Hanoi organizes only one fireworks show on Lunar New Year's Eve at Thong Nhat Park, instead of the planned 30 amid the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

B: Jayanta Chakrabarty of India said: “Wishing all the members of VOV’s English Section a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and enjoyable Tet. May this Lunar Year 2021 be a much better year than 2020.”

A: Richard Nowak of the US wished us a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year and said he hopes everyone stays safe and healthy in these trying times.

B: Thank you very much, Richard Nowak, Ralf Urbanczyk, Jayanta Chakrabarty, SB Sharma, Moklesur Rahman, Kalab Abbas, Eddy Setiawan and many others, whose names we don’t have enough time to mention, for sending New Year greetings to VOV. We wish you and your family a year of good health, wealth, happiness, and peace.

A: Last Saturday, February 13, was World Radio Day, a festival of DX’ers worldwide. Shivendul Paul of India wrote: “In 2021 UNESCO celebrates the 110th year of Radio. This year's World Radio Day theme was ‘New World, New Radio – Evolution, Innovation, and Connection’. On the occasion of World Radio Day, we met some young radio listeners and arranged a DX’ing and philatelic exhibition.”

B: Kanchan Kr Chatterjee of India told us: “We are celebrating World Radio Day. Our club members listened to radio pargrams in the morning. We are long-time listeners who often visit your website.” 

A: Mouad Belgrid of Morocco emailed us: “I extend to you my warmest congratulations. I thank all the staff for the efforts they are making. I wish you all great success. I hope my message will reach you with a thousand good wishes. I think radio is one of the best mediums and the closest to all segments of society. I still use the radio during my travels. I love to travel by bike. I love listening to the radio in the wild, far from the noise of cities.The radio is a friend of mine.”

B: Richard Nowak told us: “I used to listen nearly every day to VOV’s English broadcasts. Your staff does an excellent job of keeping us listeners informed of news, events and culture in Vietnam. I feel like part of me is Vietnam. Vietnam is in my brain and heart.”

A: He continued: “It was mystifying to me why VOV dropped its English language broadcasts suddenly. I know that many folks in our SW listeners groups loved your shows. I still listen to shortwave and now even more so. WRMI ( Radio Miami International) has great relays of Radio Prague, Tirana, Slovakia and Argentina which I am listening to regularly. The BBC World Service blasts in here on 6195 kHz. Voice of America is coming in good on 6080 kHz. But in all the hours of listening to shortwave there is no mention of Vietnam.”

B: Thank you for supporting VOV and shortwave. We keep improving our production and broadcast to better serve listeners. We apologize to Ralph 51435, Richard Nowak, and other listeners in the US who have asked us if we have any plans to bring back shortwave broadcasts to the US.

B: On September 1, 2020, we temporarily halted our shortwave broadcasts on 7315khz to the East Coast of the US due to technical issues. We are working with our partners in the US to resume the broadcast. But until then, we hope you will continue to listen to our programs on the website, podcasts, and VOVMedia, an app for smartphones and other mobile devices.

A: VOV will retain its identity but will develop new services to become more of an audio-visual and text-based media provider. VOV’s audience will be able to get news from radio, print media, social media, video channels, and online websites in the way that’s most convenient for each person. We hope to have your continued support.

B: After the Lunar New Year celebration come spring festivals. The first three months of the year used to see hundreds of festivals across Vietnam. Though Tet is meant to be spent with family and friends, the coronavirus pandemic has caused celebrations to look different this year. This year the pandemic has forced people in some localities to observe social distancing. Cities and provinces which have reported COVID-19 infections will forego spring festivals to curb the pandemic.

A: Hanoi suspended its annual Dong Da Mound Festival on the 5th day of the lunar year marking the Dong Da-Ngoc Hoi battle between King Quang Trung’s troops and Chinese Qing invaders in spring 1789. Quang Trung was the second king of the Tay Son dynasty, reigning from 1788 until 1792.

B: In 1789 he led his army on a rapid march from Hue Imperial City to the north to defeat 20,000 Qing invaders and liberate Thang Long, now Hanoi. The battle smashed the Qing dynasty’s plan to occupy Vietnam.

A: In previous years, the Dong Da Mound Festival has attracted thousands of visitors who come to burn incense in tribute to King Quang Trung. Worshippers in beautiful traditional dress would gather at the Communal House in the early morning to prepare a grand ceremony to be held at daybreak.

A: Visitors marveled at a stunning fire dragon dance and procession, recalling the Tay Son attack on the invaders’ camp and celebrating the martial spirit of Thang Long’s people.

B: The festival’s games and performances included martial arts performances, the four sacred animals dance, human chess, and a tug of war.  The highlight was the fire dragon procession with a dragon decorated with straw, and coarse paper. The Thang Long Fire Dragon has become a symbol of King Quang Trung’s victory.

A: Sadly, the Dong Da festival and all of Hanoi’s relic sites, pagodas, and temples have closed at the request of health officials to curb the spread of COVID-19. We hope Vietnam’s social distancing measures will halt this latest coronavirus outbreak.

B: We are very glad to be still receiving letters from our listeners, although fewer than before the pandemic. Here’s a letter from Kosuke Yomaru of Japan, who tuned in on January 9 on 9840 khz. He rated SINPO 45454 using a TECSUN PL-660 receiver.

A: He said the Vietnamese music was nice and the news and stories were interesting and easy to understand. Yomaru asked us to send him a verification card.

B: We’re sorry to say that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, VOV has stopped sending QSL cards to listeners. We will you an send e-card to confirm your report.

A: We acknowledged a reception report from Aleksandr Yurin of Russia, who tuned in to VOV’s English program on 9730 kHz and rated SINPO 45444. We also received reception reports and audio clips of VOV’s programs from Faria Khanam Mumu and Salf Ahmed Utsha of Bangladesh, and Siddhartha Bhattacharjee of India.

B: Beginning March 28, listeners who now tune to 7280 khz should switch to 11885 khz to hear VOV. We will keep reminding you of the frequency change between now and March 28. We hope the change will bring you better reception quality.

A: We always 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.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 until next time.