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Monday, January 10, 2011

Child abuse cases spur call for State intervention

Three-year-old Ho Thi Thuy Ngan goes to her new pre-school in Thuan Giao Commune, southern Binh Duong Province's Thuan An District. A video clip posted on Youtube uncovered Ngan's former teacher used violence against her. — Photo Trung Kien

HCM CITY — The frequency with which child abuse cases are being exposed in the country has raised public concern and elicited calls for action to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

The nation received with horror the news of teenaged worker Nguyen Hao Anh who was branded with hot irons, had industrial solvents poured on his wounds and his teeth pulled out with pliers by his employers. The torture took place in the southernmost province of Ca Mau.

A few days ago there was an uproar over an online video that showed a three-year-old girl at an illegal day-care centre in Binh Duong Province being badly mistreated by a 52-year-old baby-sitter.

The recent case of abuse suffered by four abused orphaned children in Dong Nai Province moved many parents to tears.

Experts say that Viet Nam needs to strengthen laws and regulations as well as their implementation to protect its children. The "rod culture" that most people in the country subscribe to has limited efforts to enforce children's rights in the country, they add.

Disciplining children is traditionally considered a family matter and officials are still loath to interfere.

Truong Thi Mai, Chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee for Social Issues, has urged the State to interfere strongly and deal with violence on children.

The lawmaker says she cannot bear that there is even a single case of violence against children in Viet Nam.

The local authourities immediately dealt with people found to abuse children when cases came to their notice, Mai says, but the problem needs broader preventive solutions implemented by the state.

Among the suggestions being made to improve the situation is that a network of kindergartens are built at industrial parks and more professional training courses opened for baby-sitters.

While many parents assume day-care centres and kindergartens are safe, happy places to leave their children while they work hard to make ends meet, the recent exposes have made them uneasy and insecure.

Ho Minh Luc, father of the three-year-old Ho Thi Thuy Ngan whose maltreatment was filmed and posted online, has said he does not know where to leave the toddler to resume working.

With both he and his wife working as manual labourers, a regular public kindergarten is beyond their means. They were paying Nguyen Thi Phung, the babysitter who was filmed treating their child very roughly, about VND300,000 (US$15) a month.

According to an official in Thuan Giao Commune, where the couple lives, there are more than 80,000 immigrants in the commune.

They don't know how many children the immigrants have, but all public and private day-care centres and kindergartens in the commune are always overloaded, the official says.

There is a huge demand for daycare centres and kindergartens at industrial parks, but most of them have no place for workers to leave their children. Industrial park owners have said they cannot afford such facilities, Mai says, adding the State should take steps to force them to build kindergartens for the workers' benefit.

At a recent conference on children's rights in Viet Nam, Tran Thi Thanh Thanh, Chairwoman of the Viet Nam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, said the legal system for child protection was still poor and the quality of day-care centres still bad.

"Baby-sitters think that they have the right to teach the children a lesson, and this often takes the form of corporal punishment," she said.

Viet Nam has undergone unprecedented changes in the past two decades on its industrialisation and modernisation path, but this has also made large sections of the population more vulnerable.

Studies have noted that rural residents are forced to leave tight-knit communities and migrate to the cities, where there aren't enough services, let alone jobs.

Binh Duong Province, the province that has attracted the highest foreign direct investment in the country, has more than 700,000 immigrant workers, with 80 per cent of them women of child-bearing age.

The province's development of kindergartens and day-care centres has not been able to keep pace with its speedy industrialisation, says Mai Thi Dung, member of Binh Duong Province's People's Council (the local legislature).

She says the province is calling for investors to build quality kindergartens to meet the workers' needs. — VNS

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Workers fight for survival as prices soar

Consumers buy food at the Dich Vong wholesale market in Ha Noi. People, especially low-income earners, are facing a price hike of goods as the Vietnamese dong continues to depreciate. — VNA/VNS Photo The Duyet

HA NOI — As the lunar New Year festival approaches, the prices of goods have soared as usual. But the increase has come earlier this year. As the Vietnamese dong continues to depreciate, people have been faced with increased living costs.

Ta Van Sy, a labourer at HCM City's Tan Tao Industrial Park, said last month he had to send his wife and children back to their native province to cut costs as his family relies solely on his modest salary of VND2 million (US$102) a month.

"It is impossible to resist the price storm now," says Sy, "I work on Sunday to send extra money to my wife and children in the countryside."

To cope, workers have cut daily expenses dramatically.

Another worker, Pham Thi Vy, also earns about VND2 million a month and uses almost all of it to pay for food, electricity, water and her brother's school tuition.

Vy says she recently moved into a 10q.m room with a friend to save money.

As of mid-August, the monthly price for a room near the industrial parks and export processing zones in HCM City increased by between VND50,000 (US$2.5) and VND100,000 ($5.1).

Prices for foods like rice, cooking oil, meat, and vegetables have also increased to dizzying levels.

Nguyen Thi Nhung, an employee at a State enterprise in Ha Noi, jokes that shopping in supermarkets is harder than performing magic tricks.

"I have very little money and everything is expensive and all prices are increasing," Nhung says.

Economist Ngo Tri Long, former deputy head of the Market and Price Research Institute, attributes rising prices to multiple causes.

He says the exchange rate rise between Vietnamese dong and the US dollar is one factor.

Long says Viet Nam has been exposed to dollarisation (the holding by residents of foreign currency), meaning the impact of the rate adjustment may have been even stronger once imported goods are sold and people convert dollars to dong.

"The rate adjustment has devaluated the dong, causing increased input costs to produce goods," Long says.

The economist also attributes price rise to the loss of consumer confidence and to the trend among traders of hoarding rice to export to neighbouring countries, a situation Long says will immediately affect prices.

According to deputy director of the Ha Noi Industry and Trade Department Nguyen Van Dong, the total commodity circulation in February will be about VND19.2 trillion in value ($960 million) or an increase by between 20 and 22 per cent compared with the earlier months.

He says Ha Noi will have to import pork from other provinces because it has met only 70 per cent of the city's demand.

The inability to meet consumption demand will encourage hoarding or the spread of false information to raise prices and earn illegal profits, says deputy head of Ha Noi Market Watch Vuong Tri Dung.

To reduce pressure, Ha Noi authorities have decided to lend enterprises VND400 billion ($20.5 million) with preferential interest rates to help them stock goods for the lunar New Year period.

But Nguyen Minh Phong, an expert at the Ha Noi Socio-Economic Development Institute, says this will not be effective enough to stabilise market prices.

Phong suggests the State satisfy demand for foreign currencies among enterprises and apply drastic measures to stabilise the price of products like electricity, coal, water, and oil and gas. — VNS

Thursday, October 14, 2010

HIV increases in remote north

by Hang Nguyen

Lo A Man (first right), who is living with HIV, speaks to visitors in his house in the northern province of Dien Bien. — VNS Photo Hang Nguyen

DIEN BIEN — Lo A Man, a 23-year-old ethnic Thai man who lives in Huoi Ron Village, in Dien Bien District's Nua Ngam Commune didn't realise he was infected with the HIV virus until his wife gave birth to twins.

The couple, whose names have been changed in this report, had a routine health check ahead of the birth, only to find that they were both infected.

"When I was a child, my parents could not afford the money to send me to school so I was not able to read, I also did not know what HIV/AIDS was," says Man.

At the age of 15, Man left his home to work as a builder in nearby provinces. Talking on how he may have contracted AIDS, he says he once joined a party with his friends, got drunk and slept with a sex worker.

"If I knew I was infected with HIV, I would not have married," he says. "Now I just hope that my babies will not be infected as well."

His wife, Luong Thi Dam, 25, says that despite having AIDS, she and her husband have been lucky to avoid much of the discrimination that most AIDS victims struggle with.

"Although our neighbours know my husband and I are infected, they do not treat us any differently," she says.

"We felt consoled by this."

Man's story is a common one in the north-western mountainous province of Dien Bien, situated about 500 kilometres from Ha Noi.

The province has recently become a ‘hot spot' for drug trafficking and sex workers, and AIDS is spreading throughout local communities.

Vu Hai Hung, deputy director of the provincial HIV/AIDS Prevention Centre says the main reasons for the rapid spread of the disease are men having sex with prostitutes without using condoms as well as the sharing of needles among drug users.

Hung said a lack of awareness among local residents about the danger of AIDS was also a factor.

Statistics from the provincial Health Department show that the number of local residents infected with HIV/AIDS has been steadily rising since 2005.

Dien Bien Province is now one of the country's most troubling AIDS hot spots.

In a province with a population of 500,000, about 599 people out of every 100,000 are infected with AIDS, which is double the national rate.

The latest statistics from the provincial HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Centre show that on average one person dies from AIDS every two days, as many as 120 are infected with HIV each month, and more than 85 per cent of those infected with HIV are between 20 to 39 years of age.

For the past several months, Man's family has received support from doctors at the Centre's HIV/AIDS Adult Outpatient Clinic.

He has to visit the clinic in Dien Bien Phu City, about 20 kilometres from his house, every week to get anti-retroviral drugs for him and his wife and milk for his baby twins.

"Sometimes during rainy days, I did not go to the clinic because it's so far away from my house," Man says. "If only it wasn't so far."

Doctor Lo Thi To Khuyen, head of the clinic says mothers infected with AIDS should not breast feed their babies.

"Since last August, we have treated 20 pregnant women infected with HIV/AIDS in an attempt to prevent mother-to-child transmission," he says.

However, Khuyen says the clinic only treats a small percentage of the total number of people living with AIDS in the province.

"The clinic just meets a small fraction of the 900 cases, the cumulative total of pregnant women infected with HIV in the province," she says.

Nguyen Thi Thuy, a communications officer from the provincial HIV/AIDS Prevention Centre, says people living far from the clinic cannot afford regular visits.

"An inconvenient transport system and the great distances between villages and clinics or health centres are the main factors preventing local residents from getting health services," says Thuy. — VNS

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Parents favour traditional toys for Mid-Autumn fest

Many parents in Hanoi have turned to traditional hand-made toys for their children for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival instead of the once dominant made-in-China imports.

Traditional toys are cheaper and safer, they explain.

Although shops on Luong Van Can street, Hoan Kiem district, are flooded with Chinese toys of various types and designs, those in nearby Hang Ma Street display more made-in-Vietnam toys.

Nguyen Chi Hai says he has saved money buying traditional toys.

"My son already had too many modern toys," he says as he inspects a mask and a lantern from a Hang Ma street shop.

"I bought him some traditional toys so that he would know what my parents, my wife and I played when we were small."

He also worries that imported toys may contain substances harmful to children.

"I hesitate when buying such toys for my son," he says.

"Traditional Vietnamese toys are our best choice now."

Le Thu Huong, an employee of a private company in Dong Da District, also prefers folk toys.

"I can buy Vietnamese toys of beautiful shape and colour for the cost of just one Chinese toy," she says.

Hang Ma Street shop owner Truong Quoc Khanh confirms that customers now prefer traditional Vietnamese toys rather than modern Chinese imports.

"A customer asked me for a Vietnamese lantern yesterday but it was sold out," he says. "I showed her a Chinese lantern with music but she refused it."

The family shop sold only about 100 Vietnamese folk lanterns last Mid-Autumn Festival. So far this year it has sold almost 800 in the shape of a star, rabbit, fish and lotus.

"I expect to sell more than 1,000 Vietnamese lanterns this year," he says.

Other Vietnamese folk toys are also selling better.

Luong Van Can street in Hoan Kiem District shopowner Nguyen Ngan Hoa says every kind of traditional toys including drums and masks made from cardboard is selling well.

"I sell wholesale and retail an average of about 300 masks a day," she says. "Last year I sold only slightly more than 700 for the entire festival."

Customers have become saturated with Chinese toys, she argues.

Hang Ma Ward People's Committee deputy chairman Nghiem Xuan Giao says his committee joins with the Hoan Kiem District People's Committee each year to organise the Hanoi Traditional Mid-Autumn Fair.

"The fair opens a week before the day of the festival day is held to display and introduce Vietnam's traditional toys," he says.

"I'm glad to see that this year children are more interested in the toys."

Mid-Autumn Festival is traditionally celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month when the moon is at fullest and brightest.

This year it falls Wednesday next week.

It is one of the most important festivals of the year in Vietnam when family members gather for a feast and children dance and parade with colourful lanterns and cakes in the moonlight./.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Vietnam maths star prefers life in the shadows

His work is incomprehensible to most people, but Ngo Bau Chau has been feted like a champion athlete or a pop star since last month when he won the Fields Medal, the mathematics version of the Nobel Prize.

Returning to Hanoi, Chau was welcomed like a hero -- an uncomfortable role for the French-educated academic who says he prefers life in the shadows, where mathematics had firmly kept him.

He met Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, while his story features prominently in the country's media.

"When I go to buy cigarettes, people recognize me. It's terrible," Chau says in an interview with AFP.

Official media reported 3,000 people attended a ceremony to welcome him home. The prime minister said Chau, 38, had "brought fame to the nation".

One reader of the popular VNExpress news website wrote that Chau is "like Pele of world football." On Chau's blog, another reader said that all the articles about the prizewinner seemed more like publicity "for an actor or a singer."

Chau received the award for his proof of a mathematical conundrum known as the fundamental lemma.

The International Congress of Mathematicians honored his "profound and beautiful argument, built on insights mathematicians have contributed for over 30 years".

On its website, the group said Chau's breakthrough "removed one of the great impediments to a grand, decades-long program to uncover hidden connections between seemingly disparate areas of mathematics".

His achievement had already gained public recognition when Time magazine included it in a list of the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2009.

Chau's face still looks young. But his hair is greying and he speaks carefully, fixing eyes on his questioner from above his spectacles.

He may have preferred working away from the limelight, but he tells AFP the prize has brought responsibilities and obligations to his homeland.

"From now on I have a heavy responsibility because I will be listened to more," he says at a coffee shop.

Chau grew up in Vietnam but made his professional breakthrough in France and is proud of his ties to both countries.

"It's as a Franco-Vietnamese that I receive this honor," he says.

Chau says he "hurried to become French" and attained his nationality in February when he felt he would win the prize. It would have been unjust had his success not also brought recognition to French mathematicians, he explains.

Chau is following the profession of his father, a mathematician who worked for the Vietnamese army until the 1980s, when he returned to academia. His mother conducts chemical research at a hospital laboratory.

Until the age of 12 Chau was enrolled in an experimental program where "students were encouraged to have a great deal of free speech", unusual in a country where repetitive teaching methods and a submissive relationship persists between students and teachers.

His passion for mathematics evolved in his high school years when he was already winning international prizes.

With a grant from the French embassy in Hanoi, Chau left home in 1990 to begin university in Paris. He continued at Ecole Normale Superieure -- one of France's best post-secondary institutions -- and earned a doctorate from Paris-Sud University in 1997.

In 2004, along with Gerard Laumon, Chau earned the prestigious Clay Research Award for work on the fundamental lemma. But it needed more.

"I was at a key point in my progress. All my attempts were blocked," he says.

He left France in 2006 for the Institute for Advanced Study, an independent academic institution in Princeton, New Jersey.

Suddenly in the US, the breakthrough came.

"Everything played out in one or two weeks in December 2006. At that moment I found the missing piece of my puzzle. And I knew that I would go to the end, and prove the lemma."

Now at the University of Chicago, Chau says he plans to spend three months a year in Vietnam and open a mathematics institute under the Ministry of Education.

"One of the objectives will be to attract Vietnamese scientists to get them to come back and work in their country," he says.

"This medal, it's an incredible source of pride for Vietnamese and a formidable opportunity for the country's researchers to progress."

Monday, September 20, 2010

Visitors seek vanishing beauty of Con Dao

Mother Nature has been unduly kind to Con Dao, even if mankind hasn't.

The archipelago epitomises picture-postcard prettiness – soft white sand, aquamarine seas, virgin mangrove forests, coral reefs to die for, real-life mermaids that sing like sea nymphs. The superlatives go on and on.

There are few places in the 21st century that can rival Con Dao's pristine beauty. And as you look out on all this splendour, it's hard to imagine that it was once a French penal colony and an American prisoner-of-war camp.

"It's a real heaven on earth, something that I thought could only exist in my dreams," says Vu Minh Huyen, a tourist from Hanoi .

The 16-island archipelago lies in sublime loveliness 180km south of Vung Tau City – at the moment at least. The nation now wishes to exploit its natural charms, which is why Belgian engineer Stijn Verdickt fears for its future.

"Go before it's too late," he warns.

The 10-year Con Dao development master plan is expected to be given the nod of approval by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung later this year.

In fact, beach-view land plots on Con Son, the only inhabited island in the archipelago, have already been sold, says Bui Van Binh, deputy chairman of the district's People's Committee.

"As soon as the master plan is approved, construction will start on a massive scale," he says.

Binh admits that developing Con Dao while preserving its natural beauty and breathtaking biodiversity is a "paradox" – a really tough job.

But development will come, says Dao Xuan Lai, head of the UNDP Sustainable Development Department in Vietnam . But he is hopeful it will be done with discernment.

"Development and preservation are not necessarily opposing forces," he says.

Preserving the island is to attract tourists to boost the incomes of the local people and ensure sustainable growth and ensure sustainable growth, he says.

Preservation of the archipelago has been given top priority under the National Action Plan on Biodiversity and National Global Environment Facility over the past 15 years.

Con Dao became a national park in 1993 – only one of four officially protected areas in Vietnam to include both terrestrial and marine values.

Con Dao is home to the biggest population of sea turtles in Vietnam . Among those are the endangered green and hawksbill species. Park director Le Xuan Ai says about 350 mother turtles come to Con Dao to lay eggs each year and that about 50,000 baby turtles hatch and make their way to the sea.

The islanders also cherish the dugongs, the so-called "singing mermaids". At least 10 can be found serenading off-shore.

The 20-ha national park is also home to more than 40 other endangered species that are named in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List and Vietnam 's Red Book.

Fringing the archipelago is about 7,000ha of coral reef. About 300 species of coral have been counted and coral fish has the highest density recorded off the coast of Vietnam .

Former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan likens Con Dao to a blank sheet of paper "on which we should carefully draw".

The archipelago, where the French built tiger cages to hold political prisoners nearly 150 years ago, has drawn special attentions from the Government and the Party. In fact, such is the importance given to the archipelago that development can only proceed with prime ministerial approval – a rare distinction.

However, development on Con Dao has been slow and small-scale, something that Ai says is ‘lucky".

"Great care and consideration have been paid to development of the archipelago so that it proceeds in the right direction," he says.

Binh says an important milestone was made in 2005 when then Prime Minister Phan Van Khai approved the Con Dao Socio-economic Development Plan, which would have come to full fruition in 2020.

The strategy, known as "Plan 264", has "completely changed direction of Con Dao's development in a much more sustainable way," says Ha Van Nghia, deputy director of the province's Agriculture and Rural Development Department in.

Plan 264 dictates that development of Con Dao should only focus on sustainable tourism services on the basis of the archipelago's preserved historic relics and protected national park, which accounts for 83 per cent of the land area.

The first plan, signed by former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in 1997, mistakenly stated that development should be "multifaceted and comprehensive".

Ai says Kiet himself then admitted that if it had been carried out, Con Dao would have been destroyed.

However, Plan 264, the second development proposal, remains a far cry from a report by the UNDP. The plan aims to raise the archipelago's current population of 6,700 to 50,000 and attract 500,000-700,000 tourists annually by 2020. About 30,000-50,000 tourists now visit Con Dao each year.

The UN's Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use in Con Dao project however states that these targets are well beyond the archipelago's carrying capacity. "The natural ecological systems on the archipelago are very sensitive to human interference. Thus every distortion and interference beyond its capacity will result in major disruption. Con Dao's attractive green and natural appearance will be lost," Ai says bluntly.

The third master plan is currently being considered by the Prime Minister. It has revised down these targets to 20,000 residents and no more than 500,000 tourists a year, Nghia says.

It also prohibits industries, such as aquatic product processing, which can harm the archipelago's marine environment. Any development will have to be environmentally friendly and in keeping with the islands' marine and terrestrial ecology.

The new plan has the support of Nguyen Thi Hong Xinh, the former deputy chairwoman of the provincial People's Council. "It is a positive development and a reflection of the progress in official sensitivity," she says.

Ai, however, says there is no room for complacency.

"Good evaluation of any planned investment projects is crucial to Con Dao's sustainable development," says Ai, who has spent 25 years, half his life, fighting to preserve the archipelago's natural beauty.

He is not alone. Watching from their resting places are late heroine Vo Thi Sau and former Party leader Le Hong Phong, whose love for Con Dao lives on./.

Visitors seek vanishing beauty of Con Dao

by Tran Quynh Hoa

Boats carry tourists to visit Con Dao Island. — VNS Photo Hoai Nam

CON DAO — Mother Nature has been unduly kind to Con Dao, even if mankind hasn't.

"It's a real heaven on earth, something that I thought could only exist in my dreams," says Vu Minh Huyen, a tourist from Ha Noi.

"Go before it's too late," he warns.

The 10-year Con Dao development master plan is expected to be given the nod of approval by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung later this year.

In fact, beach-view land plots on Con Son, the only inhabited island in the archipelago, have already been sold, says Bui Van Binh, deputy chairman of the district's People's Committee.

"As soon as the master plan is approved, construction will start on a massive scale," he says.

Binh admits that developing Con Dao while preserving its natural beauty and breathtaking biodiversity is a "paradox" – a really tough job.

But development will come, says Dao Xuan Lai, head of the UNDP Sustainable Development Department in Viet Nam. But he is hopeful it will be done with discernment.

"Development and preservation are not necessarily opposing forces," he says.

Preserving the island is to attract tourists to boost the incomes of the local people and ensure sustainable growth and ensure sustainable growth, he says.

Preservation of the archipelago has been given top priority under the National Action Plan on Biodiversity and National Global Environment Facility over the past 15 years.

Con Dao became a national park in 1993 – only one of four officially protected areas in Viet Nam to include both terrestrial and marine values.

Con Dao is home to the biggest population of sea turtles in Viet Nam. Among those are the endangered green and hawksbill species. Park director Le Xuan Ai says about 350 mother turtles come to Con Dao to lay eggs each year and that about 50,000 baby turtles hatch and make their way to the sea.

The islanders also cherish the dugongs, the so-called "singing mermaids". At least 10 can be found serenading off-shore.

The 20-ha national park is also home to more than 40 other endangered species that are named in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List and Viet Nam's Red Book.

Fringing the archipelago is about 7,000ha of coral reef. About 300 species of coral have been counted and coral fish has the highest density recorded off the coast of Viet Nam.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan likens Con Dao to a blank sheet of paper "on which we should carefully draw".

However, development on Con Dao has been slow and small-scale, something that Ai says is ‘lucky".

"Great care and consideration have been paid to development of the archipelago so that it proceeds in the right direction," he says.

Binh says an important milestone was made in 2005 when then Prime Minister Phan Van Khai approved the Con Dao Socio-economic Development Plan, which would have come to full fruition in 2020.

The first plan, signed by former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in 1997, mistakenly stated that development should be "multifaceted and comprehensive".

Ai says Kiet himself then admitted that if it had been carried out, Con Dao would have been destroyed.

The third master plan is currently being considered by the Prime Minister. It has revised down these targets to 20,000 residents and no more than 500,000 tourists a year, Nghia says.

Ai, however, says there is no room for complacency.

He is not alone. Watching from their resting places are late heroine Vo Thi Sau and former Party leader Le Hong Phong, whose love for Con Dao lives on. — VNS

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Brain haemorrhage deaths up 30-35%

HCM CITY — The rate of patients dying of brain haemorrhages was between 30-35 per cent, warned Dr Nguyen Anh Tai, head of HCM City-based Cho Ray hospital's Neurology Faculty.

Cho Ray Hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in the city, received about 1,200 patients during the first six months of this year. More than 40 patients were treated at the hospital on Tuesday alone.

"People's failure to control their hypertension is the most popular cause of the disease, which makes blood vessel break and overflow into brain tissue," says Dr Tai.

The patients who survive often suffer from a loss of motor skills and physical mobility.

"The recovery rate for most patients is limited," he says.

The disease is preventable in 80 per cent of cases, but Tai said the issue receives little attention from the public.

The abuse of drugs and alcohol can prompt the disease, he says.

Brain haemorrhages can attack people of any age, but the old and males, particularly those of over 50 years old, are the most vulnerable to the disease. Male patients account for 60 per cent of the hospital's total patients.

Tai says people should take simple measures to prevent the disease, including checking their blood pressure, having regular health check-ups, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising and avoiding alcohol and drug abuse. — VNS

Dioxin victims have not given up hope: US journalist

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Finding a new purpose in life

by Khanh Linh

A project introduced in 2007 is helping more than 4,640 elderly, mostly disadvantaged and minority people, improve their lives. — VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung

HA NOI — Widow Nguyen Thi Nu, 65, was once a lonely, poor woman who spent most of her time working on a small rice plot to live.

Not any more.

A project intended to improve the lot of the disadvantaged in northern Thai Nguyen Province has helped change her life.

The widow now has enough free time to join local art performances and increase her income with a herd of pigs.

"I was carefully guided in acquiring agricultural knowledge and given a preferential loan of VND2 million (US$102) to buy breeding pigs with a yearly interest rate of 0.7 per cent," she explains.

Three years later, she owns dozen of pigs and her family is no longer listed as a poor household.

Help Age International and the Viet Nam Women's Union have used the 887,350-euro project to help more than 4,640 elderly, mostly disadvantaged, poor and minority people to improve both their material and spiritual lives in Phu Binh, Phu Luong districts and Thai Nguyen City, northern Thai Nguyen Province, since 2007.

Women's Union national project manager, Pham Huong Giang, says that 104 clubs have been established to help ease hardship for the elderly by introducing them to new agricultural techniques; providing them favourable loans to switch production and raising their awareness about laws for the ageing.

"About 2,530 elderly people have been supported with loans of between VND1-5 million ($51-255) each," she says.

"Of these, 2,350 people have additional income and 283 have escaped poverty."

Exercise classes

Physicial exercise classes and art performances to improve the health of the elderly are held regularly and more than 350 volunteers have been trained to give home-based care to the ill.

"The project has fostered compassion among the elderly and make them understand the need to help the disadvantaged to make a better society," says the project manager.

The loans have helped increase the incomes of more than 70 per cent of more than 8,200 elderly citizens and 75 per cent of the illiterate can now do calculations and write simple words, says Vo Tranh Commune, Phu Luong District, intergenerational club chairman Duong Van Thanh.

"It's not easy for the elderly to study, but they join all of the activities with enthusiasm," he says.

Institute of Sociology representative Nguyen Duc Chien says club activities for the elderly with many difficulties is a sound idea.

But age and loan restrictions is a problem.

"Only those aged between 40 and 60 are eligible to join the clubs," he says.

"I think older women as well as women who suffer from domestic violence should be included.

"They have become a group that needs care."

The maximum loan of VND5 million ($255) is also insufficient for many who want to enlarge their businesses.

Women's Union national project manager Giang says 320 clubs are planned for central Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces by 2014 and a specific proposal has been submitted for approval. — VNS

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Social security must be guaranteed: PM

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A social worker explains reproductive health-related issues to a local in Da Nang City. — VNA/VNS Photo Duong Ngoc

HA NOI — The guarantee of constantly improved social security is a major task for the Party and the State, says Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in an appraisal of Viet Nam's draft Socio-economic Development Strategy 2011-20.

The people's wellbeing not only reflects the nature of the administration but plays a significant role in ensuring socio-political stability and sustainable development, he writes in the article posted on the Government's website.

The Prime Minister says the alleviation of poverty should be sought in three ways:

Increasing the poor's access to public services, especially health, education, vocational training, legal aid, housing and potable water;

Promoting policies that secure productive land; preferential credits; encouraging both agriculture-forestry and aquaculture and developing crafts; and

Developing infrastructure for disadvantaged communes, hamlets and villages.

The policies and solutions for poverty reduction have had significant results and are highly appreciated by both the people and the international community, he says.

The figures show the rate of poor households has fallen from 29 per cent in 2002 to about 10 per cent this year; the divide in the standard of living between urban and rural Viet Nam has fallen from 2.3 times in 1999 to twofold in 2008.

The people's material and spiritual life has been considerably bettered.

Policies

The National Goal for Employment has benefited through many practical policies and generates more than 1.6 million new jobs for labourers each year to reduce the urban unemployment rate from 6.42 per cent in 2000 to about 4.6 per cent this year.

The utilisation of rural labour has partly raised income and living standards with per capita income up about 2.3 folds during the past ten years.

Three categories: Compulsory, voluntary and unemployment have been used to popularise social insurance:

The number of people buying compulsory insurance increased, from 4.8 million in 2001 to 9.4 million last year or 18 per cent of the total work force.

About 96,600 have bought voluntary social insurance since it was introduced almost three years ago and the number of unemployment insurance buyers is expected to reach 5.8 million this year.

The State fund for regular assistance and the number of its beneficiaries have increased from VND113 billion for more than 180,000 people in 2001 to VND4,500 billion for more than 1.6 million people this year.

Shortcomings

But shortcomings still hamper the guarantee of social security and welfare so that numerous households slip in and out of poverty and a high rate fall below the poverty benchmark each year.

Life for some, mostly the isolated and those in the highlands, remains difficult and the income still very wide.

Rural and urban underemployment still prevails.

Social security and welfare resources are scarce and mostly dependant on the State budget so that coverage is limited and pensions low.

Insurance services have not met the people's demands; their quality is poor and their procedures bureaucratic.

The PM says the weaknesses are rooted in maladministration, poor management, inefficiency, and inadequate awareness of the need for social security and welfare.

"We have not created a widespread social security and welfare system with active and sustainable mechanisms," he says.

"A system that can provide solid support for the poor people and help them escape poverty.

"And we have not mobilised the entire society's strong commitment to the guarantee of social security and welfare."

The draft Socio-economic Development Strategy says economic growth must harmoniously combine with social progress and equality.

Its task is to:

- Ceaselessly better the people's quality of life;

- To develop an abundant and effective social security system; and

- Create equal opportunities for all people to enjoy fundamental services and well-being.

Solutions

The PM says the following tasks and solutions must be met to meet these requirements:

Accelerate the realisation of socio-economic development programmes linked with job generation.

"We must perfect policies to encourage investment and provide preferences for enterprises which employ numerous labourers, especially in rural areas," he says.

"The National Goal for Employment must continue with the project for renewing and developing vocational training to 2020 together with vocational training for rural labourers via comprehensive, integrated and effective measures enforced.

"The labour market must be developed."

Develop, diversify and improve the insurance system, while designing sound preferential policies to encourage people to participate.

The development of an insurance system with the people's strong participation is an important way to share risk and help buyers of insurance deal with negative socio-economic and environmental impacts, says the prime minister.

This is particularly true within the context of the negative impact of the market economy, climate change and the rise of natural disasters and epidemics.

Implement a sustainable poverty-reduction programme.

"It is necessary to quicken the implementation of socio-economic development programmes to eradicate poverty in a quick and sustainable manner," the P M says.

"These should focus on the National Poverty Reduction Programme 2011-20 with a new poverty benchmark that suits our country's development and international standards.

"Policies and solutions for poverty reduction must be practical and consistent in production development and life assistance, job generation, and market access."

Apply preferential policies and social assistance policies to beneficiaries.

The task is to perfect policies and develop a flexible system of social assistance that can respond to disasters and accidents, boost prevention and response to natural calamities and the impact of climate change, especially in the regions regularly hit by storms and floods.

To establish local reserve funds and mechanisms to quickly help people.

Increase the State's resources so that it plays its role in bettering social welfare and diversifying fundamental social services.

The P M says it is necessary to boost the development of three types of social welfare funds: State-managed centralised funds; corporate funds; and community-based funds.

Services should also be diversified and integrated on a larger and larger scale, with higher and higher quality.

"We must transparently stipulate different types of social security and welfare services while removing difficulties and red-tape to facilitate the people's access to these services," he says.

Mobilise social participation in social security and welfare work.

Mechanisms and policies must be further perfected so that all entities can engage in providing more public services of better quality, the PM says. Favourable conditions for all citizens to exercise their responsibility and capacity to partake in the guarantee of social security and welfare services. — VNS

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Delayed floods disappoint farmers

Farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces are facing a tough time caused by delayed floods. — VNA/VNS Photo Phan Trong An

HCM CITY — With the onset of the floods delayed this year in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, hundreds of farmers are losing out on a regular annual source of income – catching shrimp and fish washed into paddy fields by the floods.

The flood season usually begins in early August and lasts around four months.

Many families in Dong Thap Province, for instance, bought all the tools required to catch the shrimp and fish last month but were still waiting for the fields to flood.

Nguyen Tan Tai, a resident of Binh Hoa Ha Village, says his family has spent more than VND3 million (US$158) to buy small boats, fishing rods, a net, and other tools.

At this time last year locals were busy after their fields were submerged in nearly two metres of floodwaters, he says.

The late arrival has also meant tools for catching shrimp and fish are not much in demand, with their sales falling by more than half from normal years, Le Thi Nga, owner of a shop selling them at Ca Sach Market in Thuong Thoi Hau A Commune, says.

Dang Ngoc Loi, deputy director of the province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, says 300,000-400,000 took the opportunity to top up their earnings, making VND700-800 billion (US$37 million) in the four months.

Many of them are certain to lose out this year, he says.

The water level in the Tien River in An Giang Province's Tan Chau District is now almost 1.3m lower than is normal at this time while the level in the Hau River in Chau Doc town is a metre lower, Huynh The Nang, deputy chairman of the province People's Committee, says.

The flood season provides a livelihood for 600,000-700,000 people in the province who earn a cumulative VND1.5 trillion (US$79 million), he says.

Besides, if the floods play truant, cultivation costs might increase during the upcoming winter-spring rice crop due to a lack of water for irrigation, he warns.

Le Van Banh, head of the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute, says the floods deposit huge quantities of silt every year that fertilise 1.5 million hectares of paddies. — VNS

Handicraft workers use own trademarks

A foreign visitor shows her interest in Vietnamese handicraft products at an international fair on timber and handicraft products in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

HCM CITY — Owners of handicraft shops in HCM City's Hoc Mon District are creating their own trademarks for their products instead of relying on middlemen or distributors.

Craft products made in the district's Trung Chanh Commune are well-known, but residents of the village sell them under other brandnames, usually those of the distributor.

Nguyen Van Tieu, chairman of the Farmers Association of the commune, says some 30 households in the commune earn a living by making handicraft products from animal horns, hooves and bones.

He says most handicraft workers learn through trial and error and open their own shop only after they feel their skills have reached a professional level.

Kim Van Tu, an owner of a handicraft shop in Moi Hamlet, once sold his products on consignment to traders at central markets and souvenir shops, but later set up his own business and created a website to promote his products.

Although his products are available abroad, they are sold under the distributor's brand, and profits are not high.

Many tourists from South Korea, Japan and China are fond of his products, especially the dragon and eagle statues.

After his products began having a stable outlet in 2008, Tu created his own company, Tu Duy Handicraft, this year.

He says he regularly conducts research and creates new products that satisfy customers' tastes.

Like Tu, many other handicraft companies do not earn high profits because they sell products under the brand of the importer.

Vu Hung Quang, owner of another handicraft facility, says he plans to work with importers to directly promote products in other countries.

"We have only focused on how to make our products perfect and haven't paid much attention to branding or marketing. But we must change so we can develop further," Quang says. — VNS

Monday, August 30, 2010

Planners strive to save Hanoi trees

The lyrics of a popular Vietnamese song about Hanoi describes the city's tree-lined streets in autumn as "bright yellow celtis, tropical almonds with red leaves standing next to each other, old streets and ancient houses with brown tiled roofs."

Written by late composer Trinh Cong Son, one of the most popular song writers of the 20th century, Nho mua thu Hanoi (Missing Hanoi in Autumn) has for decades provided an iconic image of the capital.

The lyrics of the song have been imprinted on the minds of every true Hanoian – and those who have visited or long to see the city.

The presence of old trees shading and coloring the capital's streets has inspired dozens of songs about Hanoi.

However, the lack of a master plan for the protection of road-side trees and poor management methods continue to threaten the very fabric of the city.

Nguyen Duc Manh, from State-owned Hanoi Park and Greenery Company's Planning and Technique Department, says no specific research has been conducted on street trees, although they make up a major part of the city's green areas.

Associate Professor Dam Thu Trang, the dean of the Civil Engineering University's Landscape Architecture Faculty, says tree numbers and locations are recorded in a haphazard way and that "digital technology should have been in place by now."

More than 44,000 trees, belonging to 70 species, shade hundreds of roads and streets in central Hanoi. Many of them are more than a century old.

Andreas Jarfe, an arborist from Germany, says he is amazed by the greenery in Hanoi.

"Street trees in Hanoi are beautiful, old and unique. I know all the names of the trees in Germany but not many here," Jarfe says.

Duong Duc Tien, a biology professor, says many of the city's trees, often overlooked by Hanoians, are rare and valuable.

Despite the continual loss of trees due to urbanization, their number has risen gradually year by year, says Manh, adding that there were about 42,000 in Hanoi's nine districts 10 years ago.

On average, the city plants between 1,500 and 2,000 new trees a year, and spends about VND4 billion (US$210,000) annually maintaining them, Manh says.

To boost survival rates, the municipal People's Committee on July 1 raised the special care period for newly planted trees from two to five years.

Meanwhile, mature and established trees are inspected and pruned monthly or quarterly depending on their condition.

Trang says the effort expended by city officials and the Hanoi Park and Greenery Company to maintain Hanoi's trees is "tremendous".

Despite urbanization, Pham Van Khanh, deputy director of Hanoi's Natural Resources and Environment Department, says every effort is made to keep the city green. "Wherever possible, new trees are planted along the city's streets," Khanh says.

However, despite the valiant efforts of the authorities, street trees struggle to survive in the modern age.

"Trees in Hanoi face far greater problems than their cousins in developed parts of the world," Trang says. This is because of the ever-expanding underground infrastructure of the streets, which limits the choice of trees and makes planting difficult.

"I can see Hanoi has a similar problem to Germany but more severe – the trees are struggling because of the shortage of space for root development," Jarfe says.

The narrowness of the many short streets and inadequate coordination among different sectors has also proved a challenge, according to Trang.

The landscape architect said Hanoi's streets were traditionally lined with one or two species of tree. Now, she said, trees are planted almost haphazardly and are rarely in keeping with the local architecture.

According to a Park and Tree Company report, typically 7 to 15 different tree species now line each of Hanoi's street, and in some places 18, instead of one or two only to make the street unique as it used to be.

Renowned lyricist Hoang Hiep used to walk along Nguyen Du Street hand-in-hand with his girlfriend. While away from his beloved part of the city, he penned: "Nights full of the fragrance of pulai [sinensix] tree blossom," for the song Nho ve Hanoi (Thinking of Hanoi).

Similarly, Lo Duc street was renowned for its tall dark-trunked thingan trees (hopea odorata), Ly Thuong Kiet street for its hoa phuong (flamboyant trees), Phan Dinh Phung, Le Thanh Tong and Tran Hung Dao streets for their sau trees (dracontomelum), Tran Nhan Tong street for styrax, and Ton Duc Thang Street for African mahogany (khaya senegalensis).

Despite their love for Vietnam, Trang and Tien admit that Hanoi owes much of its beauty to the efforts of the French a century ago.

Tree planting nowadays is in its infancy, and landscape design leaves much to be desired, Tien says.

Maintaining a city's arboreal integrity comes at a price – each tree planted in a German city costs about $1,000 and takes between 15 to 20 years to mature, Jarfe says.

Although costs are lower in Vietnam and rainfall more plentiful, maintaining Hanoi's 40,000 trees is no mean feat.

"The Park and Greenery Company has dozens of workers, but they cannot cope," Tien says, adding that the best solution would be for the State to join hands with the public.

It is a view supported by Nguyen Thi Ngan Giang, who lives on Quan Thanh Street.

"Green trees have always been part of my street and my life. I would be delighted to help protect them," she says.

Trang says the government should hand over the trees it has planted to local residents, who would then be responsible for their upkeep.

"If the trees belonged to the residents they would do their best to protect them," she says.

Tien believes if that strategy is adopted, residents would be less likely to nail signs to tree trunks, dump rubbish nearby, or hack away at inconvenient branches.

Whatever city leaders decide to do, Tien hopes with all his heart that urbanization does not come at the expense of Hanoi's colorful heritage.

Planners strive to save Ha Noi's trees

by Tran Quynh Hoa

A view of Tran Hung Dao Street and its century-old sau trees (dracontomelum). — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HA NOI — The opening words of the oldest and loveliest Vietnamese songs about Ha Noi celebrates the city's tree-lined streets in autumn – "bright yellow celtis, tropical almonds with red leaves standing next to each other; old streets and ancient houses with brown tiled roofs."

Written by late composer Trinh Cong Son, one of the most popular song writers of the 20th century, Nho mua thu Ha Noi (Missing Ha Noi in Autumn) has for decades provided an iconic image of the capital.

The words have been imprinted on the minds of every true Hanoian – and those who have visited or long to see the city.

The presence of old trees shading and colouring the capital's streets has inspired dozens of songs about Ha Noi.

However, the lack of a master plan for the protection of road-side trees and poor management methods continue to threaten the very fabric of the city.

Nguyen Duc Manh, from State-owned Ha Noi Park and Tree Company's Planning and Technique Department, says no specific research has been conducted on street trees, although they make up a major part of the city's green areas.

Associate Professor Dam Thu Trang, dean of the Civil Engineering University's Landscape Architecture Faculty, says tree numbers and locations are recorded in a haphazard way and that "digital technology should have been in place by now."

Green treasures

More than 44,000 trees, belonging to 70 species, shade hundreds of roads and streets in central Ha Noi. Many of them are more than a century old. They are part of our heritage, says Manh.

Andreas Jarfe, an arborist from Germany, says he is amazed by the greenery in Ha Noi.

"Street trees in Ha Noi are beautiful, old, unique. I know all the names of the trees in Germany but not many here," Jarfe says.

Duong Duc Tien, a biology professor, says many of the city's trees, often overlooked by Hanoians, are rare and valuable.

Despite the continual loss of trees due to urbanisation, their number has risen gradually year by year, says Manh, adding that there were about 42,000 in Ha Noi's nine districts ten years ago.

On average, the city plants between 1,500 and 2,000 new trees a year, and spends about VND4 billion (US$210,000) annually maintaining them, Manh says.

To boost survival rates, the municipal People's Committee on July 1 raised the special care period for newly planted trees from two to five years.

Meanwhile, mature and established trees are inspected and pruned monthly or quarterly depending on their condition.

Trang says the effort expended by city officials and the Ha Noi Park and Tree Company to maintain Ha Noi's trees is "tremendous".

Despite urbanisation, Pham Van Khanh, deputy director of Ha Noi's Natural Resources and Environment Department, says every effort is made to keep the city green. "Wherever possible, new trees are planted along the city's streets," Khanh says.

However, despite the valiant efforts of the authorities, street trees struggle to survive in the modern age.

"Trees in Ha Noi face far greater problems than their cousins in developed parts of the world," Trang says. This is because of the ever-expanding underground infrastructure of the streets, which limits the choice of trees and makes planting difficult.

"I can see Ha Noi has a similar problem to Germany but more severe – the trees are struggling because of the shortage of space for root development," Jarfe says.

In fact, the situation in Ha Noi is far worse than developed cities where drainage systems and sewers are well-designed, Trang says, chiefly blaming modern development.

However, she says Ha Noi's old streets built by the French are quite good, whereas the new ones are "unsynchronous and have a lot of problems".

"The recent rains and winds [in July] were not severe, but they still pulled down a lot of trees. It was because roots were chopped back when power cables were buried, making them unable to anchor the trees firmly into the soil," Trang says.

The narrowness of the many short streets and inadequate co-ordination among different sectors have also proved a challenge, according to Trang.

The landscape architect said Ha Noi's streets were traditionally lined with one or two species of tree. Now, she said, trees are planted almost haphazardly and are rarely in keeping with the local architecture.

According to a Park and Tree Company report, typically 7 to 15 different tree species now line each of Ha Noi's street, and in some places 18, instead of one or two only to make the street unique as it used to be.

Similarly, Lo Duc Street was renowned for its tall dark-trunked thingan trees (hopea odorata), Ly Thuong Kiet Street for its flamboyant, Phan Dinh Phung, Le Thanh Tong and Tran Hung Dao streets for their sau trees (dracontomelum), Tran Nhan Tong Street for styrax, and Ton Duc Thang Street for African Mahogany (khaya senegalensis).

Despite their love for Viet Nam, Trang and Tien admit that Ha Noi owes much of its beauty to the efforts of the French a century ago.

Tree planting nowadays is in its infancy, and landscape design leaves much to be desired, Tien says.

Public role

Maintaining a city's arboreal integrity comes at a price – each tree planted in a German city costs about US$1,000 and takes between 15 to 20 years to mature, Jarfe says.

Although costs are lower in Viet Nam and rainfall more plentiful, maintaining Ha Noi's 40,000 trees is no mean feat.

"The Park and Tree company has dozens of workers, but they cannot cope," Tien says, adding that the best solution would be for the State to join hands with the public.

"The State has expended a lot of effort in maintaining the capital's trees. However, that is not enough. Trees are not like houses. They require constant supervision and care, and the goodwill of the residents," she says.

The biology professor says everyone loves trees and that with a little encouragement and support from the Government they would be only too happy to help preserve their environment, which would save the State money.

It is a view supported by Nguyen Thi Ngan Giang, who lives on Quan Thanh Street.

"Green trees have always been part of my street and my life. I would be delighted to help protect them," she says.

Trang says the State should hand over the trees it has planted to local residents, who would then be responsible for their upkeep.

"If the trees belonged to the residents they would do their best to protect them," she says.

Tien believes if that stratagem were adopted, residents would be less likely to nail signs to tree trunks, dump rubbish nearby, or hack away at inconvenient branches.

Whatever city leaders decide to do, Tien hopes with all his heart that urbanisation does not come at the expense of Ha Noi's colourful heritage. — VNS

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