Of 34 good enterprise owners including five foreigners were lauded by the People’s Committee in Ho Chi Minh City at a meeting held by the city’s Labor Union yesterday.

The Labor Union organized a meeting “ Accompanying with enterprises in 2017” to award certificates of merit signed by the city People'Committee to 34 owners who follow labor regulations strictly, taking care of laborers’ life.

Of 34 people are five foreign owners including Kim Jin Woo, Kwon Do Ryun both Korean men, Japanese Akio Kawakubo, Malaysian Ooi Wee Tat and Indonesian Nicholas Lengkong. 

This month, the union’s highlight is accompanying with companies in the Worker Month showing the government’s appreciation to enterprises which take care of laborers’ life.

Praising 34 good businesspersons Deputy Chairman Le Thanh Liem noticed that even when enterprises are in difficult time, businesspersons paid more attention to laborers by providing good meals, supporting renting, fee for children’s education and increased bonus which enforce the good relationships between owners and employees.

At the meeting Mr. Liem also asked unions at all levels should accompany with enterprises to act as bridge between employers and employees aiming to help laborers understand enterprises’ difficulties and ensure the company’s production. 

Contractors face strict handling for negative influences

Deputy Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem on Saturday issued a document requiring the city’s Steering Center of Flood Control Program to inspect and strictly handle contractors causing negative influences on drainage system.

The move has been made after Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper published an article on May 22, saying the city’s culvert system failing to cope with flooding and many streets have been inundated despite fully invested drainage system.

In the document, Mr. Liem asked the center to inspect contents in the article, report to the city People’s Committee and propose measures to tackle the issue.

The center should ask the investors of construction works with drainage items to speed up progress, guide contractors to ensure drainage ability in their construction works areas and prevent the works from causing flooding.

The committee also required the Department of Transport to intensify inspection and supervision over investors’ drainage operations and crack down on those breaking relevant regulations causing flooding.

Vietnamese high schoolers perform ‘Mamma Mia!’ musical in charity event

Nearly 100 students from The Olympia Schools in Hanoi has come together for a grand performance of the 1999 jukebox musical Mamma Mia!.

The musical performance was part of a fundraising event to provide financial support for underprivileged students who cannot afford to go to school.

The auditorium at the Hanoi Conservatory of Music was packed with a huge audience who had come to enjoy the students-only play.

All preparatory work for the play was done by Olympia students, from the initial idea to production and casting of actors and actresses.

The message that the group of students hoped to convey through their play was familial love, friendship, romance, and stories about the lives of the poor across Vietnam.

The original Mamma Mia! musical was written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, who based her work on the songs of Swedish pop group ABBA.

The title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia.”

The adapted play was directed by Le Dieu My, a tenth grader at Olympia who said she had fallen in love with the genre ever since her school first introduced it into the curricula.

My said the most difficult part of directing a musical was how to appeal to an audience that presumably was new to the genre.

But the challenge was nevertheless overcome thanks to the help from My’s friends and teachers, the teenage director said.

Spectacular light feast at Da Nang int’l fireworks festival

The third night of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival on May 27 brought visitors a spectacular light feast over the Han River.

The event began with special art performances staged by artists from Ukraine and Hoi An city in the neighbouring province of Quang Nam.

Two teams from the UK and China participated in the competition themed “Kim” (Metal).

Mark Kensall, head of the UK team, said their firework performance was a combination of different genres of music such as rock, pop, classical and contemporary music to feature the Marble Mountains.

Meanwhile, the Chinese team depicted the romantic story based on the famous movie Titanic. 

Other margin activities during the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival include a street festival, a cuisine festival, a community-based culture space, a music street performance, and an antique exhibition.

Since its commencement on May 19, the fireworks competition has attracted nearly 2,000 visitors.

The final round of the Bartender Performance is scheduled to take place on May 28 night with the participation of the best bartenders from hotels, restaurants, bars, and pubs in Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, and Nha Trang.

The Marble Mountains cuisine space also lured nearly 45,000 visitors. 

Participants could also select a variety of souvenirs and consumer products at nearly 80 pavilions.-

Vietnam, Laos ensure smooth transport at Bo Y-Phu Cua border gate

Competent agencies of Vietnam and Laos have coordinated with each other to ensure the movement of people and goods at the Bo Y-Phu Cua international border gate under the Hanoi Agreement reached by the two countries in 2007. 

The results came out during a working trip by a joint team of the Vietnam-Laos and Laos-Vietnam Cooperation Committees to Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Kon Tum on May 26. 

The visit aimed to inspect the implementation of the Hanoi Agreement, which was formed to facilitate the travel of people and transport of goods via the Bo Y (in Kon Tum)- Phu Cua (in Laos’ Attapeu province) border gate. 

Over the past ten years, the two sides also exchanged information regarding relevant policies and administrative procedures in each country. 

In the first four months of this year, more than 63,500 people and over 9,000 vehicles traversed through the border gate with import-export turnover reaching nearly 65 million USD, contributing over 79 billion VND (3.5 million USD) to the State budget. 

Authorities of Kon Tum and Attapeu provinces suggested upgrading Road 18B connecting Bo Y and Attapeu in order to ensure better movement of goods after the road is linked with the Bo Y –Gia Lai expressway and the Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang route. 

At the same time, the agreement should be amended and supplemented to create more favourable conditions for the transportation, thus fostering trade cooperation between the two countries, they said.

Local leaders to be held accountable on food safety violations

Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen proposed commune, district administration leaders must be held accountable if there are violations of food safety in their areas.

When food safety violations are discovered, all related agencies must work including the media, Mr. Tuyen said.
Leaders of a locality must be responsible if their areas have illegal slaughter houses. Management boards of companies must be under investigation and prosecution possibly if there are a poisoning killing people caused by  their products, stressed Mr. Tuyen.
During two years 2015 and 2016, the city People’s Council set up two inspection teams in 13 districts to inspect 30 companies, two educational facilities and three provinces which supply food for the city. Inspectors said that local governments are more responsible for managing food safety. 
In the two years, leaders of agencies tightened control on the issue. Inspection teams paid unscheduled visits to 98,235 companies; of which, 14,906 companies were detected to violate the regulation accounting for 15.2 percent. Inspectors issued fines to 11,051 facilities collecting over VND56 billion ($2,469,789); destroying over 556 tons of unsafe food as well as discovered banned chemicals used in making food. 
Increased taking samples of food from street eateries was carried out in the two past years aiming to increase street vendors’ and consumers’ awareness of food safety. Moreover, inspectors seized and destroyed unoriginal food. 
Deputy Chairman of the city’s People’s Council Pham Duc Hai said that through two years, the city has had safe food chains; tracing back the farms to provide pork and vegetables, forming chains from breeding to consumption; setting up traditional markets to meet food safety regulation and publicize the origin of food to consumers. 
Though the city authorities have intensified control over production, processing, preservation and distribution, it is uncontrollable in retail markets because some district administrations are neglected and severe shortage of personnel in food inspection teams. 

Ms. Nguyen Thi To Tam from the People’s Council proposed there should be more regulations on handling poisoning consequences. She concerned over high priced natural foods whose origin can not be traced back while others poultry markets in streets are still popular yet local administrations are neglected.
Therefore, Pham Duc Hai ordered related agencies must increase information of food safety to each people especially producers, businesspersons and customers. 

Traceable goods will be carried out in three wholesale markets; 240 traditional markets; 19,000 street eateries. Along with this, the city will speed up safety food chains and issuing certificates of safety to businesses, more testing and increased inspection.
Mr. Hai said that currently, small fines are not enough to deter people from committing violations. In the two years, around 11, 000 companies were fined.

Youths join hands to develop rural, urban areas

The summer youth volunteer campaign 2017 was launched in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak on May 28 with a view to encouraging youngsters to build new-style rural and civilised urban areas.

Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Mass Mobilisation Truong Thi Mai asked the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee to promote the pioneering role of youths in remote, border and island areas.

The campaign will be carried out in 64 poor districts, coastal and island regions across the nation for three months. 

Young people will help build 300 charity houses, build and upgrade roads, as well as provide health check-ups and medicines for over 500,000 residents in disadvantaged areas and grant 70 saving books to ex-youth volunteers.

At the launching ceremony, young volunteers went to ethnic people in Cu M’gar, Krong Buk, Buon Don districts, Buon Ho town, and Buon Ma Thuot city to build infrastructure and present gifts to poor children in far-flung areas in Dak Lak.

Photo contest capturing nation's beauty launched

A photo contest featuring beautiful pictures of famous destinations across Viet Nam, especially images taken by flycam has been launched nationwide.

The competition titled “Vietnam from above” is open for all Vietnamese people. Photographs must be the photographer’s own work and he/she remains the rights holder. All images submitted  must be original digital files.

The contest aims to create an exciting playing field for photography lovers and look for pictures presenting different angles of the country’s landscapes.

Submissions can be sent from now until August 5. The organizer will present one first prize, two second prizes, three third prizes, and 10 encouragement prizes.

Thanh Hoa Police bust football gambling ring

Thanh Hóa Province Police yesterday declared that they had destroyed an online football gambling ring.

Four were arrested on suspicion of running the ring, including Tống Viết Thịnh, 39, Cao Văn Hậu, 40, Nguyễn Tuấn Linh, 30, from Thanh Hóa City, and Lê Văn Hiếu, 31, from Hậu Lộc District.

Based on interviews with the men, police arrested six other alleged members of the ring.

Searching the 10 people’s houses, the police discovered two automobiles, two laptops, 16 mobile phones, VNĐ461 million (US$20,400) and other documents related to football gambling.

The police investigation showed that since the beginning of this year, the ring took total bets worth more than VNĐ1.4 trillion ($62.2 million).

Soc Trang’s waterway, garden festival hoped to lure 10,000 visitors

The 12th waterway and garden festival of the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang kicked off in Nhon My commune of Ke Sach district on May 28, expected to attract 10,000 visitors.

The three-day festival in My Phuoc islet features a variety of cultural and sports activities, including a dragon boat racing tournament and sports activities like petanque and folk games.

Cultural events include a festival of “don ca tai tu” – a world intangible cultural heritage, a photo exhibition of Ke Sach district’s socio-economic attainments, and entertainment activities.

Meanwhile, local fruits, aquatic products and specialties are being showcased at 15 booths. A fruit arrangement competition and a cuisine contest will also form part of this annual festival.

The event aims to honour garden farmers and fruit specialties of Ke Sach district – the biggest fruit farming area in Soc Trang. It is also intended to help local residents meet with tourists and scientists to seek ways improving fruit quality, thereby meeting the growing demand of domestic and foreign markets.

My Phuoc islet is a “green” tourist destination in Soc Trang province with fresh air, large fruit gardens, and a number of tourism services. It is located at the intersection of the national highways of 60 and Southern Hau River, which is favourable for the travel of tourists.

UK restaurateur ‘married’ to career in Vietnam

Throughout his life here, the seasoned British restaurateur has enriched Ho Chi Minh City’s food scene with a chain of bistros specializing in an array of exotic culinary delights.

“I’ve married my five restaurants,” Tony Fox, who owns five stylish bistros in Ho Chi Minh City, has said.

His words are reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth I, who famously said, “I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the Kingdom of England.”

He says he has more than 100 ‘children,’ otherwise known as his cheery, persevering staff members, who all speak fondly about their loving ‘father.’

Born into a catering family, Fox began working at a restaurant opposite his Yorkshire home at 16 after quitting high school.

In 1985, he moved to New York to begin working as Food and Beverage manager at Peter Stringfellow’s infamous, luxurious night club.

He also washed dishes at another restaurant in his initial pursuit of success in the catering industry.  

A turning point came on Black Tuesday, the 1987 stock market crash which turned the economy and people’s lives upside down.  

It was then that it dawned on Fox that managing a nightclub, no matter how lavish, had no future.

He then took on the job as general manager of an Italian chain in New York which had seven locations, and it was then that his ambition began to be noticed.

However, Fox soon left New York in 1996 to run his family’s restaurant back in England.

After struggling with it for a few years, he realized he was not cut out for running a business in England.

Managing to respond to his circumstances in a positive way, he soon found himself overseeing a famous resort in Hua Hin, which had since the 1920s grown from a quiet fishing village into a fashionable escape in Thailand.  

It was there that a restaurateur who was investing in a large wine bar on Dong Du Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City approached him and insisted he work for him.

After six No’s, he finally said Yes on her seventh attempt for reasons which remain unknown.

It was then that he became love-struck with the city, which reminded him of New York.

The wine bar, which he started in 2004, was tucked away on tranquil Dong Du Street amidst the city’s hustle and bustle.       

It was a replica of the narrow streets in the Italian quarter of New York which are lined with cozy eateries filled with customers known to the owners on a first-name basis.

The opportunity to start up his own business, however, did not come until a few years later in another part of the city.  

In 2010, during a stay in Thao Dien, District 2, an area which remains packed with expats, he realized there was a promising market and decided on a location next to the Saigon River for his Blu restaurant.

The bistro’s welcoming ambience still appeals to diners to this day and remains a perfect choice for those with children for family get-togethers.

It features a wide range of dishes typical of Vietnamese, European and Korean cuisines that draw an expanding expat clientele.

Food there encompasses elements of elaborate European cuisine, right alongside typical Vietnamese breakfast staples and snacks.

The restaurant’s specialties please diners’ senses and continue to tempt even the most jaded palate.

Six months after opening, in 2011, he opened three more restaurants one by one, Ciao Bella on Dong Du Street, Saffron on Hai Ba Trung Street, and Portofino on Dong Du Street, which are a stone’s throw from one another.

Ciao Bella, which has received high praise on popular travel site TripAdvisor, features dishes in the style of the ‘New York Italian’ he knows.

The diner offers a charismatic blend of Italian gastronomy, culture, and history, including manually-kneaded bread dipped in special sauces.

Other specialties include beef cheeks ragouted in red wine and served with tagliatelle, a traditional type of pasta; and burrata, fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and a cream which combines perfectly with tomatoes and vegetables.

Pizzas prepared are also a far cry from their fast-food counterparts.

Though Ciao Bella mainly targets the city’s expats, it has been increasingly popular among city-dwellers and tourists.  

Saffron introduces Mediterranean gastronomy to local diners, while Portofino is best known for its seafood.

In 2016, Fox added Twenty One to his bistro chain, which fuses European with Asian culinary delights.

In tropical Saigon, sculptors carve ice into ephemeral artworks

Craftsmen in Ho Chi Minh City have been putting in hours of physical effort in freezing temperatures to create fantastic yet short-lived ice sculptures, which have been in rising demand in recent years.

Thanks to the dexterity of the artisans, rough blocks of ice are sculpted into intricate, transparent sculptures of all shapes and sizes.

Multicolored lights are also used to give character to the ice, creating a spectacle when lit up at night.

Recently, Le Ho Quang Vinh, 30, an ice sculptor residing in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, was making crude cuts on a 1m-long ice block in a large freezer-like workshop.

He then used a chainsaw to carve the ice into blocks, with multiple rays of light emitted in the process.

After a while, when the sculptures began to take shape, Vinh worked on the details with chisels and grinders.

Finishing touches were then applied.

This technically-demanding craft is done by veteran artisans who understand the techniques like the back of their hand.

It requires great creativity and an acute sense of esthetics to design and craft such exquisite items.

As no institutions in Vietnam offer training in ice sculpture, most ice sculptors have switched to the craft from other jobs.

“I worked at a mechanics tool firm previously, but my family, who run an ice making business, wanted me to take up ice sculpture. I’ve been infatuated with the art ever since,” Vinh shared.

However, several have succumbed to the unforgiving, taxing nature of the work and quit.

Vinh recalled the immense difficulties he faced when he first dabbled in ice sculpture four years ago.

“I would struggle to carry ice blocks almost three times my weight. My hands went numb and my teeth kept clenching,” he recalled.

Unable to cope with the freezing cold, Vinh dashed out of the room to shake off his shivers every hour.

“My fingers would clamp, and I constantly got bruises on my feet from falling ice,” he added.

“I’m a lot tougher now and can withstand the cold for four hours at a time.”

Recently there has been a growing taste for ice sculptures of various sizes and shapes, used as highlights of wedding receptions, birthday parties and other events.

A pair of swan-shaped ice sculptures, which are one of the most popular designs, fetch approximately VND3.5 million (US$153).

Seasoned artisans can typically complete two to three swans, each of which takes around 45 minutes to finish, during a shift, or eight pieces at most per day if they are willing to brave the biting cold.

Ice sculptors are literally burning themselves out to cater to the surge in demand towards year end, when weddings and other events peak.

“By the end of the year when I work to full capacity, my arms and shoulders are tired as the tools are heavy and shake fiercely,” Vinh said.

Most ice sculptors are men who can persist in such trying working conditions and take delight in their chosen career which indulges their creative passion.

The most technically demanding client orders are ice portraits of their idols or relatives.

Unlike artists who generally portray human models, ice sculptors rely only on their rich imagination and dexterity to visualize characters and sketch three-dimensional models before actually working on the portraits.

Thach So Thonh, 28, who has been on the job for nearly five years, disclosed new designs, particularly challenging portraits, take him from one day to up to a week to finish.

Vinh revealed that he had recently crafted a two-meter high King Kong gorilla for a local café.

For such a large piece, it took Vinh and his team members more than a week to finish. They had to stack blocks of ice on top of one another and glue them with water adeptly without revealing the joints. 

“Portraits require great workmanship in depicting characters’ facial features in a lifelike way. Artisans need to work with their whole heart,” Thonh noted.

A wrong cut or chisel stroke may destroy the whole piece, he added.

Unlike their colleagues who work on  enduring materials, ice sculptors have to be fast, and cannot stop halfway once they have embarked on a piece.

“Ice must reach a certain level of transparency to be sculpted, so we use water free of impurities which goes through the same stringent process as that of water used for cooking purposes,” Nguyen Cao Thang, who runs an ice sculpture business, revealed.

The water is then left to freeze for four days on end to form the type of ice they use.

Great care is also taken when shipping the finished pieces to customers.

“Items are wrapped in thermo-proof sheets during shipment. Things get even tougher with clients who live far away as the ice works are transported in freezing trucks,” Thang said.

The sculptors themselves will sometimes sit in the trucks to the event in order to fine-tune the intricately designed works whose details may be eroded during transport.     

Despite all the effort, the works will always soon melt and vanish altogether if not stored in the right conditions.

Perhaps it is the temporary nature of ice sculptures that adds to their allure.

Smoking detrimental to country’s development

The statement was released at a meeting held by the Ministry of Health yesterday in Hanoi in response to the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31 and the national week of No Tobacco Day themed “Smoking is a threat of the nations’ stable growth”. 

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien asserted that fight against smoking in Vietnam achieved lately. In 2007, the rate of Vietnamese teenager smokers  was 3.3 percent and it reduces to 2. 5 percent now. 

The proportion of students’ exposure to secondhand smoke  has dropped to 18.8 percent. Additionally, the figure of male smokers in urban areas reduced by 6.5 percent. Passive smokers in public means of transport fell from 34.4 percent to 19.4 percent. 

Though the number of smokers and passive smokers dropped, Vietnam is still listed one of 15 countries with most smokers in the world. By statistics, it showed that around 40 percent of adult men in the country or 16 million people smoke while it is 1.4 percent of female.  

Noticeably, little fines to smokers in public places such as schools, hospitals, theaters, and stations are imposed. Worse, tobacco is sold rampantly nationwide even a kid can buy it from hotels, bars, coffee shops. Moreover, because of low taxation, cheap price, and loose control of selling tobacco, people can easily buy tobacco. According to Lokky Wai, the World Health Organization Representative (WHO) to Vietnam, special consumption tax levied on tobacco makes up only 40 percent of the retail prices in Vietnam, a very low proportion compared to WHO’s recommendation of 75 percent. 

Smoking in the Southeast Asian country and many nations in the globe is alert and smoking is key factor for increased non-communicable diseases. As per WHO, seven million people succumb to tobacco-related diseases in the globe annually.

Meantime, the Ministry of Health’s study shows that cigarette smoke contains about 7,000 chemicals; most of them are detrimental to people’s health causing dangerous diseases; for instance over 200 chemicals in tobacco cause cancer. 

Statistically, the rate of ill people and death relating to tobacco accounts for 12 percent of burden of disease. Worse, tobacco using is one of causes of poverty and badly impacted on the country’s development.
At present, total cost of medical treatment of tobacco-related diseases including lung cancer, respiratory cancer, stroke, coronary thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary is more than VND23 trillion a year. Moreover, through survey, Vietnamese adults spend VND 30 trillion a year to buy tobacco.

Visible consequences of smoking is detrimental to the country’s growth and to people’s health; accordingly, related agencies should encourage young people stop smoking to keep fitness and protect their relatives. The government and relevant agencies should increase tax on tobacco and tighten control of business, advertising and supervision of smoking in public places. Harsh penalties should be issued to deter people from smoking in public places.

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