Hoang Sa, Truong Sa exhibition comes to Thanh Hoa

An exhibition titled “Hoang Sa, Truong Sa belong to Vietnam – Historical evidence” was opened in Nhu Xuan district of the north central province of Thanh Hoa on February 4.

On display are documents, items and nearly 100 maps related to Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos. The exhibits showed how the country has asserted, exercise and protect its sovereignty over the two archipelagos through history.

The event aims to raise awareness of the importance of Vietnam’s sea and islands and citizens’ responsibility in protecting the country’s sea and island sovereignty among local residents, especially young people.

The exhibition welcomes visitors through February 5.

Cao Dai sect holds most significant annual ritual

Cao Dai followers and dignitaries gathered at the Cao Dai Temple in the southern province of Tay Ninh on February 4 for the yearly grand ritual dedicated to the Duc Chi Ton (Supreme Being) who they believe to be the ancestor of the world. 

The event, one of the two most important rituals of the sect in a year, were attended by representatives of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation and the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs as well as leaders of Tay Ninh province. 

Cultural activities were also organised to showcase photos, traditional dances and ancient stories of the church, helping visitors understand the religion more clearly. 

Founded in 1926 in Tay Ninh province, the Cao Dai religion worships the Divine Eye, known as the eye of heaven and a symbol of its supreme being. Cao Dai’s doctrine honours the Divine and the miraculous quality of supreme spirits, and considers them as the means for human beings to unify with the God. It is now the third largest religion in Vietnam with millions of followers nationwide.

President offers incense at imperial citadel in Hanoi

President Tran Dai Quang offered incense and released birds at a spring ceremony held in the ancient Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi on the ninth day of the first lunar month (February 5).

The incense offering ceremony aims to commemorate national ancestors and pray for the country’s prosperity.

Other traditional rituals include a palanquin procession staged by over 300 people, a dragon dance, a drum performance, a water puppet show, and a folk music performance.

In the past, the early spring ceremony was held by kings to pay tribute to ancestors and pray for peace and happiness for the nation, according to Nguyen Viet Chuc, director of the Thang Long culture research institute. 

The ceremony has been revived in recent years to honour the tradition of the old royal capital.

The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long was built in the 11th century during the Ly dynasty to mark the independence of Dai Viet, the former name of Vietnam. The central sector of the citadel was listed as a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site in July 2010.

Buddhist festival promotes healthy lifestyle

Up to 10,000 pilgrims have joined a “smiling for happiness and peace” programme as part of a spring festival at Khai Nguyen Pagoda in Hanoi’s suburban town of Son Tay which opened on February 5.

The pagoda’s head monk Thich Dao Thinh said the “Xuan An Lac” spring festival was held at the pagoda for the first time with the aim of promoting a healthy lifestyle and love among the community. 

Vegetarian is a prominent theme at the festival, with nearly 60 vegetarian restaurants participating.

They plan to make a national record of cooking 1,000 vegetarian hot pots for visitors on February 7.

Other activities include a flower festival, a lion dance, a martial arts performance, a music show, and folk games.

The spring festival, co-organised by Khai Nguyen Pagoda,  the An Lac Business Community, Hanoi Martial Arts Association, and Hanoi Laughter Yoga Club, will last until February 7.

Mong ethnic culture festival 2017 held in Ha Giang

Thousands of tourists flocked to the 2017 culture festival of Mong ethnic people in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang from February 4-5.

The annual event in Meo Vac district, the third of its kind, aims to preserve the traditional cultural values of Mong ethnic group, said Chairman of the district’s People’s Committee Nguyen Cao Cuong.

A highlight of the festival was an art programme featuring the cultural diversity of Mong ethnic residents in Dong Van stone plateau.

Visitors could participate in various traditional cultural and sport activities as well as enjoy local food specialties.

Mong ethnic people comprise of nearly 80 percent of the total population in Meo Vac district, one of the four districts in the Dong Van stone plateau, which was recognised as a member of the Global Network of National Geoparks in 2010.

Once-a-year market offers luck for sale

On the early morning of the 8th day of the first lunar month, people flock to the northern province of Nam Dinh for a unique market which is held only once a year to sell - guess what - bad luck as well as to buy good luck for the year to come. 

In the past, the Vieng market opened at midnight of the 7th day and lasted only through the morning of the 8th day. 

This year's market opened on the morning of the 7th day (February 3) and lasted through the next day. 

According to popular belief, anything bought at the market would bring good luck to the buyer to the whole year. 

The spring market displays handicraft products, genuine antiquities alongwith their fake, home utensils, tools for agricultural production, and many kinds of ornamental plants. Specialties are grilled veal and "banh day" (sticky rice cake).

The cheapest things at Vieng market are flowers and tree sapplings, which bring both the buyer and seller happiness and luck.

Visitors then can go on to pray for a happy new year a several local temples.

Two overpasses to be built near Tan Son Nhat airport to reduce jams

Construction will commence next week on two overpasses, estimated to cost over US$33 million, near Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City to combat traffic congestion around the overloaded airport.

The first overpass will be built over the Truong Son – Tan Son Nhat – Binh Loi – Outer Ring Road intersection, allowing traffic on Truong Son Street direct access to the airport’s domestic and international terminals.

The Y-shaped overpass will have a clearance height of 4.75 meters, with the main branch running 303.8 meters from Truong Son Street to the international terminal and a secondary, 153.8-meter branch leading to the domestic one.

Its construction is estimated to cost VND242 billion (US$10.8 million), according to Nguyen Vinh Ninh, head of the project’s developer Ho Chi Minh City Urban Traffic Management Zone 1.

The second overpass will be constructed at the Nguyen Kiem – Nguyen Thai Son roundabout in Go Vap and Phu Nhuan Districts.

As this overpass will be built on parts of a nearby park and hospital, roads will not be blocked during construction, according to Ho Chi Minh City Urban Traffic Management Zone 3, the developer of the project.

The N-shaped overpass will include three sections connecting Nguyen Kiem, Nguyen Thai Son and Hoang Minh Giam Streets, at a cost of VND504 billion (US$22.5 million).

Construction works will commence on February 8 next week following an urgent directive by the Vietnamese prime minister.

The entrance to Tan Son Nhat has been wrestling with congestion, with severe traffic jams reported on multiple streets near the airdrome in recent years as the number of air travelers has far surpassed the airport’s capacity.

The airport handled a total of 32 million passengers in 2016, exceeding the venue’s capacity of 25 million passengers per annum.

Russian man dodges jail time thanks to fake Vietnamese cobra wine

A Russian national who brought home a jar of cobra wine from Vietnam was facing a possible jail term for violating wildlife laws, until authorities found the cobra to be fake.

According to Vietnamese newspaper VnExpress, the Russian man had traveled to Vietnam, where he bought two jars of wine, one laced with a cobra and another with a scorpion.

While going through customs in the city of Chelyabinsk in his home country, the man was stopped and detained for inspection over the suspicious jars of wine.

According to Evgeni Melekhov, a representative of Chelyabinsk Customs, the possession of the cobra in his wine violated the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Russia is a signatory.

However, lab tests carried out by Russian authorities later showed that the cobra was in fact a common snake in the family of Colubridae whose signature ‘cobra hood’ had been made from metal wires.

If it had been a real cobra, the man could have been charged with wildlife trafficking and faced up to seven years behind bars, according to Russian laws.

Snake wine is not uncommon in Vietnam, and is rumored to improve male virility despite the absence of medical evidence.

Last year, a 61-year-old man in Ho Chi Minh City was hospitalized for kidney failure after drinking two shots of snake wine a day for years.

Government says 'beautiful' Lunar New Year holiday must be preserved

Netizens have been fighting one another on whether the Lunar New Year and its rituals are still right for the modern age.

In a move apparently to cool off a heated debate among Vietnamese netizens over the Lunar New Year holiday, a government spokesman has said the country will not skip the traditional spring festival anytime soon.

Vietnamese netizens have spent years arguing whether the country should break traditions and join most of the modern world in celebrating just one single New Year holiday, or it should keep observing the Lunar New Year, known in the country as Tet.

The debate became unusually contentious ahead of Tet this year, which started in late January, with some suggesting that the government merge the two events together into one big spring festival.

But Mai Tien Dung, who heads the Government Office, said at a press briefing on Friday that the government has not received any official proposals from any agencies on this matter.

“The government has never discussed merging the holidays,” Dung said, calling Tet a “beautiful tradition” that needs to be preserved.

Opponents of the holiday said it comes with so much trouble and unnecessary rituals. For instance, so many migrant workers have to rush home for the holiday. The long break also impacts business especially when it involves international trade.

Although never officially addressing those concerns, the Vietnam government has recently tried to keep the holiday more simple. This year, it pushed for a holiday with no fireworks and ordered officials not to visit o bring gifts to superiors. The recent week-long holiday was also shorter than the official break in the previous years.

Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert, said there is no reason Vietnam cannot continue to observe both New Years. “Traditions that bring family and friends together should be cherished,” he said in a note last month.

He said companies and the government can adopt suitable policies to ensure that a skeletal staff is kept on duty to manage business affairs.

He said Vietnam should keep Tet not only for traditional, cultural and national identity reasons, but also because there are many Vietnamese living abroad and that would be an opportunity for them to show off their traditions and for foreign friends and colleagues to connect with them.

“This is a good example of soft power,” Thayer said.

Operator likely to end tours to caves near Son Doong over fee hike

A famed operator of expeditions to caves nestled in a UNESCO-recognized national park may stop offering tours to two grottos over a recent fee hike.

Nguyen Chau A, CEO of Oxalis Ltd., known for offering adventure excursions to Son Doong Cave, the world’s largest, and neighboring grottos said his company was notified of a VND600,000 (US$ 26) fee rise from the management of Phong Nha- Ke Bang National Park in late January.

The UNESCO-recognized park is nestled in the north-central province of Quang Binh.

The raised fees include charges for sightseeing, forest environmental services, and rangers’ surveillance involved in tours to Va and Nuoc Nut grottos, two of the park’s cavernous wonders.

“With such a fee increase, our company will suffer losses and not be able to recoup our investment. We have also offered discounts to tourists since last year,” Chau A said. 

He added Oxalis had spent more than VND1 billion (US$43,708) building paths and installing safety equipment inside the caves.

The company has urged that the provincial People’s Committee maintain the current fees as they have sold tours to clients within this year for previously fixed prices.

“If we fail to get a nod, we will terminate our contract to offer tours to these two grottos starting May 2017 and clear the sites of our equipment,” Chau A added.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Nguyen Van Ky, chair of the Quang Binh Province Tourism Association, stressed he was not supportive of Phong Nha- Ke Bang park management’s fee hike.

“The hike will bring about only a marginal increase to total revenues, but leave investors bewildered and dubious about the stability of the provincial administration’s policies, which may result in a waste of tourism resources,” he noted.

He added the fee rise also violates the rates approved earlier for Oxalis by the provincial People’s Committee and People’s Council.

The company has offered tours to the caves in only one season, while the contract lasts five years, Ky said.

Meanwhile, Le Thanh Tinh, the park director, asserted the fee rise will not prevent Oxalis from making profits.

“Several companies have agreed on  higher fees for the right to provide tours to Va and Nuoc Nut grottos. We will accept it if Oxalis wishes to terminate the contract,” he said. 

Tinh added his park will work with representatives from Oxalis regarding the matter next week.

Family planning takes root in remote areas

Hoàng Thị Mọn has been providing family planning advice for the residents of Bắc Lanh Chang Village for more than two decades. For 20 of the 22 years that Mọn has been on the job in the northern province of Bắc Kạn, none of the couples in her commune, most of them members of the Tày ethnic minority, have given birth to a third child.

Mọn often needs to mobilise all her patience and understanding to get results. There were times when it took her a whole month to persuade a husband to agree for his wife to get sterilised, only to nearly be thwarted when the day of the procedure arrived. “He said he would not stay at home and watch their children while his wife went to a reproductive health centre to get sterilised,” she said. “The wife had to bring the children along, and I had to be a babysitter-cum-caregiver who took care of both her and her kids.”

Family planning has been much needed in Việt Nam given the deep-rooted preference for sons. This is particularly true among Việt Nam’s dozens of ethnic minorities who consider having sons to maintain their race lineage a top priority.

An imbalance in sex ratio at birth of at 112.8 males/ 100 females is a challenge for Việt Nam’s population, according to the General Directorate of Population and Family Planning. This sex imbalance will lead to a shortage of women, which means that by 2050, 2.3-4.3 million men in Việt Nam will have no chance of finding wives, the directorate estimates.

In an economically challenged region like Bắc Kạn, population policies have not taken root. With traffic infrastructure underdeveloped, it is more difficult for population officials to do their job than those in urban areas. It is not unusual for family planning officials in remote areas to travel a whole day to reach a household - and then have to spend a month persuading a couple to use contraception.

However, the obstacles have not deterred some of the more dedicated officials in their quest to help families get access to contraception and take better care of their children. 

Bàn Văn Sảo, a population official in Mả Khao Village, also had to employ all his skills of persuasion to stop several all-daughter couples from having babies until a son comes along. None of the couples in his village have given birth to a third child since 2011.

Things are also looking up in Nà Pạ Village in recent years, where residents have become more aware of the benefits of family planning and gradually come to accept the less-children family model, according to Mạ Thị Liên, a population volunteer.

Not having seniority like Mọn and Sảo, at first the job wasn’t easy for Liên as she herself was confused about population policies and family planning measures. “I was not equipped with sufficient knowledge on population control and reproductive health,” she said. “Also, since the locals were not aware of the importance of family planning, it was impossible to eradicate their boy preference in a day or two.”

Some people used to hide when they saw her coming, and some elders openly questioned the necessity of family planning, she said.  

“They asked me, ‘why shouldn’t our children have more offspring while they are capable of doing so?’, or ‘without a grandson, who will worship us when we’re gone?’,” she said.

Despite the meagre income they earn, Mọn said she loves her job and feels "happy because I can help lots of families".

For her, nothing can compare to the joy of preventing couples from sinking deeper into poverty by having fewer children, she said. 

Rail mishaps prompt call for action

Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình on Saturday ordered urgent measures to increase safety at railway crossings.

His order came in the wake of a sharp spike in the number and scale of railway accidents during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Deputy PM Bình, who also heads the National Traffic Safety Committee, sent a message to the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Public Security, chairpersons of People’s Committees and heads of traffic safety departments in provinces and cities that the railway runs through.

The message followed two severe railway accidents on Saturday.

At 3.20pm on Saturday, train TN1 running in the North-South direction through Vụ Bản District, Nam Định Province crashed into a 16-seat car at a crossing, killing the car’s driver on the spot and injuring five, two of them seriously and the rest three were released from hospitals on Sunday.  

The same afternoon, three people were injured, one badly, when train LP5 running on the Hà Nội-Hải Phòng route hit a four-seat car which was crossing the railroad in Hưng Yên Province’s Văn Lâm District.

Eight traffic accidents involving the railways took place during the seven-day Tết celebrations, claiming six lives and injuring 11. This marked an increase of 60 per cent in the number of accidents, 100 per cent in fatalities and 175 per cent of injuries over the previous Tết holiday.

According to the National Traffic Safety Committee, the main cause of railway accidents is that drivers of vehicles disobey the law at crossings.

It said provincial and municipal authorities, as well as the Vietnam Railway Authority haven’t considered the problem serious enough to issue instructions, carry out inspections and push for solutions. They have also been lax in determining and dealing strictly with those responsible for railway crossing accidents, the committee said.

Deputy PM Bình has asked the Ministry of Transport (MoT)  to instruct the Vietnam Railway Authority to closely work with relevant authorities of the Ministry of Public Security, as well as Nam Định and Hưng Yên provinces to investigate Saturday’s accidents and affix responsibilities of organisations and individuals involved.

He said the MoT should work with provincial and municipal authorities to propose solutions for ensuring safety at level crossings on the whole route, including the construction of front roads, setting up barriers, and clarify the responsibilities of bodies guarding crossings throughout the route.

The ministry should continue updating detailed timetables of trains running through crossings, particularly those in and near residential areas so that local traffic safety departments can assign guards, strengthen inspections and compliance with law at level-crossings, Bình said.

He asked the Ministry of Public Security to co-ordinate with police in localities to reinforce patrols and strictly deal with violations, especially the illegal lifting of barriers.

The heads of provincial and municipal administrations as well as the heads of local traffic safety departments must develop concrete plans to eliminate illegally-established railway crossings, and appoint guards at crossings that do not have barriers, he said.

New regulation on State medical workers

State healthcare workers are not allowed to register as heads of private hospitals or medical facilities established and operated following the enactment of the Enterprise Law and Co-operative Law, according to a newly-issued Government decree.

The regulation excludes those who are sent by authorised State agencies to manage and operate medical facilities partly funded by the State. The decree does not apply to medical facilities operated by the army.

The Decree 109/2016/NĐ-CP allows healthcare workers to be responsible for professional activities at only one medical facility. They are also only allowed to be in charge of one department at one facility.

According to the decree, medical workers are permitted to work for one or more medical facilities, but have to complete their hours at one facility before starting at another. 

The regulation also clarifies conditions to issue operating licences for hospitals and clinics. Accordingly, general hospitals must have at least 30 beds, while specialising hospitals and hospitals for traditional medicine must have at least 20 beds. Optical medicine hospitals using advanced technology must have at least 10 beds.

Marine quality checked

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked four central provinces to provide regular reports on marine environment quality.

The provinces of Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên Huế have been told that they should seriously implement the instruction to monitor the environment and submit reports.

The reports will be made public on the ministry’s portal as well as on mass media.

 An official note sent to the provinces by the ministry also suggests that local authorities publish the reports on their own portals and other mass media outlets.

Last May, Hà Tĩnh Province installed an automatic water quality monitoring station at the point where the Formosa factory discharged wastewater. The station is expected to check regularly the waste being discharged by the Taiwanese company, which was responsible for the massive fish deaths in several central Vietnamese provinces last year.

The station operates round-the-clock and automatically updates results every two minutes.

The six factors that the station checks include COD (chemical oxygen demand), SS (suspended solids), temperature, pH and total nitrogen.

The installation of the monitoring station was deemed necessary after the company’s discharge of effluents seriously polluted the marine environment in several central provinces.

Fishermen start year with bumper catch

Fishermen in central Việt Nam netted a bumper catch during the first days of the Lunar Year of Rooster, earning them profits due to high market prices.

This year, fish appeared in large quantities due to warm weather, according to local fishermen. With favourable weather, dozens of fishing boats in the central province of Quảng Trị went out on their first trip of the new lunar year and returned laden with fish.

“We’re surprised by the large amount of khoai (Harpadon nehereus). Everybody is happy as we hadn’t caught this kind of fish since the environmental accident in April last year and its sales have returned to normal, said Hoàng Văn Phiến, a fisherman from Gio Linh District.

Hồ Đức Nam, another local resident, said he caught about 50kg every day and reaped a profit of VNĐ2.5 million (US$110), adding that a kilogram of khoai was sold at between VNĐ50,000-70,000 ($2.2-3).

For local fishermen, a safe and smooth fishing trip at the start of the lunar year augurs a profitable year.

Local resident Nguyễn Văn Hòa said that besides weather condition, choosing the date of new year fishing trips also plays a vital role. The second and fourth days of the year are most often selected by boat owners as lucky days for their first fishing trips.

Many of them have caught between 400-500 kilograme of fish in the first three days fishing, enjoying a profit of about VNĐ30 million ($1,325).

Phạm Văn Liệu, chairman of Hải Ninh Commune People’s Committee in central Quảng Bình Province’s Quảng Ninh District, said hundreds of boats had headed to the sea since the second day of Tết (January 29) and some returned to shore with catch of up to 300kg.

In the central province of Hà Tĩnh, the Cồn Gò fish market of Cẩm Nhượng Commune was crowded with fishermen and traders buying and selling seafood. Trần Quang Hợi, a local fisherman, said as the price of ruốc (a kind of shrimp or Sergestidae) increased 1.5 times to VNĐ30,000-35,000 per kilo, each fisherman could rake in VNĐ10 million ($442) a trip.

Hợi said that he and his three brothers together made VNĐ60 million ($2,650) in profit during the first five days of the lunar new year.

The bustling atmosphere was also recorded in the fishing ports of Nghệ An Province.

“My first fishing trips met with favourable conditions,” Nguyễn Văn An, a fisherman told Chinhphu.vn while transporting packages of ruốc to traders. He said he fetched nearly one tonne on the fourth day of the new year and over 500kg on the following day. 

After deducting all expenses, his family earned over VNĐ10 million ($442) each trip.

“The abundance of shrimp and fish in the sea in the first day of the year has brought optimistic outcomes for local fishermen whose lives cling to the sea,” An said. 

Dairy farmers to receive low-interest loans

HCM City Party Secretary Đinh La Thăng has asked the city’s People’s Committee for permission to use Vinamilk’s technology in a dairy renovation project that is expected to offer stable income for poor farmers.  

Thăng issued the instruction during a working visit to Vinamilk’s dairy factory in Bến Cát District in Bình Dương Province on February 2.

During the visit, Mai Kiều Liên, the CEO of Vinamilk, asked city authorities to allow Vinamilk to apply new husbandry technology and new dairy cow breeders in a pilot project in the first quarter.

Liên said the average capacity of dairy cows for private farmers was low, around 17-18 litres of milk per cow per day, mostly due to the low quality of dairy breeders. The number is 30 litres at Vinamilk farms.

Vinamilk had planned to import dairy cow breeders from the US and New Zealand, to feed them in the beginning in order to let them be familiar with Vietnamese weather, then transfer to farmers.

The cost for each breeder is estimated to be VNĐ50 – 60 million (US$2,200 – 2,650) and farmers would expect to recoup investment after two to three years.

“If local authorities can provide 50 per cent of the loans for farmers, Vinamilk will offer the rest without interest,” Liên said.

Thăng said the project would be long-term and offer stable income for poor farmers.

Thăng said that in the pilot project, farmer households that can feed 50 new dairy cow breeders would receive preferential loans at low interest or zero interest.

With the number of new breeders, farmers will have favourable conditions to reform their husbandry process.

The number of dairy cows in HCM City (mostly located in Củ Chi District) is around 90,000.

Eating pig blood pudding, three men in dangerous condition

During Vietnamese Lunar New Year festivities in February, many pigs were slaughtered and served, some people ate raw; consequently, three men were taken to hospitals in serious condition and one was killed by swine bacteria. 

The National Tropical Disease in Hanoi yesterday said that it had admitted three men in critical condition due to eating pig blood curd.

Worse, a 60 year old man from the northern province of Nam Dinh suffered high fever, acute diarrhea and rash in the body. He also had septic shock and organ failure when he was transferred from the General Hospital in Nam Dinh Province to the National Tropical Disease.

Doctor’s efforts to save him were unrewarded, he succumbed to the bacteria.

The two other men are nearly 40 who also had fever, headache. They were both diagnosed to have meningitis due to swine bacteria. Currently they received intensive treatment.

The Ministry of Health said that swine bacteria transferred from animals mostly pig to people causes meningitis and septic shock with high mortality rate.

To prevent the disease, medical experts advised people to say no to underdone pig blood curd and pig viscera. Additionally, people should not cook ill or diseases pig with strangely red meat and keep personal hygiene well.

Releasing mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria into wild to prevent dengue

Vietnamese Ministry of Health has planned to release mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria – a natural bacterium which is safe for human – into wild since March as part of the project to eliminate dengue in Vietnam.

The aim of the program is to spread Wolbachia into wild mosquito population to reduce the ability of these mosquitoes to transmit disease.

A smaller number of male and female mosquitoes with Wolbachia would be released over weeks and these mosquitoes then mate with the wild mosquito population. 

As the bacteria are passed on from generation to generation and over time, the percentage of mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia grows until it remains high without any further releases. Mosquitoes with Wolbachia are less able to transmit viruses to people, so the risk of outbreaks of dengue and Zika in those areas will be reduced. 

Before the Ministry has approved the research to assess the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes with Wolbachia in a small area in Nha Trang Town in the central province of Khanh Hoa to prevent dengue and Zika

Now, the Ministry is planning to release 100 mosquitoes with the safe bacteria in the North and the South of Nha Trang Town where 55,900 people reside including Vinh Phuoc,Vinh Tho, Vinh Truong and Phuoc Long communes.

The wrong vehicle

For the sake of effective control, especially when it comes to restoring public order, various vehicles can be employed to achieve the end as long as such vehicles are legal and legitimate. Otherwise, the means is not acceptable.

Such is the case of a proposal by Hanoi City’s Traffic Police Division to contain the rising number of cars in the capital, which has been met with a strong objection by the public, as covered in local media.

Colonel Dao Vinh Thang, head of Hanoi City’s Traffic Police, made the petition a fortnight ago, suggesting that each citizen can own only one car, and a permanent, single number plate for his or her own use.

“The capital city is facing an increasingly heavy traffic burden, with 16,000 motorcycles and 500 automobiles registered anew each month, taking the total number of vehicles to 16 million motorcycles and over 600,000 automobiles currently,” the traffic police chief is quoted as saying on Vnexpress news site to explain the proposal.

However, the initiative has been swiftly rejected by experts and officials alike.

At a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Justice last Monday, Nguyen Thanh Tu, head of the Civil Legislation Department, asserts the measure suggested by the traffic police chief is not a good one, given the people’s constitutional right to asset ownership, says a Vietnamnet report. Tu explains on this news site that both the Constitution and the Civil Code specify that the people’s right to property ownership can only be restricted for the sake of national defense, security or public welfare. 

Tu also suggests other solutions to restrict the number of individual vehicles, and gives an emphasis on the financial option. “(We) can collect more taxes and fees on vehicles. For example, those who want to have a second or third car would be subject to high progressive tax rates,” he is quoted in Tuoi Tre.

Similarly, Do Duc Hien, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, comments at the aforesaid press conference that “the best solution must support State management on one hand, and safeguard human rights and protect the citizen’s travel on the other.”

Bui Danh Lien, chairman of the Hanoi Transport Association, says on Dat Viet Online that restricting private vehicle ownership by one way or another is imperative now that traffic congestion is worsening in major cities like Hanoi and HCMC. The proposal by the traffic police chief, says Lien, is also aimed at the goal, but “any proposals as such must be consistent with the prevailing law and must not infringe on the people’s rights and interests.”

Echoing the point, To Van Hiep, chairman of the Danang Transport Association, says he agrees that each citizen should be entitled to a single number plate, a practice already seen elsewhere in the world. However, the number of vehicles one may own should not be restricted.

Major-General Tran The Quan at the Ministry of Public Security, to some extent, agrees with Hanoi’s traffic police chief on the need to contain the number of vehicles, saying on Vnexpress that the State should look into the proposal and map out synchronized measures in order to “avoid a traffic catastrophe in Hanoi and HCMC.” However, Quan says that the proposal alone is unworkable because the law does not restrict the number of vehicles one may own. “Therefore, if the proposal is to be applied, numerous regulations provided for in laws, decrees and circulars must also be amended.”

Lawyer Pham Thanh Binh, director of law firm Bao Ngoc in Hanoi, bluntly says on Vnexpress that if Hanoi City proceeds with the “one-car-per-citizen” plan, it would amount to a violation of the Constitution.

Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon Online recalls the failure of a similar approach over ten years ago, when authorities of Hanoi and HCMC regulated that each person could only register one motorcycle. Despite the harsh rule, the number of motorcycles in the two cities was still skyrocketing, as those wanting to own more than one motorcycle asked relatives without bikes to register new bikes on their behalf. Later, this regulation was scrapped by the Ministry of Public Security.

Automobiles, says the online paper, are not just means of individual transport, but also assets for business at enterprises. Therefore, any proposal to restrict the number of vehicles must also take into prudent consideration the possible damage in economic and social terms.

Also according to the online paper, in the traffic sector, the public used to protest angrily against tentative regulations forbidding those people whose height, weight or chest size were lower than standards to ride motorcycles. Such plans were also abolished accordingly.

As the proposal to limit private vehicles by Hanoi City’s traffic police chief apparently goes against the prevailing law and the Constitution, it by no means is to be adopted. The right end cannot be used to justify the wrong means.

U.S. announces one-week summer school for young Southeast Asian leaders

The U.S. Mission in Vietnam has announced the 2017 Fulbright University Vietnam Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Summer School (FUV YSEALI).

The program will host 40 YSEALI members across Vietnam to a one-week program from July 24 to 28 in HCMC where they will deepen their knowledge of entrepreneurship and innovation, and share their experiences and perspectives to help Vietnam reach its fullest potential. 

The participants will have the opportunity to enhance their soft skills such as creative thinking, communication, negotiation, teamwork and adaptation through training, presentations, and competitions. 

For more information about the application process, access https://goo.gl/3flBqN. Deadline for application is 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, February 19, 2017. For any questions, contact the U.S. consulate general in HCMC at (08) 3520 4657.

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