A: This week, we received a number of letters both from new listeners and those that have resumed listening to VOV recently.
B: We’d like to welcome Robert Shannon of the US. In his very first letter to VOV this week, Mr. Shannon sent a reception report for the program on August 10 from 21:00 to 21:30 on the frequency of 7315 khz with strong signal with no fading or interference. He shared his interest on the “Agent Orange” segment and said he would continue to listen to the Voice of Vietnam.
A: Thank you, Mr. Shannon. We will confirm your report with a QSL card and send you a frequency list and program schedule. Our broadcast is now also available online at vovworld.vn. You can also check out our VOV Media App available on the IOS or Android platform to hear our live broadcasts.
B: This week, we received a letter from Mr. Rommel Fulgencio of the Philippines together with a brochure introducing his home province of Aklan. He wrote: “Hi. Warm and friendly greetings from the province of Aklan. I hope everyone at VOV is all OK. Could you please do kindly send me a frequency list. I’d be happy to hear the English broadcast of VOV. Also I would like to find out more about the cultures of Vietnamese people and the beautiful country of Vietnam”.
A: Thank you, Fulgencio, for your warm sentiment for VOV and Vietnam. We will send you a frequency list and program schedule. As we have mentioned, our broadcast is also available at vovworld.vn and on mobile apps. Check out our VOV Media App available on the IOS or Android platforms.
B: Next is a letter from Michael Linder of Germany. In his letter to VOV this week, Mr. Linder wrote: “Dear friends in Hanoi. First of all I would like to send you cordial greetings from Gera in Thuringia, the “green heart” of Germany. After many years, I would like to resume reports. Since there are German language programs from Hanoi, I listen primarily to programs of the German editorial office. Only from time to time I tune in to English programming. It helps me improve my English skills.”
A: Thank you, Linder, for tuning into VOV English broadcasts and for sending us impressive postcards. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your report for the program on August 17 at 19:00 UTC on the frequency of 7280 khz. We hope that you will tune in our English program more frequently not only to improve your English skills but also to learn more about Vietnam, its land, people, and culture through the English section’s exclusive features. We look forward to hearing more from you.
B: In his letter to VOV this week John Rutledge who is from the US, but lives in China, sent us reception reports for programs on August 16, 17, and 18 that he listened from 1130 to 1157 UTC on the frequency of 12020 khz. He wrote: “Thank you for your broadcasts. I still enjoy them and listen on a regular basis. I hope all is well. Listening in southern China is often clearer and easier than in the northeast.”
A: Mr. Rutledge, we’re so sorry that our replies don’t reach you. We’ll check where the problem comes from and try fix it. Please, send us your email address for faster and easier contact. We will confirm your reports with QSL cards and try to post them again and hope to hear your feedback soon.
B: This week, we received a letter from Denis Ironman of the UK for the first time in over 2 years. Thank you, Mr. Ironman for resuming listening to VOV after a long time. We’ll verify your reception report for the program on August 17 from 16:00 to 16:30 UTC on the frequency of 9730.
A: We appreciate a letter from Grant Skinner, also from the UK and his reception report for the program on August 23rd at 19:10 on the frequency of 7280. He wrote: “Greetings. Thank you for your great dedication to the program. It’s really a great opportunity for me. Your station is now more open to us compared to previous years. The broadcasts cover news, information, education, entertainment. It is a rare bridge of friendship and information. Your broadcast features made a tremendous impact on the listeners. Progressive stations like yours are very much dear to its listeners. Your reception quality is also very loud and clear.”
B: Thank you, Mr. Skinner, for tuning in to our broadcast regularly. We like your story about the meaning of August and other months of the year. Your reception report will be confirmed with a QSL card.
A: In an email to VOV this week, Siddhartha Bhattacharyya of India asked about bonsai art in Vietnam.
B: In Vietnam, there are a number of villages specialized in growing bonsai trees which are in great demand during Tet, Vietnam’s traditional lunar new year festival. One of the most famous bonsai villages in the north is Vi Khe Village in Nam Dinh province. The village has been growing bonsais for more than 700 years, and the village once provided flowers and bonsais for the kings and mandarins of the Tran Dynasty in the 13th century.
A: There is a temple in the village that worships the founder of the craft village. There is also a 300-year-old bonsai that has won a Hue Imperial Palace Award. From Vi Khe Village, bonsais have gone to parks, tourist sites, and cities and foreign countries.
B: A bonsai known as the "One Pillar Pagoda" and another called "Temple of Literature" created by Vi Khe villagers were displayed on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.
B: The village has a bonsai club to promote the traditional craft which supports the living standards of the commune.
A: Growing trees is painstaking but lucrative work. The villagers are self-taught gardeners with no formal education in the art of pruning. They learn to prune by watching their fathers.
B: It takes between three years or more to create a bonsai. The size of the tree is not important but it must have an aesthetically pleasing shape. An ordinary tree is worth a few hundred dollars or less. But after it has been carefully pruned into an appealing shape, it might be worth 10 times as much.
A: Dragon-shaped trees are popular with Vietnamese people who believe that the dragon – like the unicorn, the tortoise and the phoenix – is a symbol of wealth and abundance. It can take an artisan ten years to create a dragon.
B: Growing a large bonsai is not an easy process. It requires a great deal of responsibility, meticulous care and courageous thinking. Tending trees, like painting, requires the artist to creatively give his ideas in a concrete form.
A: A bonsai artisan must prune a tree’s branches every three months, spray it with pesticide once a month and water it every day.
B: We have many more letters and emails that we want to reply to but time is running out. We’ll save them for the next edition of Letter Box. We welcome your letters at English Section, VOVworld, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Thank you for listening. Until next time. Good bye.