Respecting people’s right to religious freedom

Vietnam always respects the spiritual and moral values of religions, including Catholicism, in a bid to steer people to the truth, the good and the beautiful in line with Vietnamese cultural and moral tradition.

Photo: VOV

The statement was made by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Pham Dung, who is also Head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs while he was delivering a speech at the 10th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in the southern province of Dong Nai on December 11.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese State has been pursuing a consistent policy of respecting people’s right to religious freedom.

The six-day event honours the Vietnamese Catholic followers in general and the Xuan Loi diocese in particular, he said, adding that the Vietnamese Catholic community has become an important part in the great national unity and made many contributions to society.

Held in Vietnam for the first time, the event, themed “40 years of FABC, responding to the challenges of Asia”, attracted 200 cardinals, archbishops, bishops and church representatives from Asia, Europe, Australia and the Vatican.

Students unable to afford subsidised health insurance

About 20 per cent of the 13 million university and college students in Viet Nam don't have compulsory health insurance, says the Health Insurance Department.

This was despite the State paying 30 per cent of the cost and the student only paying VND264,400 (US$12.5)at present, said Pham Luong Son, of the Viet Nam Social Insurance Agency.

The ministry has proposed the Government to pay 50 per cent of the cost of health insurance instead of 30 per cent.

The insurance is recognised at contracted health clinics and private hospitals at grassroots and district levels and gives access to high-tech medical treatment at a low cost when needed, he said.

In northern mountainous Yen Bai Province 38,900 students, accounting for 90 per cent of the total, had insurance cards, with the State paying 70 per cent of the total for those on the poverty line with an income of VND401,000 ($19) per head per month.

In southern Dong Nai Province, only 59 per cent of 487,000 students had health insurance cards.

Provincial Social Insurance Office deputy director Pham Minh Thanh said parents must pay many education fees so some delayed those that were non-urgent. Lack of knowledge also made parents doubt check-up and treatment quality through health insurance cards.

Nguyen Khanh Long, a third-year student at the Ha Noi-based University of Theatre and Cinematography, said he and other classmates refused to pay for health insurance because "it brings us nothing."

"I had to pay a lot of money for private hospitals because the hospital that I got the card for was full of people and the procedures took a long time," Long said.

He had joined the service two years ago but had stopped paying.

Some experts said insurance procedures should be simplified to encourage more students to buy health insurance and the education sector should educate students on the benefits.

Viet Nam has targeted full health insurance coverage for the entire population by 2014.

Currently, about 30 per cent of the population don't have health insurance, mostly are farmers, students, immigrant workers and those living near the poverty line.

Southern Dong Nai Province Social Insurance Office deputy director Pham Quoc Tuan said that in 2011 and the first six months of this year, the province had spent VND13 billion ($624,000) from the health insurance fund to cover health care services for 101,200 students.

Increasing demand for workers in HCM City

Ho Chi Minh City is forecast to require 65,000 workers in the first quarter of next year, according to the municipal Department for Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Nearly half of the demand (over 43 percent) is for unskilled workers, 35 percent for vocational trainees, and about 22 percent for those graduating from colleges and universities.

Most employers are operating in the marketing, tourism, entertainment, garment and textile, footwear, food processing and medical sectors.

Tran Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the HCM City Centre for Human Resources Forecast and Labour Market Information, said the city's labour market is growing stable against the odds.

In the last quarter of this year, more than 49,600 workers are expected to be employed in the field of sales, customer care, restaurant service, insurance, and consultancy.

Local official calms doomsday fears

Huong Van Minh, chairman of Tien Phuoc District People's Committee, told local people they did not need to sell their cows and buffaloes because the apocalyse was not coming, despite a recent rumour that the ancient Mayans had predicted the world would end on December 21.

On the local radio channel, the chairman explained to local people that the rumour was likely spread by a group of students who read it on the Internet.

Police team to tackle robberies in Hai Phong

An ad-hoc police team designed to control robbery in northern Hai Phong City went into action yesterday.

The team aims to guarantee public security in the city during the upcoming holiday of Tet (Lunar New Year).

The latest robbery in the city occurred last Wednesday, when a cell phone was stolen from a man driving his motorbike in Hong Bang District. One person was injured when the suspect tried to escape from the police.

Scholar, 42, becomes youngest professor

Phung Ho Hai, 42, deputy head of Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology's Institute of Mathematics, is now the youngest professor in Viet Nam, according to the annual list of new professors and associate professors published on Monday by the State Council for Professor Titles.

There are 40 other new professors.

Nguyen Khanh Dieu Hong, 31, who teaches at Ha Noi University of Science and Technology, is the country's youngest associate professor.

Smuggled poultry may ignite bird flu outbreak

Quang Ninh Province has become the latest region that illegally imported chickens from China pass through, according to officials speaking at a meeting at the agriculture and rural development ministry yesterday.

Around 50,000 chickens are reported to be transported from China each week through local border gates on their way to markets in Ha Noi's Phu Xuyen District.

Agriculture officials warn that bird flu may re-appear if these illegal imports are not properly controlled.

The situation at the Mong Cai Border gate in Quang Ninh Province has been brought under control by drastic measures.

It was also announced at the meeting that the price of poultry meat has risen by 10-15 per cent compared to last month, helping local farmers.

Two more die after cliff accident

Two more people hit by a truck in northern mountain Cao Bang Province's Tra Linh District died yesterday, Dec 11, raising the total number of dead victims to seven.

The accident happened on Saturday when a truck tumbled from the Keo Put mountain pass in Tra Linh District. Most of those killed were responding to an earlier accident in which a car had gone over a cliff.

Nine more injured victims are being treated at local hospitals.

Provincial authorities provided each of the victims with VND4-6 million (US$190-285) in aid.

Vietnam assists Laos in personnel training

A high-ranking delegation from Hanoi visited the Political Administration School in Luang Prabang province, northern Laos, on December 12.

The school, built at a cost of more than US$2 million funded by Vietnam, has trained 220 local officials and 300 others from nearby provinces.

Dr. Khamkhong, Director of the school, said the core training is focused on Party building work, scientific socialism, Marxism-Leninism, as well as the moral examples and thoughts of late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Kaysone Phomvihane.

On this occasion, the Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee, Pham Quang Nghi, presented 20 computers to the school.

VNN/VOV/VNS