B: Please change our email address on your contact list and send future reception reports to englishsection@vov.vn. Thank you.
A: This week, we already received feedback from listeners around the world to our new email address at englishsection@vov.vn.
 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is on a visit to VOV's Traffic Channel |
B: We’d like to welcome back Sanil Deep of India after nearly 6 months. In his email to VOV, Mr. Deep wrote: “ I would recommend the best frequency of 7220 khz which is propagating well to SOUTH ASIA. Still the reception of 9840 khz at 10.00 and 11.30 is barely audible due to the interference of RADIO MALAYSIA on 9835 khz. Likewise 12020 khz is somewhat better at 10.00 hours. But heavy interference at 11.30 hours.”
A: Thank you, Mr. Deep, for your detailed technical reports on the many frequencies of VOV broadcasts you received in India. Your comments will be very useful for our technicians.
 Headquarters of the Voice of Vietnam at 58 Quan Su street, Hanoi, Vietnam |
B: Now we’ll answer Mr. Deep’s question about radio stations in Vietnam. The Voice of Vietnam is the national radio station which boasts multipal platforms: radio, TV, print, and online. We still keep shortwave broadcasting to serve listeners around the world while at home, our programs on FM frequencies remain popular among domestic listeners and foreigners in Vietnam.
A: VOV programs are now available on an app called “VOV media” where you can listen to both Vietnamese and foreign language programs. The app can be downloaded on mobile devices using Android or IOs.
B: On the internet, our programs are available on vovworld.vn and vov.vn. The Voice of Vietnam also has 17 TV channels and 1 print newspaper. Each of the 63 cities and provinces nationwide has a radio and TV station.
 Vietnam Digital Television of the Voice of Vietnam |
B: In an email to VOV this week, Tanima Tanne of Bangladesh reported a good reception for the program from 16:00 to 16:30 on February 29 on the frequency of 7220 khz.
A: Tanne together with many other listeners want to know more about hospitals, particularly the oldest hospitals in Vietnam.
B: Viet Nam's hospital system consists of a public-private mix, in which public hospitals play substantial roles in providing health care services to the people.
A: There are some age-old hospitals across Vietnam. In today Letter Box, let’s visit the Children’s Hospital No 2 in Ho Chi Minh City. According to an article by Tim Doling on the Saigoneer.com, as one of the oldest hospitals in Asia, the Hospital began life as a French military hospital.
 The design of the 11th Colonial Infantry Barracks buildings became the model for those in the Military Hospital (Source: historicvietnam.com) |
B: Founded in 1862 by Admiral-Governor Louis-Adolphe Bonard, the Military Hospital’s primary function was to serve the French marine infantry, who were then garrisoned in makeshift accommodations on the northern side of the same junction. However, from the outset it treated colonial civil servants as well as French and Vietnamese soldiers.
A: The hospital was staffed by French military doctors, with nursing support provided by the Sisters of Saint-Paul de Chartres.
B: In the late 1870s, the hospital was rebuilt. The design for the Colonial Infantry Barracks had already attracted considerable acclaim, and it was therefore decided that the hospital buildings should be built in an identical style.
 The Grall Hospital in 1951 |
A: The hospital buildings comprised a series of large pavilions, built from cast iron and brick on raised granite platforms. Linked to each other by gangways, they overlooked a central tree-lined avenue and incorporated peripheral verandas to enhance ventilation and optimize sanitary conditions. All of the construction materials were transported from France.
B: It was in one of the hospital’s smaller pavilions that Albert Calmette, tasked with developing vaccines against rabies and smallpox, founded the first Pasteur-Institute outside France in 1891.
A: In 1904, when Alexandre Yersin set up a larger Pasteur-Institute in Nha Trang, the Pasteur-Institute in Saigon, now HCM city, became its annex.
B: In 1925, the hospital was transformed into a general hospital and Grall Hospital, in honor of the former Cochinchina Inspector-General of Medicine, Dr Charles Grall.
A: Following national reunification in 1975, the Grall Hospital resumed operation as a general hospital, but in 1978, it was transformed into a specialist pediatric hospital.
 The Military Hospital in the early 20th century |
B: Set amidst lush gardens and shady trees, the hospital has been cited as a prime example of how good architecture can make a healthcare environment welcoming to patients and their families, rather than treating them as victims in a stark and sterile space.
A: With the story about Children’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the oldest hospitals in Asia, we have also answered a question from Prothama Prome of Bangladesh, who told us that he is a new listener of VOV and President of the VOV5 Listeners’ Corner in Bangladesh.
B: Thank you, Prome, for tuning in to VOV English program. We hope to receive more feedback from you.
A: We’d like to welcome Sirajuddin Nizamani of Pakistan to VOV who wrote on our website at vovworld.vn: “This is my first message to your radio station. I listen to your radio on shortwave but your reception in my area is not clear. But your programs and Current Affairs are very informative. Thank you.”
B: We appreciate your feedback on our programs and look forward to hearing more from you. We’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Anika Anne and Salina Akter of Bangladesh and feedback from Hossen Abed Ali, Dr. M.S. Prasad among many other listeners.
A: Thank you all for your reports and feedback. We’ll send you QSL cards to confirm. 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 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.