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[Hurricane88]

'It's made in Vietnam!' At inauguration, origin of red Trump hats shocks many

REUTERS
UPDATED : 01/21/2017 11:33 GMT + 7

One of the biggest cheers President Donald Trump received from supporters watching his inaugural address on Friday was his call to "buy American and hire American."


It was a moment rich in irony.

Many of those supporters were sporting Trump's trademark red "Make America Great Again" baseball caps that were made in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Some were horrified when they discovered their Trump hats were foreign made.

Rob Walker, 44, who had driven to Washington from Georgia with his wife Abby, 36, had stopped at a truck stop on the way to buy a "Make America Great Again" cap.

"Oh God, I hope it's not made in China," Abby said, flipping the cap over to check. She looked at its label. "China! Don't tell anyone!"

The Trump hats available for purchase on Trump's official campaign website are made in the United States and cost between $25 and $30, according to the label inside those caps.

But they are also more expensive than the $20 versions sold by street vendors in Washington on Friday.

Joshua Rojas, 25 and Alyssa Young, 28, had traveled from Texas to watch the inauguration. Young was wearing a pink "Make America Great Again" hat.
"I loved it as soon as I saw it. I bought it right over there from one of the vendors for $20," she said.


So was it made in America?

"I don't know where it was made actually," Young said. "Let me check." She took off the hat to check the label. "Oh no," she cried. "It's made in Vietnam!"

Austin Araco, 22, from Arkansas, was attending his first inauguration and wearing a Trump hat.

"I bought this hat the day he won the election," said Araco. "From his website, of course. I wanted to make sure I supported his fund. I don't want to buy a knock-off. I bought the hat for $30, shipping included."

Victoria Scott, 13 and her brother Andrew Scott, 12, each bought a "Make America Great Again" hat before the inauguration. Victoria's hat cost $25 - and was made in China.


She did not seem to mind.

Andrew then checked his hat. "Banglakesh?" he said after checking the tag. His father corrected him. "You mean Bangladesh."

Robert Morrison from Queens, New York, was carrying his "Make America Great Again" hat - bought from a street vendor for $20 - and wearing a New York Yankees cap. Both were made in China.

In his speech, Trump struck a fiery, protectionist tone.

"From this moment on, it's going to be America First," he said. "We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and hire American."

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam set to send first workers to Australia, Thailand in 2017

By VnExpress January 21, 2017 | 12:39 pm GMT+7

The country is focusing more on improving its workers’ skills to meet high demands from developed markets.

Vietnam plans to send workers to Australia, Laos and Thailand for the first time this year in a bid to expand and improve its overseas labor force.

Vietnam sent a record 126,000 workers overseas in 2016.

Pham Viet Huong, the deputy director of the central Deparment of Overseas Labor, told Vietnam News Agency that the plan is more about improving workers's skills rather than increasing the number of them.

The government has set a target of sending 105,000 workers abroad in 2017. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan will continue to be the core markets.

Huong said the labor ministry is going to implement agreements that have been signed with Australia and Southeast Asian neighbors Laos and Thailand this year.

The Vietnamese and Australian governments signed an agreement in March 2015 to provide up to 200 multiple entry visas to citizens of both countries per year and allow them to stay for 12 months for travel and work.

Vietnam and Thailand signed an MoU on labor cooperation and a labor export agreement in July 2015 and a similar agreement was signed with Laos in January that same year.

Huong said Vietnam has successfully increased the number of workers it sends abroad over the past three years.

But a bigger goal is to meet the strict demands of overseas markets, especially developed countries where salaries and labor benefits are good, he said.

He said labor exporters should invest more in training while local workers, notorious for their low productivity compared to others in the region, should also better prepare themselves with skills and language competence.

“There’s a huge demand in many countries for workers with high professional skills. We should get ready with a good labor pool,” Huong said, as cited in the report.

He said the ministry has built an action plan to improve local labor skills by 2020.

[Hurricane88]

Vietnam puts $860-million upgrade plan at Saigon airport on the runway

By VnExpress January 20, 2017 | 10:05 pm GMT+7


The plan will allow Tan Son Nhat to handle 45 million passengers annually.

Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has agreed with a proposal to invest around $860 million to upgrade the congested Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the fifth meeting to discuss the airport upgrade on Friday, Dung asked the Ministry of Transport and other relevant ministries to submit a complete report on the proposal to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for consideration by February 25.

Under the proposal, two more terminals, capable of handling 10 million passengers each per year, will be constructed to the south of the airport. The new terminals, along with other proposed infrastructure projects, would need total investment of VND19.7 trillion ($860.6 million) and would take three years to complete.

When complete, the new Tan Son Nhat would be able to handle 43 million-45 million passengers annually, up from its overloaded capacity of 28 million in 2016.

According to state-owned consultancy firm Airport Design and Construction Consultancy One Member Limited Liability Company (ADCC), the proposed upgrade project will use land currently owned by the airforce, which will help reduce site clearance costs and time.

Vietnam’s airline market is growing at the third fastest pace in Asia-Pacific, and the country is grappling with an acute dearth of airport capacity.

Tan Son Nhat is the country's main airport and is designed to handle 25 million passengers by 2020. But due to a surge in passengers, it was mobbed by 28 million passengers last year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, VietJet and the newly founded Vietstar are planning to expand their fleets in the next four years.

The country is working on a design for a massive airport in Dong Nai Province to share some of the heavy load on Tan Son Nhat, but construction could take years.

[Hurricane88]

Tet divide: Are people getting richer or is the income gap getting wider?

By Ha Phuong January 21, 2017 | 03:22 am GMT+7



Local or imported products for New Year: you decide.

Multi-tasking Dao Nhu Thuy is busy pushing her shopping cart filled to the brim with treats for the upcoming Lunar New Year, while at the same time receiving hamper order requests from her boss on the phone.

“My company had quite a good year," Thuy, a 37-year-old marketing executive, happily said about the 20 fancy hampers in her cart. "These ‘royal’ hampers, with a price tag of $300 each, are for our business partners.” She seemed to be very happy with her choice, with each basket packed with expensive-looking imported confectionery and wine.

The closer Tet comes, the busier people are. Buyers are frantically searching for gifts, while shops are looking to cash in.

A shop owner on Hang Buom Street said she'd had to hire two more assistants to help her with the gift hampers to cope with the rising nunmer of orders. Her shop is flooded with hampers that range from $15 to $1000.

“It seems that people are becoming richer," she told VnExpress International. "I’ve had more orders for expensive hampers this year. The most expensive item in the hampers is imported wine. I don’t know why but Vietnamese drinkers prefer imported wine to local wine.”


Local or imported products for New Year: you decide.
Multi-tasking Dao Nhu Thuy is busy pushing her shopping cart filled to the brim with treats for the upcoming Lunar New Year, while at the same time receiving hamper order requests from her boss on the phone.

“My company had quite a good year," Thuy, a 37-year-old marketing executive, happily said about the 20 fancy hampers in her cart. "These ‘royal’ hampers, with a price tag of $300 each, are for our business partners.” She seemed to be very happy with her choice, with each basket packed with expensive-looking imported confectionery and wine.

The closer Tet comes, the busier people are. Buyers are frantically searching for gifts, while shops are looking to cash in.

A shop owner on Hang Buom Street said she'd had to hire two more assistants to help her with the gift hampers to cope with the rising nunmer of orders. Her shop is flooded with hampers that range from $15 to $1000.

“It seems that people are becoming richer," she told VnExpress International. "I’ve had more orders for expensive hampers this year. The most expensive item in the hampers is imported wine. I don’t know why but Vietnamese drinkers prefer imported wine to local wine.”

[Hurricane88]

Vietjet opens Hanoi - Singapore route from $20

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/21/2017 19:03 GMT + 7

Vietjet Air will begin flying between Hanoi and Singapore this April with fares starting from just US$20, the Vietnamese budget carrier said Friday.

The new route with ticket priced from only VND500,000 ($20) looks to meet travel demand of individuals, tourists, and businessmen between the two well-known cities, Vietjet said in a press release.

The Hanoi-Singapore flight will be operated daily with 2 hours 55 minutes per leg from April 27.

The flight from Hanoi takes off at 10:00 (local time) and arrives in Singapore at 13:55 (local time). The return flight departs at 14:55 and lands in Hanoi at 16:50.

Hanoi is the second city to be connected with Singapore after Ho Chi Minh City by Vietjet.

The airline also plans to connect the Central Highlands city of Da Lat and the central city of Da Nang with Singapore in the time to come.

[Hurricane88]

Hanoi traffic police propose ‘one person, one car’ policy

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/21/2017 13:02 GMT + 7

The Hanoi traffic police unit (PC67) has suggested banning all city dwellers from owning more than one car and one license plate, in a bid to resolve the chronic traffic problem of the Vietnamese capital.

PC67 has officially submitted the proposal as an initiative to curb heavy traffic in Hanoi to the government for consideration, the unit head Dao Vinh Thang told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.

There are around 500 new cars and 16,000 new motorbikes registered every month in Hanoi, according to the PC67 head.

“[We suggest that] every person be allowed to own only one car and one license plate for that vehicle,” Thang elaborated.

“If that person wishes to purchase a new car, he or she has to sell the old one, and the old license plate can be transferred to the new vehicle.”

Thang asserted that similar regulation has been applied in many countries around the world and showed its effectiveness in curbing traffic jams, especially in super-metropolis.

The proposal also states that car owner needs to have a bank account and all the traffic fines will be processed electronically instead of having the driver physically come to the police office as currently do.

The PC67 proposal also suggests the government stipulate ‘service life limit’ for cars, rather than allowing people to “keep using the vehicles until they break down completely.”

“This results in the fact that a large number of old and unsafe vehicles are traveling on the streets, exacerbating the traffic jam in Hanoi,” Thang said.

As per the current law, there is no restriction on the number of vehicles, car and motorcycle, a person can own.

There is no immediate comment from the government on the PC67 proposal.

[Hurricane88]

Tet in Ho Chi Minh City is oh so quiet

By Connla Stokes January 22, 2017 | 12:00 am GMT+7

There's nothing to do in the city during the Lunar New Year break, precisely the reason why it's worth staying behind.

With a week or more to do as they please, and much of the city shutting up shop, many expats in Ho Chi Minh City understandably choose to skip the country during the Tet holidays. As a result, what they never experience is this heaving metropolis at its most blissful.

According to the venerable scholar and historian Dr. Huu Ngoc, Tet in Vietnam is a time for man to commune with nature and a time for the living to honor the dead. It is also a time for family reunions (and reconciliations) and, if you’re really filled with the joys of Spring, perhaps a détente with a neighbor, say, one who’s been renovating their house and slyly encroaching on your land, square inch by square inch, in the process.

That is, if you are Vietnamese.

For many expats in Ho Chi Minh City, ones without ties to local families, it’s a different story. Tet, if anything, is a time to pack your bags and run for the hills, or more likely a beach destination of your choice, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Bali, Langkawi, wherever (I hear Sihanoukville is hot right now).

Naïve newcomers to town will be warned of a post-apocalyptic scenario: everything is shut, there’s nowhere to go, nothing to do, and most alarmingly, nobody around to do things for you. Imagine. Staying and then your internet goes on the fritz… I know, right. The horror.

If anyone is wavering, unsure whether they should stay or go, the build up to Tet is often a supreme deal-breaker. The volume of the Tet tunes gets cranked up to 11. The ungovernable traffic more feral than ever.

“Maybe after Tet,” becomes a standard reply for all service providers. It all seems to scream: “you gotta get out of this place…”

For all of the above reasons, it’s generally assumed no one would voluntarily stick around when they don't have to. That’s why before the holiday actually begins, every expat asks every other expat they meet, “so where are you going for Tet?”

When I answer that I’m staying in Ho Chi Minh City, adding “even though I don’t have to”, there is usually some confusion. I can see people thinking: “But… why?”

“Because, because, um… because it’s nice, and quiet,” I tell them. And it is.



Imagine a pleasant version of a futuristic-dystopian thriller, one starring someone like Will Smith, set in a desolated Manhattan devoid of humans. Cue the Hollywood voiceover: “In his most demanding role yet, one Irish expat chooses to stay in Ho Chi Minh City through Tet but to survive, he will have to make his own breakfast or find a restaurant that’s mean enough to stay open…”

That’s to say for the most part I will just be riding around, admiring the eerily-empty streets, debating my limited dining options, hoping my spluttering Vespa doesn’t break down (pro tip: get your tires pumped and oil changed before Tet).

For a much-mellower, if not entirely empty, Ho Chi Minh City is truly a sight to behold. Picture it: no trucks, no buses. Less taxis, less cars, less motorbikes, and less people (for anyone hoping to make a zero-budget film set after a zombie apocalypse, this is your best shot).

Even Twitter and Facebook — the echo chambers of so much expat woe and strife — go pleasingly quiet, which is ironic as everything that everyone normally complains about (the traffic, the pollution, fellow expats…) is less of an issue as soon as they leave. The air gets clear(er), the normally torrid flows of traffic slow to trickles, expats are at a minimum…

For me, spending Tet in Saigon is not about visiting "Flower Street", spotting the odd dragon dance, snapping pictures of pagodas and temples. The residing sentimental memory I have of Tet last year is witnessing one of the city’s much-mocked Lamborghini drivers finally get out of second gear on Nguyen Huu Canh Street. I know he, for one, is looking forward to the Tet exodus.

I just like to stay here during Tet so I can experience the rarest of things: a breathless, overrun, aspiring megalopolis – one recently declared the second "most dynamic city in the world", but also a place where the pollution readings are now considered by the World Health Organization as "alarming" – catching it’s breath.

The construction, the destruction, the consumption, the commotion: Everything is put on hold. Once a year, and for a few days only, the big, brash business hub steps aside, allowing a softly spoken, more humble Saigon to reemerge and take center stage.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to convince anyone with an exit plan to stay. No, no. Far from it. Fly my pretties, fly like no one is calculating your carbon footprint.

The absence of each and every excursionist from the city is part of the charm to staying in Ho Ch Minh City through Tet (and, seriously, there really is nothing to do and nowhere to go). In your collective wake, the air will clear (a little) and the dust will settle (a lot). It’ll be very quiet, and pretty boring, but lovely, too.

I mean, as long as my internet doesn’t go on the fritz. I know. Just imagine. The horror.

[Hurricane88]

Ho Chi Minh City’s downtown flower show ready for opening

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/22/2017 11:40 GMT + 7



Preparations for Ho Chi Minh City’s iconic annual Lunar New Year flower show on Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street are nearing completion for opening on Wednesday.

The flower street will open to the public from 7:00 pm on January 25 to 10:00 pm on January 31.

The flower display is an annual event put together by the city’s administration to celebrate Tet, or the Lunar New Year, which is the biggest national holiday in Vietnam during which citizens enjoy a full week off.

The Lunar New Year celebration, which is deeply rooted in Vietnamese culture, includes a series of ceremonial preparations as well as festive exhibitions customarily lasting one week before and after Lunar New Year’s Day, which falls on January 28 this year.

The 720-meter Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in District 1 will feature thousands of flamboyant flowers from across Vietnam and around the globe arranged in different shapes and structures, accompanied by esthetic lighting and virtual reality displays.

The street has been fenced off weeks before its opening for preparatory works.

Decorations on the flower street will be divided into three sections, each bearing a different theme and meaning, according to the city’s administration.

The first section, starting from the Le Loi-Nguyen Hue intersection, will feature a giant flower arch and flower statues of a flock of chickens, honoring the coming lunar year’s zodiac animal.

The tallest statue will measure 3.5 meters in height, decorated by 108 lanterns and other smaller sculptures.

The second section will demonstrate Ho Chi Minh City’s dynamism and modernity, featuring flower models of the city’s most iconic constructions such as Dragon Wharf, the City Hall, Ben Thanh Market and the Phu My Bridge.

A giant map of Vietnam made out of flowers will also be displayed in this section of the street.

The third section will be reserved for flowers imported from foreign countries, and will boast an 18-meter illuminated lake.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper photojournalists were allowed by the street management to capture a quick peek into the flower street.

continue reading here
http://tuoitrenews.vn/lifestyle/3921...dy-for-opening

[Hurricane88]

Pre-Tet passengers choke up Ho Chi Minh City

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/22/2017 15:14 GMT + 7



Airports, bus stations, and railway stations in Ho Chi Minh City have been flooded with people leaving or arriving in the metropolis as the Lunar New Year is less than one week away.

Residents in the southern hub have been trying to be reunited with their family members to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet), which is due on January 28.

According to observations by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters on Saturday, the number of flights from foreign destinations to Ho Chi Minh City peaked from 9:15 am to around noon.

Travelers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea and others flooded the immigration counters and luggage belts.

Meanwhile, the arrival hall was also packed with family members who were waiting to greet their loved ones returning from overseas, with airport employees constantly having to clear the way for passengers.

Thuyen, a woman from the Mekong City of Can Tho, was holding her granddaughter while waiting for her daughter, who lives and works in Taipei, stating she had rented a car to start traveling from Can Tho to Ho Chi Minh City at 4:00 am.

Just like Thuyen, thousands of others were cramming the facility, with many elders and children exhausted by the long wait and serious overcrowding.

Cars and taxis were also stuck in long lines of traffic, being unable to pick up their passengers at the airport terminals.

About 700 flights land at or take off from Tan Son Nhat on a daily basis during the pre-Tet period, Tran Doan Mau, director of the Southern Airports Authority said, adding that the number could be higher in the upcoming days.

“All employees have been working at full capacity, despite help from students of the Vietnam Aviation Academy,” Mau elaborated.

Local police units have been exerting more efforts to prevent traffic jams at the airport entrance as well as ensuring security within the facility.


Crowded bus stations

Major bus stations in the southern hub have been overwhelmed by a large number of people traveling back to their hometowns before the Lunar New Year.



Many passengers decided to arrive at the places at least an hour before their bus schedule, flooding the waiting halls.

During an interview with Tuoi Tre, Nguyen Hoang Duy, deputy director of the Mien Dong (Eastern) Bus Station in Binh Thanh District, about 40,000 people got on 1,500 buses at the place.

“As the number of passengers will continue to rise, we have coordinated with local police to ensure order and security inside and outside the station,” Duy added.

The number of passengers rose 10 to 15 percent year on year at the Mien Tay (Western) Bus Station in Binh Tan District on Saturday, said Nguyen Minh Tien, an official of the venue.

Missed trains
At the Saigon Railway Station, many passengers were late for their trains because of traffic jams on the streets leading to the facility.

Dinh Pham Dieu Tin, 21, from the central province of Quang Nam, was in such a hurry that she got on the wrong train on Saturday afternoon.

By the time Tin realized her mistake, her train TN4 had already left, before authorities at the station arranged for Tin a seat on train SE30.

Other passengers were also redirected to substitute trains when they were unable to get on their original trains on time.

According to the Saigon Railways, 20 trains had carried some 16,000 people from the southern metropolis to their homes across the country.

Security units have worked around the clock to ensure security and prevent ticket scalpers from operating at the venue.

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

haha...i sleep by 9pm...

You are goot for those HH session but unfortunately all those I know are nite birds one fella even got time in the late evenings die die also will not go back to sleep whether local or overseas, he rather buy 1 beer and sit on the sidewalk to waste time until late late....... but then morning always cannot wake up in time to go breakfast together so I always have to give morning calls, you saw him few times before liao.........

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

u must jio then I plan leh...

I waiting for smallplayer to give me kangtao for indo-cheena SSYTs this is one kangtao i have not managed to achieve in JKT so far as the last time was a long long time ago liao........

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

haha...say the next place then also kena...

No lah wait people say I "sway chui"

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

'It's made in Vietnam!' At inauguration, origin of red Trump hats shocks many

REUTERS
UPDATED : 01/21/2017 11:33 GMT + 7


It was a moment rich in irony.

Many of those supporters were sporting Trump's trademark red "Make America Great Again" baseball caps that were made in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

No lah no true lah....................MADE IN RUSSIA is more like it

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

You are goot for those HH session but unfortunately all those I know are nite birds one fella even got time in the late evenings die die also will not go back to sleep whether local or overseas, he rather buy 1 beer and sit on the sidewalk to waste time until late late....... but then morning always cannot wake up in time to go breakfast together so I always have to give morning calls, you saw him few times before liao.........

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

I think knew who is that...

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

I waiting for smallplayer to give me kangtao for indo-cheena SSYTs this is one kangtao i have not managed to achieve in JKT so far as the last time was a long long time ago liao........

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

hihi...ok ok...no hurry lah...