Tet flower street in Vietnam’s southern province to offer air balloon view — Talk Vietnam

Tet flower street in Vietnam’s southern province to offer air balloon view

February 16, 2015

Visitors to the annual flower street held in celebration of the Lunar New Year, or Tet in Vietnamese, in a southern province will be able to view it from above the sky with a maiden hot air balloon service to be inaugurated tonight, February 16.

Two big air balloons will be in service to allow visitors to enjoy the beautiful flowers from 30 meters above the ground, according to Tran Dang Ninh, director of the Tran Bien Temple of Literature, the organizer of the event in Dong Nai Province, around 40km from Ho Chi Minh City.

“Each balloon can serve three to four passengers, and a journey lasts for five to seven minutes, enough time for visitors to take aerial photos,” Ninh was quoted by Dong Nai newspaper as saying.

The hot air balloon will be controlled by a foreign professional crew.

The Tran Bien flower street is running from February 16 to 24, or the 28^th day of the current lunar year to the sixth day of the next one at the Temple of Literature in the provincial capital city of Bien Hoa, according to the newspaper.

This is the third time Dong Nai organizes the flower street. The event this year is held under a series of activities to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of the foundation of the Tran Bien Temple of Literature.

Built in 1715, Tran Bien is one of several such temples in Vietnam that honor Confucius, along with sages and scholars.

Themed “Dong Nai Spring,” the 1.2km street features models and decorations that reflect the province’s history, culture, and people.

Visitors to the VND11 billion (US$512,629) event will also be treated to many music and culinary activities.

The Ho Chi Minh City street flower, now in its 11^th year, will also kick off tonight in the city’s downtown. This year’s flower street, themed “Vietnamese Identity and Spirit,” will run for seven days.

Today is the 28th day of the lunar year, meaning the Vietnamese Tet, the country’s largest public holiday, is only three days away.

Below are some photos taken at the Tran Bien flower street by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

Tet flower street in Vietnam’s southern province to offer air balloon view — Talk Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City to open tourist bus route 6 miles .19 cents

Ho Chi Minh City to open tourist bus route 

Last Updated: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 09:00:00

Vietnamese singers and movie stars boarding a bus to Ho Chi Minh City's Binh Tay Market to promote public transportation

The Ho Chi Minh City Transport Department announced Wednesday it will open a bus route connecting major tourist attractions in the city center on September 15.
Bus number 127 will stop at major tourism destinations like the Reunification Palace on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden and several museums in downtown area, said Van Cong Diem, deputy director of the city's Center for Management and Operation of Public Passenger Transport.
The bus will depart from Ben Thanh Bus Station at the Quach Thi Trang roundabout, located across from Ben Thanh Market and September 23rd Park and just a few minutes walking distance from the “westerner quarter” -- a neighborhood filled with hotels and foreign eateries centered on Pham Ngu Lao Street in District 1.
The route is 9.8 kilometers (6 miles) and takes 35 minutes to complete.
The line will run from 5:30 a.m. to 8:12 p.m. with 8-10 minutes between each bus.
Pham Thanh Kien, deputy chairman of District 1 People’s Committee, said ten new buses with automatic ticket selling systems will be used on the route.
The buses are also designed to serve handicapped passengers in wheelchairs.
Tickets will cost VND4,000 ($0.19) for the whole route or VND90,000 for a monthly pass.

Sex toys, aphrodisiacs: Profits rise as condom shops expand range of products

salesman at a Ho Chi Minh City condom shop holds forth on an aphrodisiac made in India to a customer

A man steps into a condom shop in Ho Chi Minh City and, without a murmur, coughs up US$100 for a vibrator.

This is becoming an increasingly common sight in the city, as more condom shops have begun to sell sex toys and aphrodisiacs on the side.

The problem is they are unauthorized, smuggled from overseas through dealers.

“If a shop only sells condoms, it will definitely make losses,” Tuoi Tre quoted the owner of HT shop on Ten Lua Street, Binh Tan District, as saying.

"Condom shops these days sell all kinds of toys."

A man known only as Ngoc, a distributor of condoms and other products, said: “It costs VND20-30 million (US$960-1,440) to open a condom shop. But if you can cleverly add other products, you just need two generous customers a day to earn millions of dongs.”

Tuoi Tre reporters, who went to many condom shops pretending to be looking for jobs, found that some made profits of dozens of million dongs a month.

Most shops mark up the prices of the toys and other stuff by up to seven or eight times.

For instance, they buy Viagra at VND35,000 ($1.68) for a pack of four capsules and sell to customers at VND220,000 ($10).

Pham Kim Binh, chief inspector at the city Department of Health, said aphrodisiacs and erectile dysfunction drugs have to be prescribed by doctors while their distributors must get licenses from the Ministry of Health.

But the lure of massive profits has seen many people open condom shops.

Tuan, the owner of a shop on Pham The Hien Street, District 8, said the shop usually has its doors open only a fraction when there are customers so that they do not worry about being spotted by someone.

Ngoc, the distributor, suggests to shop keepers that they should only display products meant for external use since they attract lighter penalties if detected by authorities.

“But products that have to be consumed can expose the sellers to severe punishment and so should be hidden away,” he said.

The shops mostly get customers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., with few turning up during the day. Some are in their 60s and 70s.

Truong, another distributor, said most products are smuggled from China and Malaysia, and dealers are not clear about their origins themselves.

“Customers should be lucky to get a good product. I just hope they don’t pose a threat to their life."

A shop owner admitted candidly that most aphrodisiacs for women have little effect. “But the customers just have to put up with it. They can’t make a fuss since it is just embarrassing for them [to be buying the stuff].”

The profits and demand mean the sex toys business is in robust health. The only annoyance is the occasional police bust like the one on May 24 when a truck was caught unloading several vibrators and aphrodisiacs in District 6

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | 13th HIV case detected in Mekong Delta commune

Another HIV case was detected in a tiny Mekong Delta commune where 12 men have already tested positive for the deadly virus, according to the Ben Tre Province HIV/AIDS Prevention Center.

A 60-year-old man, identified only by his initials P.V.O., is the 13th HIV patient in Mo Cay Nam District's Ngai Dang Commune, announced the center on Friday.

According to the center, O. felt ill and went to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City where he tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

So far, Vietnamese doctors have been unable to determine why and how 12 men from the same Mekong Delta commune contracted HIV.

Dr Tran Tan Dat, director of the Ben Tre Province center, told Voice of Vietnam (VOV) radio last month that there was no solid evidence proving how the men in Ngai Dang acquired the virus.

Most of them have had HIV for at least five years and four of them are now showing signs of full-blown AIDS. Dat also rejected allegations made by the men that Do Van Be, a retired nurse who runs an unlicensed medical clinic at his house in Phu Dang Hamlet, gave them HIV through his needles. Dat said the claim was "baseless." 

The earliest any of the 12 men had received injections at Be’s clinic was two years ago, though they have had HIV for at least five years, Dat said. He also argued that Be had provided injections for dozens, if not hundreds, of men, women and children who have not acquired the virus.

The commune attracted public attention after local media ran stories in May about the 12 male residents, aged 20 to 62, who were all found carrying HIV.

The case came to light when Nguyen Van Chien, 58, went to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for kidney treatment in January and was told he had HIV, according to Tien Phong newspaper.

After returning home, Chien assumed that he had contracted the virus via injections from Be, the retired nurse. He informed other villagers of the news and they went to hospitals in HCMC and Ben Tre Province to have their blood tested.

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Doctors puzzled by Mekong Delta HIV cases

Eleven other men tested positive for the virus, six of them from one family – Huynh Van Hong, his two sons, two nephews and a cousin.

The Ben Tre Province AIDS Prevention Center then conducted tests on 31 residents in Ngai Dang, and the results once again confirmed that the 12 men had HIV.

The men insisted that they did not use drugs or have sex with anyone but their wives, all of whom have tested negative for the virus.

The men blamed Be for re-using needles on them, but the retired nurse denied the charge, saying he uses disposable syringes.

According to some doctors, the number of HIV patients in Ngai Dang may be even higher than 13 as many residents have not tested for HIV, and some who may have tested positive may not have publicized the results.

| Foreigners unaware of Vietnam’s new tax refund

Foreigners inquire about Vietnam’s new tax refund policy at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport

Vietnam started issuing value added tax refunds to foreign visitors on July 1 but so far, no foreigners have taken advantage of the service being offered at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports.
Customs staff members said the message has not been well delivered and tourism agencies need to spread the word more effectively.
A customs employee in charge of the refund booth at Tan Son Nhat Airport told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon that a few foreigners have stopped by to inquire about the service, but none have used it.
Tran The Dung, deputy director of The He Tre Tourism Company in Ho Chi Minh City, said many foreign visitors in Vietnam want tax refunds and described the policy as a “good” one.
“But the most important thing is to make the process quick and simple. Several countries have made their visitors wait too long [at airports] for the refunds, turning the service into a burden,” Dung said.
So far, only eight companies have registered for the scheme, including one in Hanoi. Most of them sell garment products. Together they have 46 retail outlets where foreigners can receive the tax break, including stores at the Rex Hotel, the Crescent Mall and the Tax Shopping Mall in HCMC.

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Vietnam to refund VAT to foreigners from July 1

The Finance Ministry plan is an experiment scheduled to run through June of 2014, giving tax refunds to foreigners and overseas Vietnamese with foreign passports, who submit valid receipts worth at least VND2 million for goods purchased within the previous 30 days.
They will receive 85 percent of the value added tax with the remainder going toward service fees. The refund will be in Vietnamese dong and can be converted to alternate currencies immediately upon demand.
Vietcombank, Maritime Bank, Vietinbank, BIDV have been selected to handle the refunds.

Vietnam latest news - Thanh Nien Daily | Emirates offers Moscow – Dubai – HCMC flights

Emirates offers Moscow – Dubai – HCMC flights 

Last Updated: Saturday, July 14, 2012 12:25:00

The United Arab Emirates’ airline Emirates is offering Moscow – Dubai – Ho Chi Minh City flights from now until September 30, Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.
For a round trip costing 21,000 rupees (nearly US$650), including taxes and other airport charges, passengers fly directly from Moscow to the Vietnamese southern metro.
On their return trip, they transit at Duai and stay there for one night with a free hotel room and airport pickup service, the report said.

Vietnam coffee premium shrinks as London futures prices advance | Look At Vietnam

Vietnam coffee premium shrinks as London futures prices advance 

July 5, 2012

Buyers of coffee from Vietnam, the world’s biggest grower of the robusta variety, are paying a smaller premium for their beans after futures prices in London climbed, according to trading company NC Group Ltd.
Vietnamese coffee for immediate shipment was at a premium of $5 to $10 a metric ton to the price of the September contract on the NYSE Liffe exchange in London, the trader said in a report e-mailed on Wednesday. That compares with $20 a ton on July 2. Robusta coffee for September delivery advanced 2.7 percent over the past week in London.
The “differential level eased back $10 to $15 due to the recent increase in the terminal price,” Nguyen Chi Cuong, chief executive officer at the company, which has a trading office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, wrote in the report.
Differentials refer to a premium or discount to obtain physical coffee in relation to the futures price.
Robusta futures climbed as arabica coffee advanced on speculation rains that are delaying the harvest in Brazil, the world’s biggest coffee producer, will damage the beans, lowering their quality. Arabica coffee rose 8.9 percent in the past week on ICE Futures US in New York.
“London coffee has almost become a forgotten uncle over the last few sessions as New York takes all the glory,” London- based futures and options broker Sucden Financial Ltd. said in a daily report e-mailed on Tuesday. “Gradually, robusta prices improved, almost reluctantly in New York’s shadow.”
Arabica coffee is grown mainly in Latin America and is favored for specialty drinks such as those made by Starbucks Corp. Robusta beans, harvested mainly in Asia and parts of Africa, are used for instant drinks and espresso.
NC Group was established in 2004 and trades natural rubber and coffee. The company sells 80,000 to 150,000 bags of coffee a year. Cuong was previously a coffee trader in Vietnam with Noble Group Ltd.

Bloomberg 

Vietnam woman delivers rare natural quadruplets 

June 30, 2012

 
Tran Thi Tinh’s four babies at the intensive care ward in HCMC’s Tu Du Hospital on June 26
A Mekong Delta woman gave birth to quadruplets, all girls, at Tu Du Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, the hospital said Tuesday.
Tran Thi Tinh, 31, of Dong Thap Province was admitted June 20.
The doctors decided to perform a C-section since they expected Tinh to delivery prematurely and she had prenatal convulsions.
She gave birth to four babies weighing 1.2-1.7 kilograms who have been placed in intensive care. Both babies and mother are reported to be doing well.
Tinh already has two children – a boy and a girl.
Dr Le Thi Cam Giang of Tu Du Hospital said it is not rare for a woman to deliver quadruplets in the case of in vitro fertilization, but it is rare in natural deliveries like Tinh’s.
“One in around 89 deliveries ends in the birth of twins, triplets are one in 7,921, and quadruplets, one in 704,969,” she said.
Since Tinh’s family is poor, some philanthropists have been raising money for her to support the children .
The hospital said it last delivered quadruplets in 2006.

By Vien An, Thanh Nien News  

I don’t want to set the world on fire | Look At Vietnam

I don’t want to set the world on fire 

June 24, 2012

I just want my Chaly to burn to cinders

At least 324 motorbikes have caught fire, in the past two years, and none of them have been mine.
Last month, researchers from the Ho Chi Minh City Refinery and Petrochemical Technology Research Center released a report citing the presence of ethanol and methanol in the town’s gasoline as the possible cause of mysterious vehicle fires.
The researchers noted a rise in the importation of cheap fuel additives into Vietnam and cautioned that these chemicals could cause leaks and excessive heat in automobile and motorcycle engines.
The report was hailed as to the first and only plausible explanation for the fires, but I found it lacking. After all, the authors had failed to mention my rusty Honda Chaly or its refusal to burst into flames.
I bought the bike because it seemed “cool.” By that I mean the bike was far too small to be driven by a grown man. Most of the paint had rusted off the body and the fenders had been replaced by pieces of white plastic.
I quickly learned that the notion of “coolness” doesn’t translate well here. Few things that qualify as “cool” in America could be considered tuyệt cú mèo (interesting owl). No Vietnamese owl, for example, would be caught dead on a dirty old Chaly.
After bringing laughter to stoplights all over town for a few weeks, I began to dream of getting rid of it. I had purchased the Chaly for just US$200 and doubted that I could find anyone to buy it. But my antiquated bike seemed like an ideal candidate for a fantastic vehicle fire – and what would interest an owl more than a daring motorbike blaze?
“Foreigner’s cool bike catches fire” the headlines would read. I might even get some sort of parade.
Early government reports had attributed the fires to arsonists. Naturally, I considered picking a fight with some arsonists. The problem was, I didn’t know any.


But, my bike looked like it would have no trouble catching fire all on its own. A tangled mass of old wiring poured out of the body and snaked into a dim headlight (the vehicles’ only functioning electrical feature), which turned off and on with the help of a jury-rigged orange light switch.
The filthy 49cc engine had the horsepower of roughly one sick pony — barely enough juice to shuttle a Japanese person from the 70’s around town, let alone a heavy American from the future and his frustrated passengers.
In an effort to overheat the tiny engine, I pushed the bike hard.
At full-throttle, the Chaly reached staggering speeds of up to 40kmh and emitted a pathetic high-pitched groan. After a few weeks of steady abuse, the engine began to leak a combination of oil and gasoline. A promising bouquet of fumes accompanied the drip and I began offering smokers free rides.
At the same time, I tried to keep the Chaly on a strict diet of dangerous additives, by buying all my fuel in plastic water bottles at shady roadside kiosks.
Sadly, nothing could get my Chaly to burst into flames. In the end, I felt like a fool. After all, my motorbike has been not catching fire since 1977. In recent weeks, I’ve stopped hoping for the immolation of the Chaly. Instead, we’ve come to a strange truce. After all, we can’t all be cool—owls be damned.

By Calvin Godfrey, Thanh Nien News (The story can be found in the June 8th issue of our print edition, Vietweek) 

Chinese men arrested while choosing wives at Vietnam hotel | Look At Vietnam

Police in Ho Chi Minh City arrested two local men and their Chinese clients in a hotel on June 19 for taking part in an illegal marriage brokerage, as the foreigners awaited to select brides.
Thong A Loc, 59, from HCMC, confessed to being the organizer while Su Chuc Man, 43, acted as a translator for the Chinese clients, Cen Yi Bin, 41, and Huang Hui Huang, 27, news website VnExpress reported Friday.
Loc said the two women were 18 and 23 years of age, hailing from the Mekong Delta’s Bac Lieu and Hau Giang Provinces and came to HCMC hoping to land jobs abroad.
They were brought to the hotel immediately after arriving at HCMC’s Mien Tay Bus Station.
One of the women strenuously refused to show her body to the Chinese men. Police broke in during the struggle.
Loc said he had organized many successful bride auctions, in which he received at least US$1,000 from each foreigner who selected a wife.
Investigations showed that Loc started the illegal marriage brokerage in late 2011, after serving three years in jail for sending women to work abroad as prostitutes.
Many Vietnamese women from poor families in the Mekong Delta have made national headlines for becoming the victims of beatings, some of which have been fatal, at the hands of their Taiwanese or South Korean husbands, who were either too old or poor to marry local women in those countries.

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Bride broker crackdown

The Vietnamese women married these men hoping for fairy tale lives. However, most of these arrangements do not go smoothly, plagued by language and cultural barriers.
In March this year, the South Korean consulate in Vietnam said that a Vietnamese woman was killed by her husband in South Korea.
Last year another Vietnamese woman was stabbed to death by her Korean husband. Similar tragedies were also reported in 2010 and 2007.

Official land prices far below real values, gov’t says | Look At Vietnam

Official land prices far below real values, gov’t says 

June 22, 2012

Downtown Ho Chi Minh City, where official land prices are set at VND81 million per square meter, far below their market value

The government says official land prices in urban areas are 40 to 70 percent lower than market value, admitting that the current pricing system is out of date with reality.
The highest official land prices, which are mainly used for tax purposes and site clearance compensation, are set at VND81 million per square meter, applied to some districts in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, according to a report sent to legislators this week. The maxium rate has been left unchanged since last year.
Only a few among 63 cities and provinces in the country hire consultants to help do their land pricing. Some provinces continued to keep a very wide price range for a certain area, leading to inconsistent, arbitrary decisions in different cases, the report said.
Vietnam now allows provincial authorities to set land valuations every year. The valuations, however, have to be based on a price frame introduced by the central government and are not allowed to exceed the frame’s maximum limit by 20 percent.

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Ministry pushes for freer land  pricing system Vietnam lawmakers want rapid adjustments to land laws

The Ministry of Finance earlier this year recommended that the government give each city and province more autonomy in deciding land prices, freeing them from the old system.
The government said in the new report that one of the priorities in the remaining months of 2012 is to introduce a new pricing system for next year.
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By Bao Cam, Thanh Nien News 

Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khanh passes away | Look At Vietnam

Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khanh passes away

June 12, 2012

Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khanh or Khanh Kao passed away after a prolonged illness on June 9.

Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khanh with People’s Artist Tra Giang, his loving daughter.

Born in 1918 in the central province of Quang Ngai, Khanh was deputy director of the Culture and Information Department and also chairman of the Cultural and Propaganda Association ‘Gold Star of the Military’ in Binh Thuan Province during the French War. He was also one of the first people to create films of the Vietnam sixth zone, and after his travels and completing of master’s degree he also worked in the eighth zone.
After the Geneva agreement he came to North Vietnam in 1954, which was a new milestone in his art career when he switched to drama and became theatre director and in charge of the Folk Group 5.
Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khanh with People’s Artist Tra Giang, his loving daughter.
A number of plays staged by him became very popular: Thoai Khanh; Chau Tuan; Nguyen Tuong Nhan, winner of a Gold Medal; Doi Chim Cheo Beo; Nguyen Van Niem, silver medal award winner; Bong Trang (white flowers); Nguyen Khac Phuc , winner of first theatrical prize in the South.
After 1975, he worked at the Ho Chi Minh City Theatre as a member of the Assembly Standing Committee and in charge of Drama Newspaper in the south.
As a kind man and talented artist, and despite his old age, he was still writing scripts for children, which were brought into theatres and   broadcast by Ho Chi Minh City Television and were highly appreciated.
With patriotism and sentimental attachment to the revolutionary cause for his entire life, Nguyen Van Khanh was always a good example for the younger generation and his students, including People’s Artist Tra Giang, his loving daughter.
Tra Giang has inherited her father’s talents and has scored many successes in both her drama and film career.
SGGP

A Mediterranean retreat in Ho Chi Minh city | Look At Vietnam

A Mediterranean retreat in Ho Chi Minh city 

May 15, 2012

The ground floor of Au Parc restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City Photo: To Van Nga.

Au Parc is one of the most elegant restaurants in one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most historic and beautiful areas near the Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace and the lovely April 30th Park.
The restaurant has an atmosphere of Parisian café with a touch of Mediterranean art. There are tables on the sidewalk outside the eatery facing the park and the ground floor is always a bit more crowded than upstairs.
Upstairs is divided into two dining rooms (smoking and non-smoking ). The non smoking room has vibrant Moroccan atmosphere with yellow walls, domes and colorful cushions, plus paintings featuring middle eastern ladies napping to avoid the heat outside.
But the best view belongs to the second upstairs dinning room.
There is a big glass wall-window offering sight of the park’s giant old trees and the grass below.
From this window, life in Saigon suddenly becomes more romantic as the small streets surrounding the park don’t teem with traffic the way they do in other parts of downtown.
From a distance, the motorbikes are almost swallowed by the park’s small forest of trees.
Sometimes I stay until late afternoon reading and writing, watching the light gradually disappear atop the trees to be finally replaced by the darkness of the peaceful evening.

Au Parc restaurant 23 Han Thuyen street, Ho Chi Minh City

In the afternoon, Au Parc is a quiet, perfect place to chill out with camellia tea or a coconut. The friendly staff fills my cup of water whenever the glass is empty.
Au Parc offers Mediterranean cuisine at reasonable prices. You can choose a two courses menu (VND190,000) or a three-course menu (VND230,000). One of my favorite three-course menus includes a lentil salad with roasted tomatoes and feta cheese, sea bass with fennel confit couscous and petit pois, and a cup of Earl Grey-flavored crème brulee.
Cuisine at Au Parc is a journey around Mediterranean countries. The restaurant’s highlights are a Greek salad with roasted tomatoes and feta (VND87,000-side, VND130,000-main); marinated lamb with chickpea salad with lemon-coriander-olive, oil dressing (VND210,000); and the lahmacun-Turkish pizza with chopped salad and cucumber yoghurt sauce (VND68,000).

By To Van Nga 

New draft law legalizes super-small flats | Look At Vietnam

New draft law legalizes super-small flats

April 28, 2012

LookAtVietnam – Instead of covering at least 45 square meters as
required by current regulations, apartments with a smaller size will be allowed
in the near future, an official at the Construction Ministry has said.

A 25-square-meter flat model introduced by the FPT City Da Nang JSC.  (Photo: VnEconomy)

Nguyen Trong Ninh, deputy
head of the ministry’s Housing and Property Market Management Department, made
the statement at yesterday’s forum “Real Estate in 2012: Opportunities in the
Crisis” held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Under current regulations, a flat is allowed to be constructed if it covers at
least 45 square meters, but under a new decree being drafted by the ministry, a
much smaller area, at 25 square meters, will be allowed, Ninh said.
The bigger an apartment, the more difficult it is to be sold, according to some
surveys, he explained.
The new decree, intended for management of urban investment and development
projects, will be submitted to the Government in the second quarter of this
year for approval, he said.
The number of such super-small apartments a developer will be allowed to build
will be in proportion to the total number of apartments under its projects,
Ninh added.
He also said in 2013-2014,
the ministry will draw up the Law on Cities, and amend the laws that govern
construction, dwelling houses, and real estate business.
The proposed new regulation on small flats is in line with the viewpoint of the
Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, which last month suggested developing
residential areas with small apartments of 20 to 70 square meters for singles
and small families, as one of the solutions to unfreeze the property market,
increase sales and regain consumer confidence.
Binh Duong-based Becamex
IDC has recently kicked off a project to construct 3,000 apartments of 30
square meters each, worth VND90 million (US$4,330) per unit, which is
considered a breakthrough to realize the dream of low-income people to own a
home.
VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

Vietnam southern hub prepares for more typhoons | Look At Vietnam

Vietnam southern hub prepares for more typhoons 

April 14, 2012

Uprooted trees fall onto a taxi cab in Ho Chi Minh City during typhoon Pakhar on the night of April 1.

The Ho Chi Minh City government has ordered for various protective measures to be taken against typhoons, including planting more wind-resistant trees along roads.
Fears about the city’s low preparedness were realized when Typhoon Pakhar hit on the night of April 1, felling around 400 trees.
Faster, more comprehensive weather forecasts to help residents be better prepared are also a key requirement.
The Departments of Construction and Science and Technology were ordered to study new requirements to make buildings safe from typhoons.
HCMC is rarely hit by typhoons, the last severe one being in 1904, which killed around 1,000 people in the city and nearby provinces, according to the National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Center.
Thus, most people were taken by surprise by the first storm to form over the East Sea this year.

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Typhoon Pakhar kills 2, destroys numerous houses in Vietnam

City vice chairman Le Minh Tri said at a meeting held to review the damage April 2 that most residents have the misconception that the area is “immune” to natural disasters.
“Many houses and infrastructure facilities in the city cannot withstand such disasters,” he admitted.
The center said global warming is causing more typhoons in the East Sea and expects around seven to hit Vietnam this year instead of the usual one or two.
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Thanh Nien News 

Vietnam’s architecture via lens of photographers | Look At Vietnam - Vietnam news daily update

Vietnam’s architecture via lens of photographers

December 12, 2011 about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam - High-rise buildings, cathedrals, Buddhist temples, etc. look brilliant in 32 photos that entered the finale of the Masterpiece Photo Contest 2011. These works are now on display in HCM City.
The contest closed on November 25, attracting more than 2,800 entries. The best 32 photos are on display until December 17 in HCM City. The award ceremony will be held on December 18.
Below are the top 32 entries:

Semicircle Lake in District 7, HCM City by Huynhdung.

Dak Lak Museum by Bao Hung.

Urban painting by huutienphoto.

Phu My Bridge by Mr_deven.

Thong Nhat Palace 2 by telieuo.

Architectural line by Lehuudung.

Wind and water café by khanhpham.

Hanoi in evening sun by naduytuong.

Violet sunset by nhim1958.

Patterns by tranthephong.

Vietnam’s imprints by randoc.

Path to dream by Vohien.

Truc Lam Tay Thien monastery by Tuan Lai.

A corner of Saigon Pearl by khanhphoto1960.

Wind’s words by Tranhungphoto.

The stairs to heaven by Tuandat.

The beauty of contrast by Trinh.

Hoang Sa cathedral by le hai.

Rural life in city by thuongpoly.

Vista building by thang190470.

Starlight bridge by Tranbaohoa.

Can Tho Terminal by Sontran.

Lien Khuong Airport by Nguyen Thanh Liem.

Parallel by daihocsi.

Cathedral by ngoctrung.

My city by cattien.

The past and the present by tranquocviet123.

Bitexco Financial Tower by Quangbui.

Hanoi by anhkhang2011.

White-Black by imsvietnam.

Magnificent by Nguyen Vinh Hien.

Majestic by Longthaibao8011.

VNE