A: Welcome to VOV’s Letter Box. This feature airs every Wednesday. This week a Christmas atmosphere is starting to be felt in Vietnam. Temporarily putting off aside their economic woes, Vietnamese people, especially Christians, are eagerly preparing for Christmas.
B: Although a predominantly Buddhist country, Vietnam celebrates Chrismast still as one of its four main annual religious festivals along with Lunar New Year, the mid-autumn festival, and Buddha’s birthday. It’s a huge event and Christmas Eve is a grand party when the fun-loving and sociable Vietnamese, whether Christian or not, celebrate with gusto.
A: In Vietnam these days you’ll see a big nativity scene with life-sized statues of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds and animals set up in front of every major church including Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City, Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Hanoi.
B: Sparkling lights adorn on trees on the street and the fronts of houses, turning certain areas into Christmas villages. Shop signs advertise Christmas sales, and in Hanoi a piercing cold has prompted people to bundle up.
A: For older Vietnamese people, Christmas is an event of little significance but youths, especially in major cities, like to go to the city centre where there is a Catholic Cathedral. The streets are crowded with people on Christmas Eve and cars are not allowed for the night from the city centre.
B: People celebrate by throwing confetti, taking pictures, and enjoying the Christmas decorations and lights at big hotels and department stores. Lots of cafes and restaurants are open for people to enjoy a snack! In general, Christmas is a time for people to party.
B: You’re listening to VOV’s Letter Box, broadcast every Wednesday. The song you just heard was Chirstmas time is in the air again.We hope you enjoyed that tune. Now let’s check out letters and emails we received during the week. First, we’d like to say hello to Victor Lu who is studying Spanish session at Zhejiang Yuexiu University of Foreign Languages in Shaoxing City, China.
A: Lu wrote that although he’s learning Spanish, he also listens to the VOV’s English programs, which can be heard on 9840 kHz. He sometimes also visits our websites in English and Chinese in order to get information about Vietnam.
B: Lu, it’s nice to meet you and hear that you enjoy learning Spanish despite its difficult grammar as you mentioned in your letter. We think we can help you, as VOV has broadcasts in Spanish on the radio and also on our website. You can improve your Spanish listening and writing skills. We hope you’ll keep listening to our English programs, too. Good luck, Lu!
A: One more thing, Lu: we’ll forward your letter to our Spanish section. Now let’s check some more letters. Miss Karobi Hazarika, a regular VOV listener in Golaghat, Assam, India, wrote that she was quite moved listening to our Society feature last Tuesday on the frequency of 9550 kHz at 16.14 UTC. That feature was about how HIV/AIDS patients are treated and cared for at Dong Da Hospital in Hanoi.
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| Health worker provides consultancy to HIV patients (Source: VNA) |
B: We agree with you, Karobi, when you say these doctors and nurses are doing a great job. Everyone admires what they have done for HIV/AIDS patients so far. Last year 34 million people around the world were living with HIV, 69% of them are sub-Saharan Africa. Southeast Asia has 4 million people with HIV. It’s a shocking figure!
A: The good news is that more Vietnamese HIV-positive patients with high T-cell counts have access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, which has become less expensive. Patients with a minimum of 500 CD4, what is more commonly known as T-cells, have access to ARV drugs.
B: The focus is currently on pregnant women, but in the future Vietnam plans to use ARV drugs on all HIV patients regardless of their T-cell count.
A: Very recently, VN’s National Assembly passed a new Law on the Handling of Administrative Sanctions which effectively ends the practice of detaining sex workers in administrative detention centres known as ‘05’ centres. The Law also allows drug users who are subject to compulsory treatment in drug detoxification centres to have court hearings on their cases and legal representation in court.
B: Tony Lisle, UNAIDS country coordinator for Viet Nam, says by closing administrative detention centres for sex workers and changing compulsory closed drug detoxification centres into open, community-based drug treatment services can greatly improves HIV prevention services for people in VN who are at higher risk for.
A: But the closure of these centers has many people worrying about how HIV patients will find suitable jobs as a way to re-integrate into society. Since the law’s passage, UNAIDS and other UN agencies have been providing support for new regulations and adjustments to existing policies that are needed for the Administrative Sanctions Law to be put into practice.
B: Dear VOV listeners, we want you to know how happy we are to receive your prompt feedback. It means a lot to us. In every Letter Box segment, we do our best to mention as many of you as possible. If you don’t hear your name on air, it doesn’t mean we forgot you. We’ll get to it sooner or later! We hope you understand and will keep listening to our programs.
A: We also try to send verification cards, souvenirs, stickers, and pennants as soon as possible to all listeners. So don’t worry, you’ll all receive something soon!
B: On every Letter Box show, we try to mention as many listeners as possible, so welcome, Rodrio Renacia of International Listening Post Davao SW Radio Listeners Club in Davao City, Philippines: Scott Carrell of Knoxville, USA; Hazarika D of SW-DXer’s Club in Assam, India; and regular listener Dewan Rafiqul Islam, President of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, ……These listeners sent us letters or emails with reports of the English programs they heard and comments on technical aspects and program content. We greatly appreciate this feedback.
A: Dear listeners, your reception reports were all complete enough for us to send you letters of confirmation. If your name wasn’t mentioned this week, don’t feel left out. We’ll try to acknowledge you next time.
B: That’s it for today’s Letter Box. Please keep in touch. We look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions. Our contact address is:
The English program,
Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam,
45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
B: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. If you miss any of our programs, you can always catch up by logging onto our website at: www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live broadcasts and previously recorded programs.
A&B: Bye!!!!!!
Bao Tram