Vietnam, EU share experience in ensuring human rights

Experts from Vietnam and the European Union (EU) shared experience in ensuring human rights while implementing the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) during a workshop held in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on October 3.

The event gave an insight into important human rights principles set in international conventions and the UNCAT in particular for officials working in Vietnam’s public security, judicial and court sectors.

Participants presented Vietnam’s responsibility in carrying out international conventions, including the UNCAT, to which the country is a member.

EU experts updated the current situation in the field in the union as well as shared experience of EU and member states on crime investigation without use of torture and methods to prevent torture.

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (commonly known as the UN Convention against Torture ) is an international human rights treaty approved by the UN General Assembly in December 1984.

It aims to prevent torture and other acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world.

Vietnam signed the UNCAT in 2013 with the approval of the National Assembly in 2014, demonstrating the Vietnamese Government’s strong commitment to preventing torture and protecting human rights in the country.

In ASEAN, Vietnam was the sixth nation to join the UNCAT, along with Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Vietnam, Cambodia foster cooperation in ethnic affairs

A delegation of the Committee for Ethnic Affairs had a working session with a delegation of the Cambodian Ministry of Cults and Religions to foster cooperation in ethnic affairs in Ho Chi Minh City on October 3.

Deputy Minister-Vice Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Affairs Dinh Que Hai, who led the Vietnamese delegation, said Vietnam always creates best conditions for the sustainable development of the nation’s ethnic groups, especially ethnic minority ones.

He highlighted the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional friendship and solidarity, which have been consolidated by high-level contacts and cooperation programmes in different areas.

In ethnic affairs, the two nations have regularly conducted exchanges of high-level delegations, shared experience in developing policies on ethnic affairs, Hai added.

For his part, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Cults and Religions Sos Mousine, who led the Cambodian delegation, spoke of the strengthened relations between the Ministry and the Vietnam’s Committee, contributing to fostering and developing neighbourliness between the two countries.

During the meeting, the two sides shared their experiences in ethnic affairs and discussed measures to improve cooperation effectiveness between the two agencies. They also discussed and agreed on a number of their upcoming cooperation contents, including exchange of delegation and Vietnam’s commitment to provide support for Cambodia in human resource training in the field.

While in Vietnam from October 3-7, the Cambodian delegation will work with a number of localities.

HCMC Red Cross chapter sees 224 pct rise in donations

The Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross Chapter in the last five years gave more than 1.46 trillion VND (nearly 66 million USD) to various charity and humanitarian activities, up 224 percent compared to the previous five-year period. 

The increase was due to a rise in funds from non-profit organisations and pagodas as well as financial support from the government that matches the number of blood donations to the Red Cross, which also rose during the period. 

In addition, an average of 362 million VND (16,300 USD) was allocated annually to assist 150 victims of Agent Orange between 2011 and 2016, according to reports at the chapter’s five-year congress held in HCM City on September 30. 

Over the last five years, the chapter donated more than 21,300 scholarships to disadvantaged students and offered support for 58,000 elderly residents. 

It also helped fund operations for nearly 300 children with congenital heart defects.    

Waste treatment project launched in Hau Giang

Construction on a waste treatment project of Greenity Hau Giang Company was launched in the southern Hau Giang province’s Chau Thanh district on October 2.

The Greenity factory in Song Hau industrial park has a total investment of 300 million VND (13,4 million USD) and is designed to process 300 tonnes of rubbish per day.

The same day, the office block of AquaOne water supply plant was inaugurated also in the Song Hau industrial park.

The AquaOne water supply plant is being built at a cost of 1,984 billion VND (88.9 million USD). Once its first phase is put into operation in January next year, the plant will supply 100,000 cu.m of clean water to provinces to the southwest of Hau River. The plant has a total designed capacity of 1,000,000 m3 per day.

On the occasion, Do Thi Kim Lien, Honorary Consul of South Africa in Ho Chi Minh City and Chairwoman of Vietnam Green Environment Support Foundation, offered 500 million VND (22,417 USD) to the province to implement a project on tree planting.

According to Tran Cong Chanh, secretary of the provincial party committee, being a poor province with underdeveloped socio – economic infrastructure, Hau Giang is fortunate to receive help from organisations, individuals and locals to improve its infrastructures and social welfare.

Nghe An has 12 more communes meeting new rural criteria

Twelve more communes in central Nghe An province have been qualified as new rural areas so far this year, bringing the total communes of their kind to 117.

The province has been working to have 34 communes to be listed as new rural areas this year as set previously. It has one district recognized as reaching the new rural area criteria. 

For the work to be done, Nghe An said it will rally more finance from local people and organisations and issue mechanisms and policies supporting the implementation of the criteria of the national new rural area construction programme.

The programme has, however, seemingly coped with difficulties in communes in 11 mountainous districts as only 34 out of the 203 communes in the districts have met the set criteria in comparison with 83 out of the 228 communes in nine plain districts.

To tackle the problem, provincial authorities have instructed local administrations at mountainous communes to develop specific standards for hamlet and village levels and communicate to create a consensus among the local people in the work. 

Nghe An asked the Central Steering Committee for the National New Rural Construction Programme to adopt an exclusive mechanism for Nam Dan district to turn it into a model in new rural area in the country. 

The national programme aims to lift the living standards of people, develop socio-economic infrastructure, and restructure the economy. 

Under the programme, facilities like roads, electricity, clean water, schools and medical stations will be developed.-

Hanoi workshop scrutinises water resource management

Measures to ensure cross-border water resources security and adapt to climate change were discussed at the fifth international workshop and exhibition on water in Hanoi on October 3.

The event was jointly organised by the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), the Department of Water Resources Management, the Mekong River Commission and the Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment.

Participants also focused their discussions on water resources planning, monitoring and surveying, cross-border water management, the relations between water, energy, food and health, water supply and treatment, and cultural and social values of water resources.

Besides, an exhibition on “Water and Truong Sa” introducing 100 photos, equipment and technologies relating to water resources safety were held at the event.

MoNRE Deputy Minister Chu Pham Ngoc Hien highlighted the importance of water in maintaining life, saying that meeting the demand on water in terms of quantity and quality is a prerequisite condition for sustainable development.

He noted a fact that many countries worldwide, including Vietnam, are facing the shortage of water.

Participants from different countries shared related issues such as research on Shire river basin of Denmark, a digital revolution in sustainable water of Germany, the water resources monitoring and forecasting system of Slovakia. They mentioned advantages and difficulties in implementing water related projects in Vietnam.

AFD-funded project helps localities adapt to climate change

An infrastructure development project in response to climate change “CNV 192” funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) was launched at a seminar in the northern province of Ninh Binh on September 30.

The localities included will be Ninh Binh province, the central province of Ha Tinh and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

Speaking at the seminar, Vice Chairman of the Ninh Binh People’s Committee Dinh Chung Phung pledged to effectively carry out the project.

The project will be implemented with total investment of 75.91 million EUR, with three main works: Kim Dai saltwater–prevention embankment system in Ninh Binh, Bac Thach Ha irrigation system in Ha Tinh and Can Tho river embankment in Can Tho city.

The works are expected to strengthen the localities’ capacity for dealing with climate change, especially changing rainfall levels, extreme weather and rising sea levels.

Kim Dai embankment system will help prevent sea water from intruding into the Vac River, facilitating agricultural production and aquaculture in six southern districts of Ninh Binh.

In Ha Tinh, the CNV 192 project will benefit 36,000 locals by dredging nearly 18,000 km of irrigation and drainage canals, and constructing 15 water-pumping stations and others facilities, minimising flooding in the rainy season and reducing droughts in the dry season.

Can Tho city will be assisted to construct 5,160m of embankment along Can Tho River and 26 sluices to prevent tide, and other works, reducing land slide along the river.

The project will also help the localities strengthen irrigation management, and develop smart agriculture models adaptive to climate change.

President opens new school year at VNU-HCM City

President Trần Đại Quang yesterday beat the drum to open the 2016-2017 academic year at Việt Nam National University-HCM City.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the President spoke about the challenges created by the fourth industrial revolution which is occurring around the world today.

“One of the important solutions to develop the country’s intellectual human resources for the fourth industrial revolution is to improve the quality of education and training which directly affects stable development. Education and training gives us a foundation to make achievements in technology and science,” he said.

He said the government attaches great importance to education and training, keeping education reform as a top government priority.

“Investment in education is for the country’s development,” he said.

He encouraged Việt Nam National University-HCM City to develop its leading role in scientific research and technology transfer in the country, and to attract more excellent students to its programmes.

“It should improve the quality of education by standardising training programmes and the process of quality assessment,” he said.

It should also create an environment that stimulates creativity, he said, adding that students and lecturers should conduct scientific research that is highly practical and effective.

After 20 years of development, the Việt Nam National University-HCM City has taken a role as a pioneer in higher education in education and global integration.

It has 32 training programmes that meet ASEAN, European and American standards.

The President also spoke about cybersecurity, saying that there had been an increase in hackers’ attacks to collect secret information but also destroy database and IT infrastructure.

The country’s information system, especially key state organisations, is a target of attack by foreign hackers, he said.

The risk of losing secret or important information will have serious consequences if no preventive methods are taken.

To speed up the process of global integration, the country needs to carry out a master plan to develop IT for security as well as take advantage of IT, he said.

The awareness of the importance of cybersecurity for officials and the public needs to be improved as well.

Moreover, policies are being set up that would develop IT experts and scientists.

Training at universities with majors of IT, electronics and telecommunications as well as curricula for cybersecurity at every level of education would be given priority, the President said.

On the occasion, the President helped plant trees during his visit to the Việt Nam National University-HCM City campus. 

Urgent inter-country water problem: experts

Challenges related to inter-country water resources have existed throughout the history of human development, but recently the problems have become more urgent, posing a serious global and strategic problem, said Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Chu Phạm Ngọc Hiển, at a conference in Hà Nội yesterday.

Deputy Minister Hiển said that to cope with problems related to water resources, the country should improve education on laws and information about water resources to residents and enterprises.

Water resource protection should be strengthened and more inspection and punishment should be focused on violations involving water resources.

Concerned ministries and organisations should set up financial policies to encourage economical and effective water usage, with a focus on agricultural and industrial processes, he said.

An overall scheme for water resource use should be set up for the whole country, especially the water in larger rivers and inter-country rivers. Water use schemes for different provinces and cities should also be considered, said Hiển.

International co-operation should be strengthened to deal with the use of  water from the Hồng (Red) River and Mekong River with countries at its upper reaches.

Deputy Minister Hiển expressed his hope that all provinces and cities across the country were fully aware of the urgent need to protect and use water resources efficiently.

In poor remote and mountainous areas, local authorities should spread knowledge to residents about the importance of protecting the watershed to develop water sources.

In plains and coastal areas, especially in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta, residents should plant trees to protect and develop mangrove forests and strengthen water protection construction work.

Nguyễn Chí Công, deputy director of the National Centre for Water Resources Planning and Investigation, pointed out more difficulties related to water resources, such as contradictions in water resource exploitation and use leading to insecurity, water flow changes, drought, pollution and the endangerment of the ecosystem.

Pauline Eizema, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Việt Nam, said her country had experience in protecting water resources and share it with Việt Nam. 

National Highway 53 to be upgraded

Project Management Unit 7 under the Việt Nam Road Administration has proposed that the Ministry of Transport upgrade part of National Highway 53 and build an additional road.

Total investment for the project is VNĐ1.46 trillion (US$65.4 million).

As planned, the road will be 52.5km in length and 12m in width, connecting Châu Thành District’s Hoà Thuận Commune and Duyên Hải District’s Duyên Hải Township.

Two bridges in Nhị Trung and Lộ Đá will be built along the road.

The construction of an additional road, which will run parallel with the highway and pass through Trà Vinh City, will ease traffic overload and meet transport demand.

This road will be 9.5km in length, starting at the intersection between National Highway 53 and 60 in Trà Vinh Province and ending at Châu Thành District’s Duyên Hải Township.

Four bridges will be built along the road.

Investment capital will be mobilised from the state budget and state bonds.

Report of the Việt Nam Road Administration’s survey on traffic flow this August showed that there were more than 2,550 vehicles travelling on National Highway 53 each day. The road has deteriorated, resulting in cracks and subsidence, posing the risk of traffic accidents for commuters.

Currently, National Highway 53 is the only road connecting southern Trà Vinh Province to National Highway 1A and the Mekong Delta provinces. The project will reduce traffic jams and accidents on the route and boost socio-economic development and national defence in the Mekong Delta region.

Bạch Mai Hospital keeps parking lot open

The parking lot in front of the National Institute of Mental Health of Hà Nội-based Bạch Mai Hospital will remain open, a hospital representative told local media.

There were plans to close the parking lot at the beginning of this month.

Doctor Dương Đức Hùng, head of the hospital’s Planning Division, said the hospital decided to extend the closing date of the parking lot until alternative parking areas were approved to help solve difficulties of hospital visitors in finding parking lots although the extension will affect the hospital’s infrastructure upgrade progress.

Last month, the hospital closed its largest parking lot near the Health Examination Department to build a daytime centre for health examinations and treatment.

This caused chaos in front of the hospital as thousands of people struggled to find an alternative space to park their vehicles.

Đống Đa District’s People’s Committee and Bạch Mai Hospital proposed to the city’s authorities to use pavements along Giải Phóng Street, area under the nearby Ngã Tư Vọng flyover or empty space inside the Hà Nội University of Science and Technology as parking lots, according to Hà Anh Tuấn, head of Đống Đa District’s urban management division.

“However, until now, we have not received any response from the municipal People’s Committee and transport department,” he said.

Earlier last month, representatives of the hospital apologised to hospital visitors for closing the hospital’s largest parking lot, causing inconvenience to visitors. They requested the public’s cooperation and suggested people use public transport to visit the hospital.

According to the plan, the hospital will close its parking lots in some two years, by which construction of the nine-floor centre is expected to be completed, which will be able to serve up to 8,000 patients per day. There will be three ground floors for parking lots.

Bạch Mai Hospital, the largest general hospital in the north, receives some 6,000 people for health examinations, 4,000 inpatients and thousands of visitors every day. The number of motorbikes parked at the hospital can reach up to 2,000 to 3,000 per day. 

Ambulance collides with tanker; 1 dead, 4 injured

A collision between an ambulance and a tanker on the HCM City-Long Thành-Dầu Giây Expressway early this morning killed the ambulance driver on the spot.

Four others inside the ambulance were seriously injured.

The ambulance crashed into a tanker travelling in the same direction at 5.30am while the latter appeared to be pulling over on the highway.

The ambulance was carrying four people — the patient, patient’s two family members and a doctor — from Lâm Đồng Province to HCM City.

The four passengers were seriously injured and immediately transported to HCM City’s Chợ Rẫy Hospital for treatment. 

Modern contraceptives are more effective: conference

Misconceptions about modern contraceptives are causing unexpected pregnancies and abortions, a recent conference organised by the HCM City Women Magazine and Bayer Vietnam to mark World Contraception Day in HCM City.

Modern contraception methods are highly effective in protecting unplanned pregnancies, according to Professor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, vice president of the Vietnam Gynecology and Obstetrics Association and president of the HCM City Society for Reproductive Medicine. For instance, male condoms are able to offer 86-93 percent protection. The protection rate for copper rings is 98-99 percent, the same as oral contraceptives taken correctly.

Professor Phuong said many women used traditional contraceptive methods, such as withdrawal, fertility awareness… instead of modern ones since they mistakenly feared that oral contraceptives cause infertility, and are misinformed about the association between contraceptive use with cancer and stroke.

“The use of traditional methods is less effective than modern ones and pose the potential risk of abortion due to unplanned pregnancies,” she said.

She quoted statistics from Guttmacher Istitute as saying, “If all unmet needs for modern contraception were satisfied, the number of unplanned pregnancies would be reduced by 67 percent from 44 million to 15 million per year and unsafe abortions by 73 percent from 9.7 million to 2.6 million.”

Phuong stressed, “Therefore, it is important that every woman seeks reliable information about available contraceptive methods, and get advice and guidance from their healthcare professionals to decide which method is best for her.”

Phuong said venous thromboemlism (VTE) is a well-known serious but rare risk associated with all combined oral contraceptives (COCs). However, the risk for VTE when taking a COC is lower than during pregnancy and following childbirth. Phuong said many innovations, such as the reduction of dose of oestrogen in COCs nowadays, had led to the reduction of VTE risks.

“Using oral contraceptives correctly is much better than having unplanned pregnancies, which could cause even death due to unsafe abortion,” she said.

Moreover, “oral contraceptives now limit bleeding during monthly periods meaning women can avoid blood loss,” she said. However, to safeguard their health, women should be screened risk factors prior to making decision for hormonal contraceptive using, such as age over 35 and smoking, major surgery with prolonged immobilization, history of thrombosis, etc.

According to the World Health Organisation, Vietnam is among the five countries with the highest abortion rates in the world and has the highest rate in Asia.

Statistics from Tu Du Hospital and Hùng Vương Hospital, the two largest obstetrics and gynecology hospitals in the south of Vietnam, show that the number of women coming for abortions has not decreased in recent years.

Tu Du Hospital received a total of 28,692 cases last year, and in the first half of this year, 14,400.

The number this year for Hung Vuong Hospital is 1,200.

On this occasion, Bayer Vietnam and the HCM City Women Magazine organised a talk by doctors for 300 women employees of the HCM City Limited Environment Company late last week to provide them with knowledge about contraception and how to choose appropriate contraceptive methods.

Volunteering for the event were doctors from the District 2 Hospital in HCM City, who offered free obstetrics and gynecology examinations and Pap smear to diagnose cervical cancer.

In addition to articles being published in the magazine, a writing contest for women was launched on “Toi chon song chu dong” (I choose to live actively) encouraging women to be proactive in their lives by making informed choices on contraception in order to plan their lives, pursue their dreams, live happily and be successful.

The entries will be accepted until December 12, 2016.

Better life for relocated people

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has ordered officials to guarantee an improved standard of living for those people relocated due to construction of the Sơn La hydropower plant.

He noted that operation of the hydropower plant will spur socio-economic development in the northwestern region.

Speaking at a conference in the northern mountainous province of Điện Biên on Saturday, the Prime Minister said the resettlement work has been carried out over the past 15 years and needs to ensure that those in relocated households have improved spiritual, material, and cultural lives.

The foreseeable task is to assure good employment and education for children in families being relocated, he said.

He also requested the State Steering Committee for Sơn La Hydropower Project to pay more attention to creating social infrastructure projects, developing rural areas, and supporting the operation of agricultural cooperatives, as well as industrial and farming centres.

The Prime Minister also urged localities to build political and administrative systems in the resettled areas, strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance among residents in the community, and implement the State’s policy on eliminating poverty.

He further asked ministries and localities to remove any difficulties during the resettlement process and quicken the implementation of 35 projects to develop agricultural production and improve living conditions for those who are relocated.

Sơn La hydropower plant is one of the key national projects to supply electricity for the socio-economic development, industrialisation and modernisation. It will also play a significant role in preventing floods during the rainy season and providing water in the dry season for local residents in the country’s northwest region.

To prepare for the building of the plant, as many as 20,340 households, with 93,201 people in Sơn La, Điện Biên and Lai Châu provinces need to be relocated.

The relocation and resettlement of those people has been largely completed during the past 15 years. As a result, the plant is expected to be put into operation three years earlier than scheduled.

According to the committee, the per capita income of relocated people increased to over VNĐ1.2 million (US$54) in 2015, from VNĐ311,000 ($13.9) in 2005. Meanwhile, the rate of poor households fell to 17.11 per cent in 2015, from 47.73 per cent in 2005.

Local staff must improve

Working with provincial leaders later that same day, Prime Minister Phúc stressed that local authorities play a decisive role in the province’s success or failure, thus, they must renew their thinking and spirit to serve, and desire to expand development. 

Though Điện Biên has attempted to overcome difficulties to maintain its stability and growth, which has been proven through setting a record in collecting its provincial budget of VNĐ1 trillion ($45 million), the size of the provincial economy remains small and the percentage of poor households is still high.

“Thus, it is necessary to empower local residents to reduce poverty,” the PM said.

“First and foremost, local people should be allocated with forest land so they have responsibility for managing and protecting forests, which is a huge advantage in the province.”

In the long term, the PM noted that it is crucial to improve the knowledge and education of local people.

“Models of boarding homes and boarding schools, and facilitating policies for specially impoverished communes are the basis for reducing poverty. How can we reduce poverty if we do not care for the children? Even farmers need to be educated to raise productivity,” said PM Phúc.

He noted that there should be clear planning for scientific operations to take full advantage of forest and forest lands, as well as vast areas of natural land and climate to provide breakthrough solutions for agricultural development. The total agro-forestry land accounts for 79.31 per cent of the area.

Additionally, the province should seek breakthroughs in tourism development, as it avails itself of potentials in ecological tourism, as well as in its cultural and historical values and geography.

Further, Deputy PM Trịnh Đình Dũng requested Điện Biên to scientifically and thoroughly study overall solutions for the area’s development strategy, which should involve specialists, scientists and experienced consultative bodies, both at home and abroad. 

He also suggested that tourism will be an important and promising economic sector for the province. Therefore, Điện Biên needs to invest in infrastructure, particularly upgrading the local airport, hotels and accommodation facilities.

During the meeting, PM Phúc noted that the province needs to ensure security, political security and social order, as well as to develop its border gate economy, promote its markets and fight smuggling and trade fraud.

Da Nang launches logistics trawler

The central city has launched a fishery logistics trawler for the city’s fishing boat fleet on Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Island of Việt Nam after five months of building.

The ship owner, Lê Văn Khang of Sơn Trà District, said the 1,200CV capacity boat was built for VNĐ7 billion (US$311,000), of which VNĐ800 million ($36,000) was funded by the city.

It’s one of the newest logistics ship built in Đà Nẵng following a master plan of offshore fishing ship fleet development.

Khang said his family has six other fishing boats in the sea off Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Island – a traditional fishing ground of Việt Nam.

Last year, the city introduced two fishery logistics co-operatives to supply fuel, ice, food, fresh water and necessities for longer trips involving 60 offshore fishing trawlers in Đà Nẵng and other central provinces.

The central city’s People’s Committee has approved an eight-year deep-sea fishing project worth VNĐ1.1 trillion ($52 million). The project is aimed at increasing productivity and providing bigger and better high-capacity vessels equipped with the latest technology. This includes the development of a fleet of 400 trawlers by 2020, most equipped with global positioning and fish-detection systems.

The central city, which has 15,000sq.km of fishing grounds, has a fleet of 2,300 fishing boats, of which 699 are deep-sea trawlers. 

Southern thief knows to ’always leave a note’

What would a robber do if he broke into a house and found nothing? The commense answer: the robber would run away immediately. However, a man named Đạt from Tân Lộc Commune in central province of Hà Tĩnh’s Lộc Hà District decided to take a different approach.

Đạt broke locks at the office of Tân Lộc Commune’s People’s Commune and pried open a safe box. To his surprise, he found nothing but paper. Đạt, wanting to leave his mark, took two sheets of A4 and wrote: “The commune was too poor. See you later” before leaving the office.

Later on the same day, he broke into the house of Bùi Thị Phượng, a resident of Ích Hậu Commune, and he stole 5 taels of gold and VNĐ20 million (Ú$896) in cash.

After conducting investigations, police identified Đạt as the main suspect of the two robberies. He was caught while hiding in HCM City.

The police in Lộc Hà District have decided to prosecute Đạt on charge of “theft of property”.

Perfect jump

Hundreds of people crossing HCM City’s Giồng Ông Tố 2 Bridge last Saturday witnessed a real life drama in which a 30-year-old man was the main character.

The young protagonist climbed over the railing of the bridge and threatened to jump.

Upon hearing the news, local police arrived at the scene and were ready to rescue him if he lept.

The negotiations took place for over 3 hours, and there was no sign of hope while traffic was paralysed.

Some frustrated travlers, upset at the greatly delayed traffic, shouted: let him jump! Some even incited others to “push him down”.

After three hours, he jumped off the bridge. Miraculously, he found a large can to hold on to and swim ashore very quickly. He ran away before the local police could interrogate him.

The cause of the incident was under investigation.

Some people said the man was an Amphetamine-like Stimulants addict, others didn’t know, but there was one thing we could celebrate: he no longer wanted to die.

When smart toilets are no longer smart

Tourists who come to the beach city of Nha Trang are happy to see public “smart” toilets along Trần Phú Road. But they soon realize there are some inconveniences involved in using them.

First of all, the toilet’s doors only open once a 2,000-đồng coin is inserted.

But the coin is largely out of circulation and most tourists don’t have one.

A long list of regulations listed in front of the toilet is another impediment. Anyone needing to use the toilet generally doesn’t have the pateince to read the lengthy notice.  

“Every tourist has six minutes to use toilets, because after six minutes, the water system would automatically run to clear the floor,” according to one regulation.

Those who don’t read it do so at their peril - more than one tourist has gotten wet.

The cost of installing a smart toilet was about VNĐ580 million (US$26,000), while the effectiveness has not been proven.

Are glasses no good on the bench?

An announcement on the enrollment site of the of Viet Nam Court Academy has shocked many candidates.

Besides achieving the score needed to be accpted to university, based on the national high school exam results, male candidates must be over 1.6m tall and females over 1.55m. They must not have any defect in their appearance or be short-sighted.

Nguyễn Đức Bình , director of the academy, said the myopia standard was included in order to “standardize” the appearance of judges.

This is a strange regulation given that the number of Vietnamese students who are short-sightedn is on the rise.

According to a survey conducted by the Central Eye Hospital, 50 per cent of Vietnamese students suffer from short-sightedness, and the figures goes up to 80 per cent in big cities.

The question is whether students will be rejected by the university if they wear glasses, or expelled after several years’ study if they get glasses?

Many judges currently wear glasses, but there is no indication this affects Viet Nam’s judicial process.

HCMC connects final span of metro bridge over Saigon River

The Management Authority for Urban Railways of HCMC (MAUR) has linked the final span of a bridge over the Saigon River of Metro Line No.1 between Ben Thanh Market and Suoi Tien Park.

The urban railway bridge, which is nearly 300 meters long and more than 11 meters wide, is being developed in parallel with the current Saigon Bridge as the most important component of the elevated track of the 20-km Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien line.

According to MAUR, the elevated track runs from Ba Son Shipyard in District 1 to Suoi Tien Park in District 9 and is now 60% complete. Contractors are building 11 stations along the route.

The 17-km elevated track is expected to be ready in 2019 but the entire metro line would not be up and running before 2020 as the 2.6-kilometer underground track between Ben Thanh Market and the Opera House in the downtown is still under construction.

Le Loi Boulevard will be closed to traffic to make room for construction of the underground section from October 15.

The train line passes through HCMC’s districts 1, 2 , 9, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc, and part of Di An District in Binh Duong Province.

The VND47 trillion (US$2.49 billion) project got off the ground in August 2012 and is expected to come online in 2020.

Hanoians had chance to taste authentic cốm

The 2016 Mễ Trì Sticky Rice Flake Culture Day was on Sunday at 1 Đỗ Đức Dục Street, Nam Từ Liêm District, Hà Nội.

“The event aims to honour and promote cốm Mễ Trì (sticky rice flakes), one of specialties of the district, said Deputy Chairman of Nam Từ Liêm District’s People’s Committee, Nguyễn Thanh Long.

It features several cốm booths where visitors can buy cốm and its various products including chả cốm (Vietnamese cốm sausage), xôi cốm (sticky rice with cốm), chè cốm (sweet tapioca soup with cốm); a cốm making competition and a small talk which is hosted by Mễ Trì commune leader and two locals who are experienced in making cốm.

“Despite long history of cốm making, locals are facing many difficulties. Among them is the supply of suitable rice to make cốm, limited markets available to consume cốm and the fact that cốm Mễ Trì is yet known widely like other specialties,” said Chairwoman of Mễ Trì commune’s People’s Council, Đỗ Thị Xoan.

As urbanisation led to lack of suitable rice to make rice, locals who used to use locally grown rice now have to import sticky rice from other regions including northern Phú Thọ Province, Bắc Ninh Town, Sóc Sơn District of Hà Nội, said Xoan.

“We hope that the authority pay more attention to the village and make it a better known brand,” said Đỗ Hữu Hùng, a local who has made cốm for years.

There are currently 155 households with more than 600 people making cốm today in Mễ Trì Commune, which accounts for nearly four per cent of village population, according to People’s Committee of Mễ Trì Commune.

Locals produce an average of nearly 600,000 kilograms of cốm with revenue of more than VNĐ75 billion (US$3.4 million). Annual income of a cốm maker is more than VNĐ111million, about 2.5 times higher than average income of Mễ Trì Commune, according to the committee.

Local people first made cốm in early 19th century. In the old days, the village was well-known for its high quality rice, which was praised by a king in Lý dynasty. The king then renamed its original name of Anh Sơn into Mễ Trì Commune, which means Pool of Rice.

Mến grabs FLC Golf Championship trophy

Nguyễn Quốc Mến won the FLC Golf Championship on October 2 at Bình Định Province’s FLC Golf Links.

The golfer from Hà Nội overcame about 800 competitors in a three-day event, shooting 75.

“I was a little bit lucky at this event and performed my best,” said Mến.

“This year’s tournament featured many tough opponents and I had to work hard to take the trophy,” said Mến who received a bonus of nearly VNĐ1 billion (US$44,800).

Organisers also presented sideline awards, including one for female golfer Bùi Thị Hồng Thanh who shot a hole in one, winning a car worth VNĐ3.3 billion ($148,000).

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