Mermaid photo hoax hits social network

The director of central Quang Nam Province's Depart-ment of Information and Communication Pham Hong Quang on Sunday dismissed a rumour that local residents found a mermaid on the coast.

Earlier, a local website publicised a post with a photo showing a "mermaid", adding that she was taken to a hospital and American experts would come for further analysis.

However, it turns out that the photo is part of mermaid-themed wedding photos. The website stole the photo and made up the story.

In Viet Nam, wedding photos are taken months before the actual ceremony and shown at the reception. At the wedding, they have a slideshow or video showing the couple's photos.

More couples are seeking different or even unusual ways to capture their happy moments through wedding photos. Earlier this month, a couple in northern Thai Nguyen took their wedding photos in the concept of custodian and prisoner while another couple in Ha Noi chose Lac Hong Vien Cemetery to take wedding photos.

Firms offer ‘fortune telling’ services based on fingerprints

Many firms in Ho Chi Minh City are offering services that can foretell the potential and future of people’s children based on their fingerprints, facing opposition from experts.

These firms advertise their services with tempting tag lines saying, “Though you are not geniuses, you can become the parents of ones,” or “A 95% accurate representation of your future can help you achieve success sooner,” which have attracted many parents across the city.

After contacting a company in Phu Nhuan District, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters were told by a female receptionist that they will have someone arrive at the client’s house to collect their fingerprints, which will then be analyzed by a piece of Malaysian-developed software.

The service costs a total of VND2.8 million (US$124.2) and the process takes 10 days, the receptionist said.

The results offer 95% accuracy, which has been certified by some American institutes as well as confirmed by surveys conducted by the firm, she added.

An employee from another firm called K. in District 10 revealed that her company used Singaporean technology as the basis for a 40-page long report provided to clients.

The entire expense is VND3.1 million (US$137.5) and results are claimed to be 95% accurate, according to the employee.

“Our service is carried out by qualified employees, who were trained in Singapore, and has been offered to over 3,000 clients,” she said.

The analysis is said to point out the children’s strengths and weaknesses, personalities, ability to lead, manage problems, use languages and other individual personality differences, a staff member from a firm in District 3 said.

“I do not believe in such nonsense and people should not waste their time on those services,” said Professor Le Dinh Luong, chairman of the Vietnam Genetics Association.

Input data related to DNA, genes, cells, and chromosomes should be used instead of fingerprints to provide more convincing results, Prof. Luong explained.

The use of fingerprints to determine a person’s future is not supported by reliable facts, according to Dr. Dinh Phuong Duy, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Educational Psychology Association.

Business operations that include the application of fingerprints could be extremely dangerous if not closely monitored as the data could be used for illegal activity including property appropriation through bank accounts, said Colonel Cao Van Den, deputy head of the Police Division for Administrative Management of Social Order under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Police.

Consequences could be exacerbated in the future as administrative management and several transactions could be carried out by electronic identification cards, Col. Den warned.

Nguyen Van Hau, Vice chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Lawyers Association, proposed that legislators verify the scientific background of the method and establish basic requirements in the storing and monitoring of clients’ fingerprints.

The analysis of fingerprints is not mentioned in the government’s list of banned businesses, vice chairman Hau said.

However, all companies that offer the services in the southern city have violated business regulations by not registering the correct field of operation, according to Nguyen Thi Thanh Nguyet, head of the Business Registration Office under the Department of Planning and Investment.

No business in the city has registered a service that analyzes clients’ fingerprints, she added.

Short-term vision

Many hotels in the hilly resort town of Dalat have taken advantage of surging demand in the upcoming Dalat Flower Festival to revise up their room tariffs despite organizers’ pledges to curb irrational service price spikes.

Hotels in Dalat have hiked their room prices by a staggering 100-250% in the five-day festival starting from December 29 as claimed by some guests, according to a Tuoi Tre newspaper report.

Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, deputy director of the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told the paper that Dalat currently has 800 lodging facilities with around 40,000 rooms which can meet demand of visitors to the festival.

Dalat City’s chairman Vo Ngoc Hiep told reporters last week that the festival might lure 500,000 guests, up from 400,000-450,000 visitors in previous years. However, the number could be higher as the festival coincides with the New Year that falls on a Friday.

Ngoc said a hotel room undersupply in Dalat during the festival is inevitable, and that 90% of the hotel rooms had been booked one month ahead of the festival. She noted local hotels are required to publicize their room rates and guests should report to authorities if they face throat-cutting prices for services including lodging.

Service charges are decided by supply and demand on the market but 100-250% price rises are unacceptable. For many times, local travel firms have complained about rocketing hotel room tariffs in Dalat and other cities where major festivals take place.   

Those hotels wanting to make quick bucks at the expense of their guests will certainly lose their customers’ trust and in the long run, they cannot do business in a sustainable way.

Boats sink while anchored at storm shelter

Few crews in central Quang Nam Province choose An Hoa shelter for their boats to anchor during storms because of its unreasonable design.

The boat shelter, which was built with an investment of almost VND80 billion (US$3.6 million) on an area of over 36 hectares, was opened five years ago. There are 70 pillars at the shelter to hold anchors that are placed every 50 meters.

The shelter is expected to host thousands of boats during storms but the narrow distance between pillars make boats vulnerable to collide and break.

A local fisherman Luong Cong Dung in Tam Giang Commune said that he was hesitant to have his boat parked at An Hoa shelter when coping with a storm in middle September.

His boat sank not because of a storm but colliding into a cement pillar at the shelter, he said.

Local fishermen told to each other that they would rather keep at sea than anchor at An Hoa Shelter.

Meanwhile, Hong Trieu shelter in Duy Nghia Commune, in the province Duy Xuyen District, also faced a boycott by fishermen as the shelter became unsafe for boats because a line of Nipa, which helped stop wind, disappeared after the construction of the shelter.

Poison fails to kill rats

Farmers in Dien Truong Commune in central Nghe An Province were very worried as rats were rampant in their maize fields and were destroying the crop.

So they bought a rat poison popular in the town – Rat K 2%DP – to spray across the field, but later found no dead rats.

Local farmer Ho Trong Mao said he did a test in which he caught five rats and injected them with the rat poison. He was surprised as the rats were still alive and even became stronger after ten days.

Head of the province's Plant Protection Department Nguyen Tien Duc said that the rat poison Rat K 2%DP was lawfully certificated and eligible for sale in market.

However, he advised farmers to buy an alternative.

Lao dong ( Labour) newspaper reported that the producer and supplier of the rat poison product planned to meet buyers to find solutions.

Police target illegal fireworks over Tet

Police will launch campaigns to deter violations related to firecrackers, weapons, explosive materials and similar items in key border areas to assure a safe and peaceful Tet holiday, the Ministry of Public Security said.

Speaking at the conference held in northern Nam Dinh Province yesterday, General Phan Van Vinh, head of the ministry's General Department of Police, said that violations of these issues have become complicated, especially when the lunar New Year festival approaches.

The use of banned weapons for personal purposes is an emerging issue, with several recent attacks on leaders of authorised agencies or the manufacturing of weapons, he said.

Thus, going forward, the ministry plans to mobilise police to patrol and deter the trading of firecrackers, weapons and explosive materials.

It also asked local police to strengthen dissemination regarding the ban on these materials. Business households were required to make a commitment to obey the regulations and were encouraged to hand over banned goods to police offices.

Figures from the ministry showed that this year, the police asked the public to hand over nearly 6,490 guns, 45 bombs, 14,100 grenades and more than 600kg of explosives.

More than 600 cases of firecracker violations were detected since earlier this year. As many as 458 people were arrested, and over 14,100kg of firecrackers were seized.

In the northern mountainous Lai Chau Province, local police have tightened control over firecracker smuggling from the Chinese border.

The police, in co-operation with customs officials, plan to be on-duty at border gates, bus stations and local markets to watch for firecracker smugglers.

As of November, four cases of illegal firecracker trading were discovered. Three people were prosecuted and police seized more than 123kg of firecrackers.

In the northern Thai Binh Province, local police have managed to encourage people to hand over a mine, two grenades, a handmade gun, 20 swords and 43 firecrackers earlier this month.

The provincial traffic police will patrol the 10km-long part of the National Highway No10 in the province to crack down on violators.

Wrongly-convicted receive apologies

The People's Court in the southern province of Binh Phuoc, together with the provincial police and People's Procuracy, yesterday publicly apologised to four young men in Bu Dop District's Tan Thanh Commune for wrongful convictions handed down to them four years ago.

The apologies, witnessed by authorities and local residents, were issued to Thai Hoang Trong, Pham Van Quang, Nguyen Huu Nghia and Vu Ngoc Van, all born between 1987 and 1990. Vu Ngoc Van's parents were present on his behalf due to sickness, while Pham Van Quang's mother attended the event to represent her dead son.

The four were arrested in 2005 and 2006 on charges of rape. They were then sentenced to 8-12 years in jail following a trial in 2011, during which they maintained their innocence.

An appeal in 2013 rejected all previous charges due to a flawed investigation.

Vice Chief Judge of the provincial People's Court, Le Viet Phong, said the four men would receive from VND187 million-309 million (US$8,400-14,000) in compensation.

Man receives life sentence for looting container trucks

Tran Tri Trung was sentenced to life in prison for having stolen goods worth VNN15 billions (US$682,000) from container trucks from 2010 to 2011.

HCM City People's Court gave this decision today during the first court hearing.

Trung, 25, lives in District 2, HCM City and is the leader of a gang of thieves. His two accomplices, including Nguyen Trong Linh was sentenced to 18 years and six months imprisonment, while Nguyen Minh Tien was sentenced to two years' probation.

From August 2010 to August 2011, Trung and his accomplice, along with several drivers of container trucks, looted trucks on 21 occasions, and took  away a large number of goods from them. Whenever the container truck was carrying imported goods from the port, the gang pretended to take a rest, and then robbed the truck.

They used a drill and tools to destroy the containers and then stole the goods inside these containers.

Trung and his accomplice were accused of stealing goods from 190 containers of five companies, valued at VND15 billion (US$682,000).

Firms seek Japanese-speaking candidates

More than 500 Japanese-speaking candidates spoke with 14 recruiting companies with a demand for Japanese-speaking personnel at the JapanWorks Job Fair held in HCM City last Saturday.

Most of the participating companies were Japanese IT companies in need of skilled workers in Viet Nam.

The event, which kicked off in September in Ha Noi and HCM City, received more than 5,000 registrations nationwide.

The fair featured career consulting activities and seminars that discussed the skills needed to thrive in Japanese companies and Japan's unique work culture.

Coach accident kills two on Ha Noi-Lao Cai Highway

Two people were killed on the spot while 24 were injured after two coaches running in the same direction collided on the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway yesterday afternoon.

The accident happened in Vinh Phuc Province's Lap Thach District on the 265km highway, which connect Ha Noi to the northern province of Lao Cai. The collision killed a couple from Ha Noi sitting at the front of the second coach. Both vehicles were seriously damaged.

Most of the injured were taken to Vinh Phuc General Hospital, while some were transported to Phu Ninh Hospital in the neighbouring Phu Tho Province.

In response to the accident, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is also the Chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety, asked all relevant agencies to investigate the accident immediately.

In his urgent official message to traffic safety committees in Vinh Phuc, Lao Cai and Ha Noi, as well as related agencies under the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Transport, Phuc instructed police to start their investigation into the accident and identify the victims.

The traffic safety committee in Vinh Phuc Province has been assigned to supply health workers, medicine and medical equipment to minimise human losses.

The Directorate of Viet Nam was asked to provide transport data for the investigation and review inter-provincial coach safety.

The Viet Nam Expressway Corporation was asked to check problems on the expressway.

Also yesterday, two separate accidents killed two and injured three others.

A truck killed a student and severely injured three others yesterday in Bau Lam Commune, Xuyen Moc District in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

The truck reportedly moved into the opposite lane and hit a group of four students from the local Hoa Binh High School.

The truck's driver and another man who was in the truck were also slightly injured when it fell off the side of the road. The case is under investigation.

Another man died after being hit by a train running from Ha Noi to the central city of Vinh.

Dinh Van Dinh, 36, was said to have deliberately driven his motorbike over the railway even though the train was approaching. He and the motorbike were dragged 200 metres by the train.

UNDP helps Vietnam abolish gender discrimination

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on December 21 launched a campaign to help Vietnam abolish gender discrimination.

Addressing the event in Hanoi, Vice Director of UNDP Vietnam Bakhodir Burkhanov said on many aspects, the role played by each gender is not normal as people often think.

Actually, it is extremely abnormal, he said, citing the gender imbalance in leadership positions, sex-selective abortions, and sexual harassment and violence among women as the unwonted things that have yet to be prevented.

The UN official stressed the need to raise public awareness of standards for gender mainstreaming in order to bring opportunities for everyone to help them carry forward their strength.

The campaign, to last for seven months, will use a string of films which demonstrate how things would change if men and women reserve roles in society to raise viewers’ awareness of gender.

More than 70 children get free heart surgery

Over 70 children living with heart diseases nationwide will receive free surgery worth 1.6 billion VND under a programme co-worked by Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage (SPVB) and the VinaCapital Foundation.

The amount was raised from the 13th Friendship Golf Tournament Suntory PepsiCo hosted by the SPVB, which was firstly organised in 2001.

According to the SPVB, the tournament began activities to call for donation from 2007.

Over 15 billion VND has been collected through the tournament so far and the amount was used to build compassionate houses and medical stations, support disaster victims and grant scholarships to students with disadvantaged backgrounds across the country.

More than 430 heart operations have been performed for poor patients sourced from the programme so far.

23 island communes of Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang recognised

The Prime Minister has decided to recognise 23 administrative units in central Khanh Hoa province and southern Kien Giang province as island communes.

Accordingly, 17 units in Kien Giang province are named as island communes. They are An Thoi and Duong Dong towns and Tho Chau, Hon Thom, Ham Ninh, Duong To, Cua Duong, Cua Can, Ganh Dau, Bai Thom, Hon Tre, An Son, Lai Son, Nam Du, Son Hai, Hon Nghe and Tien Hai communes.

The six administrative units in Khanh Hoa province are Cam Binh, Van Thanh, Vinh Nguyen, Song Tu Tay and Sinh Ton communes and Truong Sa town.

According to the Prime Minister’s decision, an island commune must satisfy two criteria on natural square and settlement of citizens or armed forces.

Relevant authorities need to base on Decision 568/QD-TTg dated on April 28, 2010 to draw up socio-economic development for the recognised communes while carrying out other preferential policies for island communes issued by the Government.

Vietnam provides professional training for Lao journalists

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) in collaboration with the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism opened the third training course in 2015 for Lao journalists from Laos’ press agencies on December 21.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Head of the MIC’s Press Department Vu Thanh Son highlighted that the training courses are organised to concretise cooperation agreements between two ministries, aiming to improve professional skills and share experience for Lao journalists.

Lecturers, who are journalists from the MIC and Radio the Voice of Vietnam, will share their experience with Lao colleagues in covering major events, particularly when Laos will hold its 10th National Party Congress and resume the Chair of ASEAN in 2016, Son added.

For his part, Director of the Lao Institute for Information, Culture and Tourism Vilaythong Sisanone said that some 45 Lao trainees will discuss and get modern journalism skills during the five-day course.

He asked the trainees to grasp opportunities to acquire knowledge and better off their skills, serving national development.

Imprisonment sentences over Vung Ang scaffold collapse

Four defendants were sentenced to imprisonment over a serious scaffold collapse in the Vung Ang economic zone in the central province of Ha Tinh on December 21.

They include Koreans Kim Jong-wook and Lee Jea-myeong who were jailed 42 months and 36 months, respectively.

Two other Vietnamese Nguyen Anh Tuan and Nguyen Thai Duc were sentenced to 36 months and 30 months in prison.

They were charged with violating labour safety rules in a construction site in Taiwanese-invested Formosa steel mill complex.

According to the indictment, the incident occurred at 8pm on March 25 when around 100 workers were working on a 30-metre scaffold in the Vung Ang economic zone.

As of 5 pm on March 26, 13 had been declared dead and 29 sustained injuries in the accident.

A failure in the hydraulic brake system in the structure is to blame for the tragedy.

Kim Hyung-sub, Deputy General Director of the project’s contractor Samsung C&T, admitted his company’s remiss in operating the scaffold.

Road safety measure receives cold response

The National Traffic Safety Committee have suggested it should be mandatory for motorbikes to have running lights permanently on, even during daylight hours.

The committee believes its idea, which requires riders to use running lights at all times would help to reduce the number of traffic accidents and possibly save up to 600 lives a year.

Khuat Viet Hung, vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee said seven South East Asian countries, including Thailand and Malaysia, had employed the same regulations and the number of accident in these countries have dropped by an average 25 percent. Motorists are also required to turn on daytime running light in the EU.

However, Bui Danh Lien, chairman of Hanoi Automobile Association, said the plan was not suitable with Vietnam's weather and situation. According to him, Vietnam doesn't have thick fog so people's vision is good.

"Moreover, our weather is clear and hot, especially in the central region so there's no need to turn on lights. We already have regulations to make motorists turn on their light when it's foggy," he said.

He went on to say that daytime running light would be a waste and increase air temperature. "Regulations must be necessary and practical," he said. "This is unreasonable and the people would not approve."

Colonel Nguyen Duy Dong, deputy head of Nghe An Province's traffic police, also agreed with Lien. "In the summer, riders may be blinded by the light and more accidents can occur. This plan needs further studies," he said.

Fisherman survives turbulent sea

A fisherman from Quang Ngai Province survived after 21 hours drifting and struggling with strong waves after his boat capsized.

Nguyen Van Loc and his father-in-law were returning home from a fishing spot when a strong wind capsized their boat two nautical miles away from Ly Son Island at 5pm on December 15.

They quickly clung onto foam boxes but Loc and his father-in-law couldn't stay together. After 30 minutes, they were separated and swept away by the waves.

"I thought I'd die. I just keep swimming to try and find a way of staying alive," Loc said. "But I was too hungry and weak so I just let the waves carried me."

Loc found a thrown away bit of a jack-fruit and it gave him enough energy to begin swimming towards the shore.

At around 6pm the next day, residents in Pho Khanh Commune discovered Loc on the beach and brought him to communal medical centre. Loc's father-in-law, Nguyen Van Ba, remains missing.

Bui Thi Quynh Van, party secretary of Ly Son, said it was a miracle that Loc was able to reach the shore given the strong waves.

"I also want to offer our condolences to Loc and his family since his father-in-law is still missing. After he’s better, I hope Loc is able to go back to sea and keep in mind the need to look out for bad weather," she said.

Beer company supports the poor in southwestern region

The Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) on December 21 handed over 1.04 billion VND (45,760 USD) to the Steering Committee for the Southwestern Region with the aim to support poor people in the region.

Nguyen Phong Quang, deputy head of the steering committee and President of the Sponsoring Association of Poor Patients in the Southwestern Region expressed his thanks for the corporation’s assistance, affirming that his association will use the money on the right purpose.

According to Quang, since its establishment, the association has received more than 70 billion VND (3.08 million USD) worth of cash and items from ministries, localities, businesses and individuals.

It has helped build accommodations for 168 poor households and provide medical check-ups and treatment for over 2,800 underprivileged patients and heart surgeries for more than 400 children.

IFAD to expand operation in Vietnam

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) under the UN Kanayo F. Nwanze has announced that his agency will enlarge its operation in Vietnam in the next three years.

At a recent reception for Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Cao Chinh Thien, who was newly appointed as Permanent Representative of Vietnam to IFAD, Kanayo stressed that Vietnam sets an example in rural development and poverty reduction for development countries, especially those in Africa, to follow.

He highlighted the increasing number of projects approved to be carried out in Vietnam as well as their efficiency, affirming that this shows the Vietnamese Government’s strong effortsin eliminating hunger and reducing poverty, and promoting agricultural development.

Vietnam’s endeavours help reinforce trust of IFAD’s donors, thus maintaining their aid for the fund, he said.

According to Kanayo, his agency will consider attending the annual meeting of ASEAN agricultural ministers, which is organised in rotation in the bloc’s member nations, to discuss orientations for IFAD’s investment in the region with the aim of seeking markets for farm produce by households.

He expressed his wish that the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy will support IFAD’s initiative to hold a meeting of ASEAN countries’ ambassadors in Rome in 2016.

For his part, Thien thanked IFAD for its assistance for Vietnam in the recent time, reaffirming the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to poverty alleviation and rural development.

He said he will do his best to promote Vietnam-IFAD relations, especially in connecting farm produce markets in ASEAN member states.

Data provided by IFAD said the fund’s total investment in Vietnam exceeded over 500 million USD with 13 agricultural development projects targeting household-scale production.

Global Ventures Chairman honoured with friendship medal

President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong on December 21 presented a friendship medal to Bob Roberts, Chairman of the Global Ventures, Inc (GVI).

The noble award is in recognition of Bob Roberts’ active contributions to promoting humanitarian activities in Vietnam as well as strengthening the friendship between Vietnam and the US, Hong said at the granting ceremony in Hanoi.

He expressed his hope that the GVI Chairman will continue support for Vietnam’s in the time to come.

Bob Roberts, also Senior Pastor of the US Northwood Church, has raised about 3.5 million USD for disadvantaged communities in Vietnam since 1995 though GVI programmes in the fields of health care and education.

He and his organisation have sent over 2,000 American volunteers to Vietnam to participate in community support activities, contributing to promoting the Southeast Asian nation’s image to the US public.

Duyen Hai 1 power plant produces 1 bln kWh so far

Duyen Hai 1 Thermal Power Plant in southern Tra Vinh province has generated 1 billion kWh of electricity by December 19 since it entered into commercial operation in June this year.

According to the Power Generation 1 Company, the project has been developed amid many difficulties, including severe weather, insufficient infrastructure and delays in land acquisition.

Extra workforce and equipment have been sent to the project to solve the problems while the contractor has worked closely with local authority to better manage residential displacement to acquire land for the plant’s construction.

The thermoelectric plant has brought up the capacity of the national grid which has been badly affected by the El Nino phenomenon.

Its turbine units are still experiencing test run and when finished, they will receive the Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC).

Comprising of two turbines with a total capacity of 1,245 MW, the Duyen Hai 1 Thermal Power Plant is expected to produce about 7.8 billion kWh of electricity per year.

It is part of the National Electricity Development Planning in the 2011-2020 period and beyond.

New bridge linking Hanoi-Phu Tho opens to traffic

A new bridge connecting Phu Tho province and Hanoi capital city across Da River was inaugurated at a ceremony in Phu Tho’s Thanh Thuy district on December 20.

The 746m Dong Quang bridge has two lanes for traffic. It was built in 13 months under the Build-Transfer contract with total capital of 510 billion VND (22.44 million USD).

The bridge is significant to the socio-economic development strategy of not only Phu Tho but also several northwestern mountainous localities and Hanoi.

It is expected to help bring into full play tourism potential of the localities, and boost their socio-economic and cultural exchanges.

Vietnam joins research on sustainable transport in GMS

The Prime Minister has approved Vietnam’s participation in a technical assistance project on sustainable transport development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).

The 800,000-USD project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be carried out in the GMS countries, including Vietnam, to study road investment projects’ impact on socio-economic development, the role of smart infrastructure, and natural capital investment opportunities.

Vietnam will receive 360,000 USD from the total investment, to be used to help the Vietnamese Government manage the investment portfolio under the regional investment framework (RIF), realise the green growth strategy and assess natural resources of RIF transport projects.

Additionally, the project will support Vietnam in building a roadmap to integrate natural capital into medium-term investment plans and strengthening partnership in the field.

It is due to be carried out in Vietnam from November 2015 to 2016.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri