Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, our weekly feature dedicated to listeners throughout the world. We are Mai Phuong and Ngoc Huyen.
A: First of all, we would like to inform you of frequency changes for our summer broadcasts as of March 31. Listeners in Europe, Central America and the Caribbean, and Eastern America, please take note of the following changes.
B: VOV’s relayed broadcast from Moosbrunn, Woofferton, and Dhabayya to Europe at 17:00 UTC is now on 9625 kHz. Our broadcast from Woofferton, and Cypress Creek to Eastern US at 01:00 UTC and 02:30 UTC is on 12005 khz, and to Central America and the Caribbean at 03:00 UTC is on 6175 kHz.
A: We have sent listeners our latest frequency lists by emails and post. We hope they will arrive soon. You can also find these changes on our website at www.vovworld.vn.
B: Today, according to the lunar calendar, is the 10th day of March, when Vietnamese people celebrate the death anniversary of the Hung Kings, the founders of the nation. Festive activities to mark the occasion are underway in the northern province of Phu Tho.
Worshiping ritual at Hung Kings' death anniversary |
A: According to legend, the northern province of Phu Tho, thousands of years ago, was the place where the Dragon Father and the Fairy Mother got married. She gave birth to a pouch containing 100 eggs which hatched to produce 100 children. The eldest child became King. He built his capital there and named his Kingdom Van Lang. Phu Tho province is today seen as the Vietnamese people’s ancestral land and the original place of the Hung Kings’ worship.
B: Hung Kings’ worship appeared early in history. A stone pillar erected on Nghia Linh mountain in the reign of King Thuc Phan – also called An Duong Vuong - between 257 and 208 BC records that under the witness of Heaven, the Vietnamese people pledged to worship at the Hung Kings’ temple forever and defend the country handed down to them by the Hung Kings.
Procession at Hung Kings' death anniversary |
A: Down through the centuries, each generation acknowledged the importance of the Hung Kings and their role in founding the Vietnamese nation. According to Professor Ngo Duc Thinh, Director of the Vietnam Belief Culture Research and Preservation Centre, worshiping the ancestors is a tradition of the family and clan. In Vietnam, it has developed into the worship ritual of the Hung Kings, the founders of the nation.
B: The worship of the Hung Kings since the nation’s early days demonstrates the Vietnamese people’s commitment to upholding traditional cultural and spiritual values. The festival commemorating the deaths of the Hung Kings helps to preserve the nation’s age-old cultural traditions. And according to UNESCO, it reflects Vietnam’s tradition of expressing gratitude to our ancestors.
A: These days, particularly on the 10th day of March on the lunar calendar when the main ritual takes place, the Hung Kings’ temple is packed with people from around the country who come to pay tribute to the founders of the nation.
B: The Hung Kings’ death anniversary has a special place in the hearts of close to 90 million Vietnamese people at home and 4.5 million more overseas, and its value will continue to be a source of strength, helping Vietnam advance in the new era.
A: Last week, we received a lot of letters and emails from our listeners throughout the world. Through your letters, we discovered that the number of D’xers is increasing. There are a lot of D’xing clubs around the world.
A: From the US, Henry Zapatka sent us a letter to share his interest in shortwave and tell us that he has bought a new Tescun PL 660 radio and has begun listening to shortwave again. Henry, we’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your report. Please, keep tuning into.
B: We’re happy to have received a greeting card from Mr. Robert Krolikowski of the US. Thank you for your warm words for us and our programs.
A: John Cooper of the US reported listening to VOV broadcasts from Woofferton, England, on March 16 from 2:33 TO 3:00 UTC on a frequency of 6175. John wrote: “I really enjoyed listening to Voice of Vietnam. I liked the story about markets and found it interesting. I don’t always report to your station but I do listen weekly”.
B: Thank you for tuning in to our broadcasts. Your reception report is very useful for our engineers to improve the broadcast quality.
A: We’d like to confirm a reception report from Abdulkarim Ahmed Ali of Libya, who listened to our broadcast on November 7, 2013. We think that there were some postal problems that resulted in the delayed arrival of your letter to VOV. Thank you anyway for your New Year greetings and beautiful flower postcard.
B: SB Sharma of India shared his interest in listening to a VOV program about digital books, E libraries, and E learning in Vietnam. He wrote: “E books are very informative and popular now, but reading printed books is still more comfortable. Due to the enhancement of technology, E book lovers outnumber physical book lovers”.
A: We agree with you in this regard. E-technology has developed rapidly globally and dominated all aspects of life, including reading. In Vietnam, a number of activities have been organized to promote printed book reading. We have organized an annual Book and Reading Culture Festival that attracts a large audience and we observe World Reading Day and Copyright Day on April 23rd. We also plan to organize a Vietnam Book Day nationwide to promote reading among students who are the largest segment of readers. Vietnam Book Day will be held for the first time on April 21st.
15,000 book titles in various fields introduced to readers during 2013 free book festival
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B: Michael John of the UK said he has been listening to VOV on shortwave everyday for months and described Vietnam as the Land of Beauty. Michael said the Sunday show and Letter Box are his favorite, but he also follows VOV’s culture snippets, news and current affairs.
A: Thank you. Michael for your very nice comments about VOV, which encourage us a lot to continue our broadcasts on shortwave.
B: Last but not least on today’s Letter Box, we’d like to confirm reception reports from Paul Hayes, a member of the British DX club, Alan Fenix of the US, Debakamal Hazarika, NS Balamurali and Debanjan Chakraborty of India, John Mendyka of Germany, Gery Clark of the UK, Carol Imbeault of Canada, Pampouhidis Anastasios of Greece, Alesseandro Errichetti and Scaglione Massimo of Italy, Alsemo de Paula Camargo of Brazil, and Fumito Hokamura and Yoshikazu Suzuki of Japan.
A: We greatly appreciate your feedbacks and comments on the technical aspects of our program. We’ll confirm them with QSL cards soon.
B: We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time.