B: Martin Steiner of Denmark emailed us to say that it has been quite some time since he sent his last email to VOV. “I listen to the Voice of Vietnam a lot and want to tell you that I really like your program. Even though your English program only goes for 30 minutes, you manage to fill this half hour with a lot of information, with local news and reports as well as news of the world.”

A: Steiner continued: “The weekend music session is always nice; so is the Vietnamese music at the end of the program.”

A: Mr. Steiner told us that he has made some modifications to his antenna, a 32m wire antenna, which is now nice and high, a good 6 to 7m above the ground. He said: “I’m mainly using a portable radio, a TECSUN PL-880, which performs really well. I have been receiving your English program on 9840kHz for a few nights and reception was always good.”

B: It’s interesting to hear about your radio equipment. We hope you’ll send us regular feedback.

A: Jayanta Chakrabarty of India listens to VOV and sends us feedback every day. He wrote: “I’m pleased to report on your program on December 4^th on 7220 kHz. I enjoyed listening to the news of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visits to Switzerland and Russia carrying a message of peace and friendship. Vietnam, an important and responsible member of the UN, chaired the UN Security Council Meeting on the plight of people, especially children, in conflict zones.”

B: Chakrabarty told us that reception quality was good, with a strong signal. The SINPO rating was at all 4s. He said he would be delighted to receive a printed QSL card verifying his report and some postage stamps for his collection, if possible.

A: Thank you for your detailed feedback. We’ll check with VOV’s correspondence office to see when postal service from Vietnam to India will resume. We hope we can start sending QSL cards to listeners again soon.

A letter from Paul Simmonds of Australia

B: Paul Simmonds of Australia sent us a reception report by post mail. He tuned in to VOV on October 11 to listen to programs in English and Indonesian.

A: He noted: “The overall reception was fair. The signal strength was good and there was only slight fading of the signal. However there was significant interference from a Chinese language station on 9830kHz. I experienced some static crashes on the band.”

B: We’ll forward your notes to our technicians. It may help them fix the problem. Thank you.

A: Paul Simmonds told us about his life, which made us feel closer despite the geographical distance.

B: He said: “I’m 56 years old and live on a small property at Ashbourne, about 65 km south-south-east of Adelaide City. I’m married to Marija and have 2 children – Jake 28 years old and Olivia 22 years old. Various wildlife can be found on my property and in the surrounding countryside. That includes Western Grey kangaroos, koalas, and various types of birds.”

Birds in the garden of Paul Simmonds

A: It’s interesting to see the photos you took of some of the native wildlife and birds in your garden. They show the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of your place. There’s a saying in Vietnamese: “birds land on good soil.”

B: Yes, it seems that many common problems around the world have spared your place. Mr. Simmonds told us that he has been involved in shortwave listening since he was a teenager. But he said he has not done any serious listening for many years. He has an amateur radio license and a callsign.

A: Thank you for sharing with us about your family and your hobby. We hope to receive more feedback from you soon.

A letter from Jyrki Hytonen of Finland

B: Many of our listeners told us that they listened to Colorful Vietnam – Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups and learned that embroidery and brocade weaving are popular crafts. In many parts of the world, these handicrafts have been abandoned, but in Vietnam they have been promoted in order to preserve traditions and provide extra income.

A: Embroidery has been a popular handicraft in Vietnam since the feudal era, and almost every ethnic group, including the majority Kinh, have developed their own embroidery techniques. There are many famous embroidery villages in Vietnam and artisans have turned embroidered pieces into one-of-a-kind work of art. 

B: The northern province of Ninh Binh is not only the home of the UNESCO-recognised Trang An Tourism Complex, but also of the famous Van Lam embroidery village.

Van Laam Embroidery Cooperatives in Ninh Binh province (photo: hoinongdan.org.vn)

A: Van Lam, located at the entrance to the Tam Coc-Bich Dong Tourism Site in Hoa Lu district, has long been a special destination for tourists.

B:  Children in Van Lam begin to embroider at the age of seven and villagers 80 years old can still ply a needle and thread. The villagers say embroidery skills have been handed down through the generations for over 700 years.

A: During the Tran Dynasty, from 1225 to 1400, royal tutor Tran Thu Do trained an army in Ninh Binh and his wife Tran Thị Dung opened classes to teach embroidery.

B: Villagers were assigned to embroider royal costumes and costumes for rituals.  In the early 20th century, the villagers learned French embroidery skills and combine them with their traditional techniques. Since then they have created many lace designs inspired by European tastes.

B: The village now has nine fine art companies and dozens of embroidery workshops employing 700 households. Revenue from the trade exceeds 3.4 million USD per year.

A: Time is up on today’s program. We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVworld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs.

B: Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platform to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye.