Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

Chan monastery offers haven for pilgrims in search of peace
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VietNamNet Bridge – The bells hanging in front of the main hall of Truc Lam Monastery tinkle in the wind, dispelling our weariness. Located on Phuong Hoang (Phoenix) Hill near the city of Da Lat in the Central Highlands, the monastery is surrounded by whispering pines and overlooks the mystical Tuyen Lam Lake. Since it opened to the public in 1994, its serenity and breathtaking beauty has attracted tourists nationwide and from abroad.

I recently visited Da Lat, known as the city of eternal spring because of its thousands of pine trees and flowers. The Chan (Thien in Vietnamese, Zen in Japanese) Buddhist monastery is 5km from the resort city and sits at 1,600m.

It is the biggest monastery in Da Lat and one of three in the country specialising in the Truc Lam Yen Tu sect. The two others are Truc Lam Yen Tu Monastery in Quang Ninh Province, and Truc Lam Tay Thien in Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc Province.

The monastery was designed by architects Vu Xuan Hung and Tran Duc Loc, with the participation of Ngo Viet Thu who designed the Re-unification Palace in HCM City. The monastery was founded by Buddhist monk Thich Thanh Tu to bring new life to the Truc Lam Yen Tu Chan sect, a uniquely Vietnamese form of Chan established during the Tran dynasty (1225-1400).

"One of the objectives of the temple is to recreate the spirit of Chan Buddhism during the Tran dynasty," says tourist guide Minh Thu. "The monks meditate three times a day, starting from 3am. Each session lasts two hours," she said.

She says the Chan tradition in VietNam was introduced by Emperor Tran Nhan Tong after he led Vietnamese troops in defeating China's Mongol-Yuan forces. He then abdicated the throne in favour of his son Tran Anh Tong to become a Buddhist monk.

The ex-emperor incorporated the three sects of Chan that had come to Viet Nam from China into a new Vietnamese tradition, known as Truc Lam. He then retreated to Yen Tu Mountain to begin his religious life, later travelling around the country to expound the dharma.

According to researchers, Chan, originally founded by Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma in China, helps people to live in full awareness while putting their minds into a peaceful state. Truc Lam Buddhist Chan emphasises interior concentration. This introspective training process leads to personal purification and helps one's good nature to surface.

There are three ways for tourists to enter Truc Lam Yen Tu monastery. They can chose the direct entrance to the monastery going up 61 steps from the road next to the hill next to the monastery. Or they can go directly past Tuyen Lam Lake and then climb more than 200 stone steps through a triple-gated entrance to enter the main courtyard.

Since 2003, Truc Lam can also be reached by a scenic 2.3km cable ride from Robin Hill overlooking Da Lat. The price is at VND50,000 (US$2.50) for a return trip.

On the approach road winding up the hill to the temple, the tiled roof and imposing bell tower come into view. At times, the deep boom of the one-tonne gong sounds throughout the region. On the bronze bell is a poem by King Tran Nhan Tong.

The monastery is located on 24 hectares, the largest monastic grounds in Viet Nam. Two hectares are occupied by buildings divided into domestic and public areas. The domestic area is for monks and nuns and is closed to the public. According to tourist guide Minh Thu, there are about 50 monks and 50 nuns at the monastery.

The public quarters were opened to the public in March 1994 and consist of a ceremonial hall, flanked by the bell tower on one side and guest facilities on the other. Inside the main hall which is in the middle of the monastery, golden statues look out with meditative gaze.

The most remarkable is a 2m high statue of Gautama Buddha seated on a lotus and raising a lotus in his hand – a symbolic image of Buddha, expressing the philosophy of "existence in nihilism". The ancient Indian sage is flanked on either side by two bodhisatvas, Van Thu riding a lion and Pho Hien riding a white elephant, respectively known for their wisdom and dedication.

An adjacent hall is used only on the 14th and 29th day of each lunar month, that is the eve of the full moon and the new moon. It's when the abbot holds a discussion session on meditation with students, including lay Buddhists. The monastery sometimes welcomes thousands of Buddhists monks and nuns.

One of the most restful areas is a big flower garden featuring blooms from around the world.

"I feel extremely tranquil when I visit the monastery," says Nhu Nguyen, a visitor. "Its serenity and poetic beauty makes me forget the stress of the daily life."

When they finish visiting the monastery, tourists can take a boat tour on Lam Tuyen Lake to visit nearby areas and enjoy ruou can (rice wine) or other local specialties.

Source: VNS

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Vietnam's best-kept secret
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VietNamNet Bridge – Roughly 30km from Phan Rang City in the southern province of Binh Thuan, Binh Tien beach is a hidden gem for tourists who want to discover new experiences and rejuvenate.

After you pass over a high slope onto a white sand road, Binh Tien appears in the distance as if a gift from nature.

"Because the road to Binh Tien is only suited for narrow cars, the place is yet to be exploited for tourism. Not many people know this beautiful and primitive landscape," said backpacker Tran Ngoc Diep.

Coming to Binh Tien, you park your vehicle and choose a small cafe under the line of coconut-palms to enjoy the view. Then you can bathe in clear blue water or sunbathe on the soft white sand.

The seaside resort spreads for about 4km and you can swim up to 200m from the seashore.

Binh Tien lures many tourists on weekends, particularly during the summer and on public holidays. Visitors arrive with canvas and a variety of supplies to help enjoy the romantic atmosphere of dawn on the beach.

At 4am, the sky turns pink and dawn begins one hour later. After several minutes, rays of sunlight begin to appear.

"I come to Binh Tien not only for swimming but also enjoying the sunrise on the sea. It gives me a wonderful power," said Nguyen Van Thuan.

The morning sunlight reflects off the delicate dew of the sea to give a silk fibre effect, while a light pink spreads over the sea and sand.

"Binh Tien's dawn is beautiful and very romantic," Thuan added.

If tourists reach the mountain peak when the sun rises out of the sea, they will be amazed and fascinated by the charming scenery.

"The sea water is very clean and clear with white sand spreading out. Many mountains hide the beach so it is rather quiet. It is suitable for children, old people and young people who wants to go camping overnight," Diep said.

You can also follow coastal trails through the forest to find primitive beaches if you have more time. There you can see a collection of natural artwork on the cliff face, featuring striking images carved by nature's hand over thousands of years.

The final stop is a small stream from the Nui Chua forest which trickles gently towards the sea. When you soak in the clear water and familiarise yourself with a small flock of fish, your worries seem to dissolve into the sea.

If you are tired and hungry after a journey to the sea, Binh Tien will offer you thatched huts where you can enjoy such seafood favourites as cuttlefish, crabs and snails while taking in the fresh sea air.

"The seafood here is tasty and cheap," Diep said.

Near Binh Tien beach, there is a small fishing village located under the shade of rows of coconut trees, while the fishermen here are very friendly and hospitable.

You can follow in the fishermen's footsteps by floating on the sea in the early morning, contemplating the dawn and pulling up a good haul of fish.

At present, Binh Tien has very limited tourism services so you should bring necessary supplies in advance or hire them from the fishermen.

There's something about Binh Tien that tells me my first visit will not be my last.

Source: VNS

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Who benefits from tourism industry?
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VietNamNet Bridge – All the policies relating to the tourism industry have been bringing benefits to resort developers and tourism project investors, but no benefit to local residents.


Tourism should benefit local people

Nguyen Quoc Ky, General Director of Vietravel, has noted that local residents cannot benefit from the tourism development in their localities. Meanwhile, only the fair profit sharing should be seen as the basis for sustainable development.

“In coastal areas, people have to leave to give place to luxurious resorts. However, while they lose land, they do not receive anything from the resorts,” Ky said.

“Therefore, they remain unfriendly to travelers. They don’t consider travelers as the guests they need to receive warmly. They just try to sell local specialties at exorbitant high prices to earn their living,” he added.

He has pointed out that this is the main reason behind the unsustainable tourism development of coastal areas. The environment has got polluted because local residents have been over-exploiting it, discharged garbage and overcharged travelers, thus making travelers hesitant to return to the localities for the second and subsequent times.

It’s necessary to built up the policies which can bring benefits to all the involved parties, said Ky. Especially, there should be the laws which force tourism investment projects to bring benefits to localities.

The project on developing Co To Island tourism is an example, Nguyen Van Thanh, Secretary of the Co To District Party Committee, said that the main principle of the development plan is to develop tourism in association with the local residents’ benefits.

All the investors must be sure that their investment projects won’t have negative impacts on the environment on the island, and that the projects would create more jobs and bring higher income to people. Enterprises will be required to use energy saving equipments, not to discharge waste water directly to the environment and use the seafood products to be made and provided by local residents.

“Only when tourism projects bring benefits to people, will people try to improve their knowledge, make high quality products to serve travelers and provide good services as reasonable prices,” Ky said.

Green tourism and responsibility tourism on the rise

Analysts have noted that travel firms now pay higher attention to developing responsible tourism because the tours not only can attract travelers, but also polish their brands.

Hanoi Redtours has launched the donation tours to the northern province of Ha Giang with the destination in Sung La mountain village. Vu Bich Hue, PR Director of Hanoi Redtours, said a lot of travelers have booked the tour, turning it into one of the best selling domestic tours.

Vietravel and Vietrantour are also selling donation tours with the programs on donating warm clothes, books, toys and sweets to the children in the villages and the schools in mountainous areas.

The tours have been designed in ways that bear the high community level and humanitarian significance. This helps travel firms successfully organize the tours to the remove areas. Meanwhile, in the past, the tours to the areas could not attract travelers due to the poor transport conditions.

The travel firms in the ancient capital city of Hue are running the community tours to the suburbs. These include the tour to the Tam Giang lagoon by bicycle which has been especially favored by foreign tourists.

In Quang Nam province, Cu Lao Cham (Cham Isle) has become an important leg in the itineraries to Hoi An ancient town and My Son relics--with its green tourism products. The travelers can also have sea bathing and admire corals in the sea, but there is no coral trade ashore. Especially, they are requested to not bring plastic bags with them to the isle.

To Quoc

[jackbl]

More cancer cases reported, people pay penalty for daily food
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VietNamNet Bridge – Industrial factories, workshops have been located in rural areas, bringing money and helping improve the living standards of local residents. However, they have to pay penalty for the money they receive today: more and more people die of cancer.

The Ninh Van commune in Hoa Lu district of Ninh Binh province is a 400-year-old stone fine arts craft village. There are some 60 enterprises in the commune, both big and small and 60 households who exploits and manipulate stones. It is estimated that some 2000 workers have been living on the career relating to stone.

Ninh Van’s local residents have to stay in dust all day long and live in ear splitting noise. Together with cement and fertilizer plants in the area, Ninh Van residents have been making contribution to poisoning their living environment.

The lives of local people have been improved considerably thanks to the fine art stone production. However, their health has been degrading.

Nguyen Yen Binh, Head of the commune’s healthcare center, said: “Ninh Van people are rich, but they are not happy. They earn much money, but live in pollution”.

In 2004-2012 alone, 109 people in Ninh Van commune died of cancer. Especially, in 2008, the number of people dead of cancer amounted to 32.7 percent. The percentage decreased slightly in 2010, but it was still high at 31.3 percent. In the last nine years, 25.5 percent of people died of cancer.

Binh believes that more people died because of the environment pollution and the dirty water they used. Factories produce smoke, dust and discharge untreated waste water to river, while stone workshops produce stone dust. All of them have seriously damaged the environment.

Ninh Van’s people have many times complained about the pollution to the local people’s councils, and to the provincial delegation of National Assembly’s deputies. However, state officials, who came to the locality to examine the environment, all came to a conclusion that the quality of the air in Ninh Van is still safe.

“They told us that the air is still fresh enough. But I believe that 100 people died of cancer is really abnormal,” Binh said.

Dinh Van Manh, a man in Phu Lang hamlet, said he knows this is a dangerous job, but he has no other job choice. “If I don’t take this job, I will have no money to feed my mouth,” he said.

Manh works as a hired worker for big owners and earns VND300,000 a day. He is planning to give up the job after six years of working.

While people in the Ninh Van stone village suffer from the stone dust, the people in Kinh Mon district of Hai Duong province, located not far from Ninh Van, have been living in the dust from cement plants and stone exploitation sites.

People there have been stunned when hearing that more and more people died of cancer. Since 2004, Minh Tan has had 101 people dead of the fatal disease. According to Tran Van Thieu, Head of the Healthcare center of Minh Tan town, estimated that 21 percent of people died of cancer, but he added that the actual percentage could be even higher.

Thieu said that cancer is the biggest reason behind the death of local residents, and more people died of cancer than people dying of traffic accidents.

NLD

[jackbl]

Vietnamese parents tend to bring children to school before school age
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VietNamNet Bridge – More and more Vietnamese parents believe that their children need to go to school soon before the school age, so as to have the best conditions to develop into child prodigies.

L.V, a parent in Dong Da district in Hanoi, said that her son, a five year old boy, has learnt the alphabet by heart, can count until one million, do four basic operations, and most importantly, he is eager for going to school. Therefore, she wants to bring the child to the first grade right now instead of waiting until the next summer. However, L.V failed to persuade her husband to let the child go to school before the school age.

“If referring to the current regulations, my child would be able to go to the first grade in September 2014. Until now, he still goes to kindergarten, where he only pays and watches TV, which is a great waste of time,” she complained.

In Vietnam, children begin going to school when they turn six. However, many of them become first graders when they get five years old only, because their parents believe that going to school soon would bring advantages to their children in comparison with other classmates.

In order to be able to enter first grade before the age of six, parents have to amend the certificates of birth of their children with the “assistance” of the local authorities.

However, not everyone agrees with the idea that children should be brought to school soon, especially when they have to amend the certificates of birth.

N.P, a parent of a first grader of the Ly Thai To Primary School, said he feels regret the decision on bringing the child to school at the age of five.

“My wife insisted that he needed to go to school soon. And now my son is learning together with the classmates born in 2006. Instead of playing with the friends at kindergarten, my child now has to learn hard at primary school,” he complained.

“When you bring your children to school soon, you would shorten their wonderful childhoods,” he said.

Pham Ha Thanh, a teacher of the Le Quy Don High School in Ha Dong district in Hanoi, also thinks that going to school soon is not a good solution.

Thanh herself went to school sooner than expected. “Though my learning records were okay, I still felt I was at a disadvantage compared with the classmates, because I had to learn harder than them to get good learning achievements,” she said.

Therefore, though Thanh’s son now can read and write well, he still goes to kindergarten and Thanh does not bring the boy to primary school right now. Especially, she wishes that children would only have to go to school at the age of seven.

However, parents have been told that educators have scientific and pedagogical reasons to conclude that children should begin going to school at the age of six. Nguyen Tien Thanh, former Director of the primary education department of the Ministry of Education and Training, said only when children get six years old, will they be physically capable and psychologically ready enough to fulfill the learning duties. Children would have less time in their lives to play, because they have to go to school soon.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, Chair of the Hanoi Education Psychology Association, said a lot of parents had an illusion that their sons or daughter would become child prodigies because they can read and write before the school age. However, a lot of such children never can become prodigies.

Tien Phong

[whatever897]

hi. guys.. need some help on translation.
what is "Trong luc cho doi tu suong vai kieu...." in english ?
totally cannot translate using translator..
please help..
cam on rat nhieu

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by whatever897

what is "Trong luc cho doi tu suong vai kieu...." in english ?

Can u give some background of this sentence? What you have send him/her to get this reply?

[jackbl]

The victim advocates for the culprit!
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VietNamNet Bridge - Because of family honor, their own face or the fear of being beaten to death ..., many wives do not dare to denounce, but stand up for their husband when the authorities conduct an investigation against their husbands.

In the last five years, the central province of Quang Ngai has had nearly 100 cases of domestic violence. In particular, there were many cases that the local authorities did not know about or they failed to stop after holding several mediation meetings.

"Losing face"

Not long ago, the public was stirred up when Mrs. Tran Thi Thuy, 32, from Binh Dong village of Tra Binh commune, Tra Bong district, Quang Ngai province, was seriously beaten by her husband but she tried to protect him.

Thuy had been abused by her husband for many years but she kept silently. One day, the cruel husband beat Thuy seriously to such a degree that the Tra Bong District Hospital could not handle it, so they had to transfer the woman to the hospital at higher level, in the state of coma, with one broken arm, severe damage to the face and numerous wounds on the body. After the violence, Thuy still insisted to protect her husband from the law.

Mrs. Tran Thi Dau, in Xuan Dinh village, Hanh Thinh commune, Nghia Hanh District, Quang Ngai was also in a tragic circumstance. They had three children but her husband did not do anything but was eager in drinking and gambling.

Whenever he took alcohol, "joy" of this man was harassing his wife. Many times, their neighbors were awakened at mid-night by the sound of shouting, cursing, beating from Dau’s house.

"Sometimes I thought about suicide or denouncing to the government. But then I thought that if I do so, the neighbors will laugh at us and my parents will worry about us. If my husband is sent to jail, who will feed our children..." Dau said.

The most recent case is Mrs. Phan Thi Trang, Chanh Lo ward, Quang Ngai city. Trang was beaten by her husbands for 14 years. Until she could not stand the violence anymore, the woman reported to the local authorities. However, when the authorities summoned the cruel man for investigation, Trang begged pardon for her husband because she did not want the local community know about her case.

Similarly, a teacher in Son Bao commune, Son Ha district, Quang Ngai was seriously beaten by her husband and had to go to the hospital but when reporters asked her about the incident, she said: "Please do not write about us! I don’t want to lose my face!"

Giving him an inch and he will take a yard

Ms. Vo Thi Thanh Ha, from the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai, said the provinces does not have specific statistics on domestic violence. "For years, the propaganda about domestic violence prevention is inefficient because the authorities are not really interested in this task," Ha said.

According to Ha, domestic violence usually occurs in poor families or for the couples who did not get along with each other. In most cases, the women were disadvantaged, but they did not want to kick up but silently endured. As a result, the husbands followed up.

Ms. Tran Thi Phuoc, Chairman of the Women's Union of Trieu Phong District, Quang Tri Province, said the association has coordinated with the commune authorities to hold many talks about family and gender equality. "At these talks, all husbands agreed and committed to not beat their wife but when they drink, brutal domestic violence happens. As victims of domestic violence often do not make denunciations, we do not dare to deeply intervene in it," Phuoc said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bui Dinh Nhi, Deputy Chief Judge of the People's Court of Tam Ky City, Quang Nam province, said the most difficult thing in the investigation and handling of domestic violence cases is the non-cooperation of insiders.

In the case of divorce due to domestic violence, only when the victim is actually injured by more than 11% or the victim and the local organizations make denouncement, the court can handle or transfer the case to the police. "Currently, most cases of domestic violence only stopped at deterrence, education," he said.

NLD

[jackbl]

The village of wife beating man
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VietNamNet Bridge – Working slowly, a woman would be beaten by her husband. She would also be maltreated if she cooks rice not very well, does not respond to her husband quickly or even with no attention.

In a village with up to 70 cases of domestic violence a year, when the local men were asked "do you beat your wife?" all of them, except only one, said “yes.” This fact has made the village become “famous” as a place of men who beat their wives.

In that village, domestic violence has become something very popular. The rural women who struggle to earn their living become skinny and emaciated because of the harassment from their husbands. The men here get drunk every day and beat their wives constantly.

A typical example is a husband named Nguyen Van Toan who beats his wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhai, all the time.

In the latest case, the couple worked on the field together. At noon, Toan told his wife to return home to cook rice. Nhai tried to make a few more hoes. Toan was frustrated, thinking that his wife was deliberately opposing him. The man rushed to grab her hair to press her to the edge of the field. Seeing a nearby lump of cow excrement, he stuffed it in Nhan’s mouth.

Mrs. Pham Thi Ha is another victim of domestic violence. Living with her husband, Vu Van Yen, for 15 years, with two children, but Ha has not had a single happy day.

She was beaten each several days, whenever her husband got drunk. The husband himself confessed that he was among the husbands who beat his wife the most often in his village.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lai had another pain. Her husband, named Hung, wanted to have a son. After having two daughters, Lao was pregnant the third time. Ultrasound scan revealed that it was still a girl. Hung was disappointed and drank all day. He tried to pick a quarrel with his wife. He even asked his pregnant wife to spray pesticide on the field or to carry paddy sacks of 20-30kg. If Lai argued, he gave her a bruised ear.

Similarly, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoai was harassed by her husband - Phan Van Mung – very often. He was sitting watching TV when his wife walked around. Instead of moving to another seat or telling his wife to not walking around, he beat her.

His family bred chickens but if he stepped on chicken feces, he would find his wife to beat. Once, Hoai was in her neighbor’s home to chat; her husband rushed into the house to insult and kicked her with his chicken feces-covered foot.

That village is Thanh Ne, in Kien Xuong District, Thai Binh province. However, the village is different today.

Last year, Thanh Ne was one of two typical places where the National Assembly took as a basis for drafting the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence.

The men who beat their wives have become members of the club of good husbands.

Husband Vu Van Yen said that, after two years joining the club, he gave up the habit of beating his wife and learned to respect and listen to the opinions of his wife. It is the most valuable lessons of life that he learned at the age of 40.

"After nearly 15 years of marriage and being the father of two children, now I really feel the meaning of the words "happiness" in its entirety. I used to beat my wife very often but since 2004, I was invited to join the club, through which I realized many things and I knew that I was wrong," Yen said.

Yen also volunteered to become an active propagandist for the club. He encouraged the men who beat their wives to give up this habit to together build prosperous and happy families with their wives. He himself loves and shares everything with his wife.

In joining this club, many other husbands have also changed.

The club members meet every Saturday night, with the participation of 40-50 men. They are provided with knowledge on the Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence, the Law on Marriage and Family, etc.

Ms. Vu Thi Ton, Chair of the Thanh Ne Women’s Union, said it was very difficult to mobilize Yen to join the club. He refused to receive any official who came to invite him to enter the club. Until officials threated him by the law, he received them. Since then he was gradually convinced to join the club of good husbands, which was held by the local women’s union..

Not only Yen, but all the husbands who used to beat their wives in Thanh Ne and Vu Lac (Thai Binh province), after joining the club have changed completely. There were some husbands at first were very reluctant to participate and those who only joined the club with the intervention of police, but in the end, they become very active members.

Professor Le Thi Quy from the Tradition and Development Research Institute said that once she met with 15 husbands in Thanh Khe, she asked: "Who among you who beat your wives?" only one of them stood up and said “no.”

She asked them why they beat their wives. Most of them could not make any plausible reason. They considered beating their wives as normal because they thought that the husband has the right to "teach his wife" when she does not obey.

ANTD

[forgotoldnick]

Originally Posted by whatever897

hi. guys.. need some help on translation.
what is "Trong luc cho doi tu suong vai kieu...." in english ?
totally cannot translate using translator..
please help..
cam on rat nhieu

Guess the meaning is , Meanwhile , self pleasure type!

[jackbl]

Hotels earn trillions of dong from gambling services
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VietNamNet Bridge – There are some 50 establishments that provide electronic games for prizes to foreigners in Vietnam. The revenue from the services has been increasing steadily. The figure was VND5 trillion in 2011.

In 1992, the government released an important decision on allowing to set up a casino for foreigners in the sea city of Hai Phong, the first of its kind in Vietnam. No casino was licensed before, since gambling was prohibited in Vietnam.

Licensing gambling services remained a very “sensitive issue” in Vietnam in the years after 1992, which explained why only in 2003, or 11 years later, did the Prime Minister released the Decision No. 32 stipulating the business activities of the establishments providing electronic games for prizes to foreigners in Vietnam.

Under the decision, the enterprises which have the demand to provide the services must apply for the licenses to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which would then submit the projects to the Prime Minister for consideration.

To date, providing electronic games for prizes has been listed as a kind of business not encouraged in Vietnam. Therefore, service providers have to pay the special consumption tax (luxury tax), corporate income tax and other kinds of tax as stipulated by the laws.

It is estimated that 50 service providers have been licensed so far, which can be classified into three groups.

The first group comprises of the enterprises providing electronic games on machines. These are the 43 establishments located at the 3-4-5 star hotels and some tourist sites, mostly in Hanoi and HCM City.

The second one includes the six enterprises providing prize games. They provide games on machines and on a certain number of game tables. The Ho Tram project in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, for example, has 180 tables and 2,000 machines which would be put into operation when the construction finishes. Silver Shores Hoang Dat in Da Nang City has eight tables and 100 machines

The third group is the one which only provide casino service. To date, there has been only one of this kind – the Hai Phong International Tourism joint venture. Bacarat, Blackjack, Roulette, PaiGow, slot machines are the most popular games at the establishments.

The only difference between the games of the first and the games of the second and third ones is that the games are regulated by electronic equipments. Meanwhile, all of them have similar game rules.

Service providers pocket trillions of dong

A report by the Ministry of Finance showed that the revenue from prize electronic games has been increasing steadily in recent years of about 10-15 percent per annum.

In 2011, the total turnover of the services reached VND5 trillion. The establishments in the south reportedly have higher revenues and higher growth rates than that in the northern and central regions. It is estimated that each of the service providers reaped a profit of VND20 billion.

The Ministry of Finance has noted that though the number of service providers granted is relatively high, the business efficiency remains modest. Especially, they have not helped develop tourism as expected.

The loosened management over the services has led to the fact that Vietnamese people also enter the establishments, even though the establishments also admit foreigners. Six establishments have been prosecuted so far for letting Vietnamese people play the games here.

In 2007, the government decided to halt the licensing to the services until a new legal framework is promulgated.

Tran Thuy

[jackbl]

Big bosses tell their staff not expect too much on Tet bonuses
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VietNamNet Bridge – Big bankers and businessmen have prepared their staff for a sad piece of news, saying that there would not be Tet bonuses this year, or the Tet bonuses would be modest.

According to the Quang Ngai provincial Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, only 20 out of the 1,500 enterprises have submitted reports about their Tet bonus plans.

The Dung Quat Oil Refinery, a huge enterprise, Mai Linh Quang Ngai Company and some other big businesses in the central province, surprisingly have not mentioned the Tet bonuses yet.

Cosevco Quang Ngai, a giant in the construction sector, has announced that it would not give a bonus on the 2013 New Year, while every worker would receive VND500,000 on the occasion of the traditional Tet.

Thien Tan Construction JSC remains the enterprise which most handsomely awards its workers: the highest Tet bonus has been set up at VND24.3 million while the lowest at VND3 million. The workers would receive VND1-3 million on the occasion of 2013 New Year.

Meanwhile, the workers of other enterprises said they do not expect Tet bonuses, since they still have not received monthly salaries. Truong Giang JSC still owes VND500 million to its workers.

Commercial banks, which always award big sums of money to their staff, have also told their workers not expect too much on Tet bonuses. Techcombank’s CEO has stated that there won’t be Tet bonuses this year. Meanwhile, a worker of the bank said he feels lucky that no one has been laid off in the economic difficulties, therefore, one should not be too demanding on Tet bonus.

A manager of a big joint stock bank in Hanoi said the board of directors has not mentioned the Tet bonus plan, keeping both the managers and officers waiting. However, they understand that they would have to fasten their belt when buying goods for Tet celebration.

SHB has not thought of Tet bonuses yet. An executive of the bank said SHB is not focusing on dealing with the problems arisen after Habubank merged into it. Especially, it now spends time and efforts to settle the bad debts. Therefore, it still has not time to program the Tet bonus.

Speaking at the time when Habubank was merged into SHB, President Do Quang Hien promised that Habubank’s bad debts would be settled within 2012.

Sacombank, one of the biggest commercial banks in Vietnam, said the business performance in 2012 is not as good as expected. Therefore, it has promised to give the 13th month salary to workers, but it is still not sure about the Tet bonus.

In fact, bank officers understand that they have experienced a very difficult year, therefore, they would not be surprised if they don’t receive bonuses this Tet. Deputy General Director of a bank in G9 group (the group of the most powerful banks in Vietnam), said even the members of the board of directors may not receive Tet bonuses, let alone officers.

Most of real estate firms do not intend to give Tet bonuses to their staff after a tough year. 2012 was considered the worst business year for the firms in the sector, with real estate products unsold despite the dramatic price decreases.

The president of a real estate firm in HCM City, when receiving a call from reporters to ask about Tet bonuses, said he has been moving heaven and earth to beg banks for debt payment delay, while he does not have time thinking about how to arrange money for Tet bonuses.

US$1 = VND20,800

Nhi Anh

[whatever897]

Originally Posted by forgotoldnick

Guess the meaning is , Meanwhile , self pleasure type!

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[jackbl]

54 percent of parents pay underground fee to obtain seats at "star schools"
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VietNamNet Bridge – Fifty four percent of parents have admitted that they “give money under the table” so as to be able to enroll their children in "star schools", a survey conducted by the HCM City Open University has found.

The surveyors received 150 replies from the parents who have children going to primary schools in districts 3, Tan Binh and Hoc Mon in HCM City.

50 percent of students go to the schools not reserved for them

Under the current regulations, local education departments decide which schools students would go to. In principle, students would go to the schools located in the same districts, where they live so as to create most favorable conditions for them and their parents.

However, a lot of parents don’t want to send their children to the schools reserved for them. Urbanites now decide that their children need to receive education in the best possible conditions. Therefore, they would do everything to send their children to "star schools" which can provide better education quality.

Some 45.3 percent of the 150 polled parents said their children go to the schools not reserved for them. Many reasons have been cited explaining why parents decided to send children to other schools. First, their children need to enroll in prestigious schools which can provide good education quality.

Second, the schools reserved for their children have been overloaded, which raises doubts about the education quality of the schools.

Third, it would be better to send children to the schools near parents’ offices, so as to make it more convenient to pick children from school.

To note, 54.4 percent of students admitted that they asked someone, who has good relations with the targeted schools’ leaders, to enroll their children in the schools. Meanwhile 30.9 percent of students said they themselves applied for the seats at the schools. One out of every 10 parents said he has to pay big money in order to be able to obtain a seat at famous schools.

When being asked about the ways to enroll in "star schools", the parents said the easiest way is

Paying underground money to obtain seats at the wanted schools has become so popular with 76 percent of parents saying they heard about this and only 24 percent saying they don’t know about this.

Especially, the majority of parents do not think that this is a bad behavior to pay underground money to be able to go to the schools not reserved for their children.

Also, 64.9 percent of parents said “this was quite a normal thing”, while only 31.6 percent of parents disagreed with the behavior.

Surveyors have found out a link between the parents’ careers and the schools their children go to. For example, the parents who are freelance workers, factory workers who have low income, said they would send their children to the schools they are told to do.

Meanwhile, the parents with high income or high academic standards seem to be choosier about the schools, and they tend to choose prestigious schools for their children. Especially, more parents in the inner city have their children going to star schools than the parents in the suburb areas.

The fact that students refuse to go to the schools reserved for them has caused a headache to the local education department.

Mr. Le Ngoc Diep, deputy head of the primary education division of the HCM City Education and Training Department, said parents always want the schools with good fame for their children, while they don’t know that the schools near their houses can also provide high education quality.

VTC

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Many kinds of medicines have quality problems
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VietNamNet Bridge - A lot of medicines have been suspended from circulation or had their registration number revoked for quality violation. Notably, most of the medicines are produced in Vietnam and India.

In 2011, the Drug Administration announced that 72 medicines were revoked for violating quality standards. In 2012, this number is 47.

Of the 72 medicines revoked in 2011, 26 originated from India and 36 from Vietnam, accounting for 50 percent.

In 2012, out of 47 types of drug that do not meet quality standard, 20 from Vietnam and 22 from India.

The mainly reason for the revoke or suspension of drugs is not ensuring the quality standards. However, there is a case that the drug was withdrawn because the manufacturer mistook the use of raw materials.

Though having many incidents in terms of quality, drugs produced in Vietnam and India won a lot of drug tenders of hospitals in Vietnam.

In 2010, Vietnamese drugs accounted for 42.58% of the total items winning bids to be provided to hospitals. Drugs originating from India ranked second among the drugs of foreign origin with a share of about 14-15%.

Cam Quyen