Côn Sơn-Kiếp Bạc Spring fest opens in Hải Dương

Local teams participate in a mud- cracker making contest.

Every year, thousands of people from all over the country flock to Hải Dương Province to attend solemn rituals and enjoy traditional games of the Côn Sơn-Kiếp Bạc Spring Festival.

The latest edition of the festival, which has been celebrated for around 700 years, opened on Sunday, the 16th day of the first lunar month at the Côn Sơn-Kiếp Bạc complex.

The festival commemorates the 683rd death anniversary of the Venerable Huyền Quang, one of the first three patriarchs of Trúc Lâm Zen Buddhism (besides King Trần Nhân Tông and Pháp Loa).

It will also inaugurate the Cửu phẩm liên hoa (nine lotus tower), a structure with special architectural and religious significance. Restoration work on the tower began in 2014 and was completed in 2016.

The festival’s opening ceremony was held at the Côn Sơn Pagoda on Sunday morning in the presence of Government and local leaders including Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, Hải Dương Party Committee Secretary, Nguyễn Mạnh Hiển, Chairman of Hải Dương People’s Committee, Nguyễn Dương Thái and Deputy Chairman of Hải Dương People’s Committee, Lê Văn Cầu.

“Côn Sơn - Kiếp Bạc festival has significant meaning in history, demonstrating the great contribution of Trúc Lâm Zen to the founding of the nation and its defence.

“Côn Sơn pagoda was built in the14th century and was the centre of Trúc Lâm Zen Buddhism. Every year, people from all over the country come to the festival and commemorate the death anniversary of Venerable Huyền Trang,” said Cầu.

The festival, which features many unique religious rituals honours national heroes and introduces historic and cultural relics to visitors, he added.

The nine-storeyed lotus tower was also inaugurated on Sunday. It has a statue of Amitabha on the top floor and more than 200 other Buddha statues.

The tower symbolises nirvana, the state of enlightenment that Amitabha inhabits.

The original Cửu phẩm liên hoa was built by Venerable Huyền Quang during the reign of the Trần Dynasty and was lost after the Lê Dynasty took power.

Based on the archaeological studies and historic documents, Hải Dương Province restored the structure in 2014. Traditional materials including Bát Tràng brick, lim wood (ironwood), blue Thanh Hóa stone and jackfruit wood were used.

As part of the festival, Buddhist ritual called Liên hoa hội thượng, which prays for peace and security for the nation and its people, was held at the Côn Sơn Pagoda on Friday evening. Thousands of Buddhist followers and people participated in the ritual. 

Wrestling contests and bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) making competitions were also held.

The Côn Sơn-Kiếp Bạc complex was declared as a national relic in 1962 and as special national relic in 2012. The Côn Sơn-Kiếp Bạc festival was recognised as national intangible heritage in 2013.

The festival will run until February 19 this year.

Tran Thuong Temple festival named national intangible heritage

Tran Thuong Temple’s food-distributing festival in the northern province of Ha Nam was officially recognised as national intangible heritage at a ceremony on February 10, the 14th day of the first lunar month.

Vice State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh joined leaders from ministries, agencies and Ha Nam province to attend the ceremony.

Holding historical, cultural, and spiritual values, the temple is dedicated to Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300), the Supreme Commander of Vietnam in the Tran Dynasty, who repelled three major Mongolian invasions in the 13th century. 

It is located in Nhan Dao commune of Ly Nhan district, which was chosen by Tran Hung Dao as a food storage area to supply his army during the fight against the Mongolian invaders.

In honour of the past event, a food-distributing festival is held annually at the Tran Thuong Temple on the 14th day of the first lunar month.    

This year, about 150,000 food parcels that contained corn, soybeans, and rice – key staples produced by Ly Nhan residents – were handed out to participants across 37 locations.

The same day, a seal opening ceremony took place at the Tran Kings temple relic site in the northern province of Nam Dinh to pray for a new year of happiness and bumper harvest. 

The ceremony re-enacted a custom dating back to the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400), when mandarins took out their seals after the Tet holiday, resuming administrative activities, including rewarding and conferring titles. 

The event opened with a procession to take the seal from Co Trach temple to Thien Truong temple, where 14 kings of the Tran Dynasty are worshipped.

Following a short speech of a local official praising the great accomplishments of the Tran Dynasty, the seal opening ceremony was held solemnly in line with the traditional rites, with the participation of 120 Tuc Mac villagers from all walks of life. 

The site was closed to visitors during the ceremony and then opened at 23:55 pm last night. 

It has become a tradition for Vietnamese to come here to get a stamp in hope for good luck and happiness. 

The lucky stamps have been distributed among visitors starting 5am on February 12.

Vietnamese authorities to reorganize street vending activities in Hoi An

Street vendors in the ancient town of Hoi An in central Vietnam who rip off tourists or solicit them to buy their items will be purged in a campaign to restore order in the tourist hub.

Boats serving as floating restaurants anchored along the Hoai River near Bach Dang Port will be relocated elsewhere, as they have been found to block tourists’ view of the iconic river.

“That’s not to mention river pollution caused by diners littering on those boats,” said Nguyen Van Son, deputy chairman of the Hoi An City People’s Committee.

Major streets in Hoi An Ancient Town, located in the city’s Minh An Ward, such as Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Tran Phu and Le Loi will be purged of street vendors and souvenir shops that encroach on the sidewalks, taking up the walking path of tourists.

Those who sell overpriced items or are reported to be soliciting tourists to buy their goods will also be thoroughly removed, Son said.

“Street vending is a part of the ancient town’s culture, but the tradition has been abused for the personal benefits of dishonest vendors, on whom we look to crack down in the upcoming reorganization plan,” Son said.

According to Son, the souvenir areas of the ancient town will be reorganized to restore the town’s civilized atmosphere, with street vendors being kept under close supervision by local authorities.

“We will especially focus on eliminating those toys originating from China, 3D paintings and other unsuitable items, while encouraging the sale of locally made goods,” Son added.

As Hoi An grows in popularity among domestic and foreign tourists, there has been an increasing number of non-local merchants moving in to conduct business, bringing along cultures that are not uniquely Hoi An’s and threatening to taint the town’s heritage, according to Nguyen Chi Trung, director of the Hoi An Center for Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation.

A survey conducted recently by the team responsible for the upcoming reorganization project found that as many as 41 dishes and 35 souvenir items are being sold in Hoi An Ancient Town, some of which are not representative of the local culture.

Saigon’s future Western Bus Station to be connected to metro, monorail systems

A new station to be constructed in Binh Chanh District will replace the current Western Bus Station as Ho Chi Minh City’s hub for buses going to and from Mekong Delta provinces.

The new station, which will be built over an area of 17 hectares in An Phu Tay Commune, Binh Chanh District, is expected to handle 50,000 passengers every day with 2,500 buses leaving the station daily on average.

A detailed construction plan is being developed by state-owned Saigon Transportation Mechanical Corporation (SAMCO), which looks to finish the plan no later than April.

A site clearance compensation budget of VND726 billion (US$32.41 million) has also been prepared by SAMCO, which will work with the administration of Binh Chanh District to finish the clearance in the third quarter of this year.

Over 24 hectares of land will be cleared for the project, including 17 hectares for the station and 4.33 hectares for National Highway 1A and a depot for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses that will be connected to the station in the future.

The new station will be structured in accordance with the transit oriented development (TOD) model, which maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within the walking distance of public transport.

The future station will also be linked to such public transport systems as metros, monorail routes, BRT and regular buses, according to its developer.     

Japan's Emperor, Empress to meet wives, children of Japanese WWII soldiers in Hanoi

Hundreds of Japanese soldiers left Vietnam in 1954 without permission to bring their families along.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will meet with the Vietnamese wives and children of Japanese Imperial Soldiers during their first Vietnam visit this March.

The Japanese government announced the meeting would take place in Hanoi on March 2 as part of a weeklong international goodwill tour of the Imperial Couple.

The Imperial Household Agency estimates that Japanese soldiers left several hundred wives and children behind in Vietnam, the Japan Times reported.

The families belonged to roughly 600 Japanese soldiers who had stayed after Japan’s surrender in August 1945. The contingent of soldiers joined the Vietnamese in fighting French colonial rule between 1946 and 1954; many died from combat injuries or illness.

After Vietnam was split into north and south in 1954, most of the soldiers returned to Japan, which prohibited them from bringing the families they had built in Vietnam.

The upcoming meetings are said to reflect the 83-year-old Emperor’s hope for peace.

The Imperial Couple plan to meet with Vietnam's president on March 1 before visiting the former citadel of Hue on March 3 where they will meet with members of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and other Japanese expatriates.

They will leave Hue for Bangkok on March 5 to meet with Thailand’s new king and pay their respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Akihito is the 125th emperor in his line. He succeeded his father in 1989. His wife is 82.

Last August, the long-reigning emperor indicated his intention to step down - a plan that received strong support from the Japanese public.

Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, dropped into Vietnam for a two-day visit last month as part of an Asia-Pacific tour designed to strengthen cooperation in the region. Abe's recent visit marked his third trip to Vietnam.

Japan is one of Vietnam’s top donors and development partners. It has provided a combined US$27.6 billion worth of official development assistance since 1992, nearly a third of all foreign aid to Vietnam.

Nha Trang struggles to return homeless Russian

Authorities have been unable to get in touch with the man's relatives in Vietnam or Russia.

A social center in the central province of Khanh Hoa is asking authorities to help repatriate an indigent Russian national they can no long afford to care for.

Khanh Hoa Social Center said Kunznetsov Oleg, 45, has relied on the agency for months.

According to official sources, Oleg entered Vietnam in 2012 after his mother opened a retail business in the resort town of Nha Trang.

The business did not go very well and Oleg's mother died of a heart attack in 2013. Oleg continued to survive on the remainder of her savings, moving from a hotel to a cheap rented room as the funds dwindled.

Eventually, he began wandering tourist hotspots, begging for money.

The authorities eventually admitted him to the Khanh Hoa Mental Health Hospital after he began to show signs of emotional distress. Then he was later transferred to the Khanh Hoa Social Center.

Officials there say Oleg has claimed he has a sister named Lena living in Vietnam, but the local authorities have been unable to track her down.

Khanh Hoa Province’s Foreign Affairs Department has been working with Russian agencies to find a way to get Oleg back home.

However, Russia's Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City says they've been unable to locate any of Oleg's relatives in Russia.

Bac Ninh urged to become symbol of Vietnam’s rise in high technology

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the northern province of Bac Ninh to become one of the richest localities nationwide and lead the way for Vietnam’s development of electronic and high technology.

Addressing a ceremony to mark Bac Ninh’s 185th founding anniversary and 20 years of re-establishment on February 12, the PM said he hopes Bac Ninh will grow rapidly and sustainably and become a centrally-run city soon.

Bac Ninh should strive to be a city with high creativity, he said. Along with boosting speedy and sustainable growth, Bac Ninh should preserve its unique cultural values, he stressed.

He suggested that together with electronics and high technology, Bac Ninh should focus on developing organic agriculture and international-standard services.

Along with strengthening the use of technology in State management, Bac Ninh should pay special attention to conserving cultural values and environmental protection, he requested.

Formerly known as Kinh Bac Region, the province was named as Bac Ninh in 1831 under the Nguyen Dynasty. It was then merged with Bac Giang province to form Ha Bac province. On November 6, 1996, the 9th National Assembly approved the re-establishment of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang. On January 1, 1997, Bac Ninh officially operated as a new administrative unit.

Bac Ninh is rich in culture and revolutionary tradition. It is home to many celebrities as well as festivals, traditional trade villages and folk art, especially “Quan Ho” (Love duet) singing that was recognised by UNESCO as part of the world intangible cultural heritage.

On the occasion, the PM presented the Independence Order first class to the Party Organisation, government and people of Bac Ninh in recognition of their contributions to national construction and development.

Earlier the same day, PM Phuc also visited the Samsung Complex Expansion Project in Yen Phong Industrial Park.-

14 rescued from capsized speedboat off southern Vietnam

Fourteen people were rescued from a speedboat sinking off the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang while the vessel was attempting to reach the mainland.

The victims were brought to safety by a local fishing ship after their speedboat was capsized by strong waves near Lai Son Island off Kien Giang, Colonel Dang Van Thong, commissar of the provincial border guard office, announced on February 8.

According the initial report, in the early morning of February 8, 12 tourists took a boat from Rach Gia City to Nam Du Island off Kien Giang.

While on Nam Du, a member of the group fell off a motorcycle and broke her arm, prompting them to rent a speedboat around 7:00 pm to return their wounded friend to the mainland for treatment.

Approximately 10 kilometers off the coast of Lai Son Island, the vessel hit rough seas and the 12 tourists and two boatmen were sent overboard.

The victims were able to survive using their lifejackets until local fishermen came to their rescue around 8:00 pm.

According to Col. Thong, the speedboat had a maximum capacity of 12 people and was only registered to carry passengers on excursions around Nam Du Island and was not permitted to take travelers from the island to the mainland.

Local authorities also forbid ships from carrying passengers in the evening, he continued.

Our top priority is to assist the tourists, who were brought to Mau Islet near Nam Du, Thong said, adding that further investigation will be carried out.

HCM City resorts to motorbike barriers on sidewalks

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have installed barriers along a number of downtown streets to prevent motorcyclists from entering pedestrian sidewalks.

The barriers went up on the sidewalkss of Pasteur, Ly Tu Trong and Nguyen Binh Khiem streets in Ben Nghe Ward.

Gaps in the barriers were left to offer wheelchair access.

Officials in Ben Nghe Ward hoped the barriers would help protect tourists, students and other pedestrians from drivers hoping to jump ahead of traffic.

Many motorcyclists, however, have been photographed trying to bypass the barriers.

Chinese police rescue 32 Vietnamese women from trafficking ring

Police in China have rescued 32 women trafficked from Vietnam and busted a human trafficking ring after spending more than a year following a suspected victim.

A total of 75 suspects have been arrested, Chinese media cited police from Yunnan in southwest China as saying.

Police from across seven provinces in China started a joint investigation in September 2015 after officers spotted a woman who was unable to speak Chinese traveling with a man who was acting suspiciously.

They discovered that the woman was Vietnamese and had been sold as a bride for US$11,600 to a local man, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Their investigation uncovered a Chinese gang member based in Vietnam working directly with another in China to traffic Vietnamese women. The women were sold across the country through several middlemen.

The Vietnamese government reported nearly a 13% increase in the number of human trafficking victims in 2016, taking the figure to 1,128 for the year.

Police have only managed to rescue around half of them.

They were sold to men seeking wives in China, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea, or just to bear children or work as prostitutes in these countries.

Health sector aims to continue controlling HIV infection

The Health Ministry has reported that HIV carriers in the country has numbered 231,000, with 87,000 having developed full-blown AIDS, and HIV infection in community has continuously been kept under 0.3 percent.

Up to 275 centres have been providing methadone treatment, while 385 facilities supplied ARV treatment across 63 cities and provinces, it said.  

In 2016, all provinces and cities had HIV testing facilities while community-based testing and counseling models were piloted in Thanh Hoa, Thai Nguyen, Dien Bien, Nghe An and Ho Chi Minh City, helping to detect 450 HIV carriers, or 10 percent of the new infections.

In the coming time, the health sector will expand the community-based HIV testing models, deliver syringes and condoms free, especially in remote and mountainous areas, and broaden the methadone treatment in detention camps and rehab facilities, among others.

It will strengthen the quality of monitoring HIV in 30 provinces and cities, conduct assessments of HIV/AIDS in highly-prone localities, and make forecast on high-risk groups in all 63 cities and provinces in service of the making of intervention plans and measures.

Bac Giang: Bo Da pagoda festival becomes national cultural heritage

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recognised Bo Da pagoda festival in the northern province of Bac Giang as national intangible cultural heritage.

The newly-recognised heritage brings the total number of national intangible cultural heritage in Bac Giang province to 12.

The recognition acknowledges the province’s cultural values while opening new opportunities for spiritual tourism development.

A ceremony will be held during the Bo Da festival that takes place on March 13-15 (the 16th to 18th day of the second lunar month) to receive certificates for a special national relic site, national intangible cultural heritage, a Vietnam heritage tree, and two records for the nation’s largest tower garden and the oldest wooden sculpture of the Lam Te Thien (Zen) Lineage of Vietnamese Buddhism.

The festival helps promote the historical and architectural values of the Bo Da pagoda while introducing the beauty of the landscape, people and traditional culture of Viet Yen district and Bac Giang province in general.

The event features several activities, including a ceremony to receive the certificate of special national relics status for the Bo Da pagoda and a Quan ho (love duet) singing festival.

Quan ho artists will also perform on boats in Ao Mieu (Temple Pond) in Ha Lat hamlet, Tien Son commune while bonsai trees and local agricultural products will be on display.

Competitions such as calligraphy writing and folk games will also take place during the festival.

HCM City district hospital performs hip replacement surgery

After being trained by doctors from the Thủ Đức District Hospital, surgeons at another local hospital in HCM City, District 11, on Thursday performed their first hip replacement operation on a 98-year-old patient.

The Thủ Đức hospital is rated as first grade after achieving standards of treatment available at city- and central-level hospitals.

Hip replacement involves a certain degree of expertise available only at a few district-level hospitals in the city, according to health experts.

The patient, belonging to Bình Thuận Province, was brought to the District 11 Hospital on Tuesday with a broken hip bone.

Dr Phạm Thanh Vũ, acting head of the hospital’s general surgery ward, said the man has been admitted in the ICU after surgery, and is expected to be discharged in the next five days.

He would then get physical therapy to help him walk, he said.

“The fracture was complicated. The patient’s good health was one of the factors [that tipped the scale in favour of surgery] because we normally cannot perform surgery on old patients if they have chronic conditions.”

The surgery would help the man have a good quality of life, he said.

Huỳnh Trọng Nghĩa, the patient’s grandchild, said that his family did not want to bring his grandfather to city or central-level hospitals because they had to wait for a long time for surgery due to overcrowding there.

Knowing that the District 11 Hospital could perform the hip replacement operation, his family chose it, Nghĩa said and added that it was right choice and they put trust in right hospital.

According to Vũ, when old people get hip damage, they are highly susceptible to bedsore, which can lead to infections and other fatal complications such as pneumonia.

Before Tết the hospital’s doctors had performed hip replacement surgery on another nonagenarian with assistance from doctors at the Thủ Đức District Hospital.

According to the 108 Military Central Hospital in Hà Nội, hip fractures are common among people above 60, with women at higher risk than men.

They often occur due to tripping and falling or slipping in the bathroom.

Vũ said families with seniors should take precautions.

Businesses on West Lake to be closed

Service and entertainment businesses in the West Lake area will be closed for a cleaning and renovating project, the Hà Nội People’s Committee said in an official document.

The committee assigned the People’s Committee of Tây Hồ District to close all service, tourism, entertainment businesses and farming and fishing activities around the lake within the first quarter of this year.

The city’s Department of Planning and Investment will collaborate with the Department of Construction to prepare a report on an urgent water cleaning project for the lake, which will be presented to the Prime Minister.

The district’s committee is also responsible for gathering and removing boats, ships, bridges, floating platforms and other floating vehicles from the lake.

The West Lake has been polluted by discharge of untreated water and the mass deaths of 200 tonnes of fish in October last year.

The district’s committee will collaborate with the construction department and the Hà Nội Sewerage and Drainage Limited Company to develop a proposal on dredging, improving landscape around the lake, treating water pollution and constructing an environmental monitoring system, which will be submitted to the city’s committee. 

The Hà Nội Sewerage and Drainage Limited Company will be responsible for developing a proposal on cleaning the lake’s water using the RedOxy water treatment product and technique. 

The three departments of planning, environment and construction will cooperate to evaluate the wastewater treatment proposal by Phú Điền Construction, Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company and report their findings to the city’s committee.

Agriculture administrative procedures to go online in Q1

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan has asked relevant agencies to speed up the ministry’s online public services, making all agriculture administrative procedures available online by the end of next month.

At a meeting on online public services on February 8, Tuan said the ministry wants to reduce at least 15 percent of the cost for administration procedures.

“Agencies under the ministry must meet and talk to businesses and residents about administrative procedures every six months,” he said.

The deputy minister also asked agencies to review administrative procedures under their management and select services they could offer at online registration service level 4, which allows people, businesses and management units to perform administrative formalities, submit required forms, handle documents, payments and receive results using only a computer connected to the internet.

He noted that online registration service level 4 basically involves import/export procedures, and thus requires careful preparation or Vietnam will become an uncontrolled market of farming products for the world.

“Quality of farming products must be top priority,” he said.

Deputy head of the ministry’s Staff Organisation Department Ngo Hong Quang said the ministry has developed its portal providing online information on administrative procedures at dvc.mard.gov.vn.

A few departments, including International Cooperation Department and Business Management Department, had failed to complete their review and update procedures on that page.

Quang said the ministry’s portal connected with a national single window mechanism and offered nine procedures at level 3 and eight procedures at level 4.

This year, the ministry would speed up the selection of procedures to apply online public service registration level 3 and 4 and develop a frame of its activities for e-government development.

There are four levels of public service online registration:

Level 1: Procedures to fill in the required forms and information about time and service cost are available online.

Level 2: The service allows the user to download the required forms to be printed and filled in later.

Level 3: The applicant can fill in and submit the forms online.

Level 4: Service payments can be settled online. Transaction results are available either online or by post, upon request.

Mekong provinces work to build water pumping stations

Water pumping stations in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provide more than 985,000 cubic metres daily to urban areas, meeting 89 percent of the need, the Ministry of Construction has said.

Of this, around 650,000 cu.m come from the Tien and Hau rivers and the rest from groundwater sources, according to the ministry.

The provinces that depend much on groundwater are Long An, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau.

The infiltration of seawater into rivers has affected the delta’s water supply, resulting in many pumping stations supplying water with salinity levels exceeding the norm by 0.06 – 0.12 percent.

With the delta expected to require around 1.9 million cu.m daily by 2020, the Ministry of Construction has directed utilities in the delta to take measures to protect water sources.

Following this, Kien Giang province plans to immediately build nine groundwater extraction facilities that will include 20 wells and enlarge the Rach Gia city reservoir’s supply capacity to 1 million cu.m a day.

Ben Tre province will mobilise vehicles to transport water to homes and public facilities and speed up construction of a pumping station for untreated water with a daily capacity of 47,000 cu.m.

In the long term, the ministry will work with relevant agencies to seek foreign investment for the construction of waterworks in the delta which use advanced technologies, adapt to climate change and are environmentally friendly.

Five giant intra-regional water treatment plants - Tien River No 1 in Tien Giang province, Tien River No 2 in Vinh Long province, Hau River No 1 in Hau Giang province, Hau River No 2 and 3 in An Giang province - with a combined capacity of 1 million cu.m a day will be built by 2025.

By 2030, their capacity will be increased by 650,000 cu.m a day.

By then the delta, which has a population of more than 17 million, hopes to provide 98-100 percent of people living in urban with access to clean water.

Last year, some 250,000 households suffered from water shortages because of the severe drought and saltwater intrusion.

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