birth date and the time of birth...pray on their behalf...

[KangTuo]

Originally Posted by decent02

Anybody know the translation in tieng viet....拜太岁

Google translate is Nhờ vào sao Mộc
太岁 = Sao Mộc

Maybe try sms a vb say " anh di Chua cung sao moc"
See what vb reply

[jackbl]

Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City?
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It is one of those questions that pop up whenever there is a new gathering of expatriates in Vietnam. Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City? Which do you prefer?

This time it was at a soiree the day after Christmas, or “Boxing Day,” as the Brits call it. Around the table were folks from Europe, North America, South America and New Zealand. As the young German explained his preference for Hanoi, I nodded my concurrence.

This is a question that divides my wife and I. She was born in Saigon and left a few years later, after it was renamed in honor of the late Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh. So naturally she thinks of Saigon as home. She speaks with a southern accent and enjoys visiting not-so-distant relatives. She finds the southern food more flavorful, the society friendlier. She does not mind the heat and she likes the hustle and bustle.

But I have never lived in Ho Chi Minh City. And Hanoi is starting to feel like. . . well, if not home, then maybe a bit homey.

But it is not a matter of sentiment and weather. While some cities are blandly generic, others have distinctive personalities. Visitors from Mars, I suspect, could sense the way that Ho Chi Minh City leans into the future, toward globalization and modernity, while Hanoi seems more resistant, more wedded to the past.

So like the German, I prefer the somewhat less hurried pace of Hanoi and its mildewed charm. Hanoi can be frenetic, of course, but the lakes seem to provide a natural antidote. What we both like about Hanoi – Indeed, what charms many foreigners about Vietnam’s capital – is the sense of antiquity, a living antiquity, and the way Hanoi conveys that past, present and future. Somehow the sight of a Rolls Royce or Ferrari seems stranger in Hanoi than down south.

To me the difference between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is visceral. You can see it in the people, in the streetscape, in the architecture. All leave an impression.

Consider: When you think about the people you see everyday that symbolize Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, which ones come to mind? What do they look like?

Down south, the stereotypical Saigonese may be more stylishly dressed and ride a shinier, newer motorbike. They work in offices and might follow the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. These days they can also drop by Starbucks stores – still yet to arrive in Hanoi.

Up in the capital, among the workaday masses, there seems to be more men in uniform –more military, more police, and more authority figures. But even more so, there seem to be more women (almost always women) carrying ganh – the bamboo yokes hung with baskets at each end that in the morning can carry loads of produce and in the afternoon may carry cans and cardboard for recycling.

Think about the ganh for a moment. Vietnam is a young nation, dating to 1975 in its current borders. But the culture dates some 4,000 years. It is safe to assume that the ganh was used before the wheel. Why? It was used as a pram, of sorts, by my wife’s maternal grandmother. When my wife was a toddler, she and her younger brother would be balanced on a ganh and carried during her immediate family’s visits to her grandmother in the countryside.

Now consider the architecture. No landmark exhibits the aspirational ambition of contemporary Vietnam more than the Bitexco tower in Ho Chi Minh City. So what works of architecture best symbolize Hanoi?

It’s certainly not the 72-story Keangnam Tower, tall but boxy and far from central. Nope, to me, two postcard images come to mind. One is the austere, stately tomb of the late president Ho Chi Minh. The other is the old Turtle Tower on the tiny island in Hoan Kiem Lake. This humble, photogenic landmark is fittingly under the gaze, from across the street, of a statue of legendary 10th century King Ly Thai To, from the era when Hanoi was known as Thang Long, or “Rising Dragon.”

Hanoi’s public art honors its history. Ly Thai To is credited with repelling invaders from the north, and here he presides over the legend of the Lake of the Returned Sword – and the remarkably true, living legend of the surviving Ho Guom turtle. Meanwhile, a few miles away, the statue of Vladimir Lenin stands opposite the landmark Flag Tower, gazing toward an old MIG jet fighter from the American War era, as if wistfully saluting Vietnam’s triumph over another great foreign power. This is more poetic than the military history displays one sees in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese, too, can go on and on about the differences between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. I prefer to apply my pet theory for understanding the yin and yang of Vietnam, the duality of north and south. Imagine a ganh that balances two creatures of culture’s folklore, the turtle and the dragon.

Ho Chi Minh City is a dragon – quick, daring, creative and fanciful. Hanoi used to be “Rising Dragon,” but now it is more like a turtle – stolid, conservative, persevering, and as real as the old one in Hoan Kiem Lake.

[jackbl]

Sleeping man’s penis cut off by his wife
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VietNamNet Bridge – The Can Tho General Hospital has announced to successful reconnect the penis of a patient whose penis was cut by his wife while he was sleeping.

According to medical records, at 4.10pm on January 3, the hospital received patient Phan Van D, 45 years old, a native in Binh Thuy District, Can Tho City, with a cut-off penis.

According to the testimony of the patient’s relatives, the man’s penis was cut off by his wife when he was sleeping. Shortly after, the patient's relatives froze the penis with ice and took the man to hospital.

Doctors said that the penis was cut about two hours earlier. A group of four doctors conducted an emergency surgery to reconnect the penis.

The surgery lasted four hours and was successful. Currently the patient is recovering very well and he will be discharged from hospital in the next few days.

The patient, Mr. D, said that the incident occurred at about 3am on January 3, when he was sleeping. Then he called a younger brother to take him to hospital.

At the hospital, D’s brother told doctors that his penis was cut with scissors but D’s wife said that she cut it with a knife.

The woman felt regret for her act and asked for her husband’s forgiveness.

Before cutting her husband’s penis, this woman had warned her husband several times that if he has promiscuous behaviors, she would cut off his penis.

"I thought that she joked but she did it," D said, adding that his wife is very jealous with his business partners.

Le Ha

[jackbl]

Waiting for the big one – Tet
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As an expatriate in Ho Chi Minh City, the festive period can be a strange time. On the one hand, you want to be with your family back home for a few days to enjoy the Christmas celebrations. On the other, you know that if you can ride it out with gritted teeth, then you can look forward to what is now your new Christmas – Tet.

When people back in the UK ask me what Christmas is like in Ho Chi Minh City, I tell them it is more about local people going into District 1 to look at the city lights on streets like Nguyen Hue Boulevard and taking advantage of the photo opportunities than sitting around the Christmas tree to unwrap your presents, lots of alcohol, turkey and trimmings, Christmas pudding and the likes.

Well as it happens, my wife actually could tell I was a little homesick and invited a few of our friends round for a Christmas party which perked me up, and we had a singsong and dance with some food and drink.

Although it is not the same as being back in my native country, the temperature for one thing makes you realize that. It was good fun.

The last time I went home for Christmas, I went from around 30 degrees to -5. Talk about a shock to the system. Just as well I had put a big jumper and jacket in my suitcase.

Now that the western festivities are almost out the way, with just New Year to come in a few days and the fireworks downtown, it is the real holiday season.

In Scotland, most people go out to ‘celebrate the bells’, i.e. when the church clocks strike midnight bringing in a new year of hope, prosperity and happiness in street parties despite the cold weather, organized bashes or just home gatherings for close family and friends. New Year’s Eve in Scotland is called Hogmanay and the Scots have a long, rich heritage associated with this time of year.

The New Year’s Eve custom of singing Auld Lang Syne all around the world is a Scottish tradition. The song comes from a Robert Burns poem which is set to music and people link arms in a circle as they sing this song when the clock strikes midnight for New Year’s Day.

Now, I live in a country which I reckon looks forward to Tet more than western people anticipate Christmas and New Year put together.

I have tried to describe Tet to friends and family but fail to encapsulate the enormity of it.

The western festive period sees a complete standstill for a day or two. But for Tet it is literally two weeks of deserted streets, especially in the big cities, as the workers all head back to their home provinces.

Trying to describe that to people who have never visited Vietnam is a tough ask. I suppose it is one of those things that you have to live among to appreciate.

A lot of foreigners come to Vietnam’s big cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City during Tet, thinking it will be a great time to visit and party.

I had a friend who did exactly that, spending around a week during the holiday season in Ho Chi Minh City. He was complaining it was boring, the streets were dead and there was no one here. But how would he know? If he had gone to a western city during the festivities, he would have found his party. Obviously things are a little different here.

I think one of the main differences is that whereas the western festive period seems to be rushed and split up, as maybe you get Christmas Day or Christmas Eve off and New Year’s Day and January 2 off, Tet is more spread out and makes for such an enjoyable time when you can literally do nothing for a week (or two), recuperate and then head back into the firing line.

Maybe western economies decided they can’t afford to let the whole country off for such a long time. The extended break in Vietnam is desperately needed for local people and expatriates residing here. For most it is their only holiday for the whole year. Some people literally work every day and hang on in there knowing their fortnight of family time is awaiting them.

If Christmas is for family, then multiply that by 100 for Tet.

I myself will be heading down to the Mekong Delta to visit my wife’s family for my first holiday since last Tet. I too share that desperate need to just get away from it all and enjoy time in a quiet village, doing the simple things, living the good life without a worry or care in the world.

I can’t wait, roll on Tet

[jackbl]

Almost 33,000 prostitutes work in Vietnam, illegally
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Prostitution is totally banned in Vietnam but the nation was reported to have almost 33,000 sex workers in 2013, up 2,800 over the previous year, according to an online meeting on HIV/AIDS prevention.

At the conference organized in Hanoi by the National Committee for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS, drugs, and prostitution, authorities said they could only identify 9,000 of them.

The period in the two years 2012-13 was the most complicated time since prostitution, which is considered a social evil, developed further beyond the control of relevant authorities. Sex workers mainly gather in tourist hotspots as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Nam Dinh, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

Now, Vietnam has 83,000 units working in sensible condition as bars, discotheques, karaoke and massaging. 8,000 of them have the regular services of young women who are suspected of disguised sex workers.

So far, Vietnam has carried out a national plan in 20 pilot provinces to help prostitutes give up the job and further integrate into the communities by giving them loans, but only 500 prostitutes have been given loans worth a total of VND2 billion (US$96,200).

Last year saw an increase of cases of prostitution-related crimes over the previous year.

[jackbl]

Local music, paintings to be showcased in Singapore
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A music show featuring Vietnamese singers Bang Kieu, Hong Nhung, Le Hieu and Phuong Vy will take place at the famous Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore on January 11.

Themed “Da Khuc Mua Xuan” (Spring Serenade), the show is organized to bring the atmosphere of Vietnamese Tet to Vietnamese people living and working in Singapore as well as Vietnamese tourists there. The audience will see love and spring-themed songs which have made the reputations of the participating singers. Besides solo performances, the singers will also perform never been seen before duets.

Tickets can be bought at www.sistic.com.sg or Dong Dao Music Lounge, 164 Pasteur Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1. “Da Khuc Xuan” will be held at 7:30pm at Marina Bay Sands’ Sands Theatre.

Four days later, the Hanoi-based CUC Gallery will participate in the Art Stage Singapore 2014 fair from January 15 to January 19 also at the Marina Bay Sands. The Gallery will present paintings by local artists including Nguyen Trung, Do Hoang Tuong, Nguyen Son, Ly Tran Quynh Giang and Duong Thuy Lieu.

Founded by Lorenzo Rudolf, Art Stage Singapore has attracted art collectors and artists from many countries with a focus on Asian contemporary art. Last year it attracted more than 35,000 visitors with the participation of over 100 galleries from 23 countries.

[owen10]

Originally Posted by jackbl

Almost 33,000 prostitutes work in Vietnam, illegally
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Prostitution is totally banned in Vietnam but the nation was reported to have almost 33,000 sex workers in 2013, up 2,800 over the previous year, according to an online meeting on HIV/AIDS prevention.

At the conference organized in Hanoi by the National Committee for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS, drugs, and prostitution, authorities said they could only identify 9,000 of them.

The period in the two years 2012-13 was the most complicated time since prostitution, which is considered a social evil, developed further beyond the control of relevant authorities. Sex workers mainly gather in tourist hotspots as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Nam Dinh, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs.

Now, Vietnam has 83,000 units working in sensible condition as bars, discotheques, karaoke and massaging. 8,000 of them have the regular services of young women who are suspected of disguised sex workers.

So far, Vietnam has carried out a national plan in 20 pilot provinces to help prostitutes give up the job and further integrate into the communities by giving them loans, but only 500 prostitutes have been given loans worth a total of VND2 billion (US$96,200).

Last year saw an increase of cases of prostitution-related crimes over the previous year.

actually not surprsing at all. prostitution is 1 of the oldest professions around and thriving everywhere. the report didnt take into account the number of prostitutes working in S'pore and worldwide. figures would be very alarming indeed.