Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, our weekly feature dedicated to listeners throughout the world. We are Mai Phuong and Ngoc Huyen.
A: Welcome to the very first VOV Letter Box of 2015. We wish you a very Happy New Year.
B: This week we continued to receive season’s greetings from our listeners around the world. Zdzuslaw Gomulka of Poland sent us a very nice Christmas postcard. He wrote: “Sincerely wishing you Christmas happiness and all that will bring you joy in the New Year”.
A: We also received season’s greetings from Ratan Kumar Paul and Bhaikan Hazarika of India, Richard Chen of Trinidad &Tobago and Robert Krolikowski and Marlene Sherburne of the US. Marlene said she was excited to have found our station on shortwave radio. He sent us a beautiful card conveying her best New Year’s wishes for VOV.
B: Marlene, welcome to VOV. We’ll send you our program schedule and frequency list. Please keep tuning in to our broadcasts to learn more about Vietnam, its land and people.
A: SB Sharma of India in his email to VOV this week wrote: “I wish you a very Happy New Year. The previous year was a memorable year for me. I received more support and encouragement from you. You have taken care of my letters with love. It’s very nice to get a reply to each and every letter. Your beautiful QSL cards and small gift items are the rewards for me. I will try to be a reliable listener to VOV in 2015 and hope your love and attention will be on me as in previous years. Thanks”.
B: Thank you, SB Sharma. You have been a regular listener to VOV. Your feedback has been useful to us and has encouraged us a lot. We hope to receive continued feedback from you.
A: Subir Basu of India listened to our program from 16:00 to 16:30 on December 17 on the frequency of 9550 khz and rated SINPO at 45444. He wrote: “The detailed information you gave about Catholicism and Christmas celebration in Vietnam in your Letter Box program was informative. In this context, I would like to know how the New Year is celebrated in Vietnam”.
B: The most important celebration in Vietnam is our traditional lunar New Year or Tet. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring which based on the Vietnamese lunar calendar usually falls in the month of January or February. This year, Tet festival will begin on February 18- lunar New Year’s Eve. The first day of the new lunar year will be February 19.
A: We have talked about Tet celebrations in Vietnam in our previous programs. In today’s show, we’d like to delve into Tet dos and don’ts because in the traditional perception, if things go smoothly during Tet, good luck will be assured all year long.
B: For Vietnamese people, Tet is the most important festival of the year, starting a new circle of life, new sentiments and relationships. People observe dos and don’ts to secure a new year of good luck. According to Superior Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Tu, an expert in folk beliefs, the dos and don’ts are popular folk customs and assumptions based on beliefs whose universal truth is unverified. From one generation to another, customs and common practices are inherited and popularized. People rely on them because they are afraid that if these customs are not followed, their lives, health, longevity and career will be negatively affected. That’s why these customs have been passed down for many generations.
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A: People avoid sweeping their house during the first 3 days of the Lunar New year because it is believed that the God of Prosperity will be driven away, taking with him money and property from the owners. On the last day of the old year no matter how busy people are, they clean their house, garden and altar. This work should be done by New Year’s Eve. In the south, people put away their brooms after sweeping house because they believe that if their brooms are lost during Tet, their property will be stolen.
B: Northerners still observe the custom of carefully selecting the first visitor to their houses in the New Year. Someone who lost a relative in the previous year or is not of a compatible astrological sign with the owners should not be the first visitor. On the first day of the New Year, people don’t give away matches or lighters because by doing so they believe they will be giving away their luck. It is not welcome for a cat to run into somebody’s house because cats represent poverty. But a dog running into house is believed to be a good omen.
A: Tet is a joyous and sacred festival. People observe the dos and don’ts for full enjoyment. In regard to first New Year guests, southerners do not take into account a visitor’s sign but someone who was unsuccessful and unlucky in the previous year will avoid visiting others on the first day of the New Year. They may come on the second day or come after being visited.
B: In the first days of the New Year people refrain from borrowing money or assets to keep from falling into financial difficulties. Many home owners don’t like others to come to their house to ask for fire or water in the New Year because fire and water are considered blessings.
A: The Vietnamese also select days to go out. The 5th, 14th and 23rd days of the lunar calendar are believed inappropriate for embarking on any journey.
B: That’s a brief on the dos and don’ts of Vietnamese Tet- our traditional lunar New Year. Tet is fast approaching. We’ll have more stories about Tet in later shows. Keep tuning in to our broadcasts for more stories about Vietnamese culture and tradition.
B: We have a frequency change to note. Beginning January 1, 2015, the Voice of Vietnam will discontinue 2 English programs broadcast at 11:00 and 15:00 UTC on the frequency of 7285 khz beaming to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Listeners in these countries can continue to listen to VOV on the frequencies of 1242 khz, 9840 khz, and 12020 khz.
A: On today’s program, we’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Masaru Sekimoto of Japan, Hannu Kiiski of Finland, Fachri of Indonesia, Debakamal Hazarika of India, and Monir Hossain of Bangladesh. Thank you all for your reception reports. We’ll send you QSL cards and the souvenirs you requested soon.
A: We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio 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 until next time.