Tieng Viet lovers club

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Vietnam lays red carpet to welcome foreign teachers
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VietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of English teachers would come to Vietnam within the framework of the national program on teaching foreign languages at schools by 2020.

An agreement has been signed between the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and ELC, the Australian organization would provide thousands volunteer teachers to Vietnam in the next many years. They are the native English speakers from English speaking countries like the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa.

All the teachers would join the program “Teach and Travel in Vietnam.”

The program with reasonable cost

An official of the Ministry of Education and Training said the Steering Committee of the National Program on Teaching Foreign Languages would join forces with ELC to give training to the teachers and allocate them to the schools in Vietnam which have demand for English teachers.

Regarding the qualification of the teachers, Nguyen Ngoc Hung from the steering committee, affirmed that the teachers have university or post-university degrees in different majors, but all of them have to go through training courses and obtain pedagogical certificates to be able to join the program.

“We asked the Australian side to train the teachers before they come to Vietnam,” Hung said.

“We expect 300-500 English teachers to Vietnam every year,” he added.

When asked about the cost of the project, Hung said MOET plans to pay VND6 million a month on average to every foreign teacher, which is now equal to the current average monthly salary of a Vietnamese teacher.

Meanwhile, a foreign teacher would have at least 25 periods a week (45 minutes per period), while a Vietnamese teacher has 18 periods only.

Commenting about the scanty salary budget for foreign teachers, Hung said the salary is just enough to cover the basic needs for the teachers in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Vinh Hien highly appreciates the cooperation of the partner to help improve the English skills at Vietnamese schools.

Vietnam doesn’t have money to send teachers abroad

Vietnam is seriously lacking English teachers, while the working teachers don’t have high qualifications, which is really a big barrier to the implementation of the national program.

Ngo Van Hoi, Deputy Director of the Quang Ninh provincial Education and Training, said at a recent conference that only 190 out of the 310 teachers of the department meet the standards. However, of the 190 teachers, only 18 can meet B2 level, 55 B1, while 117 cannot meet B1 level.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Da Nang University of Foreign Languages showed that in 2011 and 2011, only 22 out of the 1,996 teachers of the schools in the central region and Central highlands could meet C1 level, 322 met B2 level in accordance with the European frame CEFR.

Admitting that sending Vietnamese teachers to overseas training courses is the best solution, MOET said that the measure proves to be unfeasible, because the state budget cannot afford the training courses.

“We can only send the lecturers at pedagogical schools to overseas training courses. However, I know some pedagogical schools which don’t have any lecturer trained abroad,” Hung said.

The news that Vietnamese students would have the opportunities to learn English with native speakers has been applauded by schools, especially when MOET and the foreign partner affirm their high qualifications. Especially, the pay of VND6 million a month is affordable to the budget.

NLD

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University students get puzzled with English skill standards
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VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of students complained that though they have fulfilled the training curricula, they still cannot graduate from universities, because they cannot meet the requirements in the English skills stipulated by the schools.

Most of the universities in Vietnam have announced the standard qualifications for their graduates, i.e. the qualifications and skills the school commit their graduates will have.

The HCM City University of Agriculture and Forestry began applying the output standards for graduates from the 2008 academic year. The students of the school must meet the B1 level of the European scale.

The students, who entered the school in 2008, have recently attended the final exams. However, 21.8 percent of the students still cannot show the B1 level certificates; therefore, they still cannot graduate the school.

According to Dr Tran Dinh Ly, Head of the Training Division of the university, B1 of the European scale sets higher requirements than the national B level that schools once applied in Vietnam. Therefore, a lot of students cannot meet the standards.

“I know many students who are very good at their majors, but still cannot have B1 level certificates and they still cannot finish school,” he said.

Ly also said that the students who have TOEFL 400, TOEIC 450, IELTS 4.5, PET 70, BULATS 40 would also be recognized as meeting the output standards.

The University of Technology and the Economics University, the member schools of the Da Nang University, have also required the B1 standards and TOEIC 400 on their students to be able to graduate from the schools.

However, the standards seem unattainable to many students. A survey conducted by the University of Technology has found out only 20-30 percent of students can follow the English curriculum designed for university students in accordance with the Ministry of Education (10 credits), when they enter a new academic year. Meanwhile, the other 70 percent have to attend preparatory classes before attending official classes.

Meanwhile, Tran Cao Vinh, Head of the Training Division of the HCM City University of Natural Sciences, said his school only requires B level certificate, though B level certificate would surely not be able to satisfy the requirements of employers. However, even with the low requirements, Vinh fears that the majority of the school’s students cannot meet the standard.

In the future, B1 level would be the required standards to be applied to all schools as stipulated in the national program on teaching and learning foreign languages.

Meanwhile, Hoa Van Binh, Deputy Dean of the Foreign Languages Faculty of the Saigon University, has warned that B1 would be an overly high goal for many students, saying that students still have not been aware of the importance of learning foreign languages.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich, a third year student of the HCM City University of Natural Sciences, has noted that a lot of her classmates do not think foreign languages would be useful for them in the future jobs, therefore, they only spend time on learning some days before the exam days.

Bich also thinks that there is a big gap in the English skills of the students from rural areas and students from big cities. In general, the students from rural areas do not have the opportunities to learn English in a methodical way. Therefore, they find it hard to continue learning English at the universities.

Vinh agrees that four years at universities would not be enough for students to obtain fluent English skills, and that students need to have a good basis when they finish high schools to be able to meet the standards in foreign language skills when following university education.

Tien Phong

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Saigontourist offers foreigners Tet celebration tours
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VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s leading travel operator Saigontourist has launched two programmes for international travelers eager to enjoy the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta tour will run from lunar December 23–29. Visitors will have the chance to experience the bustling pre-Tet atmosphere in My Tho City, exploring the local flower market and Vinh Trang Pagoda.

A number of families have offered to let tourists observe their busy festival preparations including making Banh Tet (a bundle of sticky rice, fatty pork, and soy bean paste compacted into a banana leaf cylinder), traditional confectionary, and customary festival meals.

The Ho Chi Minh City tour will last from lunar January 1–4.

Visitors will be taken from their hotels to Tao Dan Park for its Spring Flower Festival. They will then admire a number of sacred temples and pagodas, wander around Cho Lon’s Chinatown, and relax with a city cyclo ride before sampling traditional meals with locals.

Initiated in 2003, the two tour packages have enabled foreign tourists and expatriates to experience some the annual Tet celebration’s excitement and festive cheer.

Source: VOV online

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In crisis, people celebrate Tet in home cities, air tickets unsold
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VietNamNet Bridge – Numerous air tickets for the flights to depart on Tet days from HCM City to Hanoi, Da Nang and Vinh City have been left unsold. Meanwhile, more air tickets for the flights at non-peak hours have been put on sale.

Contrary to all predictions, the travel demand of people is very weak this year. The economic downturn has forced people to cancel the travel plans for Tet holiday. Though Tet would come in just three weeks, a lot of air tickets for the flights from HCM City to the provinces in the central region and the north remain unsold.

Strange thing: air tickets unsold

No need to hunt down for air tickets or queue up on Internet to register ticket purchases, no need to pay money for intermediaries to buy tickets, one now can easily book tickets for the flights on Tet holiday.

Thu Hang, a worker of a media company in district 1 in HCM City, said she was so surprised when she found out from the official websites of airlines that seats on the flights on key air routes still have been vacant, including the ones of the flights on rush days, just before Tet.

Meanwhile, Le Thuy from Nam Dinh City, who works in HCM City, feared that she would not be able to book tickets for the flights to Nam Dinh City; therefore, she decided to book tickets very soon, in November 2012.

Thuy felt happy when she successfully bought tickets at reasonable prices of VND2,974,000 dong per ticket. Therefore, Thuy has been exceedingly astonished when hearing that her sister has just bought a ticket at a much lower price.

“It’s quite a strange thing. You have to pay higher when you book ticket sooner,” she said.

Demand weaker due to economic difficulties

The official websites of Jetstar Pacific, Vietjet Air and Vietnam Airlines on January 16 showed that high numbers of tickets still have been available.

A booking agent of Vietnam Airlines also said the travel demand in 2013 is very low. Tickets have run out only for the flights on some special air routes, while a lot of tickets have been available on the backbone routes, including the Hanoi-HCM City route.

Reducing airfares may help boost sales

While the demand gets weaker, because people tend to choose other mans of transport to save money, airlines all plan to provide more flights this Tet as a result of the stiff competition in the domestic aviation market.

A senior executive of Jetstar Pacific has noted that the demand has been very weak since the beginning of the year.

A family with four members would have to pay some VND20 million on air tickets alone to fly from Hanoi and HCM City and vice versa. Van Trang in Tan Phu district in HCM City said a trip to the homeland to celebrate Tet would cost her the sum of money equal to many-month salaries.

When asked why the air tickets have become cheaper than the tickets sold many years ago, a senior executive of an airline said in principle, the sooner passengers book tickets, the cheaper tickets they can get. However, it happened that passengers usually changed their plans.

Since passengers would not fly on the initially set days, airlines have to slash the airfare by a little to attract passengers.

US$1=VND21,000

NLD

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Along the Saigon River
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VietNamNet Bridge – The VIP speed boat eventually glided into the wharf, it was forty-five minutes late, and we had been waiting impatiently for it to arrive so that we could begin our journey along the Saigon River to the Cu Chi tunnel historical site.


The boat looked to be full but our party of six adults and two children were eventually accommodated in the front of the boat, under the awning which shielded us from the hot overhead sun. The children were delighted that they were able to utilize the pilot’s seat and for most of the journey, each way, they took turns on one of the adult’s laps, the wind created by the high speed boat blowing their hair back. They were entranced by the foam created by the turbulence of the boat which climbed almost to the deck on each side.

The Saigon River is a busy waterway with heavily laden barges, smaller pilot boats, fishing boats and local ferries all utilizing this water course. Dense blankets of water hyacinths floated along the top of the river, the flowers still in bud; these aquatic weeds are a curse to the propellers of high speed boats and our driver did his best to avoid the thickest areas. The weed is harvested by locals who make attractive baskets in varying designs and quality to sell at markets.

The boat took an hour and a half to reach its destination; it was an enjoyable ride with the distractions of the daily life of the river continually changing. We passed through the industrial city and into the countryside where farmers were seen working in the vibrant green paddy fields and laborers tended the forests of rubber trees.

The tunnels of Cu Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Cu Chi District of HCMC. They are part of a much larger network of tunnels that extend throughout the country. This section of the tunnels has been turned into a War Memorial Park and is very popular with tourists who can get some small idea of what it must have been like for the Vietnamese guerrillas who lived, worked and fought inside the very narrow confines of the tunnels. Some portions of the tunnels have been enlarged so that they can accommodate the larger stature of the modern day tourist and, for the adventurous and those that do not suffer from claustrophobia, crawling through these shafts is one of the options available.

It is almost impossible to believe that both men and women lived in these confined spaces for months, even years, fighting off not only the American soldiers but dangerous insects such as scorpions, ants, poisonous centipedes, spiders and rodents, diseases facilitated by the lack of fresh air and healthy food and water, particularly malaria, which was the second largest cause of death after battle wounds.

Tourists are able to witness the booby traps, fashioned from basic materials but used to deadly effectiveness. They can fire a variety of Vietnamese War Era weapons, which include the AK47 and M16 rifles and the M60 machine gun, however, there is a need to take good ear protection, it is extremely noisy and that supplied is not altogether effective.

It is a grueling glimpse into the lives of the guerrilla fighters in their resistance against the American forces and it was a relaxing getaway to seat ourselves next to the fast flowing current of the river while being served a traditional Vietnamese lunch. The small restaurant, set on a platform above the reeded banks of the river and open to any light breeze which could permeate the mid-day heat, provided a relief from the horrors of war.

Source: SGT

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The tour guides in the clouds
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VietNamNet Bridge – The tour guides have never attended any training courses before. However, they still can work well when receiving tourists to their homeland, Sa Pa.

How to find tour guides in Sa Pa?

Most of them are girls. They have great advantages to work as tour guides: they know all the paths to the villages, they know the ways to every corner in the town, because they have got familiar to them since the day they were born.

The thing they need to learn to work as tour guides is to learn foreign languages to communicate with foreign travelers. However, this is never an obstacle to them.

The children here have high capability of aping others. Especially, their H’mong ethnic minority language is a language of spirants. A linguistic has also noted that no any elsewhere children can learn English better than the H’mong children in the land.

H’mong girls undertake the job of tour guides very spontaneously. Those, who have good health, who think they are fluent speakers and who have good English enough, would go to the downtown, visit restaurants or guest houses to make acquaintance and say “hello” to foreign travelers.

In Sa Pa town, it is estimated that tens of girls are seen working as tour guides in a professional way. Besides the girls in the downtown, there are also the girls staying in hamlets and communes.

If someone goes to Sa Pa these days, he may see two or three small girls standing next to samu trees, or wondering at the market with a brocade bag, a jungle knife in hands. These could be the mountain girls - tour guides. If so, he can meet the girls and say to them he wants some tour guides and receive the answers if they can help him.

This is the way tourists and tour guides can meet each other so easily in the land. Not only Vietnamese, but foreign tourists as well, have got familiar to the method.

What the local tour guides do?

The job of tour guide has become more demanding, because trekking tourists now want more than visiting nearby villages or tasting some local food.

Cat Cat, Cau May villages, Ham Rong or Ta Phin mountains – the short day tours have no more attracted the foreign travelers who want adventurous trips. They now want to travel to further villages and take week-long trips.

Hang A Sinh, a tour guide in Xin Chai hamlet, said this is really a hard job. Tour guides have to spend weeks with travelers, lead them to the targeted destinations, help them wander up hill and down dale, carry luggage for them. Especially, tour guides need to buy good and necessary things on the way, and prepare meals.

Therefore, tour guides always have to think carefully so as to arrange the trips in the best possible way: how many pots to bring, how many legs should be in the trips, how many meals to have and what to do in emergency cases.

Sinh recalled a day when Sinh met an Australian student, who asked to help lead her to San Sa Ho, a very deserted land. Suddenly, the girl suffered a serious stomachache. Sinh had no other choice than carrying the girl on back to a Sinh’s friend nearby.

Sinh only could carry the girl to the friend’s house in late of the day, where the girl was treated with the herbs found in the forests. Luckily, the girl recovered the next morning, backed to Sa Pa then and returned to Australia.

Sinh said that the Australian girl paid $500 for the trip, a big sum of money, but Sinh fell sick for three days. However, Sinh did not regret the day spent with the girl, because Sinh had a new good friend, who usually returns to the land with her husband and invites Sinh to Australia one day.

Dai Doan Ket

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HCM City plans to shift noisy karaoke parlours
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VietNamNet Bridge – Karaoke parlours in HCM City are set be bunched together in designated streets, and authorities will not issue licences for opening them anywhere else, a senior culture official has said.

Vu Trong Nam, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, explained that this would make it easier to manage what is a "sensitive" business.

Last April the city People's Committee issued a decree on improving oversight of several industries, including karaoke, to combat prostitution and other social evils.

It tasked the department with drawing up comprehensive regulations for the functioning of karaokes and discotheques.

The only regulations in place now are on the number of karaoke parlours that can be opened in residential areas.

The department plans to designate areas in each district by 2015 where karaokes can be opened.

Similarly, discotheques can only operate in hotels and cultural centres.

Nam pointed to the case with which District 10 authorities manage the many karaoke parlours bunched together on Su Van Hanh Street.

"That is a good model for managing and preventing social evils," Nam said.

After refusing licences for karaoke and discotheque businesses for many years, the People's Committee has again started to allow them.

Nam said that district authorities had recently started receiving applications for setting up karaoke parlours, which are licensed for two years.

The department will decide the number of fresh licences to be issued in each district and submit to the People's Committee in the first quarter of this year.

Source: VNS

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Street girls learn new trade under charity project
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Still in short pants and sleeveless jackets, 21 women who were once street girls attended a public meeting on Thursday to speak up their ambitions for a chance to return to normal lives.

With well-trimmed eyebrows and fresh red lips, they represented their colleagues whose job is illegal by law and not recognized in the Vietnamese conservative society. But the highlight at the meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City by the Department for Social Evils Elimination was that the women showed strong ambition to quit the controversial job.

The 21 women belong to a three-year pilot project in the city that offers prostitutes free vocational classes to help them find employment and thus lead independent lives.

They were recommended by local authorities and peers’ clubs and other social affairs organizations; the first condition being a strong will to return to normal lives.

Ngo Thi Mong Linh, chief of Binh Minh Dem (Night Sunrise) peers’ club and vice chairwoman of Niem Tin Moi (New Hope) charity club, said at the meeting, “Many, many women want to have a chance to attend vocational courses.”

She told moving stories of women who had to earn money as prostitutes because they had no other choice.

Ten years ago, NTL in district 11 had to raise her ailing infant younger than one year old after her husband abandoned the family. Being unemployed and untrained for doing any job, L had to ‘take to the street’.

Initially considering it a temp job, L has failed to quit prostitution in the past years until three months ago when a woman of a peers’ club came to talk with her and asked her to join the Binh Minh Dem.

“Not only being taught how to prevent diseases and HIV infection, I have also been trained as a nail worker,” L said at the meeting.

“No one wishes to become a tool for others to entertain. I will definitely earn my living with pedicure/manicure. I will get married and have children,” L said.

Another case was HKO, who got married at the age of just 18 years old. She had to leave her husband when their daughter was 17 months old since the husband was sent to a rehab center. She became a street girl soon after that to have money to feed her child.

O and L are two of the 21 prostitutes attending the training course.

“I hope my girl will not feel ashamed of her mother in front of her friends. So I will try to get trained to have a right job,” O confirmed.

Besides enjoying free training courses, each participant of the pilot project is given VND2 million (US$96) to buy toolkits to pursue a trade.

Yet, many women honestly admitted that they still ‘stand the street’ as they need money to make ends meet.

“I need money to buy a bicycle to go around,” one of them said.

Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong, vice chief of the Ho Chi Minh City Department for Social Evils Elimination, assured that, “We stand side by side with you whenever you need, provided that you have the determination to quit the past. We are mulling to have better support. Remember that no one loves you more than yourself.”

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Families with two daughters may get social welfare
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VietNamNet Bridge - In order to reduce the sex ratio imbalance at birth, the General Department of Population will propose the Government to provide social welfare for the families that have two baby girls.


Dr. Duong Quoc Trong, head of the General Department of Population, told an online newswire that putting the policy on giving priority to women, assisting families that have two daughters into practice is the long-time desire of the agency but it has not been implemented.

Trong said the General Department of Population would propose to the Government to consider the plan to reduce the sex ratio imbalance at birth, in which a special solution is giving financial support to the families that have only two baby girls.

Specifically, these families will be supported with cash and incentives for their daughters in studies, vocational training, employment, and developing household economy, etc.

According to an officer of the General Department of Population, in fact, a number of provinces have implemented this policy. For example, Thai Binh province presents gifts for the families having two daughters while Hoa Binh province encourages and supports women and girls, especially the girls in the families that have only daughters.

In addition to giving support for the families having only daughters, the plan also focuses on a number of measures to reduce the sex ratio imbalance, such as reducing the birth rate in areas with high birth rates, the mountainous and disadvantaged areas, strictly prohibiting sex selection...

At present, gender imbalance has appeared in many provinces in the country and it is more volatile. In 2009, Hung Yen and Hai Duong led the country on gender imbalance. In 2011, Quang Binh and Bac Ninh took the lead, with a ratio of 120 boys for every 100 girls.

According to the Ministry of Health, without active intervention, the sex ratio at birth in Vietnam will be still imbalanced, with 125 boys for every 100 girls in 2020 and it will remain until 2050.

Compiled by Le Ha

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Air ticket agents hike prices over false scarcity
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Although tickets for several domestic long-haul routes over Tet are still available, many ticket agents have told customers that they are running out to force passengers to buy tickets on alternative routes at exorbitant prices.

While information and prices of available flights are displayed openly at the official ticket agents of the airliners, and the surcharges only range from VND30,000 to VND50,000, there is no such information provided at other agents, and customers have to mainly rely on the employees there. The surcharges are also hiked to hundreds of thousands of dong.

Tuoi Tre reporters disguised as customers recently visited an airline and train ticket office operated by a construction design company on Cong Hoa Street and asked to buy three tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh between February 3 and 5. An employee said that there were no available tickets left from the domestic carriers.

However, she added that several Vietnam Airlines (VNA) tickets were available, but the departure dates are either January 29 and 30, and they cost VND3.02 million each, excluding surcharge and taxes.

“But we will only know if there really are available seats for these tickets in the next two or three days,” she said, adding that customers have to pay a booking fee of VND200,000, and a fee to register a seat at VNA of VND600,000.

The reporters then asked if they could fly to Hanoi instead. The employee made a phone call, checked her computer, and replied that there were VNA tickets available.

“The ticket costs VND3.02 million for a night flight, and VND3.6 million for day service, excluding the VND600,000 registration fee,” she said.

When asked for details about the flight, the employee shook her head and said the internet was temporarily disconnected.

“Just deposit your money and come back tomorrow,” she said.

But the national flag carrier’s official booking center told Tuoi Tre later that there are in fact many available business class tickets for the HCMC – Vinh route from February 3 to 5.

Meanwhile, the minimum price for the January 29 tickets is only VND2.84 million, without the seat-registering fee as requested by the agent.

The booking center added that tickets for the HCMC – Hanoi route cost VND3.097 million, including surcharge, and is always available between March 3 and 5. Customers don’t have to pay the VND600,000 fee, it added.

Bogus agents

The VNA booking center has warned customers about a common trick of many agents, which tell customers that tickets are still available while they have, in fact, been sold out.

A ticket agent on Au Co Street, for instance, told Tuoi Tre that tickets for the HCMC – Dong Hoi route on February 4 are available at VND3.8 million each.

But VNA confirmed that all seats for the service have already been booked.

“We have had to handle a number of complaints for similar issues,” said a VNA employee.

“Customers will still receive tickets for the flights after paying, but several days later the agent will tell them that VNA has canceled the service they booked,” the employee elaborated.

“Then customers will be asked to switch to other routes, which cost them a great sum of fees for changing flights and tickets.”

Customers should contact VNA for official information before booking tickets for such routes, the booking center advised.

Airliners have also cautioned that customers may fall prey to several bogus ticket agents during this high-demand season of the Lunar New Year.

“The agents will normally sell tickets to their customers, but when the departure day approaches, they secretly ask to return the tickets to the airliners, get the refund, and disappear, leaving the customers unable to board,” an employee of a carrier said.

Customers thus are advised to look official agent certificates at ticket offices before conducting any transactions, the airliners said.

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HCMC to have “karaoke streets” in every district
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Karaoke businesses will be re-arranged in Ho Chi Minh City under a plan in which karaoke establishments in each district will be gathered into specific quarters to facilitate easier management and better crime prevention.

Vu Trong Nam, deputy director of the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, revealed the plan while talking with Tuoi Tre about the re-arrangement of the karaoke business – a sensitive service sector.

Under Directive 13 by the HCMC People’s Committee on strengthening management over businesses that may cause social evils, the department is working on a plan to re-arrange karaoke and dancing establishments from now until 2020, with a vision towards 2025, Nam said.

According to a 2015-2020 roadmap for the plan, every district will have specific streets or areas for karaoke, while dancing facilities will be included in hotels or cultural centers.

Such an arrangement will help concerned agencies manage and control karaoke businesses more easily and prevent social evils, including prostitution and drug abuse, or crime that can arise from karaoke-related activities.

Most districts have supported the idea of creating “karaoke streets or areas”, Nam said.

Currently, Su Van Hanh Street in District 10 has many karaoke parlors clustered together. These establishments do good business and local authorities can manage them easily, Nam said.

The number of karaoke parlors will differ from district to district, based on demand, and each district will arrange karaoke facilities in areas it deems suitable.

Under the plan, a karaoke operation license will be valid for two years. In the first quarter of this year, the department will review the karaoke sector in the city and request that authorities propose the numbers of new karaoke or dancing businesses to be licensed in each district.

After the city People’s Committee decides on the numbers of karaoke facilities and specific streets and areas in each district, the department will begin granting karaoke or dancing licenses based on that decision.

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Inside a “Vietnamese girl market”
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Chinese men can find sexual partners among Vietnamese sex workers at a “Vietnamese girl market”, which runs every night in Po-chai, a Chinese town on the border with Vietnam.

This market offers only Vietnamese sex workers, although no Vietnamese men are served there.

As evidenced by its name, the “market”, which is located in an apartment complex, has Vietnamese women only, and its guests are mainly Chinese men, An Ninh The Gioi (World Security) newspaper reported.

The ‘market’ mainly runs at night, when a group of at least four young women sits at the ground floor of each apartment building to welcome their guests.

These women usually embroider handkerchiefs while they sit there. Though the temperature sometimes drops to 5 degrees Celcius, they wear skimpy clothes, showing off their breasts and thighs.

No room for Vietnamese men

One night, the women say a man approaching One of them, possibly the group’s leader, greeted him in Chinese. The man said, “My boss is Vietnamese. Will any of you receive him? The group leader replied in disappointment, “We are not allowed to receive Vietnamese men.

Whenever they see Vietnamese men enter the building, the women waves them away and say, “Dear, we would love to serve you, but the police will catch you. Please leave before you get in trouble.”

One of the women at the market is named Hong. She was once the group’s leader, and now she trades sex toys in the area.

“The Chinese government has banned prostitution-related business, but in cross-border trade areas like Po-chai, the business is implicitly allowed on the condition that sex workers must be Vietnamese and their guests must be Chinese or foreign men, excluding Vietnamese men.

A number of Chinese sex workers can also be found in Po Trai. They have fake ID cards stating that they are Vietnamese.

Brothel owners in the area are granted business licenses and they must pay relevant taxes and fees to the Chinese authorities. However, there remains a paradox that if any problems arise, they may be brought to court for charges of “harboring prostitutes.”

“One more oddity of this area is that these whorehouses are not governed by the local government but by ‘procurers’, who claim a right to ‘protect’ brothels based on a ‘fee’ they receive from brothel owners. They also act as tax and fee collectors, passing these payments on to authorities."

Any conflict between brothels or between guests and prostitutes is resolved by the procurers through physical violence and their law of the jungle.

When new sex workers arrive at the market, the local procurers have the right to “taste” them first before they serve their guests.

Any woman who violates the underworld law will be punished by the local boss; for example they may be taken to a room, stripped and beaten.

Tortured to the point of insanity

There have been cases in which local bosses tortured sex workers by continuously stimulating them with sex toys for a full day. After 24 hours of sexual stimulation, many women are so exhausted that they have to lay in bed for several days to recover.

There was one case, in particular, where a sex worker was paralyzed for a week after being tortured with sex toys. Women have also gone insane after being abused, one of whom is Dai, from the northern city of Hai Phong.

Dai, 21, was once considered the top prostitute at the B25 brothel. In her prime many men selected her for her services.

Dai had to give her pimp 40 percent of the money guests paid her, but there were still days when she was able to save more than 1,000 yuan (US$160).However, she still wasn’t able to afford her or her boyfriend’s drug addiction.

Dai’s pimp loaned her money at a 100% per day interest rate, and in February 2012, when her dept stood at 10,000 yuan (US$1,600), Dai and her lover escaped and hid in Pingxiang, a city in the municipal region of Chongzuo in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The pimp reported the escape to the local boss and Dai was seized two days later. She was brutally tortured with sex toys and went mad.

She began to groan and fall over whenever anyone touched her. Her boyfriend eventually brought her to Vietnam for medical treatment.

Hong, one of the prostitutes, said the pimps in the twon do not force any of the girls to work against their will. Only women who are in debt are forced to serve guests, in order to repay their debts.

Ransom and “rotary wife”

Many beautiful sex workers have lured men into paying a ransom to take them from their brothel so that they could live together as husband and wife.

A number of men have fallen into this trap and been forced to pay at least 4 taels of gold to the woman’s pimp for her realease.

However, the women can leave their “husband” at any time and return to their brothel to lure other men. The ransoms are split 60:40 with their pimps.

Some sex workers have been ransomed by two or three men at the same time.
When this happens the women consider themselves ‘rotary wives’.

Thi has experienced this before. She arrived in Po Trai when she was 13 years old to make a living by washing dishes at restaurants.

She was eventually adopted by Hong and led a decent life. Then, one day, after being beaten by Hong for stealing money from guests, Thi left and began working as a prostitute.

Thi later returned to Hong and lured a wealthy Chinese man named A Lo into ransoming her.

Lo paid 10 taels of gold and Thi lived with him for a while. Then, she started a fight with him and returned to Hong’s brothel. Lo ransomed her again, this time for four taels of gold.

After spending several years as Thi’s “husband”, Lo had no money left and Thi has since left him for good.

A similar trick is to sell girls to men looking for a wife or brothels that need workers for 10,000 yuan, of which the girl will get 6,000. However, after a certain amount of time, the girl will leave their husband or new brothel, leaving them in the lurch.

The girls will then be sold again, and the cycle will begin all over.

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Male and gay prostitution is increasing
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VietNamNet Bridge - Although there are no specific figures, according to representatives of the Departments of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City, male prostitution is on the rise, including students. The handling of these people is in trouble.

Speaking at the conference reviewing the implementation of the action plan against prostitution in 2011-2015 last week, Mr. Le Van Quy, Deputy Director of the HCM City Bureau for Social Evil Prevention, said in HCM City, in addition to a number of rings of high-end call girls, with the participation of actresses and models, male and gay prostitution is growing and increasingly sophisticatedly.

"Some spas and beauty salons use gays to serve homosexuals. There is sophisticated development of male and gay prostitution, foreign sex workers and Vietnamese prostitutes going abroad in the form of sex tourism," he said.

Although there are no specific statistics about male and gay prostitution, Quy said the number of men doing this job is increasing, including students. Due to social stigma, most gays do not get tests or go to health facilities for consultation, resulting in the increase of HIV.

"Five years ago, the HCM City Bureau for Social Evil Prevention arrested and sent to treatment centers 22 male and gay prostitutes, but then we had to release them because the current law has not related provisions," he said.

Ms. Pham Ngoc Phuong, Director of the Can Tho Bureau for Social Evil Prevention, also expressed concern about the development of male and gay prostitution in the city. "It is very difficult to handle male and gay prostitutes," she said.

Not only in Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho, a "love market" for gays has recently appeared in Da Nang City. This place is not only is the venue of homosexuals but also a place for crime. Many gays were robbed there.

Major Vu The Huan, from the National Criminal Police Agency, told VNexpress newswire that the agency used to arrest male prostitutes but had to release them because of the lack of related provisions. "We will propose to the National Assembly and the Government to amend the law," Major Huan said.

As being reflected by representatives of some provinces and cities, prostitution has been disguised in various forms, so it is difficult for the authorities to control it. In many cities, there are prostitution services over the phone or Internet; employees at karaoke bars, hair salons and massage shops work as prostitutes, etc. Instead of standing in public places, sex workers now use motorcycles to run around to seek customers.

Prostitution flourishes at coastal resort such as Do Son (Hai Phong), Sam Son (Thanh Hoa), Quat Lam (Nam Dinh), Cua Lo (Nghe An), Ky Anh (Ha Tinh)... in summer. Most of sex workers are from the southwestern region. According to Mr. Pham Duc Chinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Nam Dinh Province, the situation is very difficult to handle because prostitutes disguise as tourists.

In this regard, Major Vu The Huan said the police will strictly handle prostitution. "We will coordinate with the telecommunications agencies to hinder prostitutes from posting their pictures or advertising on the Internet. The Ministry of Information and Communications should also combine to closely control the use of Internet and telephone for sex transaction," said Huan.

At the conference, many delegates proposed amendments to the Law on Administrative Fines and Resolution No. 24/2012 of the National Assembly, which takes effect from July 2012 for being inappropriate to reality. The HCM City Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that prostitutes in public venues will increase because if they are caught in the act, they are willing to pay a fine and continue to practice prostitution. The sanction is too low compared to the "income" of sex workers.

This department also proposed to the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government to add regulations on handling sexual service at service establishments, male and gay prostitution and foreign-related prostitution.

Delegate Pham Duc Chinh form Nam Dinh suggested to remove fines on prostitution and instead, send them to medical facilities for HIV testing.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, from the Hanoi Bureau for Social Evil Prevention, said that it is necessary to classify prostitutes. For sex workers from other provinces, who do not have a certain place of residence and have been fined several times and are infected with social diseases must be sent to social protection centers for management.

According to the Agency for Social Evil Prevention, in 2012, the authorities seized 1,077 prostitution cases, with 4,543 people and handled 744 criminal cases.

At the border, the border guard force handled 133 cases of prostitution and human trafficking for purposes of prostitution, rescued 177 victims, including 16 children.

In Lao Cai, prostitution from outside the borders takes place publically, with about 100 prostitution rings totaling about 600 Vietnamese prostitutes. The court also accepted 507 cases on charges of prostitute harboring and brokerage.

Compiled by Tra Nguyen

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HCM City wants to gather sensitive services into one zone to prevent prostitution
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VietNamNet Bridge - Given that the situation of prostitution in the city is very complicated, hiding in the form of barber shops, massage, traditional medicine, etc. HCM City has recommended gathering these sensitive business establishments in an area.

HCM City has proposed that the government allows the "regional planning" for sensitive business establishments which may generate social evils to closely manage prostitutes.

The city said that to help the effective prevention of prostitution, the central government should supplement the provisions dealing with acts of harboring, use of porno methods in service establishments, male and homosexual prostitutes, prostitution involving foreign elements and remedies to ensure enforcement.

Ho Chi Minh City proposed to issue tougher administrative fines on the production, circulation of porno movies and performances, which promote hedonistic lifestyle and prostitution. The city also asked the government to study and promulgate "regulations on ethics and dignity" in the training of artists, organizing beauty contests, modeling and the accompanying administrative sanctions.

In addition, the city wanted to set up social work centers on a trial basis to educate and support prostitutes in terms of psychology and counseling. These centers will also coordinate with local authorities to help them feel secure and have stable life.

According to the HCM City People's Committee, there are 30,000 sensitive service facilities in the city, nearly 800 more than 2011, including 19,705 accommodation establishments (guest houses, hotels, rooms for rent, etc.); 750 karaoke establishments, studios; 25 bars, discothèques; 943 restaurants with female attendants; 134 massage parlors; 805 barber shops and more than 7,600 cafes.

HCM City police also identified the major roads of prostitution such as: Ngo Van Nam, Hai Ba Trung, Tran Quang Khai, Nguyen Phi Khanh, Dong Du, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Hoang Sa in District 1; Nguyen Trai, Le Hong Phong in District 5; D2, D5 in Binh Thanh District, Tu Xuong, Nguyen, Hai Ba Trung Street in District 3, Nguyen Chi Thanh, Chau Van Liem, Dao Duy Tu, Ngo Quyen in Districts 5 and 10.

Compiled by Mai Lan

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Spring colors cover the entire country
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VietNamNet Bridge - Apricot, peach, flowers, ornamental plants ... are coming to town these days, bringing the New Year to all over the country.



The Mekong Delta: promising flower season

Coming to the flower village of Binh Thuy in the city of Can Tho, the Sa Dec flower village in Dong Thap, Cai Mon village in Ben Tre in these days one will no longer see the "fields of flowers" in the green color of leaves, but the diverse colors of all kinds of flowers, such as chrysanthemum, roses, sunflowers, ...

Mr. Van Tinh, in Binh Thuy village, said: "Flowers have sprung buds as planned so now I do not worry anymore. I’m sure for a good flower harvest! On the 23rd of the 12th month of the lunar year I will sell 500 pots of Taiwanese chrysanthemum to traders. I will bring the rest to the Can Tho city flower market."

In the happy mood like Tinh, the two brothers Quan and Thanh, also in Binh Thuy said, this flower season they leased land to plant 6,000 Taiwanese daisy pots, 500 pots of marigold and more than 100 pots of sunflowers. The brothers were excited because all flower pots have nearly blossomed, promising high prices.
In Cai Mon and Sa Dec flower villages, farmers are very busy taking care of their flower gardens. They work all days in the garden and prepare to bring them to the street on the day of the Kitchen God, which will fall on this Sunday (February 3).

In the last few days, spring flowers have flooded the Ninh Kieu wharf in Can Tho city. Local people begin to come here to choose flower pots for decoration during Tet.

On January 30, the Can Tho City Museum opened the program "Spring Color", with various activities such as performing traditional craft techniques, traditional art, folk games and Vietnamese, Chinese and Khmer cuisines. The program will last until 02/01/2013.

Program of activities including traditional crafts such as weaving, mat weaving, carving, knitting machines; forms of art such as calligraphy, making his first Lan, Chung tray of five fruits; typical cuisine ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer...


Central region

On the major streets of Thanh Hoa city, in addition to a wide variety of flowers, plants, peaches and kumquat, wild peach trees are also available, heating up the spring atmosphere. Wild peach trees are mainly sold at the Lam Son Square in the city’s center and next to the Phu Son overpass.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son, who sells wild peach trees near the Phu Son overpass, said that he has sold wild peach trees here for two days. Son bought wild peach from Laos and some mountainous districts in Thanh Hoa. This year wild peach trees are more expensive than last year because wild peach blossomed early this year.

The lowest price for a wild peach tree is VND2 million ($100) and the highest price is over VND20 million. The older the trees are, the more expensive the price is.

A will peach seller at the Lam Son Square said: "Most of the peach branches and trees hear are at least 10 years old. They are call wild or rock peach because this kind of peach grows on the cliffs in the forest. It took us a lot of effort and time to bring them to the city so the price is very high."

Mr. Tran Xuan Thanh, a customer shares: "Forest Training must go buy early to take care of it until the New Year flowers bloom and are beautiful. Go early training is easy to choose the branch peaches better because there is very little forest, but many people prefer to buy."



Hanoi: various activities to welcome Tet

The Flower Festival and Tet Market to honor craft villages and high-quality agricultural products held at the Vietnam Culture and Art Exhibition Centre, No.2 Van Ho, Hanoi opened on January 30.

The event is held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with the Hanoi City People’s Committee, Hanoi City Peasants’ Association, the Vietnam Folklore Arts Association and the Vietnam Association of Traditional Villages.

It offers valuable opportunities for productive meetings between artisans, farming households and businesses, encouraging innovation in the sector as well as boosting trade promotion and the consumption of agricultural products.

The fair not only highlights the best products of craft villages, but also serves people’s shopping needs for Tet, the year’s biggest traditional celebration.

Nearly 100 products made from traditional materials, 100 calligraphic works and parallel sentences for Tet are displayed at the event.

There are also 200 stalls selling quality farm produce from Hanoi’s villages, such as lotus-scented tea, Ba Vi milk, Canh orange, and organic vegetables.

At the same time, workers are busy decorating the city's streets and the center.