VietNam Society

Thursday, December 9, 2010

HSBC survey: climate change top concern for Vietnamese

The HSBC's fourth Climate Confidence Monitor reveals that climate change is one of the top three concerns globally, following economic stability and terrorism and the top concern for people in Vietnam and Hong Kong ( China ).

The survey, which was carried out in Vietnam for the first time, reveals that one in three Vietnamese knows about climate change and its impacts on his/ her daily life. 43 percent of respondents rank climate change as their top concern.

They also expressed their strong commitment to help reduce climate change by specific actions including using energy more efficiently , reducing the use of heating and air-conditioner appliances, and practising recycling. The report finds that 43 percent are ready to spend more on energy- saving products, compared to the global average of 40 percent.

On the subject of tackling climate change, 53 percent of respondents hope that the Government will invest more in big-scale initiatives in order to deal with the problem./.

Seminar on Vietnamese AO victims held in UK

A seminar on Vietnamese Agent Orange (AO) victims has been held in Coventry in England , the UK , to help local residents understand more about the effects of the toxic chemical and call for support for the victims.

Speaking at the event, Professor Phung Tuu Boi, a representative from the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange dioxin (VAVA), said that Vietnam has about 3 million AO victims, who face a lot of difficulties in their lives.

The Vietnamese government and people have implemented many programmes to help AO victims, both materially and spiritually, but they still need more support from the international community, he added.

The Honorary President of Medical and Scientific Aid for Vietnam , Laos and Cambodia (MSAVLC) Madeline Sharp, who has contributed greatly to Vietnam over the years, expressed her hope that through the seminar, people in Coventry would raise more funds for Vietnamese AO victims.

Coventry is renowned for its activities promoting peace and reconciliation, which take place from October to the end of November annually./.

Thai girl willing to teach Vietnamese

Lovely memories formed during a voluntary campaign called “Green Summer Vietnam 2010” in her mother’s hometown inspired Kittiworawuthi (Kitti) Pornkanok, a Vietnamese-Thai girl, to teach Vietnamese to students in her country.

The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Kitti as saying that she will try her best to learn Vietnamese thoroughly and then return to Thailand to teach Vietnamese there, with the hope that more and more people will know about the land and people of Vietnam , her mother’s home country.

Born in the countryside of Thailand , Kitti has visited her mother’s homeland only twice. The second time she returned to Vietnam to learn Vietnamese at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities just after graduating from a biology department at a Thai university.

She said that days of living and working with local people in the southern province of Tay Ninh during her first summer as a student in Vietnam provided her with an opportunity to study the lives of people in Vietnam ’s rural areas and then she came to a conclusion that despite poverty, everyone was full of love.

Kitti also actively participated in voluntary activities in Ben Tre province. “I learned many things about life from each activity I participated in,” she said.

The unforgettable memories from the Tay Ninh voluntary trip brought Kitti the first prize at the “Diary of Voluntary Summer 2010” contest, jointly organised by the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union and the Youth newspaper./.

Flooded schools to reopen soon

The Ministry of Education and Training is mobilising all resources to help inundated schools in the north-central provinces re-open for students as soon as possible, said Minister Pham Vu Luan in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency.

"It's the first priority for the whole educational system for the time being," he said.

As soon as the floodwaters began to recede, the ministry asked its departments in the three affected provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh to begin working with local authorities and parents in cleaning up and repairing damage done to schools.

"We also asked local education departments to assess the losses in their provinces so that the ministry could file a report with the Government to request the necessary assistance," he added.

The immediate job for now was to supply enough textbooks to school children, he said.

"Then we will gradually repair or replace damaged facilities and equipment and support needy teachers and children," he noted.

The Education Publishing House has just printed an addition of 400,000 copies of textbooks which had already been transported to the affected provinces.

A ministry task force will arrive in the region this week to inspect the damage and investigate ways of dealing with the aftermath of the floods.

Although schooling was interrupted for two weeks, students in the region could still catch up on their courses given the two reserve weeks built into the academic year, said the minister.

"We will give instructions to schools to make necessary changes to the curricula," he added.

As for the loss of student report cards and relevant documents, the minister ensures that the problem would be solved in the best interest of the students.

The floods cost the education sector more than 700 billion VND (35 million USD) and left six students dead, according to the minister. So far, the ministry has raised 3 billion VND (150,000 USD), with several international organisations providing aid to children affected by the disaster./.

Stamp collection issued to mark Vietnam’s ASEAN Chair

The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Information and Communication held a ceremony to launch a special stamp collection themed “ Vietnam in the ASEAN Community” in Hanoi on October 27.

Attending the ceremony were ASEAN General Secretary Surin Pitsuwan, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and ministers of nine ASEAN countries.

The issuance of the stamp collection, initiated by the Ministry of Information and Communication, is one of the activities during the 17 th ASEAN Summit, which is taking place in Hanoi .

The special stamp collection features the national flags of the ten ASEAN member countries arranged in the shape of an ascending dragon implying the rising role of a united ASEAN. The design is created by artist Nguyen Du from the Vietnam Stamp Company, who won the first prize at a contest organised by the Vietnam Postal Corporation.

At the ceremony, Deputy PM Khiem and ASEAN General Secretary Surin Pitsuwan presented a certificate to the winning artist./.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Flooded schools to reopen soon

Student Nguyen Thi Tinh in Kim Loc Primary School in Kim Loc Commune, Can Loc District, in central Ha Tinh Province, whose father died during flash floods, gets back to school. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

HA NOI — The Ministry of Education and Training is mobilising all resources to help inundated schools in the north-central provinces re-open for students as soon as possible, said Minister Pham Vu Luan in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency.