 Thank you Amir Jameel for the beautiful e-card |
B: We’re deeply grateful for all the love you've shown us and continue to show. Since the previous Letter Box we’ve received many heartfelt New Year's wishes and messages from listeners. Today we’d like to read some of those messages.
A: Johnny Ramirez Lopez of Peru said: “Thank you, dear VOV, for giving us in 2023 many valuable experiences well written in the heart. I have learned very interesting and important things about your country through your objective, critical, and thoughtful information, whose purpose is to build better people who live together in harmony, cordiality, and mutual respect in order to build a more fraternal, integral, green, fair, and dignified world for all.”
B: Johnny, who is a teacher, told us: “Many of your radio programs have inspired me in my educational work and you will continue to inspire me for many more years. Even when I retire and leave the classroom, you will continue to motivate me. Thanks to your beautiful and interesting programs on Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups and their cultural colors, my students and I have learned to value and love more our own wise native cultures.”
A: He continued: “Thank you also for your daily digital newspaper from Hanoi. From your news and Current Affairs, we can find out how Vietnam and the world are advancing. I’m always thoughtful about the global problems discussed. The discussion enriches me and prompts me to discuss the issues with my colleagues, students, and family. Thank you, and congratulations to your 13 foreign language services. Success always!”
B: Now we’d like to play a voice message from Rabi Sankar Bosu, founder and President of the New Horizon Radio Listeners’ Club in West Bengal, India, and the winner of VOV’s 2020 writing contest “What do you know about Vietnam?”
A: Ding Lu of China told us that the New Year message delivered by VOV’s President made him feel very encouraged. Vietnam's remarkable achievements in 2023 were inspiring, he said, and he believes Vietnam's progress in the New Year will be even more remarkable.
B: I have here an email from Amir Jameel, President of the VOV Online Visitors Club in Sahiwal, Pakistan. He said: “I hope that in 2024 VOV’s English Service will maintain its popularity, further improve its daily programs, and strengthen its connections with its worldwide audience.”
A: We love your e-card and will post it on our website. There are so many New Year messages that we can’t read them all on air, but we’d like to thank everyone with a New Year song.
 We thank Ashik Eqbal Tokon for the e-card |
B: In Costa Rica, Joandric Ávila Fernández tuned in to VOV’s shortwave program on December 24th and 26th on the frequency of 9840 kHz and rated SINPO 34433. He attached audio files to confirm his reception.
A: Joandricsaid he hopes these reports will help VOV’s broadcast return to the Americas.
B: “I’m 18 years old and study Political Science at university,” he said. “On vacation I’m a DXer on shortwave.
I’m very pleased to hear about the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, because it’s a country that’s not well-known here, and that’s why I believe it’s necessary to learn more about your beautiful and wonderful country. Thank you for your commitment to radio listeners.”
 Thank you M Saleem Akhtar Chadhar for the card |
A: In the previous Letter Box we talked about Tet, Vietnam’s traditional Lunar New Year celebration. This year the lunar New Year will fall on February 10th, which is about 5 weeks away. Many of our listeners want to learn more about Tet customs.
B: Sok Kim Heng of Cambodia asked how kumquat villages prepare for Tet, because he knows that kumquats are traditionally associated with Tet.
A: Kumquat trees symbolize prosperity, fertility, and fruitfulness because they are heavily laden with fruit. The more fruit a kumquat tree has, the more luck it will bring to the owner who displays it in his home at Tet. A kumquat tree laden with fruit makes a house seem brighter and warmer, and fills the house with the pleasant aroma of kumquat.
 A big kumquat bonsai for Tet (photo: dangcongsan.vn) |
B: In recent years, gardeners have come up with the idea of planting kumquats in a tall vase, porcelain statue, or ceramic pot to create a beautiful work of art. Small plants are suitable for tight spaces in apartments and offices. The shape of the tree and pot can be customized for feng shui or to suit personal taste.
A: The perfect kumquat tree should have 4 things: leaves, buds, flowers, and fruit. The shape of the tree and pot should support the wish for smooth sailing, success, good health, longevity, and prosperity.
B: Large kumquat trees require year after year of meticulous care and careful tending so that they bear fruit just in time for Tet. Mini bonsai kumquat trees grown in small pots are popular because they’re sized for a small apartment or office.
A: Tu Lien village is the largest kumquat village in Hanoi. Two or three weeks before Tet, it will be bustling with people coming to order kumquat trees.
B: The village has been made fertile by the accumulation of alluvial soil from the Red River. In the past people here mainly grew corn, potatoes, peanuts, and cassava. Since the renewal period that began 30 years ago, Tu Lien has shifted to growing kumquat trees for Tet.
A: Tu Lien kumquat trees are famous for their unusual shapes. Every Tet customers come here ready to pay tens of millions of VND for a beautiful kumquat tree to decorate their home.
 Small kumquat pots are for a small apartment or office. (photo: dangconsan.vn) |
B: Van Giang district, Hung Yen province, adjacent to Hanoi grows 200 hectares of ornamental kumquats shaped like a pyramid, a dragon, a mother and her child, and more abstract things. A month before Tet, most of these trees have been wholesaled to traders.
B: Dong Hoa is a famous ornamental kumquat village in Thai Binh province, about 100 km from Hanoi. Skilled horticulturists grow lush kumquat trees which can live a long time after they’re sold, if properly cared for. Dong Hoa supplies kumquat trees to many other northern and central provinces, including Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, and Nghe An.
A: Kumquat trees and peach blossoms are essential Tet items. Even poor families try to acquire a small kumquat tree or a branch of peach blossoms for Tet, because these items carry the wish for a brighter future.
B: Thank you all for your interest in VOV, for sharing your love of our country, and for sending us your feedback. We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVWorld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam.
B: Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye!