Prime Minister pledges fair corruption investigations

Prime Minister pledges fair corruption investigations

QĐND – Monday, November 23, 2009, 16:51 (GMT+7)

No one guilty of corruption will escape punishment and no innocent people will be treated unjustly, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Thursday in reference to anticorruption efforts in Vietnam.

Answering questions from the National Assembly about the PCI bribery case, in which local officials have been accused of accepting bribes from Japanese companies, Dung said strict punishments would be issued to those found guilty.

In the case, Huynh Ngoc Si, former head of the East-West Highway and Water Environment project, has already been convicted of abuse of power.

Si and his former deputy Le Qua were arrested in February after a Japanese court convicted three executives from Tokyo-based Pacific Consultants International (PCI) of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, which bans the bribing of foreign government officials.

At the assembly session Thursday, representative Nguyen Van Thuyet asked how the government would deal with similar cases as Vietnamese laws do not regulate the use of evidence provided from abroad.

Dung said authorized agencies could be instructed to add new regulations to Vietnamese laws during investigations of such cases.

Hydropower dams

Answering questions about hydropower dams’ inability to regulate floods, Dung said the government aimed to ensure that dams in the central region regulate floods effectively.

Earlier at the session, several ministers took the floor to answer questions from deputies, including Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen.

Hoang said it was necessary to review hydroelectricity development plans and adjust them if any shortcomings are detected.

He said surveillance over the operation of reservoirs, including those serving irrigation and electricity, should be strengthened.

But Hoang rejected accusations that hydroelectricity projects were to blame for flooding in the central region. “We should not put all the blame on hydropower projects,” he said, explaining that the three hardest-hit flooding districts in central province of Phu Yen were not in areas with hydroelectricity projects.

However, the minister admitted that supervision over hydroelectricity development in some areas had been lax.

“The Ministry of Industry and Trade has monitored only one-third out of the 35 provinces and cities with small- and the medium-sized hydroelectricity projects,” he said

The central region is now home to 335 out of 800 small-and medium sized hydroelectricity nationwide.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen said most projects were implemented with the ministry’s regulations, but he said some had encroached too much on forest land.

He said projects should prove their ability to offset deforestation before gaining state approval.

Lobbying

Answering questions from Thanh Hoa Province assemblyman Le Van Cuong about whether internal lobbying was causing some party officials to win promotions without meriting them, Minister of Home Affairs Tran Van Tuan said most cadre appointments by party committees are sound. “However, it is rumored that a number of people have lobbied influential figures to be appointed to the posts they desire.”

He said it would be necessary to follow appointment procedures set by the Party strictly. “We will intensify guidelines and inspections pertaining to cadre appointments.”

But Tuan said an end to lobbying would require a sea change.

“It would require the whole system to get involved.”

Source: TN – Photo: TT

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More than 5,000 Vietnamese and foreigners join 2009 Terry Fox Run

More than 5,000 Vietnamese and foreigners join 2009 Terry Fox Run

QĐND – Monday, November 23, 2009, 16:51 (GMT+7)

More than 5,000 young Vietnamese and foreigners took part in the 2009 Terry Fox Run around Thien Quang lake in Hanoi on Nov. 22 to support poor child patients.

The event was part of charitable activities launched by the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam in coordination with the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organisations, the Canada Chamber of Commerce and the Vietnam-Canada Friendship Association. It aims to call on the community to raise funds for poor Vietnamese children suffering from cancer and heart diseases.

According to the organising board, this year’s event collected VND960 million from the participants, as well as businesses, organisations and schools. The money will be sent to Hanoi Heart Hospital, Central Children’s Hospital and the fund for poor child patients.

The Terry Fox Run is annually held in honour of the inspirational Terry Fox, a young Canadian who ran across Canada to raise money for cancer research after his leg was amputated due to bone cancer.

Source: VOV – Photo: thesaigotimes

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Giant ball supporting U23 squad rolls through Vietnam

Giant ball supporting U23 squad rolls through Vietnam

QĐND – Monday, November 23, 2009, 16:51 (GMT+7)

A gigantic ball bearing the signatures of Vietnamese football fans arrived in the city of Haiphong for a Rock football gala on November 21.

The ‘For Vietnamese’ football programme, which began in the southern province of An Giang in July this year, has travelled two thirds of Vietnam together with the 1.5 tonne big ball to support the U23 National Football team at the 25^th SEA Games.

The programme has collected 700,000 signatures of football fans in Long Xuyen, Gia Lai, Danang, Bien Hoa, Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi city, who signed the ball or via the website www.traitimbongda.com.

Haiphong city is the seventh leg of the programme’s trans-Vietnam journey aimed at collecting one million signatures in support of the U23 national squad.

The Football rock gala in Haiphong provided a chance for fans to meet with some U23 members such as Long Giang, Cao Cuong and Tan Truong.

Source: VOV

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School-related diseases on the rise

School-related diseases on the rise

QĐND – Monday, November 23, 2009, 16:51 (GMT+7)

The increasing number of children with school-related diseases has greatly affected their ability to learn as well as their health due to a lack of school healthcare centres and medical workers.

Short-sightedness and scoliosis on the rise

Dr. Nguyen Chi Dung from the Central Institute of Ophthalmology said that the number of short-sighted pupils is rapidly increasing at an alarming rate.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Institute of Occupational Health and Environmental Hygiene under the Ministry of Health on more than 5,536 primary and secondary school pupils from four schools in Haiphong, Thai Nguyen, Lai Chau and HCM City, the number of short-sighted primary and secondary school pupils is 5 percent and 14 percent, respectively.

In 2008, a study on 2,280 pupils suffering from defects in the three provinces of Ha Tinh, Hai Phong and Danang showed that the rate of refraction among secondary school pupils was 26.4 percent. Up to 26 percent of pupils in urban areas and 14 percent of pupils in rural areas were prone to such defects mainly caused by excessive learning, the wrong sizes of desks and chairs, wrong sitting position, poor light and intensive use of computers and TVs.

Meanwhile, spinal column disease is rising among pupils. The number of affected pupils in Hanoi in 2004-2005 was 18.9 percent of which boys accounted for 19.6 percent and girls 18.3 percent. If the figure was based on academic levels, primary schools accounted for 17.2 percent, secondary school 22.2 percent and high schools 18.8 percent. In addition, a survey carried out by the Central Institute of Facio-Maxillo-Odontology in 2001 in 14 provinces across 7 regions throughout the country indicated that 84.9 percent of children at 6-8 years old had tooth decay and 71.7 percent of children tooth-related diseases.

The Institutes of Occupational Health and Environmental Protection in Haiphong, Thai Nguyen and HCM City reported that between 25-75 percent of districts failed to meet the requirements for schools and playgrounds. 70 percent of the classrooms were poorly lighted, and 92 percent equipped with improper blackboards, desks and chairs.

Recruitment: a serious problem

Vietnam now has more than 36,000 schools at all levels with nearly 25 million pupils, accounting for about 26 percent of the country’s total population. However, there is a shortage of school medical workers and many of them still lack professional skills.

According to reports by preventive healthcare centres in provinces and cities nationwide, only 5,616 schools have medical workers. Around 37.1 percent of high schools have medical workers, while 24.2 percent of secondary schools have medical workers. Some localities have overcome the shortage of school medical workers by sending medical workers from communal healthcare centres to school to work part-time.

Doctor Nguyen Lan Dung, head of the school healthcare section at the Ho Chi Minh City Department for Education and Training, said that although the city is recording a rapid socio-economic development, it still lacks school medical workers with good professional skills. Only 40 percent of schools in HCM City have medical workers. The HCM City Department for Education and Training is currently working with the Pham Ngoc Thanh University of Medicine to train school medical workers, and hope that in the next 3-4 years the city will have medical workers in all of its schools.

Sharing Mr Dung’s view, Doctor Dang Ngoc Thanh, who is acting director of the school healthcare section under the Thua Thien-Hue Department for Education and Training, also raised concerns about the shortage of school medical workers. Although schools are allowed to employ their own medical workers, it is no easy task. Only 134 out of 570 schools in Thua Thien-Hue now have medical workers, he said.

Dr. Tran Dac Phu, deputy head of the Preventive Healthcare Department under the Ministry of Health, said that thanks to the Prime Minister’s Decree 23, the number of school medical workers has increased remarkably, from 6,620 in 2005 to 15,583 in 2008. Of them, 1,377 medical workers were recruited officially to work at schools (around 8.8 percent), while others work at schools as a part-time job.

Dr Phu also attributed the shortage of school medical workers to low salaries and short-term labour contracts. For instance, schools in HCM City can only recruit medical workers on a nine-month contract, he added.

Source: VOV

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Hanoi Youth Union holds its 5th Congress

Hanoi Youth Union holds its 5th Congress

QĐND – Monday, November 23, 2009, 16:51 (GMT+7)

More than 350 young people’s delegates have gathered in Hanoi for the Hanoi Youth Union’s Congress for (the 2009-2014 term) on Nov. 22.

Present at the event were former Party General Secretary Le Kha Phieu, former State President Tran Duc Luong, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi and Secretary of the Central Youth Union Committee Vo Van Thuong. State President Nguyen Minh Triet and former Party General Secretary Do Muoi sent baskets of flower to congratulate the congress.

The participants at the event discussed ways of promoting young people’s movements in the future and elected the union’s new executive board. Nguyen Hong Dan was named the board’s Chairman.

In its last term, the Union successfully launched many movements to encourage young people to boost socio-economic development. It also raised funds to support poor students with outstanding academic abilities and encourage young people to donate blood. Young people in the capital city also took part in many activities to protect the environment.

In particular, members of Hanoi’s Youth Union were also encouraged to study, conduct scientific research and join the country’s workforce. As a result, the number of young people in industrial and processing zones increased rapidly, and 26,670 working in the non-State sector are also members of Hanoi’s Youth Union.

Source: VOV

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Measles outbreak fueled by lack of vaccine

Measles outbreak fueled by lack of vaccine

QĐND – Saturday, November 21, 2009, 22:22 (GMT+7)

Ho Chi Minh City has reported at least 10 young measles cases every day this month due to an inadequate supply of shots for the disease, doctors said. 

There were only twelve measles cases recorded in Ho Chi Minh City for all of 2008.

Tran Thi Thuy, deputy head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Children’s Hospital No.2, was quoted Friday as saying that this year’s measles rate was the highest in the past ten years.

There were 42 children being treated for measles at the hospital on Friday evening, two of them being assisted with respirators.

The disease normally occurs from February to April, but the hospital had received many emergency cases this month, said Thuy.

As of Wednesday, the hospital had admitted a total of 1,047 in-patients with measles this year, including 158 cases in the first half of this month alone.

A ten-month-old girl died of measles in the hospital last Thursday, with doctors attributing the death to late hospitalization.

Infections Diseases director Do Chau Viet said most of the children were from the city and half were under one year of age.

Viet said the Pasteur Institute in HCMC was exploring the cause of the “abnormal spread of the disease,” stating the preliminary findings showed that around 70 percent of the measles patients hospitalized were not vaccinated for the disease.

Some mothers at the hospital recalled said there was a shortage of measles vaccines more than a year ago and many babies were not vaccinated.

Children in Vietnam are given their first measles shots when they reach nine months old. They receive more shots at ages 1 and 6.

Viet added that hotter temperatures recently had prompted more children to become infected with other diseases.

This did not bode well for the future, he said, as youngsters who are sick now cannot be inoculated for measles, and would thereby become vulnerable to it in the future.

He said that sick children whose immune systems are busy fighting disease cannot receive the vaccine as the inoculation consists of a small dose of measles, which could fully affect a weak child.

Thuy added that some parents had chosen not to have theirs vaccinated as they were scared by headlines of vaccination-related deaths at children this year and last.

Measles shots are free in Vietnam as part of the National Vaccination Program.

Viet said measles is one of the planet’s most infectious diseases and parents should send their children to hospitals if they register fevers for more than 24 hours.

Parents should let their sick children eat and bathe normally while allowing them to rest in well-ventilated places, he said.

Source: VietNamNet/Thanh Nien/Tuoi Tre

 

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Muong tribe banks on traditional craft

Muong tribe banks on traditional craft

QĐND – Saturday, November 21, 2009, 22:22 (GMT+7)

In the late afternoon light, the sun is gradually sinking, reflecting off the dark clouds and the surrounding mountains. A few fluorescent lights have been switched on in the stilt houses in Luc Village, Hoa Binh Province.

Bui Thi Hanh, 34, from the village in Lac Son District, is preparing a dinner for her husband and kids and talking about her life before and after the art of traditional weaving become a profitable venture for her family.

Ten years ago, Hanh’s family struggled to make ends meet when their main source of income came from farming a 360sq.m rice paddy and another 1,000sq.m of land for other produce. There certainly was not enough money to send her two children to school.

Ever since the traditional weaving of Lac Son was revived, her family’s life along with the lives of many others in the district were greatly improved, because they were able to get good profits from selling their goods.

“Actually, our Muong ethnic group has been well-known for our weaving for more than 100 years. However, for a long time, we have only woven products for our own families. In the last ten years, this has began to change as we started trading more amongst each other and with visitors to our markets. We consequently gain much profit to improve the daily life of people in our area,” Hanh says.

Everyday, Hanh still works in the fields like most residents in her area. At night, when all of her compulsory tasks are finished, she quietly sits down on a loom to make sophisticated weavings.

“I am a farmer, so I don’t quit my farming works. Weaving is done only when I have leisure time, when everything that can be done for our fields and animals is finished or can not be done due to bad weather.” Hanh readily admits that the traditional weaving brings in more money for her family than farming does. She also confirms that each craftsman may earn at least VND1 million ($55) per month despite the relatively small amount of time spent working on her craft.

Hanh receives extra income, because she is skilled enough to make a special tool used to create patterns on woven products. Sales of this tool bring in an additional $270 per month; this is a huge sum of money for the average farming household.

The lure of extra income is causing more Muong households to start weaving products to sell. Yen Nghiep Commune, home to approximately 1,000 residents, has 300 weaving looms in operation. Luc Village is the most active unit in the commune with 200 looms and has the best reputation in the region for its products.

Like many other ethnic minority groups, the Muong people in Lac Son create beautiful works with bright, cheerful colours and sophisticated patterns. Despite commercialisation, the products still stand out for their distinct patterns, which reflect the exceptional ancient culture of the Muong people.

Symbols, images, and archetypes appearing in many Muong legends are woven into their products. On the two most often traded goods – cap vay (a belt for female’s dresses) and mat pha (a blanket cover), craftswomen express their traditional beliefs with patterns including peacocks, dragon, stag or the chu dong tree (a tree representing wealth).

A cap vay is 2m x 15cm and takes only a few hours to make, while a mat pha is 20m x 40cm and takes about five days.

Hanh and the other women in Lac Son sell the many products they create in their free time in regional markets or sell them to other provinces.

“We receive many orders every time it turns cold. In autumn, winter, and spring, especially when Lunar New Year holidays are coming, our spare time is completely dedicated to weaving, because the demand increases everyday,” Hanh says.

On regional market days, a craftswoman can expect to make between $135-550.

The craftswomen in Lac Son do not have contracts to sell their products, but sell directly to individuals or sell to clients who make bigger orders and then sell to others. There is no guarantee that their products will be bought, so there are concerns about how many products to create and the stability of the market. Muong people have no government support currently to seek out and access markets for their products.

Older craftswomen find it stimulating to pass down their experience to younger generations. “For a fresh learner, it takes one day to learn how to weave. Making co is more difficult, and may take seven working days to become skilled. In Lac Son, there are many 10-12-year-old girls making co without any mistakes. They are our pride and hope for a dazzling future of the traditional career,” Hanh shares.

Men are starting to learn the craft along with their mother, sisters and wives to help out the family economically; when a woman is busy with product orders, husbands step in and take on more of the farming responsibilities.

Traditional weaving has come to be one of the esteemed activities amongst the Muong people in Lac Son. Craftswomen, such as Bui Thi Hanh, have become well-known for their talents. Bui Thi Lan, 46, has been certified as an expert in the teaching of making co by the Vocational Training Centre of the province. Lan goes to every commune to share her knowledge and experience with others. Her endeavour is expected one day to be repaid by the strong growth of the regional handicraft.

In the eyes of Hanh, the return of traditional weaving in her community marks a milestone in her once-poor life. Now, she looks at her little family with a smile of contentment, feeling touched for the happiness that she has helped create with all her efforts.

Source: VietNamNet/VNS

 

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Hanoi police nab printer of fake college degrees

Hanoi police nab printer of fake college degrees

QĐND – Saturday, November 21, 2009, 22:22 (GMT+7)

A print shop owner in Hanoi has been detained after his shop was found to have produced around 20 fake university graduation certificates for VND13 million each. 

Police found that customers contacted Bui Duc Thuan via the Internet, paying him VND13 million (US$727) for a university degree certificate and VND12 million for a college or high school certificate, local newswire Vnexpress said Thursday.

Before the print shop was busted this week, police had come across several accounts selling the degrees and certificates on the Internet.

An investigation was launched and Thuan was caught last Friday on Hang Dao Street holding six fake university graduation certificates including those for Hanoi National Economics University, Hanoi University of Polytechnics and Ho Chi Minh City National Economics University, together with notarized copies of academic records.

The 25-year-old told the police that the customers would send him their photos and personal information first and they would set up a meeting, usually for the day after, to hand over the certificates.

Thuan confessed he knows the signatures and stamps of several ministries, departments and ward People’s Committees in Hanoi so he could provide other fake documents demanded by customers, police said.

Hanoi police seized more than 200 stamps with names of colleges and universities in Hanoi, HCMC and other provinces. They have confiscated all the machines used in the business that opened in September.

Thuan said he bought the stamps for VND100 million from a stranger online.

Source: VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

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Vietnamese youngest associate professor just 31 years old

Vietnamese youngest associate professor just 31 years old

QĐND – Thursday, November 19, 2009, 20:22 (GMT+7)

Bui The Duy, 31, Dean of the Information Technology Faculty at Hanoi National University, has become the youngest associate professor so far in Vietnam.

Previously, in 2007’s professorship granting, two young associate professors were recognized, Tran Hoai Linh, lecturer at the Electricity Faculty under the Hanoi University of Technology, and Nguyen Quang Dieu, lecturer at the Mathematics Faculty under the Hanoi University of Education. Both were 34. 

The news did not surprise people who know Bui The Duy. Born in 1978, Bui The Duy was a student of the renowned Mathematics-Informatics majoring class of the then Hanoi General University, now belonging to the Hanoi National University. 

It also produced a number of  young famous scientists in Vietnam. These include Dam Thanh Son, who twice won golden medals at the international mathematics Olympiad, who is now is the Physics Professor at Washington University in the US. 

Alos,  Ngo Bao Chau, who twice won gold at  the international mathematics Olympiad, and is now is the Mathematics Professor at Paris University No 11. Chau was also the first Vietnamese person who won the Clay mathematics award. 

These also include Ngo Dac Tuan, who received maximum scores at a mathematics Olympiad, and once came second when graduating from the Paris Polytechnique University.  He is now is working for France’s National Scientific Research Center (CNRS). 

In 1996, when Duy was a 12th grade student, he once won first prize in a national competition for excellent information technology students. In the same year, he became a member of the Vietnamese team attending international informatics Olympiad in Hungary, where he won a bronze medal. 

However, Duy’s name was famous even before he won the medal. A former student of the mathematics majoring class under the Hanoi National University, related that the name Bui The Duy was also mentioned by lecturers. 

“The name was repeated so many times that we learnt by heart the biography of Bui The Duy.  We know him better than Vietnamese heros Le Lai or Le Loi,” he said. 

With excellent achievements gained in high school, Bui The Duy was accepted to study at the Hanoi National University in 1996 without having to take any exams. One year later, he flew to Australia to attend a training course under a scholarship offered by the Australian Government. 

In 2001, he embarked on a post graduate training course at Twente University in the Netherlands and he spent three years only to get the doctorate. 

At the age of 26, Duy, unlike other young scientists, who decided to stay in foreign countries, returned to Vietnam to become the lecturer of the Hanoi National University.  

Explaining this, Duy said that the thing that persuaded him return to Vietnam was that he wanted to assist the development of his homeland. In early 2009, he became the youngest dean of  the information technology faculty of the university. 

Bui The Duy has had 35 scientific articles published in international magazines and presented at international workshops. 

Source: VietNamNet/VnMedia

 

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HCMC toll plan disparaged by experts

HCMC toll plan disparaged by experts

QĐND – Saturday, November 14, 2009, 8:42 (GMT+7)

Experts at a conference Thursday continued criticizing a controversial plan to toll cars in order to curb traffic problems in Ho Chi Minh City, asking the city government to take blame if the new system fails.

HCMC-based Innovative Technology Development Corp. has been asked by the city government to design an electronic toll system to help ease worsening traffic congestion in the city center, said General Director Lam Thieu Quan.

The Electronic Road Pricing system would reduce gridlock while also raising funds for new traffic projects, Quan told a conference in the city Thursday.  

But others at the conference were less than confident the plan would work.

Ha Ngoc Truong, vice chairman of the HCMC Bridge, Road and Port Association, said he supported any effort to restrict personal vehicle use. But he also said it would be better for HCMC to draw upon the experiences of many countries, rather than just latching on to the one solution applied in Singapore.

Pham Xuan Mai, a professor at the HCMC University of Technology, said the new toll aimed to restrict cars, but traffic jams in the city were mainly caused by motorbikes.

Moreover, as most car owners in Vietnam are rich, they wouldn’t mind paying a small fee to continue driving, Mai said.

“People in other countries supported toll fees only because the systems effectively eased traffic congestion. If the city runs the system without any results, the situation will be much worse,” he said, adding that no one would be happy paying a toll simply to get stuck in a traffic jam.

Nguyen Trong Hoa, director of the HCMC Institute for Development Studies, was quoted by online newspaper VnExpress as saying that the system may end up causing new problems as more cars would choose to drive on smaller roads where tolls are not applied.

If the city government affirms the plan, it has to “prove the plan is effective and take full responsibility if it fails,” Hoa said.

Responding to the criticism, Bui Xuan Cuong, a senior official at the HCMC Transport Department, said the government was only considering the plan as an option and it would only be applied if and when it was really suitable.

He said other changes to the city’s traffic plan would have to be made first, adding that a toll system would only be implemented with public approval.

Source: thanhnien

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