Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, a weekly feature dedicated to our listeners throughout the world. We are Ngoc Huyen and Phuong Khanh.
A: First on our show today, we’d like to welcome Guido Schotmans of Belgium to VOV. In an email to VOV this week, Mr. Schotmans wrote: “It looks like I heard your station Voice of Vietnam here in Belgium. No, not via the Internet, but going the traditional way via the airwaves. It might look old-fashion trying to listen to a distant station while you can enjoy good quality streaming audio, but listening to a distant station on a real radio gives you a thrill that never goes away”.
B: Mr. Schotmans, thank you for tuning in to our broadcasts. We’ll send you our frequency list and program schedule to help you tune in to the right frequency of shortwave broadcasting of the Voice of Vietnam. We hope to hear more from you.
A: We’d like to welcome back to our show John Rutledge of the US. In a letter to VOV, John wrote: “Thank you for your broadcasts. I still enjoy them and listen on a regular basis. I don’t have much to say. I’m in Guangzhou enjoying my vacation and so I decided to check out your broadcasts. Excellent as always. I did have programs one day, but simply switched broadcast times to hear the program”.
B: John, thank you for your detailed reception reports dated October 3, 4 and 5. We’ll confirm them with QSL cards. This week, we received a letter from Roger Roussel of Canada with a beautiful postcard of a light house near his place in the country and a “verification card” of his show. They are amazing! We’ll post their images on our website, so you can check them out!
A: Roger listened to our broadcast on October 3 from 0100 to 0127 UTC, and October 4 from 0006UTC to 0028 UTC on the frequency of 7315 khz and rated SINPO at 45444 for both programs.
B: He wrote: “I am always happy to listen to your very interesting and well presented radio broadcasts. For me it is with great pleasure that I listen to your radio station. Keep up the great job. Received from Canada my best regards”.
A: This week, Yukihiro Yuasa of Japan sent us a reception report on a VOV broadcast on October 20 from 13:28 to 13:57 on the frequency of 12019.17 khz. Yukihiro asked about popular music in Vietnam.
B: Well, it will take hours or even days to talk about popular music in Vietnam. But in today’s program, we will introduce you to singer Thuy Chi, who found fame through YouTube and social networks. Thuy Chi has been playing piano since the age of 6. She recently graduated from the Vietnam National Academy of Music.
A: She started to gain national attention with her hit “A noon dream”, followed by Bicycle, City, and recently Don’t let me go, which earned No.1 on the prestigious music charts for weeks. Thanks to her high-pitched, warm and emotional voice, she captured the audience prize in the annual songwriting awards Vietnamese Song at the end of 2008 and was included on the list of the 10 most liked singers at the Blue Wave music ceremony in 2009.
B: Born into a family with her parents involved in art, she had an aptitude for music when studying piano at the age of 6, with the dream of being a piano teacher in the future. 3 years later, she enrolled at the Hanoi academy of music and appeared in music shows on VTV and the Vietnamese Song show. She built her fame by performing songs on the Internet.
A: Let’s enjoy “A noon dream”, a beautiful song by Thuy Chi.
B: That was “A noon dream” by Thuy Chi. Chi is currently working as a piano teacher at the Sol Art center.
A: Soobin Hoang Son is also a popular Vietnamese singer and songwriter, who rose to fame after becoming the runner-up in The Remix 2016. Songwriter and producer Nguyen Hai Phong, one of the judges, spoke highly of Soobin Hoang Son’s talent, saying that he was the role model artist that young audiences should admire.
B: Born into an artistic family, Soobin found his love of music at the early age. The first musical instrument that he learned to play was the Vietnamese monochord. At the age of five, he was on tour in Russia and Korea when his father was a monochord player.
A: As well as the monochord, Soobin is also keen on playing the organ. He has also impressed audiences with his acting abilities. In his first musical movie "Beyond the top", he acted as a young artist who encountered many difficulties but still held on to his singing passion. His efforts paid off, both in the movie and in reality.
B: So far, Soobin has composed nearly 30 songs and 'La la la' is the latest hit released by this talented singer-songwriter. Enjoy!
A: That was Lalala by Soobin Hoang Son, a popular Vietnamese singer. Let’s continue with other letters from our listeners around the world.
B: Well, now I have a letter from Paul Walker of the US and a beautiful postcard with a picture of his village. It’s really beautiful and impressive. Sharing his passion about shortwave, Paul wrote: “Thank you for continuing to broadcast on shortwave. I enjoy some of your news, features, learning about Vietnam and of course, the listeners segment. Thank you for always replying to my emails and sending QSL cards. Keep up the good work.”
A: Also sharing his passion about shortwave broadcasts, Richard Nowak of the US sent us detailed reception report on our programs on November 3rd on the frequency of 7315 and rated SINPO at all 3s. Hi, Richard. It’s great to be on air with you again. The visit to your amazing house in Florida remains fresh in my mind. To be honest, I’m really impressed with your collection of radio sets. I really look forward to seeing you someday in Hanoi.
B: We’d like to thank Hannu Kiiski of Finland for sending us beautiful stamps and reception reports for VOV programs on October 6 on different frequencies with the signal quality ranging from fair to good. We’ll send you QSL cards to confirm your reports.
A; We’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Richard Lemke of Canada, Hermant Kumar and SB Sharma of India, Tjang Pak Ning of Indonesia, Malik Allah Bachaya Khokhar of Pakistan, Peter Ng of Malaysia, and Toshiya Nishimura of Japan. We’ll verify your reports with QSL cards.
B: That’s all for today’s Letter Box. We welcome your feedback at: English section, VOV World Service, Radio the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. You can email us at englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can here both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time.