Experts dismiss survey on online games

Vietnamese Academy of Social Science last Tuesday announced results from a survey on online game and Vietnamese players.

The survey is conducted within a month on participants from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Can Tho, Dong Nai and Hai Duong.

Among 1320 quantitative research cases, 960 are done by interview in household, 180 at internet café and the rest 180 at school and public places.

Supported by National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Teenager and an online game provider, the purpose of this survey is to provide scientific proofs and to suggest managing measures to the National Assembly and authorities.

According to the survey, 73% of participants are playing game, 22% have never played and 5% have played and given up. Male players outnumber female ones at 54.5%.

Players below 30 years old constitute 99.99% of those surveyed. The majority (41.2%) is at 16-20, who are mature enough and aware of their actions. On the other hand, younger teenagers and kids at 10-15 years old range make up 26.3%.

Players who are going to school account for 71.1%. College or university students top the list at 30.1%

More than half of participants said they play weekly: 34.1% play daily and 25% play 3-4 times a week.

Only 5.2% admitted that they have addictive behaviors and cannot control themselves when they play. 59% responded online game makes them feel good and distressed.

The higher education people have, the lower they rate effect of online game on them.

The research group concluded that online game does not affect players as seriously as means of media have said.

In response to doubts that the survey does not incorporate with news reflected by the media about long hours people spend on online game and increasing crimes caused by addicted players, Dr.Binh explained that the survey was done by professionals and only took general opinions and influence of online game. There was only one case that responded playing 168 hours a week but it was taken out of the survey.

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Minh Thuyet said the managing of online game is not well done as game providers have not seen the effects on young people. Statistics on this survey will be foundation to control online game. In the future, the government will implement better laws on managing online games to avoid crimes to communities.

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Experts dismiss survey on online games

A survey by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Science which found most online game players claiming that their habit does not negatively affect their behavior has come in for widespread criticism.

The poll of 1,320 random respondents in major cities, released last Tuesday, said only 5.2 percent admitted they have addictive behavior and cannot control their urge to play. A huge number -- 59 percent -- claimed online games help them feel good and overcome stress.

A majority (41.2 percent) were aged 16-20 and, thus, mature enough to be aware of their actions. College and university students topped the list at 30.1 percent.

The higher a person’s education level, the less effect online games had on them.

The research group concluded from these findings that playing online games does not have as serious an effect on people as the media had claimed.

However, Dr Le Minh Tien of the Open University’s sociology department, said in a column in Tuoi Tre Wednesday that the survey is “not reliable.”

“It appears from its results that the research team was looking for positive facts about the games rather than exploring their impacts,” he said.

“The results reflect the pollsters’ intention to stand on the side of game providers.”

The survey is not reliable enough to be used as scientific proof by the National Assembly for regulating online games, he said.

National Assembly deputy Nguyen Minh Thuyet denied Wednesday the House commissioned the Vietnamese Academy of Social Science to do such a survey.

“We only asked for their recommendations.”

Dr Trinh Hoa Binh, the chief pollster told Tuoi Tre the academy did the survey on its own initiative.

But he had earlier said the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Education, Youth and Teenager and an online game provider commissioned the survey to help the House and other authorities regulate gaming.

Asked about the poll’s reliability, Binh said: “If a sample consists of 30 individuals or more, it is quite reliable. Our results may dissatisfy many but the statistics are not beneficial to online game providers either.”

Dr Le Manh Ha, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications, said the research methodology needs to be reconsidered, pointing out it is incorrect to club respondents aged 16 to 18.

“Players at internet cafés are usually below 18. Most online games are only appropriate for those aged 18 or above, who are aware of their actions.”

He was also skeptical about the finding that only 5.2 percent are addicted to gaming.

“We need general statistics on online game addicts just like we do with drug addicts. If we can do this, we can make objective judgments and have reasonable managing measures.”

Dr Ha, said that four months ago Binh had been a member of the Ministry of Information and Communication’s online game assessment committee that had licensed 43 games which were later found to have violent content.

“If you’re involved on both sides [of an issue], it is easy to be biased.”

The survey was conducted over a month in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Can Tho, Dong Nai, and Hai Duong.

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NA group to discuss eight proposed laws

HA NOI — The National Assembly Standing Committee will discuss eight bills during its five-day 34th working session which begins today in Ha Noi. The bills up for discussion include: Denouncement Law, Capital Law, amended Stock Exchange Law, Independent Auditing Law, amended Civil Litigation Law, Law on Human Trafficking Prevention, and the Laws on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils.

The discussions will aim to prepare for the eighth sitting session of the 12th National Assembly from October 20 to November 27.

Committee members will also give opinions about State budget allocation in the 2011-15 period; a draft decision on tax reductions and exemptions for agricultural land from 2011-20; and the implementation of policies for labourers working abroad.

The committee will also hear preparation reports for the 31st ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly meeting that is scheduled to take place in Ha Noi this month.

On the last day of the session, the Government will present a summary of the pilot programme to cease the organisation of People's Councils at district and ward levels. — VNS

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HCM City set to streamline home ownership titles

Apartment buildings in HCM City. Excessively complicated procedures are being blamed for the slow granting of land-use rights and house ownership certificates. — VNA/VNS Photo Van Khanh

HCM CITY — New procedures on granting a single document covering both land-use rights as well as house ownership are proving difficult to implement, according to a report prepared by HCM City's National Assembly deputies.

The report, released early this month, says HCM City will adjust its procedures for granting land use rights certificates as well as titles to houses and other land-related assets to reduce difficulties for city residents and speed up the process.

Towards this, the municipal People's Committee has asked relevant branches, industries and agencies to review current regulations and submit amendment proposals before September 15.

According to the report, the Government's policy to issue one certificate that covers both land use rights and ownership of houses has been heartily welcomed by local residents.

However, the city's implementation of the policy was facing many obstacles, mainly arising from complicated procedures and requirements that considerably slowed down the process to grant certificates.

The report says that the city has to date granted over 1 million certificates since the government's one certificate policy took effect in December 10 last year.

However it would be difficult for it to meet the year-end target set by the National Assembly, for which more than 370,000 certificates would have to be granted in less than four months, it adds.

Under current regulations of the municipal People's Committee, housing projects that do not have infrastructure system acceptance certificates would not be granted ownership documents.

This stipulation has made it impossible for many households in the city to obtain legal title to their assets including land and land-related assets.

However, this rule was not included in the central Government's current policy on granting ownership certificates, the report notes.

The National Assembly delegates also mention in the report that the current process of applying for house ownership and residential land use right certificate was convoluted and time-consuming.

According to current regulations, an applicant for a house ownership and residential land use right certificate should submit a valid dossier to the provincial, or municipal-level Natural Resources and Environment Department. The latter will scan the application and forward the dossier to the district level People's Committee where the house is located.

After receiving the dossier, the district-level People's Committee fills in the house ownership and residential land use right certificate under the housing law, checks it for conformity with relevant laws, and returns it to the provincial, or municipal-level natural resources department to be handed over to the house owner.

The old process was much more simple since the applicant only had to submit a valid dossier to the district-level People's Committee, and would also receive the certificate from the district administration itself, the report said.

Another regulation that requires a new ownership certificate whenever there is a change in house ownership is also costing residents considerable time and effort that was not necessary, the report remarks.

Earlier, the new owner's name was added to the existing title certificate, for which space was provided in the document. It was only when there was no further space (after about seven title transfers) that a new certificate was issued.

The National Assembly deputies have called for changes in unnecessary and cumbersome procedures so that the process of granting and transferring title documents is made easy for both residents and officials. — VNS

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Resettlement of nomadic ethnic minorities under review

A resettlement program reserved for nomadic ethnic minority people has been carried out too slowly and needs to gather all the available resources to accomplish all of its goals by 2012, a supervising agency has said.

The Nationality Council under the National Assembly held a conference to review the introduction of resettlement policies for ethnic minority households still engaging in nomadic lifestyle and farming, in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The council reported that since its launch in 2007, the program has helped over 1,000 ethnic minority households to switch to sedentary life and farming, representing only 3.5 percent of the original target 29,700 households, by the end of 2009.

The relevant State agencies and local authorities carried out just 126 out of the 297 settlement projects over the 2007-2009 period.

The council pointed to unmatched planning, inaccurate reports on the program’s beneficiaries and a very slow disbursement of government funding as main reasons behind the situation.

When speaking at the conference, the Chairman of the Nationality Council Ksor Phuoc, said that the Party and State’s resettlement policy was aimed at helping nomadic ethnic minorities to settle down and develop household-based economies to improve their living conditions.

He also stated that the policy has met the people’s aspirations and the needs of various localities.

To help all nomadic ethnic minority households to resettle by 2012 as planned, the council has asked the National Assembly to speed up its resettlement policies and programs.

The ministries, sectors and targeted localities need to revise and readjust their resettlement projects to adapt them to the current situation as well as publicize the State’s assistance policies to help beneficiaries relocate.

More than VND2.7 trillion has been allocated for the resettlement program and the initial outcomes will be reported to the National Assembly at its eighth meeting this October.

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Resettlement of nomadic ethnic minorities under review

A resettlement programme reserved for nomadic ethnic minority people has been carried out too slowly and needs to gather all the available resources to accomplish all of its goals by 2012, a supervising agency has said.

The Nationality Council under the National Assembly held a conference to review the introduction of resettlement policies for ethnic minority households still engaging in nomadic lifestyle and farming, in Hanoi on September 8.

The council reported that since its launch in 2007, the programme has helped over 1,000 ethnic minority households to switch to sedentary life and farming, representing only 3.5 percent of the original target 29,700 households, by the end of 2009.

The relevant State agencies and local authorities carried out just 126 out of the 297 settlement projects over the 2007-2009 period.

The council pointed to unmatched planning, inaccurate reports on the programme’s beneficiaries and a very slow disbursement of government funding as main reasons behind the situation.

When speaking at the conference, the Chairman of the Nationality Council Ksor Phuoc, said that the Party and State’s resettlement policy was aimed at helping nomadic ethnic minorities to settle down and develop household-based economies to improve their living conditions.

He also stated that the policy has met the people’s aspirations and the needs of various localities.

To help all nomadic ethnic minority households to resettle by 2012 as planned, the council has asked the National Assembly to speed up its resettlement policies and programmes.

The ministries, sectors and targeted localities need to revise and readjust their resettlement projects to adapt them to the current situation as well as publicise the State’s assistance policies to help beneficiaries relocate.

More than 2.7 trillion VND has been allocated for the resettlement programme and the initial outcomes will be reported to the National Assembly at its eighth meeting this October./.

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National Assembly congratulates prize-winning professor

Prof. Ngo Bao Chau

The National Assembly Standing Committee has congratulated Professor Ngo Bao Chau, a young Vietnamese mathematician, on his 2010 Fields Medal for his proof of the Fundamental Lemma in the theory of automorphic forms, by introducing new algebro-geometric methods.

The congratulation was made at the opening of the 33rd session of the NA Standing Committee in Hanoi on Friday.

This award brings happiness and pride for not only Prof. Chau but also the mathematician’s circle, Vietnamese scientists and for us all, stressed NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

The NA Standing Committee took the occasion to thank Chau’s teachers and the good working environment in France for facilitating him in gaining such an exalted award.

Trong demanded the creation of favorable legal, policy and environmental conditions for mathematicians, physicists and musicians and other scientists in their work.

This is the first time Vietnam has won such an award and Vietnam is the second nation in Asia after Japan to have a citizen awarded the Fields Medal.

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National Assembly congratulates Prof. Chau

The National Assembly Standing Committee has congratulated Professor Ngo Bao Chau, a young Vietnamese mathematician, on his 2010 Fields Medal for his proof of the Fundamental Lemma in the theory of automorphic forms, by introducing new algebro-geometric methods.

The congratulation was made at the opening of the 33 rd session of the NA Standing Committee in Hanoi on August 20.

This award brings happiness and pride for not only Prof. Chau but also the mathematician’s circle, Vietnamese scientists and for us all, stressed NA Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

The NA Standing Committee took the occasion to thank Chau’s teachers and the good working environment in France for facilitating him in gaining such an exalted award.

Trong demanded the creation of favourable legal, policy and environmental conditions for mathematicians, physicists and musicians and other scientists in their work.

This is the first time Vietnam has won such an award and Vietnam is the second nation in Asia after Japan to have a citizen awarded the Fields Medal./.

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Committee to discuss adoption guidelines

HA NOI — The National Assembly Standing Committee will discuss the Government's proposal to ratify adoption guidelines under the Hague Convention on Protection of Children during its 33th session that starts today.

The committee will also discuss for the first time drafts of laws on insurance trading, court appeals, human trafficking - and measurements.

The law on human trafficking will tighten regulations on adoption, foreign marriages, labour exports and tourism.

According to a report by the law drafting board, human trafficking, especially of women and women, has become more serious in the past five years.

The draft law proposes many new measures to prevent trafficking, including the application of modern technology at international border gates to check on fake documents.

The committee will also consider different opinions on draft laws covering consumer rights and civil procedures.

On the final day of the session on August 26, the committee will discuss a Government proposal to ratify inter-country adoption.

Reports on security and social order and the situation in the East Sea will also be presented at the meetings.

The Government will also present a report on the trial implementation of the abolishment of People's Councils at district and ward levels at the eighth plenary session of the National Assembly in October. — VNS

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