A: We’d like to begin today’s Letter Box by acknowledging our loyal listener Abdulkarim Ahmed Ali of Libya, who lost contact with us for a long time. In the past week, Mr. Ali submitted several letters in a row, in which he explained the reason he has been silent for almost a year: “I apologize for my discontinuance to correspond with you because of war circumstances and the stopping of all communications services as ordered by the former regime in an effort to prevent rebels from communicating with each other. The strong determination and will of the Libyan rebels toppled and achieved glorious victory over the dictatorial regime and liberated the Libyan people and brought them to real freedom”.
B: We’re relieved to learn that you and your family are still safe and sound after the war. We hope the situation in your country will soon stabilize and that the Libyan people will enter a new era of growth. Vietnam is considering sending its guest workers back to Libya, who were brought home because of the fighting there. We hope the relationship between our 2 peoples will continue to flourish.
A: By the way, please note that our broadcast has now gone online at www.vovworld.vn or www.vov5.vn. You can log on to our website to read text or hear a recording whenever you’re working in the desert, where you said our radio programming seems hard to pick up. We’ll send you our QSL for the reception reports, our latest program guide and some promotional materials. We look forward to hearing from you again soon.
B: This week, we had an opportunity to explore parts of the UK through some spectacular postcards provided by British listeners. Christopher Stacey of East Sussex enclosed in his letter a postcard showing the 530-foot Beachy Head, the highest chalk cliff in Britain. The majestic cliff, which looks like a vertical wall, jutting into the sea, is 4 km from Mr. Stacey’s apartment. It’s his favorite bird-watching place.
A: Meanwhile, listener Ian Stagg wrote: “I’ve recently heard your radio station for the first time and enjoyed it very much. I’m very interested in the features on agriculture and the musical instruments used in your traditional music. I listened again the next night and was interested to hear about the success of sales of made-in-Vietnam products”.
B: Mr. Stagg lives in Northwich, a small town close to the cities of Chester and Manchester, which has a long history of salt manufacture and salt-based chemical industries. To give us an idea of how his hometown looks, Mr. Stagg sent a postcard featuring the beautiful Trent and Mersey canal, the Lion Salt Works and a stunning old post office in Witton street.
A: Welcome to the world of VOV D-xers, Mr. Stagg. Your name has been placed on our mailing list for future contact. You’ll receive a QSL card for your reception of our January 30 program and a broadcast schedule to help you tune in to our transmissions more easily. The scenes of Northwich are very impressive, particularly the gorgeous Penny Black post office with its unique decoration. It’s a perfect structure, from the overall design to the mix of colors on the wall.
A: Until our program guide arrives in your mail box, we’d like to brief you on our weekly features: Vietnam’s Land and People on Monday, Society and Business on Tuesday, Letter Box on Wednesday, Economy and Discovery Vietnam on Thursday, Rural and Culture on Friday, the weekend music session on Saturday and the Sunday Show, which gives our audience insights into various aspects of Vietnam. So tune in for up-to-date information about our country and the world.
B: From the US state of Missouri, Clayton Engbers wrote on February 8: “I enjoy hearing your station on 6175 kHz. Your signal comes in very good here in St. Louis. I look forward to your Letter Box program each week. I collect stamps from your country. Please keep your broadcast on shortwave”.
A: Thank you very much for your remarks, Mr. Engbers. Shortwave broadcast remains one of the most important information channels for a national radio station like VOV. We see no reason to discontinue our SW transmission, particularly when we have avid listeners like you and our many other loyal fans around the world, who have been a great source of inspiration and encouragement to us. Thank you all again. We’ll doour best to live up to your expectations.
B: Another American listener, Alan Anderson of Massachusetts reported catching our January 3 show with the following remarks: “I taped this program to keep for the years to come. It’ll become a great reference to check the progress of your country in the future. What a unique and fantastic idea using university graduates as deputy leaders in poor communes of your country. These young people are excited and have fresh thoughts at this age. But you should interface older people with hands-on skills and trades learned through many years of hard work into your program. They bring another component to the table, how to deal with life’s setbacks that everybody faces at some point. Fear can be greatly eased if one can turn to a person who has already dealt with poverty, lack of education or severe tragedy.”
A: We’re really moved by your strong interest in our country, Mr. Anderson. We can’t agree with you more about your recommendations. Young intellectuals are well educated but may lack the practical skills to deal with complicated circumstances. The program to recruit 600 young talented intellectuals to oversee and guide communes in poor districts is being carried out on a trial basis until 2017. The selected candidates are appointed deputy chairs of poor localities to co-support the existing deputy chairs. After 2 months of training in theory, the candidates are sent to their host localities for one month to acquire practical experience. The sound knowledge of the new leaders will be an excellent adjunct to the deep experience of the existing chairs and deputy chairs. As it’s still just a pilot program, public suggestions and comments are always much appreciated.
B: Regarding your question about our Prime Minister’s economic plan that you heard on January 3, we’re afraid that we can only give you excerpts of his message through our broadcast and website. But you can surf the internet for the full text, to be specific, the website of our Ministry of Planning and Investment at www.mpi.gov.vn. We hope you find the information you want.