 Pristine beauty of Ankroet waterfall in Da Lat (https://vovworld.vn/en-US/media/pristine-beauty-of-ankroet-waterfall-in-da-lat-1118059.vov) |
A: Your programs are always enjoyable and well produced and you're an essential part of my listening. I would like to know if your programs are available as podcasts through an xml or rss feed. I spend a lot of my time out driving around and that's when I tend to listen to my podcasts from all over the world. Anyway, thank you for your dedication and continued broadcasts in English. I appreciate them a lot.”
B: Thank you, Nick, for tuning in to VOV and writing to us. In addition to our shortwave broadcast, our program is also available on mobile app at VOV Media app and on the internet at vovworld.vn. We hope to continue to receive feedback from you.
A: In his email to VOV this week, Abdul Mannan of Bangladesh told us about Eid-ul-Azha, a Muslim holiday which was celebrated on Sunday.
B: Thank you, Mannan for sharing the story with us. This week, many listeners asked us about the upcoming festivals that Vietnamese people will celebrate this month and next month.
 A feast to worship ancestors in the 7th full-moon festival (Phot: TL) |
A: Let’s check out the 7th full moon festival. Vietnamese people call the 7th full moon festival “Parents' Day” or “Wandering Soul’s Day”. It is the second largest annual traditional festival in Vietnam after the lunar New Year (Tet) festival, and is celebrated by Vietnamese through various religious rituals and humanitarian activities.
B: The seventh lunar month is believed to be when wandering souls return to their former homes. During the festival, people visit pagodas and temples to worship, burn incense and offer votives to their ancestors and wandering souls. They prepare offerings of food, clothes and votive papers, and release animals like birds or fish. They also buy presents and flowers to show their love and gratitude to their parents.
A: The festival is a beautiful Vietnamese tradition and is an occasion for family members to show their affection for each other and pay tribute to their ancestors. This helps to educate the younger generations about their filial duties.
B: Many people go to the pagoda on this occasion and hold religious rituals to worship their ancestors and pray for the wandering souls.
A: The festival is dedicated to both parents who are alive and those who have passed away. It’s often said that the greatest happiness in life is to love and care for our parents.
B: Many people opt to eat vegan food during the annual festival. Each person participating wears either a red rose if their parents are alive or a white rose if their parents have passed away. The rose is a symbol of the love and gratitude of every family towards their ancestors.
A: Over the past week, VOVWorld received nearly 350 letters and emails from listeners in 33 countries around the world. José Rodríguez of Spain wrote: “I’m among those who are interested in radio and shortwave broadcasts. I was lucky to tune in to VOV and listen to programs for foreign listeners. I’d like to tell you that your program is closely followed by many listeners around the world.”
 Chợ Lớn (Big market) in HCM City |
B: Also from Spain, Franco Crespo wrote: “I want to congratulate you on your effective work. By focusing on the content, you have brought quality programs to listeners. Continue what you are doing.“
A: Writing to VOV this week, Yagi Susumu of Japan asked about books featuring different regions of Vietnam.
B: Well, it’s not easy for foreigners to read books in Vietnamese without knowing Vietnamese. But there are some picture books that you can check out.
A: An art book entitled “Saigon-Gia Dinh-Big Market-Bright Memories” should be on your list. It is a collaboration between painter Nguyen Kha Liem and journalist Pham Cong Luan.
B: Depicting different aspects of daily life in HCM City, its history, and culture, and showcasing developments in the city through various periods, the 284-page book with panoramic print includes digital coloured paintings from Liem’s collection.
A: Liem spent 5 years painting HCM City, formerly called Sai Gon, its streets, buildings, markets, and locals in daily life. The cultural facets highlighted in the book include traditional theatre performances and performers of reformed opera, nostalgia tunes, and classical drama – southern theatre genres with more than 100 years of history.
B: Information about theatre troupes and the artists who played a role in developing the genres is also included in the book. A particular highlight is the 200-year-old history of HCM City’s Old Quarter, known as Cho Lon or Big Market, which lies on the west bank of the Sai Gon River.
A: The book also opens a window into traditional festivals, calligraphy, dragon dance, architecture and lifestyle of the community of Chinese Vietnamese people, who account for 4% of the city’s population, at around 440,000.
 Big market in the old days |
B: The “Saigon-Gia Dinh-Big Market-Bright Memories” is available online at tiki.vn and netabooks.vn. This week, Siddhartha Bhattacharjee of India reported listening to our broadcast on July 7 on the frequency of 7220 khz. His question for this week was about poverty reduction in Vietnam.
A: The Vietnamese government has approved a national target program on sustainable poverty reduction for the 2021-2025 period with funding of 3.3 billion USD.
B: The overall goal of the program is to achieve comprehensive, sustainable poverty reduction. It will be carried out nationwide, with the focus on poor districts and extremely disadvantaged communes in lowland and coastal areas and on islands.
A: The number of poor and near-poor households is expected to decrease by half by 2025. The rate of children from poor and near-poor households going to school at the proper age will reach 90 percent.
A: In recent years, the poverty rate was brought down from 9.88 percent in 2015 to 2.75 percent in 2020, the poverty rate among ethnic minority households declined by 4 percent annually, and more than 8 million people escaped poverty.
B: Vietnam applied a multidimensional poverty measurement for the first time, one of 30 countries to do so. It achieved the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal of hunger eradication and poverty reduction ahead of schedule, and was praised as a bright spot in poverty alleviation in the world by the international community.
A: We’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Bidhan Chandra Sanyal and Ratan Kumar Paul of India, Saleem Akhtar Chadhar of Pakistan and other listeners who sent us emails or posted comments on our Facebook fanpage, VOV5 English Service.
A: That concludes 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.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 platforms, 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.