Vietnam attends ASEAN Night Market in New Zealand

Vietnam together with other ASEAN member countries participated in the ASEAN Night Market in New Zealand on April 1-2.

The biennial event was jointly held by the Asia-New Zealand Foundation, the Wellington City Council, and the ASEAN Committee in Wellington with a view to promoting culture, handicraft products, and cuisine of the ASEAN nations to local and international friends.

Mayor of Wellington city Justin Lester said the festival creates an opportunity for New Zealand people as well as foreign visitors to have better understanding of the land, people, and culture of the ASEAN countries, thus boosting people-to-people exchanges.

The Vietnamese Embassy in New Zealand set up a pavilion displaying handicraft products and providing a lot of information on Vietnam’s popular destinations. 

Thousands of visitors flock to this year’s festival to enjoy traditional art performances, buy handicraft products, and taste signature food of the ASEAN countries.

The first event was held in 2008.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Cabbie shows fake press card to evade penalty

Police in the northern province of Lào Cai on Sunday detained a taxi driver for overspeeding and showing a fake press card to get off easily.

The driver, Đỗ Ngọc Tiên, 58, a resident of the northern Nam Định Province, showed the police a press card and said he was a reporter with Vietnam News Agency after he was stopped. However, on checking, the police found that the card was fake.

Tiên admitted that he had bought the fake press card from an online seller for VNĐ1 million (US$43.9) to help him “get out of trouble” if he was caught by the police.

The driver has been sent to the criminal police department and the case is under further investigation, Lieutenant-Colonel Đoàn Ngọc Toàn from the province’s traffic police department told the Giao thông (Transport) newspaper on Monday.

Heavy downpour leaves four-meter sinkhole on Saigon street

A sinkhole of more than four meters (13 feet) large has emerged on a street in Ho Chi Minh City following heavy downpour at the weekend, threatening traffic safety, witnesses said.

Some locals said the road in District 9 started to crack and sink after the rain, “which poured as strong as a waterfall” on the evening of April 1.

Many vehicles, including a public bus, almost slipped into the hole of about two meters deep, they said.

Hours of rain at the peak of the dry season flooded many streets in the city, Vietnam's largest, causing delays and cancellations to dozens domestic and international flights.

Several planes heading to the city's Tan Son Nhat International Airport have been diverted to nearby airports, while a section of railroad in an outskirt district has also been inundated.

The flood level reached one meter in some low-lying areas in District 9 and Thu Duc District, where many motorbikes were washed away.

Fishy process

The story was front-paged by most newspapers when authorities of Thanh Hoa Province on March 30 announced results of an inspection into the fast-tracked promotion of a civil servant. Dubious promotions are not uncommon, with numerous cases discovered by local media lately, but the case in Thanh Hoa can be seen as typical of a troubling process.

The announcement on March 30, however, aroused more questions rather than giving answers as to how a person could have been easily recruited, promoted and then dismissed beyond knowledge of relevant agencies. Mysteries surrounding the case of Tran Vu Quynh Anh remain to be revealed.

As covered by the local media, Tran Vu Quynh Anh graduated from an information technology college in Nghe An Province, and was recruited by Thanh Hoa Province’s Labor Federation between 2008 and 2010. In early 2011, after graduating from Vinh University, she was recruited by the Quality Assurance Center of Thanh Hoa Province’s Department of Construction. In 2012, she was dispatched to the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Division of this department. Between October 2013 and April 2014, she took maternal leave when giving birth to her first child.

One month later, according to Lao Dong newspaper, she was appointed deputy head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Division, and six months later, she was named head of the department. While working at the Department of Construction, she was also groomed to become deputy director of this department.

Last September, she submitted a letter of resignation and it was approved by the director of the Department of Construction.

The appointment of a person without professional or academic merit to the leadership of a division under the Department of Construction has stoked a controversy at the time, and “in reality, Anh was not qualified to be recruited as a civil servant, let alone her rapid promotions,” says Lao Dong.

In fact, since weeks ago, several newspapers have raised questions over the process of recruiting and promoting her, and over her huge assets, with some rumors having it that she was the mistress of a top leader of the province, which was soon denied.

In explanations to the media on March 30, Ngo Hoang Ky, Office Manager of Thanh Hoa Province, asserted that the process of recruiting Anh was in line with regulations, but it was wrong when the director of the Department of Construction appointed her as deputy head and then head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Division, because at the time, she was not senior enough with regulations requiring that persons appointed to such positions “must have at least three years working in the field… and must have taken a course on State management,” according to Thanh Nien newspaper.

In addition, when Anh submitted a letter to quit her job, the director of the Department of Construction gave approval without consulting the Department of Interior Affairs as regulated. In addition, the department handed over the civil servant files to Anh, and currently has no papers to track her working process at the department.

Regarding the expected probe into her assets, Thanh Hoa authorities said that by the time of inspection, Anh was no longer a civil servant, so it is not feasible to verify her properties. However, the provincial government also admitted that she was not truthful when giving personal details, and failed to properly declare her assets.

As per the results of the inspection, shortcomings and irregularities regarding the appointment of Anh are all directly attributed to the director of the Construction Department as well as the department’s leadership during the 2010-2015 tenure, Vnexpress reports.

Commenting on the case, National Assembly deputy Nguyen Sy Cuong says in Tuoi Tre newspaper that it is full of abnormalities. “Looking at the process from her recruitment to appointments of vice head and then head of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Division, and then being groomed to become deputy director of the Department of Construction, it is unimaginable,” Cuong remarks.

The NA deputy notes that within just a short length of time, a young woman with a normal education background had risen faster than many other people.

Cuong also ponders why her working files are not kept at the Construction Department, and raises the question whether there is an effort to erase evidence.

Lao Dong, meanwhile, stresses that officials behind the case must be held accountable. “Who have intentionally opened the pathway for Anh’s rising through the ranks?” asks the newspaper.

The paper says that the then director of the Construction Department was Ngo Van Tuan, who is now vice chairman of the provincial government. It says Tuan skipped numerous regulations on standards and qualifications when signing decisions appointing Anh to senior positions.

Also according to the paper, by the end of 2015, the Construction Department was facing a redundancy of civil servants in senior positions, including six deputy heads of divisions. Therefore, the Construction Department with all consulting staff could not have made such mistakes in the appointments.

The media has run an extensive coverage of abnormal appointments in the State machinery in many agencies and localities across the country, as well as at big State-owned corporations. Most recently, Thanh Nien newspaper on March 30 referred to the case of Nguyen Anh Tuan, who is now serving as director of the Southern Institute for Spatial Planning under the Ministry of Construction.

The newspaper reports that Tuan was a driver, and then an official at the Planning Division of the Vietnam Institute of Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning in 2008. He is said to be an acquaintance of the institute leader’s Nguyen Dinh Toan. In 2009, Toan was named Deputy Minister of Construction, and after that, Tuan rose quickly before being promoted to the post of director of the Southern Institute for Spatial Planning in 2014.

Given the vast number of abnormal appointments and promotions, it is time for the Government to tighten controls on all the relevant processes and procedures in the State machinery. Otherwise, cases deemed as fishy will continue to thrive.

Ethnic minority students partake in Festival of Gong

The Department of Education and Training in the highlands province of Kon Tum yesterday organized festival of Gong, traditional xoang dance and costumes.

The festival took place in the big culture house in Kon Klor village of Kon Tum city. The fourth festival has seen the participation of 20 groups with more than 996 students from Ba Na, Gia Rai and Xe Dang groups in the province.

Participants performed 40 items of Gong, xoang dance and specific costumes. The highlights of these performances are rituals.

The event organizer presented flags and gifts to groups. The special prize was given to team of Pham Hong Thai and Nguyen Thai Binh Senior High School. In addition, the organizer also gave flags and cash to three for A prize, four for B prize, five for C prize and seven encouragement prizes to participating groups.

The festival is held every two years, aiming to preserve and develop ethnic minority people’s cultural tradition in Kon Tum Province.

Trung Luong-My Thuan-Can Tho expressway to open to traffic in 2019

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has prompted the Ministry of Transport, investor of Trung Luong-My Thuan-Can Tho expressway, to speed up necessary procedures to start work on My Thuan-Can Tho stretch and open the entire route to traffic in 2019.

According to an announcement from the Government Office, Deputy PM Dung required the ministry to quickly build and approve a feasibility study report of My Thuan-Can Tho stretch in March.

He urged the ministry to choose experienced qualified contractors to build the project, propose measures and report them to the Prime Minister for approval to solve difficulties during the construction process.

The ministry should open My Thuan-Can Tho stretch synchronously with Trung Luong-My Thuan stretch in 2019.

Mr. Dung requested localities where the project runs through to closely work with the Ministry of Transport and investors in site clearance, compensation and resettlement.

Authorized agencies, investors and consultancy units should raise responsibilities to implement the project, coordinate with local authorities to step up progress, not pollute the environment and ensure quality, labor safety as well as rights and duties of the State, investors and citizens.

Trung Luong-My Thuan stretch has started construction since 2015 and been scheduled to complete in 2019.

Trung Luong-My Thuan-Can Tho expressway stretches over 51 kilometers to connect the final point of HCMC-Trung Luong expressway in Chau Thanh district with an intersection in Highway 30, Cai Be district, Tien Giang province.

The project having been built under BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) form with the total cost of VND14,700 billion (US$646.3 million).

The expressway is 14 meter in width comprising four lanes, four intersections and flyovers. Its building affects 2,300 households in 26 communes and wards from five districts and towns in Tien Giang.

My Thuan-Can Tho stretch has the total length of nearly 24 kilometers connecting the final point of Trung Luong-My Thuan stretch with Can Tho city.

44 workers hospitalized due to food poisoning

Tens of workers in the central province of Nghe An were hospitalized because of food poisoning.

The hospital 115 in Nghe An Province yesterday said that some of hospitalized workers were discharged as their health is stable.

Workers of BSE Electronic Company in the Cam Tien Industrial Park in Nghi Loc District experienced dizzy, pan in belly and vomiting after the lunch. Some of them fainted. 44 workers were rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. 

After the incident, the department of Food Safety has taken food samples for testing. 

The lunch was catered by Brothers Vietnam Company.

Long An to spend big to bring clean water to rural areas

The Mekong Delta province of Long An will invest over 796 billion VND (34.9 million USD) in the 2016-2020 period to bring clean, hygienic water to nearly 300,000 inhabitants in rural, remote, and border areas.

Sixty percent of the investment will be sourced from the State budget while the remaining is to be contributed by locals, social organisations, and businesses, according to director of the provincial centre for clean water and rural hygiene Ha Van Thiep.

The investment plan is part of the province’s effort to increase the rate of people having access to clean water from 23 percent to 45 percent, he said.

To improve the rural water programme’s efficiency, local authorities will strengthen the management of water supply stations and water quality, he added.

The locality will give priority to building large-scale water supply factories and encourage social investment in the field.

The programme is expected to improve health and living conditions for rural residents as well as increase their awareness of personal hygiene and environmental protection, Thiep said.

Currently, Long An counts 1,410 rural water supply facilities, which provides clean water for around 280,000 rural people, who make up 20 percent of the province’s total population.

Products from endangered pangolins have no medical benefits

The traditional use of pangolin scales to treat blocked milk ducts is touted by a number of websites online, but doctors of traditional medicine said scientific research proves that it is ineffective.

In the past, scales from pangolins, the world’s most trafficked wild mammal, were used in Vietnam for medical treatment, but there is no evidence to support it, Dr Nguyen Thi Bay, former head of HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy’s Traditional Medicine Faculty, said at a recent workshop on the medical value of pangolin scales held in Ho Chi Minh City.

Students of traditional medicine at Vietnamese universities are now taught that pangolin scales are ineffective and that bo cong anh (scientific name of Lactuca indica), and Indian camphorweed should be used instead.

Dr Le Hung, Chairman of HCM City Traditional Medicine and Acupuncture Hospital, said that advertisements often falsely claimed that pangolin scales can treat cancer and diabetes in addition to improving male energy and vitality.

In the past decade, one million pangolins were hunted and sold worldwide, leading to a decline in pangolin population, according to the workshop’s organisers - the Centre of Hands-on Action and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE), in co-operation with WildAid, a US environmental organisation.

Vietnam and China lead the global demand for pangolins, they reported.

In the world, eight species of pangolin are on the edge of extinction. The Asian pangolin population plummeted by 80 percent in just 21 years. Vietnam’s two species, the Chinese and Sunda pangolin, are critically endangered.

Last July, Vietnam raised the penalty for illegal hunting and trading in pangolin to 15 years in prison. Government agencies in recent years have strengthened their inspections and seized trafficked pangolins. In the past 10 years, the country’s authorities seized 54.8 tonnes of pangolins and 14.7 tonnes of scales.

Disadvantaged youngsters trained to get job

First introduced in Vietnam in 2013, the Youth Career Initiative programme has trained hundreds of disadvantaged students, helping them to find stable jobs after graduation and have a better future.

Minh Nguyet is a Dao ethnic minority girl. Due to her family’s difficulties, Nguyet only completed high school. However, a training course offered by the Youth Career Initiative programme has helped her confident to cook meals professionally. Her dream of working for luxury hotels has come true.

The support of the Youth Career Initiative programme has helped make the dreams of nearly 40 other youngsters come dreams.

Under the programme, students will have a chance to participate in hotel service and other training courses. After six months of free training, trainees are ready to work for international hotels.

First introduced in Vietnam in 2013, the programme has trained 120 students, helping them find stable jobs upon graduation.

The programme is being implemented in 22 countries worldwide, aiming to reduce unemployment rate, poverty and hunger and sweatshop labor among young laborers.-

Disadvantaged youngsters trained to get job

First introduced in Vietnam in 2013, the Youth Career Initiative programme has trained hundreds of disadvantaged students, helping them to find stable jobs after graduation and have a better future.

Minh Nguyet is a Dao ethnic minority girl. Due to her family’s difficulties, Nguyet only completed high school. However, a training course offered by the Youth Career Initiative programme has helped her confident to cook meals professionally. Her dream of working for luxury hotels has come true.

The support of the Youth Career Initiative programme has helped make the dreams of nearly 40 other youngsters come dreams.

Under the programme, students will have a chance to participate in hotel service and other training courses. After six months of free training, trainees are ready to work for international hotels.

First introduced in Vietnam in 2013, the programme has trained 120 students, helping them find stable jobs upon graduation.

The programme is being implemented in 22 countries worldwide, aiming to reduce unemployment rate, poverty and hunger and sweatshop labor among young laborers.

Incense offering ceremony held in honour of Hung Kings

Viet Tri city in the northern province of Phu Tho, home to the Hung Kings Temple Relic Site, held an incense offering ceremony at the site on March 31, ahead of the annual Hung Kings Temple Festival. 

The Hung Kings Temple Festival is held at the site on the 10th day of the third lunar month to commemorate the founders of the first nation in the history of Vietnam, called Van Lang. 

Millions of people across the country flock to the Hung Kings Temple in Viet Tri on the occasion.

Ruling the country through 18 generations (2879–258 BC), the Hung Kings taught locals how to grow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for lush crops.

The worshipping ritual of the Hung Kings was recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.

Viet Tri city, which was the first capital of Vietnam under the Van Lang administration, still owns many archaeological and historical relics related to Hung Kings’ reign. 

The city is making investment to optimize its advantage in spiritual tourism.

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