A: Like Muslims worldwide, thousands of Muslim Cham people in Vietnam’s south central region observe the holy month of Ramadan, a time of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting, and good deeds.

B: Vietnam has about 72,000 Muslim who are followers of the Bani and Islam branches. Most of them are Cham ethnic people, who live mainly in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan province. Some of them live scattered in other cities and provinces. There is only one Muslim mosque in Hanoi with a handful of followers.

A: They visit family tombs to purify their ancestors and themselves during the month of Ramadan, their biggest traditional festival of the year. The community celebrates the festival for three days, and the priests then stay at a communal house for rituals and fasting for the month. People visit the cemeteries to invite the souls of their ancestors to come back and join the celebration. Priests preside over the ceremony with Arabic prayers and perform rituals like watering the tombs as a symbol of cleansing the dead and laying out offerings for them. People also prepare more offerings at home.

Islam Cham in An Giang province hold a mass

B: Almost all Muslim dignitaries have relatives abroad and they pay pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime as a mandatory religious duty to undertake the Hadji. The Islam Cham have religious, cultural, and marital relationships with overseas Muslims.

A: Since Vietnam became a member of ASEAN in 1995, Vietnamese Muslims have more chances to interact with Islamic communities in other Southeast Asian countries. They participate in regional activities such as Quran Recitation word by word, studying abroad, attending Muslim conferences, and paying pilgrimage to Mecca. Their practices are attributable to Vietnam’s policy of respecting freedom of religion and all religions being equal before law.

Cham people in Ninh Thuan visit the tombs of their ancestors during Ramadan month

B: I’m reading an email from Jayanta Chakrabarty in India saying that he logged on to our internet radio programs on June 12, 2016.  He wrote “I’d like to convey my appreciation for the wonderful efforts of VOV staff to make VOV a truly educative, useful, interesting, and informative medium. Please keep up the good work. The friendly voice from Vietnam is always a pleasure to hear.”

B: Thank you Jayanta for your thoughts and nice words for VOV. We have invested more in our website, where you can listen to the English program broadcasting overseas on shortwave frequency and VOV24/7, which is domestic program broadcasting on 104 FM. The VOV5 program on 105.5FM is now not available, although there is a tap for VOV5. That’s why you couldn’t hear it via the website.

A: We have checked our reception report for the program on June 12 from 10:00 to 10:29 UTC and we’ll surely issue a QSL card to confirm your report. From Sweden Christer Brunström told us that he tuned in to VOV on June 11^th at 17.00 UTC on 9625 kHz. Reception was loud and clear as usual. He wrote: “I particularly appreciated the Saturday Report in which you talked about Ho Chi Minh's visit to France. This is the kind of historical program that I appreciate very much and I certainly look forward to hearing more. The Music Session was enjoyable as always.”

President Ho Chi Minh statue in Montreau park in Montreuil city, France

B: Bryan Durr from the US told us that he heard VOV in English while visiting the Eastern tip of Long Island in Montauk NY. It was on June 1^st at approximately 2:00 UTC on 12005 khz, Bryan said, adding that he was using a TECSUN PL660 and simple long wire. He heard an interview with listener Gary Neumann and letters from listeners from around the world. The signal was very strong with very little fade.

A: Bryan wrote: “I was very excited to receive this station as I live in Brooklyn, NY and do not have great reception here. But I will try to receive you again now that I know you exist and will certainly do so when I return to the Eastern end of Long Island this summer or other areas where reception of worldwide radio services is easier.”

B: We definitely will verify your reception report and we hope to receive more feedback from you in the future. I’m reading a letter from Ralf Urbanczyk from Germany who listened to VOV on June 6 from 19:00 to 19:30 UTC on the frequency of 7280 khz. Using a Grundig Satellit 700 with a telescope antenna in cloudy skies, Ralf observed interference from Radio Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran on 7285 kHz and rated SINPO at 43444.

A: Ralf commented: “I was recently listening to your news, commentaries, and reports about the situation in the East Sea and the development of the archipelagoes of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. As a main topic at the Shangri La dialogue in Singapore, the East Sea conflict was reflected in international news media recently too. It is great, that I can learn from your radio programs about the life of the islanders in these archipelagoes, about the amazing flora and fauna there and how it is cared for and preserved by the Vietnamese people. Thank you so much for these interesting reports in your program, which widen my view to this particular part of the world.”

Children at Truong Sa primary school

B: Thank you very much Ralf Urbanczyk for your feedback. VOV’s reporters often visit remote islands to make lively reports about the life of the inhabitants whose living conditions have been improved sizably in recent years. Nursery and primary schools and clinics have been built in big islands. Local residents have access to fresh water and electricity for domestic use and production. The Electricity of Vietnam Corporation (EVN) said it has finished surveying Truong Sa, Spratly, Islands to build a power grid across the archipelago.

A: EVN is seeking the government’s approval to hook up all the islands in the Spratly Archipelago to the national grid. The project will improve electricity access and the living standards of people and soldiers on the islands.

Growing vegetable in an island in Truong Sa archipelago (Bui Quang Thanh)

B: Richard Nowak, a regular listener from the US, told us that he enjoyed the show on June 11 on 12005 kHz from 1:00 to 1:27 UTC listening with a Hallicrafters SX-28 hooked up to a magnetic loop antenna. Reception was perfect with SINPO rating at all 5s.

A: He was most interested in the Cultural Edition which had a very interesting show on revolutionary opera with the National Symphony Orchestra. “I enjoyed this segment very much with the history and wonderful music. Thanks for the show and your support of shortwave!” Richard wrote.

B: Here I have a reception report from Eddy Prabowo from Indonesia, who listened to VOV’s English program on 14 June on 12005 kHz. He rated SINPO at all 4s and noted that the sound echoing, signal strength plot around S9+10 dB. Found atmospheric noises, the audio wavy.” Eddy explained his listening condition: “I logged in with the help of webSDR in Twente Univ., Enshede, the Netherlands, and monitored in Jakarta Indonesia using Lenovo E10-30 notebook.”

A: Michael Berger informed us that he listened to Voice of Vietnam's English Language Broadcast in Macungie, Pennsylvania, the US, earlier this week.  He listened between 01:00 and 01:30 UTC on both June 11th and June 12th. Michael said: “I don't have too much to offer as far as comments are concerned.  I just enjoy listening to news, commentary, and music.  I listened with a Grundig Satellit 750 paired with an MP1 Super-Antenna. SINPO for both broadcasts was 43323.  Fairly strong signal with moderate interference was noted.”

B: Your reception reports are sufficient for us to verify them and your technical feedback is useful for our engineers. We hope you will receive our verification cards soon. That’s all from us for today’s Letter Box. Remember that you can listen to us again at anytime on our website www.vovworld.vn.

A: We welcome to feedback at our station: English Section, Overseas Service, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Good bye until next time.