Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, our weekly feature dedicated to our listeners throughout the world. I’m Mai Phuong.

And I’m Ngoc Huyen. It’s nice to be back again on VOV’s Letter Box.

Dong Da festival held on the 5th day of the first lunar month

A: First on our show today, we’d like to thank you all for your greetings on our traditional Lunar New Year. We had a really warm holiday last week with all the best wishes you sent us and all the happy Tet activities and festivals around Vietnam.

B: From New Delhi, India, Jayanta Chakrabaty wrote: “I convey my Tet greetings to all members of the Voice of Vietnam and their loving families. This is also to inform you that the broadcasts on the Voice of Vietnam English Service in this new year are more attractive and entertaining than ever. The wide variety of programs are educational and informative, as well as exciting to listen to. I wish VOV the very best in the days ahead”.

A: Thank you, Jayanta. We’re happy to know that you have received the CD of Vietnamese music that we sent you. We also received greetings this week from Ratan Kumar Paul of India. Ratan said he really enjoyed our Tet features, especially the story about Tet for the poor.

A: Gerry Neumann of England, who has been listening to VOV for a long time, shared his impressions of the Tet celebration in Vietnam, which he said the daily programs of VOV remind him of. Gerry has been in Vietnam 3 times at Tet and experienced the colorful flower markets and streets with their red decorations and, above all, the happy atmosphere everywhere.

B: Michael Stevenson of Australia wrote: “I would like to wish everyone at the Voice of Vietnam a very Happy New Year for 2014, which is the Year of the Horse. I have been a regular listener to the Voice of Vietnam English Program for many years and I receive good reception on shortwave here in eastern Australia during our mornings and evenings”.

B: We’d like also to thank Ian Stagg of England and Jack and Sue Wachterhauser of Kehnscott, Australia, for their beautiful New Year greeting cards and Eddy Setiawan of Indonesia, Abdelillah Boubchir of Algeria, Rana Dewan Rafiqul of Bangladesh, Tjang Pak Ning of Indonesia, and Ahmed Mohammed El Masry of Egypt for their beautiful wishes for the Year of the Horse.

Yen Tu is a popular destination for pilgrims during the early of the year

A: From Australia, Stephen Hogan wrote to us about the warm, dry New Year in his country. He said: “I send you all my warmest New Year wishes. May it be a year of happiness, success, peace and good health along the way. I look forward to being with the Voice of Vietnam in the New Year 2014”.

A: Shri Bhagwan Sharma of India reported listening to our program on January 29 at 16:00 UTC and said that he was interested in the story about overseas remittance to Vietnam and wanted to learn more about this issue.

A: Approximately four million Vietnamese people are living abroad, including 400,000 guest workers employed in 101 countries and territories. If each guest worker sends US$2,500 back home annually, the revenue could amount to US$1 billion per year.

B: The overseas Vietnamese community is considered by the Party and State to be an inseparable part of the nation and a valuable labor force for Vietnam’s modernization and industrialization. Overseas Vietnamese people help to cement friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and their countries of residence.

A: Vietnam deems it important to attract overseas remittances and resources for national development. Vietnam’s overseas remittances have increased considerably in recent years. Overseas Vietnamese in the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, and the Netherlands have invested in 51 of the 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam in more than 3,600 businesses capitalized at 8.6 billion USD. Most of the projects focus on trade, tourism, construction, real estate, the production of export items, and fisheries.

B: Many overseas Vietnamese have brought large investment projects to Vietnam as the main shareholders in a number of major banks and groups in Vietnam such as Techcombank, VPbank, Vingroup, Melinh Plaza Eurowindow, and Masan.

A: Overseas remittances have helped Vietnam to stabilize its economy. Vietnam attracted a record high of 11 billion USD in overseas remittances in 2013, becoming one of the 9 countries with the highest total of overseas remittances in the world.

B: The contributions of overseas Vietnamese have been acknowledged in all aspects of life. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 overseas Vietnamese have completed 4 or more years of university education and many of them are highly skilled workers.

A: 2014 marks 10 years since the implementation of resolution 36 of the Party politburo on expanded overseas Vietnamese affairs. The potential of overseas Vietnamese people is an important factor in Vietnam’s national construction and defense.

B: That’s a short take on remittances and other contributions by overseas Vietnamese to their homeland. Muhamad Shamim of India says he is interested in learning about the most popular night market in Vietnam.

A: Well, I think we should mention the famous Sapa love market, which takes place on Saturday evenings. The love market of Sapa used to be the place to find a partner to get married. With the advent of tourism, the authentic love market no longer takes place. Now you can only see a simulation of the love market. But don’t miss it if you’re in Sapa on a Saturday night.

Sapa Love market

B: Young members of the Red Dzao hill tribe used to come to Sapa to sing songs to the opposite sex. Girls sang their songs hidden in the dark. If a compatible boy found them, they disappeared into the forest for three days. Some of them followed up by getting married.

A: In a night of song and dance, the performances express fervent wishes for eternal love. Romantic melodies fill the night air. The dancing and singing continue into the early hours, beguiling men and women into each other’s arms. That first magical night, some are lucky enough to leave the market with a new partner and walk hand in hand through the forest. Others remain nervous and hopeful: tomorrow is the big day, after all. Many have waited months for this chance to find their soul mate.

B: You might find it a nice experience to give the Sapa love market a try. Go and discover it for yourself.

A: We’d like to acknowledge emails and letters today from Allan Fenix of the USA, Bhaikan Hazarika of India, Daniele Missaglia of Italy, Ashik Eqbal Tokon of Bangladesh, Toshiya Nishimura, Fumito Hokamura, and Norizumi Taguchi of Japan, Holger Wolf of Germany, Howard Barnett of England, Joseph Beaudry of Canada, and Andrew Kuznetsov of Latvia. We greatly appreciate your listening. We’ll verify your reception reports and send you some QSL cards soon.

B: That’s it for this week’s Letter Box. We welcome your feedback at: English Section, Overseas Service, Radio 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 www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye.