A: Welcome to VOV’s regular Wednesday feature, Letter Box. This week, we‘d like to begin with Fumito Hokamura of Japan, who has frequently sent us letters showing his devotion to our programs. Also he has asked a lot of questions about Vietnam, which he says he loves and plans to visit in the future.
B: Thank you, Fumito, for your love of Vietnam and VOV broadcasts. It’s now the rainy season in Vietnam. The northern region has a single rainy season from May to September. For coastal areas and the parts of the central highlands facing northeast, the season of maximum rainfall is during the monsoon, from September to January. These regions receive torrential rain from typhoons which move in from the East Sea at this time of the year. The weather at this time is cloudy with frequent drizzle.
A: Right now a tropical low pressure has developed into the 9th storm of the season in the northwest Pacific Ocean, internationally known as Saola. With such wet weather, don’t you agree that staying home and listening to the radio is a good idea, Fumito?
B: In response to a question from Fumito about Vietnam’s tourist season, I would like to assure you that Vietnam is a country tourists can visit all year round. In the North, May to July is considered the low season for foreign tourists as it’s very hot. The best season for traveling is from November to April. Spring time is especially pleasant because of the cooler, drier climate.
A: Also at this time there are a lot of festivals to commemorate national heroes and heroines, folk culture festivals, spring festivals, and ceremonies to pray for good crops. The most interesting festival is the Lunar New Year Festival, when you are advised to bring along warm clothes. The temperature in winter gets down to around 10-15 degree Celsius. It warms up again in March or April. In the South, the average temperature throughout the year is about 27 degree Celsius, so you just need light clothing, sun glasses and maybe a hat.
B: Early May to early July is the time for family vacations as that’s when children have their summer holidays. Most Vietnamese people prefer to go the beach at that time, but there is growing enthusiasm for adventure tours of the northern mountain region.
A: Fumito says he likes Hanoi and wants to visit the city. Hanoi, the capital, is one of Vietnam’s two main entry points. The initial impression you will have is that this is a chaotic city. But the longer you stay, the better organized Hanoi will seem. To get to know Hanoi, you will need at least seven days. Most tourists just stay a couple of days to visit the Old Quarter, then go to Ha Long Bay or Sapa. If you can, stay longer and explore the city and its lakes.
B: We hope this gives you an overview of Vietnam’s climate, tourism, and capital city. Fumito Hokamura says he listens to our broadcasts regularly, not only in English but also in Japanese. That’s great encouragement for us and our colleagues in the Japanese section. We promise to forward them your letter and ask them to send you something in recognition.
A: Like Fumito Hokamura, Yoshihiro Kusanagi of Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan also questions about Vietnam. We hope those questions have been answered.
B: Let’s move now to the other side of the globe. Victor Latavish of Naples, Florida, USA, in addition to sending detailed reports on the content and technical quality of several of our programs in June and July, also wanted to know about energy efficiency and power sources in Vietnam.
A: Vietnam has realized that energy efficiency is the key to sustainable industrial development. With that in mind, the Government approved the Vietnam Energy Efficiency and Conservation Programme until 2015 with the overall aim of securing 3 to 5% of total national energy consumption in the period from 2006 to 2010 and 5 to 8% from 2011 to 2015. A Law on Energy Efficiency and Conservation provides detailed guidance for the management and enforcement of energy efficiency and conservation.
B: In Vietnam, petroleum is the main source of commercial energy, followed by coal, which contributes about 25 percent of the country’s energy. Hydroelectric power is another source of energy. Crude oil is Vietnam’s leading export, totaling 17 million tons in 2002; in 2004 crude oil gained 22 percent of all export earnings. Petroleum exports are in the form of crude oil because Vietnam has a very limited refining capacity.
A: The Prime Minister of Vietnam approved a national power development plan from 2011 to 2020 with a vision to 2030, known as "Power Master Plan VII". This plan puts strong emphasis on energy security, energy efficiency, renewable energy development, and power market liberalisation.
B: A letter from Manikant Lodaya of Karnataka, India, reported minute by minute our July 3rd broadcast on 7220kHz at 16h00 UTC.
A: He said ‘the 7220 frequency is the best in South Asia. 12020 is fair. The half hour broadcast is good enough for Vietnam and international news. But as I would like a bit of music and Vietnamese culture, including people and their lifestyle, if you could increase your daily broadcast to South Asia to an hour it would be great.’
B: Dear Lodaya, we greatly appreciate your suggestion. But increasing broadcasting time depends on many factors. We’ll work on it, but in the meantime here’s a Vietnamese folk song just for you. So stay tuned!
A: You just heard a folk song of Vietnam’s northern region performed by Ngoc Khue. Before the song, we were talking about a letter from Manikant Lodaya of Karnataka, India, who showed a keen interest in the relationship between Vietnam and India.
B: India - Vietnam relations have been exceptionally friendly and cordial since a solid foundation was laid by Prime Minister Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh more than 50 years ago. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the first visitors to Vietnam after its victory against the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. In recent years, political ties have been reinforced by the diplomatic visits of top leaders from both sides.
A: Trade and economic links continue to multiply. India’s ‘Look East’ policy combined with Vietnam’s growing engagement in the region has paid rich dividends. The two will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic ties this year.
B: In the past few weeks, we have received letters and emails from Robert Abraham of Bossier City, LA, USA, Anton Bernhoffer, of Toledo, Ohio, USA, and many others. We’re very pleased that every listener who sent us a letter or an email wrote a carefully detailed report on what they had heard in terms of frequency, broadcast time, and type of receiver. Most important to us was their feedback on the professional and technical quality of our programs.
A: We have done our best to deliver our frequency list to all listeners, but in case you still haven’t received yours, try visiting our website at www.vovworld.vn. I’m sure you’ll find what you need.
B: That’s it for today’s Letter Box. If your name wasn’t mentioned this week, don’t feel bad. We’ll try to acknowledge you next time. Please keep in touch with us. We look forward to receiving more comments and suggestions from you all. Our contact address is: The English Program, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
A: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. And in case you miss any of our programs, you can always catch up by logging onto our website at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear either live or recorded programs.
Bao Tram