Corruption cases no longer automatically liable for death penalty

The National Assembly has approved an exemption in the death penalty for those found guilty of corruption if they are able to return three-quarters of the assets they have stolen, according to the newly amended penal code.

Many NA deputies opposed the amendment, arguing that criminals would be more aggressive if they knew they still had a way of avoiding the death penalty, while other deputies emphasised the importance of recovering the stolen assets.

Many deputies demanded a clearer definition of the wording in the law which implied that if the criminal made amends then they would be eligible for avoiding the death penalty.

Other criminals including pregnant women, women with children under 36 months or people over 75 years old would remain exempt from capital punishment.

The National Assembly Standing Committee also proposed to remove the death penalty from seven crimes including robbery, destroying buildings that had implications for national security, acting against orders, surrendering to the enemy, waging wars, crimes against humanity and drug trafficking.

The amended code will come into effect from July 1 next year.

HCM City to have three new general hospitals

The HCMC government plans to break ground for three general hospitals next year and put them into use from 2021 to ease overload at the exisiting hospitals in the economic hub of Vietnam.

The new hospitals will require a total investment of VND5.7 trillion (around US$253.4 million) and be funded by the city’s budget, according to a document on public investment projects recently sent by the city government to the HCMC People’s Council.

The construction and investment management division of the HCMC Department of Health will be the investor of the hospital projects in Thu Duc, Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts.

The VND1.91-trillion general hospital in Thu Duc District will have 13 floors, two basements and 1,000 beds. The facility will provide healthcare services for residents in the outlying district and nearby areas.

Meanwhile, the general hospitals in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts with 1,000 beds each will require VND1.9 trillion and nearly VND1.89 trillion respectively.

Annual Terry Fox Run set for Sunday

The 19th annual Terry Fox Run will start at 8 a.m. this Sunday on Tan Trao Street in Phu My Hung town, District 7, HCMC.

The event is being held by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (CanCham), the Consulate General of Canada and the HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations (HUFO).

Last year the 18th edition attracted more than 16,500 participants and raised VND1.3 billion, a new record high in participants and proceeds in the history of the HCMC Terry Fox Run.

With enthusiastic support and generous donations, the Terry Fox Run organizers this year have launched a two-year project with the Terry Fox Foundation Project in Vietnam to fund early diagnosis of oral cancer in Vietnam.

This project has been directed by the HCMC Oncology Hospital, and the University of British Columbia (UBC), and overseen by the Terry Fox Research Institute and the Executive Committee of the Terry Fox Run – CanCham Vietnam and Talisman (Repsol).

Terry Fox grew up near Vancouver on Canada’s west coast. An active teenager involved in many sports, Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimeters above the knee in 1977. While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada from coast to coast to raise money for cancer research. He called his journey the Marathon of Hope.

Terry Fox ran close to 42 kilometers a day through eastern Canada, Quebec and Ontario. However, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometers, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because his cancer had returned. Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.

Every year, countries around the world stage events in support of Terry’s dream of finding a cure for cancer. The Terry Fox Run is no longer just a Canadian tradition as people work together to eradicate a disease that knows no political or geographic boundaries. To date, over US$600 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry’s name.

Further investigation of food poisoning in Hung Nghiep Formosa

The Drug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health has just sent its document to the director of Ha Tinh's Department of Health asking to further investigation of food poisoning on 80 staffs and workers of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company (FHS), a subsidiary of the Taiwanese Formosa Plastics Group.

To handle and prevent food poisoning cases in the future, the Administration asked to verify the cause of the above cases as well as issue harsh penalties on violations in food safety and hygiene and publicize to inform people.

Related agencies are asked to increase supervision of activities of food business and cater

Before, after the dinner on November 24 with rice, soup, pork meat, tofu, fried eggs and vegetables, over 80 staffs and workers of Hung Nghiep had symptoms of poison.  The meal was ordered from caterers outside the company.

Winners of Hackathon for Social Good, a 48-hour coding contest to create useful technology products with commercial values for society, were honoured at a ceremony in Hanoi on November 24.

The competition was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, HATCH! PROGRAM – a social enterprise and startup incubator, Live & Learn Environment Education, British Council Vietnam, Humanist Institute for Cooperation (Hivos), and Southeast Asia Technology and Transparency Initiatives (SEATTI).

The award-winning products include a social network connecting writers, artists and organising units of cultural and art events with the audience, an application allowing its users to report issues regarding public services, and another on traffic law learning.

Addressing the event, Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator, said the competitors showed their huge potential for creating a social forum for citizens, individuals and organisations, helping them more actively get involved in addressing matters relating to the quality of public services, transparency and corruption.

HATCH! PROGRAMME Director Pham Quoc Dat said the contest creates a basis that encourages the application of innovations and the settlement of social challenges, expressing his wish that the event will promote innovative startups, especially those for social development purposes.

The competition attracted about 100 programmers, developers and social activists whose products address several social issues, including employment for the youth, transparency and public service assessment, creative economy, disaster safety education and climate change.

These works are evaluated on the basis of innovation, feasibility, social benefits, and commercial values alongside capacity to support sustainable development.

The main contest took place on October 24-25.

Zen monastery built in Gia Lai

Construction of a Truc Lam Zen monastery began in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai on November 27.

Covering 2 hectares of land in the Cultural Park of Gia Lai Ethnic Groups in Ia Grai district, the monastery, funded by the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group, includes temples dedicated to Saint Tran (Tran Hung Dao), President Ho Chi Minh and heroic martyrs.

It follows the Truc Lam Yen Tu, a Vietnamese Zen sect founded by King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308), who was also the founder of the Truc Lam Monastery 700 years ago.

After defeating Mongol invaders, the king renounced his throne at the age of 35 and spent the rest of his life on Yen Tu Mountain, which is located in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh.

During the period, the King-Monk worked to unify different sects of Vietnamese Buddhism into Vietnamese Zen Buddhism. The project, alongside with other facilities in the park, is expected to preserve and promote the cultural values of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands region and serve as a location for spiritual and ecological tourism.

On the occasion, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Central Committee and the Hoang Anh Gia Lai JSC presented 1,200 gifts worth 600 million VND (27,000 USD) to disadvantaged households in Ia Grai district.

At least 193.1 trillion VND (8.7 billion USD) will be allocated for new-style rural area building in the 2016-2020 period.

Of this, 63.1 trillion VND (2.8 billion USD) will be sourced from the central budget and the rest will come from the local coffer.

The figures were revealed during a seminar on proposing measures to boost sustainable new-style rural area building in underprivileged communes. It was held by the Central Coordination Office on New Rural Development in Hanoi on November 26.

The national target programme, initiated by the Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics and defence, aiming to boost the development of rural regions.

By November this year, 10 districts and 1,298 communes had been recognised as new-style rural areas.

According to Deputy Head of the Office Nguyen Minh Tien, 2,535 out of more than 10,000 communes across the country are underprivileged. They fulfilled an average of only 5.94 criteria, with 1,374 communes meeting between five and nine criteria, and 552 achieving less than five .

The annual average income per capita in those disadvantaged areas is 14 million VND (636 USD), while the rate of poor households is 18.56 percent.

In order to efficiently implement the new-style rural area building from 2016 to 2020, the central office will focus on communes in underprivileged areas.

Accordingly, each disadvantaged commune will be allocated funding at least four times higher than in non-priority communes.

Korean studies centre inaugurated in Can Tho

The Centre of Korean Studies and Sejong King Institute in the Can Tho University (CTU) were inaugurated in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on November 27.

Le Viet Dung, Vice Rector of the CTU and Director of the centre, said the new facility will help promote cultural exchanges between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK), popularise the teaching and learning of Korean and supply Korean-proficient manpower to the regional labour market.

RoK Vice Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Hong Soon-chang said the event reflects a long leap forward in Vietnam-RoK ties, particularly in the field of education.

At the event, Woori Bank presented scholarships to 15 outstanding students of the Can Tho University.

Participants were given a chance to try their hand at making the traditional Korean dish of kimchi pickles and taste a variety of kimchi during a sideline festival.

As of late 2014, Sejong King Institute opened more than 130 establishments in 54 countries with over 40,000 students learning Korean language.

Four more hospitals join patient assistance programme

The HCM City Youth Federation and Department of Health has signed a co-operative agreement with four hospitals that will take part in the city's Patient Assistance Programme.

The programme uses volunteers, mostly university students, to help with hospital paperwork, guide patients around hospitals and explain regulations, including a smoking ban.

The hospitals which joined the programme this week were Traumatology and Orthopaedics, Paediatrics No. 2, Tu Du Obstetrics and District 2 General Hospital.

The volunteers also provide assistance to health staff in transporting patients between different hospital wards. They also organise music shows at the hospitals and charity meals for disadvantaged patients.

The programme aims to reduce the waiting time for patients and cut the workload of workload for nurses and administrative officers by 30 per cent..

The volunteers also speak with people about illegal brokers who operate outside the hospitals, encouraging patients to visit health clinics in exchange for an illegal payment.

The programme has been piloted since late 2013 at the hospitals of Cho Ray, Oncology, Gia Dinh, and Hematology and Blood Transfusion, with more than 15,000 volunteers.

More than 300,000 patients have benefited from the work, which is carried out by volunteers working with the HCM City Youth Social Work Centre.

Organisation further supports disabled children

The Vietnam Relief Association for Handicapped Children held its fifth national congress in Hanoi on November 27.

According to reports at the session, in the past five years, the organisation provided living allowances to 9,573 children with disabilities and free medication and treatment for more than 80,000 others.

It organised more than 600 pre-school courses for over 10,000 children with disabilities and 5,500 of them were admitted to primary schools.

During the period, four vocational centres were established, enrolling 849 disabled children and young people, of whom 737 later found paid jobs.

In the next five year, the association plans to build more functional rehabilitation centres for children of different ages and set up social services agencies.

The congress re-elected Professor Nguyen Tai Thu as Chairman of association for the 2015-2020 tenure.-

RoK helps Dak Lak develop medicinal plants for AO/dioxin treatment

The Republic of Korea will send experts to help the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak develop medicinal plants for Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin treatment, heard a seminar in Buon Ma Thuot city on November 27.

At the event, a representative from the Association of Victims of AO/dioxin of the Republic of Korea (RoK) presented a field study on harmful effects of the chemical and a programme to minimise its impacts on farming, breeding and fisheries.

The association also introduced 45 medicinal plants which can be grown in Dak Lak for treatment of AO/dioxin victims, including tuber fleeceflower, loofah, rose tree, common purslane, tainum panicultatum, and mugwort.

The province’s soil and climate are suitable for the medicinal plants, particularly in Buon Don, Ea Sup, and Man Drak districts, said participants.

However, these plants are mainly grown on a small scale, they said, proposing that local authorities should zone off areas for large-scale farming of the plants, which facilitate the medicine production for AO/dioxin victims as well as local residents.

According to the Dak Lak Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, the province is home to more than 5,300 AO/dioxin victims, including over 4,400 directly exposed to the toxic chemical.-

Quang Nam: Climate change adaptation models prove effective

Climate change adaptation models piloted in the central province of Quang Nam have reaped successes, heard a workshop held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Danish Embassy in Vietnam in the locality on November 26.

Reports presented at the event showed that since 2009, the local authorities have worked to raise public awareness of the importance of climate change adaptation, especially among those from vulnerable areas. Pilot models were carried out in 11 districts, towns and cities such as Dien Ban, Hoi An, Duy Xuyen and Thang Binh.

Multi-purpose infrastructure facilities, medical stations, kindergartens and irrigation works were built and mangrove forests were planted during the period, benefiting locals and contributing local efforts in response to climate change.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Huynh Khanh Toan said Quang Nam will withdraw lessons from the pilot implementation to expand the models to other areas in the future.

During the workshop, participants introduced a data management system on climate change in Vietnam and priorities in the field in the next five years.

They concurred that it is necessary to update climate change and sea level rise scenarios for localities nationwide, which will be used as a foundation for ministries and sectors to build and effectively implement action plans for climate change adaptation in 2016-2020.

Development strategies, programmes and plans of each sector and field related to climate change will be revised and adjusted, they added.

Participants stressed the need to increase investments in disaster forecast and warning as well as climate change control while stepping up research on new environmentally friendly technologies and equipment.

Communication campaigns to raise public awareness of effective use of natural resources, especially water resources, will also be intensified in the time to come.

Media plays vital regional role

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has urged ASEAN media, press organisations and journalists to be in the vanguard of steering public opinions towards fine values for the sake of regional and global prosperity.

In his speech to a ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ) in Ha Noi yesterday, he hailed the upcoming birth of the ASEAN Community slated for later this year, which is concurrent with the CAJ's anniversary.

Amid complicated developments in the region and the world, he stressed the role and responsibility of the CAJ and ASEAN press in strengthening mutual understanding and co-operation between nations.

He said the audiences' loyalty lay with the rapid, accurate and subjective news coverage which distinguishes mainstream media from unverified news sources.

The Deputy PM believed that the outcomes of meetings between journalists at the ceremony and the 18th General Assembly of the CAJ would lay out specific action plans for the CAJ and journalists' associations in each country.

President of the Vietnam Journalists' Association (VJA) Thuan Huu, who has recently been elected as CAJ President, said the ASEAN press had become a cultural bridge between member states.

As the ASEAN Community is to arrive later this year, he said the CAJ was responsible for building an ASEAN entity closely intertwined in political-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars.

On the occasion, the organising board presented first, second, third and five consolation prizes to ASEAN photojournalists for their climate change-themed entries.

The first prize went to Nova Wahyudi from Indonesia Journalists' Association. Pham Bang from VJA won the third prize.

Launched in Indonesia in 1975, the CAJ first consisted of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. It has now grouped seven official country members, three affiliate members and five observers outside the region.

The VJA joined the organisation in 1995, the same year Viet Nam became an ASEAN member.

Fishermen benefit from co-operatives

The development of seafood co-operatives in northern Ninh Binh Province has helped local offshore fishermen access preferential State loans, duties and insurance policies.

Doan Kim Ly, deputy chairman of Kim Son district People's Committee, in the province, said the establishment of seafood co-operatives was suitable with the increase of deep-sea fishing industry.

Co-operatives created more jobs for fishermen and supported long-tern deep-sea seafood exploitation, he said, so that both the quantity and quality of seafood was improved.

He used newly-established Kim Chinh Seafood Co-operative in Kim Son District as a good example.

It gathered 29 fishing households in two coastal communes of the northern province of Ninh Binh.

The co-operative has registered total VND100 billion (US$4.5 million) charter capital, of which minimum contribution from a member household is VND300 million and maximum is VND20 billion.

Being set up officially on November 21, the co-operative now owns four high-capacity fishing vessels (150-450 horse power) and a 90-horse power boat, at a cost of VND1.5 billion.

Authorities in Quang Ngai central coastal province have built a 2015-2020 scheme for development of offshore seafood processing co-operatives.

According to the scheme, the provincial government will pay for the co-operatives rent and the interest from their loan.

Quang Ngai will set up three more seafood co-operatives and assist 11 present co-operatives in their trading.

Each co-operative has minimum of 20 member households and 20 fishing vessels.

All of the deep-sea fishing households volunteered to join the co-operatives.

Sao Do, the first seafood services co-operative in Da Nang City was set up on June.

It has seven members with charter capital of VND11 billion.

Bui Ngoc Duong, a co-operative member said offshore fishermen had been concerned about outlets for their products, food and fuel sources for a long time, but the co-operative helped them solve many problems.

Competition allows children to talk about their rights

An eloquent contest launched in Hanoi on November 27 has enabled children to speak up for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Eligible candidates must be aged from seven to 17 and currently living in Vietnam. The contest is open to all nationalities.

To express knowledge, opinions on and contributions to the convention’s implementation, contestants prepare an under-five-minute presentation and submit it to the official website: www.hungbien.treem.gov as part of their registration.

The entry must not enter any other competitions before. Registration will be open from December 12 to January 1, 2016.

The first selecting round will take place from January 1 – 5, 2016, with winning submissions posted on the web page for public voting. These entries will be further examined from January 6 – 31 based on a range of criteria, such as contents, eloquence, creativeness, as well as sound and image quality.

Finalists will have chances to win a special prize – a tour to Thailand for two people worth VND15 million (US$667,199). There are one first prize valued at VND5 million (US$222), one second prize at VND3 million (US$133) and two third at VND2 million (US$88.9) each.

Public comments will also be assessed for awards worth up to VND2 million.

A ceremony announcing and awarding winners is scheduled for February.

In Vietnam, public servants, unskilled workers drink alcohol, beer most

Over 38 percent of public servants and the same rate of unskilled workers in Vietnam frequently drink alcohol or beer, according to a survey by the Hanoi-based Institute of Sociology.

Dr. Dang Nguyen Anh, from the institute, released the figures at a meeting on Wednesday to introduce the results of a sociological poll carried out in Hanoi, the northern province of Lao Cai, the central city of Da Nang, and the southern province of Long An from March to May 2015.

Among the number of young people involved in the survey, about 25 percent said they regularly drink alcohol and beer, Dr. Anh said.

Many people tend to think that traders or farmers are the champions of beer and alcohol but this survey shows that civil servants, unskilled workers, and youths are three groups that drink the most, he added.

Civil servants down such alcoholic drinks the most possibly because they often do not have to pay, Dr. Anh said.

Sixty-three percent of the respondents said that the quality of alcohol and beer they have drunk is acceptable, while the rest deemed it bad or unnoticeable, he added.

The researcher noted that more than 67 percent of those polled claimed alcohol and beer are good for health, whereas 51 percent asserted that the drinks help streamline communication.

Ten percent even said that alcoholic beverages create a sound mind.

Beer production in Vietnam is forecast to top seven billion liters in 2025, twice the figure in 2011.

Drunk driving is now the third leading cause of traffic accidents, after driving in wrong lanes and speeding, Dr. Anh said.

Nearly 13 percent of the respondents admitted they usually drive vehicles after drinking, while more than 35 percent said that they sometimes do so.

Nguyen Van Tien, deputy chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Social Affairs, said that about 70 percent of regular drinkers of beer and alcohol consume the drinks at home.

With alcohol consumption per capita increasing year after year, Vietnam is among the 25 countries with the highest growth rates when it comes to alcohol and beer consumption, the Ministry of Health’s Institute of Health Strategy and Policy said in a report last year.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are four levels of risk in using alcohol and beer: drinking at a safe level, drinking at a low risk, drinking at a harmful level, and alcoholism.

In order to minimize the harmful effects of alcohol, the WHO advises that men and women should not drink more than two units and one unit of alcohol per day respectively.

A unit is equivalent to 330ml of beer, 30ml of liquor, or 150ml of wine, according to the global health organization.

Lawmakers want legal framework for healthy media development

National Assembly deputies have underlined the importance of creating a proper legal framework to restructure the local media for healthy development, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

In discussing the draft of the revised law on the press at the NA meeting in Hanoi on November 26, lawmakers said the existing law on the press is no longer appropriate as it was issued 16 years ago.

The revised law is expected to embrace the spirit of the 2013 Constitution which allows freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and to fix shortcomings in the existing law.

As for social media, the Ministry of Information and Communications said it backs healthy development of social media in Vietnam.

“Social media is a technological breakthrough of humanity, so we should find proper solutions for it to grow in a healthy way. We should not restrict its development for any reason,” Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan said at a meeting with operators of social networking and news sites in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The ministry said it has issued licenses for 100 social networking sites, including 27 in the information and content sharing fields and 24 in entertainment, music, technology, social life and economic sectors. There are currently 1,599 news sites.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam called for operators of news collecting sites and social networks to take responsibility for the content they post and abide by relevant regulations.

Some news collecting sites have violated intellectual property regulations such as using articles of mainstream news organizations without prior consent. Some sites exploit gossip stories and sensational pictures to attract attention and violate regulations on advertising.

Meanwhile, news inaccuracies and violations of media ethics abound on social media.

$12 million water project approved for Ly Son island

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently approved a water supply project for Ly Son Island in the central province of Quang Ngai that uses official development assistance (ODA) from the Republic of Korea (RoK), according to Nhan Dan (People) newspaper.

The project costs about 12 million USD. Of this, the RoK contributed 10.8 million USD. It is scheduled to begin operations in a little over three years.

The project will supply clean water to An Vinh and An Hai communes in Ly Son district, and improve the quality of life on the island.

Ly Son district lies 18 nautical miles off the coast and covers an area of 10km2. It includes three communes: An Hai, An Vinh and An Binh.

The island district has a population of approximately 21,000. The majority of residents earn a living from fishing, or farming garlic and onions.

Ly Son is striving to become a maritime economic centre by 2025, with a focus on tourism and aquaculture.

The island boasts numerous forms of intangible cultural heritage, such as traditional boat races and the Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival, which was recognised as a national heritage item in April 2013.

20,000 poor workers offered free home-coming buses in Tet

The Hanoi Labour Federation will organise free bus trips for about 20,000 disadvantaged workers to return home for the upcoming Tet holiday in 2016, for the fourth year in a row.

Most of them work at enterprises in local industrial and export processing zones, said Vice President of the Hanoi Labour Federation Dang Thi Phuong Hoa.

Employers, enterprises and state agencies were encouraged to provide free buses or tickets for needy workers and advised to arrange departure times suitable to the workers’ holiday calendar.

Some 15 free bus trips have been scheduled to date thanks to the support of the firms and trade unions, including 10 organised by the Hanoi Transportation Services Joint Stock Company (TRANSERCO).

Workers eligible for the programme are those who come from Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh provinces and have shown they’re hard-working and disciplined. Priority seating will be given to pregnant women and those with children.

Pick-up locations will be Thang Long Industrial Zone, Quang Minh Industrial Zone and the headquarters of the Hanoi Labour Federation at No.3 Chu Van An Street, Ha Dong district.

The departure date is scheduled for February 6, 2016 or December 28 on the Lunar Calendar.

Government officers and workers will enjoy a nine-day holiday for the 2016 Tet (Lunar New Year), which falls on February 8, while other workers are given at least five days off work under the Labour Code.

Last year, about 3,000 workers in Hanoi benefited from the free bus programme.

Chinese mobile phones installed with malware to steal subscription fee

Vietnamese people using cheap mobile phones and tablets originating from China have had their money stolen through the installation of malware on the devices prior to sale.

Global data security firm Cheetah Mobile (CM) confirmed that over 17,200 low-price mobile phones and tablets pre-installed with malware have been sold to 153 countries, including Vietnam.

The devices run on the Android operating system, according to CM.

A limited-liaison investment company named Vinamob in Hanoi has been discovered “pick-pocketing” VND2.67 billion (US$118,700) from users of the Chinese-made mobile phones.

According to the Department of Information and Communications in the Vietnamese capital city, Vinamob has colluded with three companies headquartered in China to secretly install malware on digital devices before selling them to Vietnam.

The malware has caused those handsets to automatically send SMS messages to a service number, 8x61, subscribed by Vinamob.

Through the fraud, subscribers using those phones have repeatedly had the cost of the service deducted from their accounts without their knowledge.

On detecting the deduction, subscribers may not recognize the service and blame local mobile phone service providers for the unfamiliar charges.

Since August 2014, mobile phones of the victims subscribing to Vinamob sent a total of 673,000 messages, earning the firm an illegal profit of VND2.67 billion ($118,700).

It is a sum that easily recovers the initial loss created by selling mobile phones with malware at rock bottom prices in Vietnam.

A Chinese-made mobile phone with the trademark ZES Z10 is priced at VND195,000 (US$8.7) in Vietnam.

K60, a fake Nokia phone produced in China, is sold in the country at VND500,000 (US$22).

The trick applied by Chinese mobile phone manufacturers is to collude with a digital company in Vietnam and in other countries to hire a legal service number to collect the service charge before suppliers discount their already cheap phones infected with malware.

The malware installed on a digital device allows Chinese companies control over that handset without the awareness of its user.

So, ad pages often crop up on the monitor of the phones pre-installed with malware, which can even neutralize or uninstall virus detecting software.

The malware is connected to a server placed in China, according to a CM survey on the retail website Amazon.

Ngo Tran Vu, director of the digital security company NTS, said a normal user is unlikely to be able to uninstall those types of malware from their devices.

So, a simple way for mobile phone subscribers to stay safe is regularly checking the balance in their account, he added.

Slow projects make life hard for city dwellers

Slowly executed projects have affected the quality of life of many citizens in HCMC though the city government has taken coping measures, heard a meeting on the city’s urban planning last week.

Briefing the HCMC People’s Council on the implementation of Resolution 16/2012/NQ-HDND at the meeting, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said nearly 5,740 hectares of land allocated to 564 projects has been taken back in the past three years due to slower-than-required implementation. And 95 of them have been canceled.

The department said the number of complaints about suspended projects has declined since late last year and people have only bemoaned compensation and land zoning.

However, the supervision reports and comments of the council’s deputies tell a different story.

Nguyen Van Lam, deputy head of the council’s Economic and Budgetary Committee, told the meeting that an air defense project in Nha Be District has been planned for 36 years but compensation for affected people has not been completed.

In the same boat is a 100-hectare medical center in Cu Chi District, which has remained on paper for almost a decade and the land allocated to it has been good for nothing. Many farmers in Hung Long Commune of Binh Chanh District had to abandon their land zoned for a 500-hectare university village there.

Lam said if the investors no longer implement those projects, they should be canceled to make room for public works.

The council’s deputy Pham Van Ba pointed out the Xuan Thoi Thuong industrial park project and a nearby residential area covering 380 hectares in Hoc Mon District have been carried out slowly by DIC Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company since 2010.

“The HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment should take strong action against such projects including replacing investors,” Ba said.

Ba added that Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD) has yet to execute the 125-hectare new urban area in Vinh Loc B Commune of Binh Chanh District since 2011.

Huynh Cong Hung, member of the council, said financially weak investors should be forced to transfer their projects to quicken compensation for affected families.

In Resolution 16 issued three years ago, the HCMC People’s Council requested the city government to assess the capability of investors to cope with slow projects and seeks measures to assist locals. If investors are incapable, the city will have to recall land for such projects and find new investors.

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