A palanquin procession is part of the Hung King festival.

B: The worship of the Hung Kings is the convergence of Vietnamese spiritual sentiments, reminding them of their roots and creating national solidarity.

A: The Hung Kings death anniversary, celebrated annually in the northern midland province of Phu Tho, is a national festival that draws people from all over Vietnam, who come to revisit their roots and express gratitude to their ancestors.

B: The practice of worshiping the Hung Kings was recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage in 2012. The Hung Kings ritual, which has existed for thousands of years, shows the enduring vitality of Vietnamese culture.

A: Annually, millions of people converge on the Hung Temple at Nghia Linh mountain in Phu Tho to commemorate their founding fathers and pray for good luck and good health.

B: Communities make offerings of rice-based delicacies such as square cakes called Banh Chung and round cakes called Banh Giay, and there are folk art performances and traditional games.

B: There are more than 340 relic sites in Phu Tho province and more than 1,400 relic sites nationwide dedicated to the Hung Kings and other figures of the eighteen different dynasties of Hung Kings, from 2879 to 258 BC.  

A: Now we’d like to acknowledge an email from Sihatha Bhatachajee of India and his reception report of our broadcast on April 14 on the frequency of 7720 kHz. Mr. Bhattacharjee wanted to know about Vietnam’s courts.

B: Thanks for your question, Mr. Bhattacharjee. The People's Courts are judicial agencies of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and exercise judicial power. The People's Courts comprise the Supreme People's Court and other courts established by the law.

A: The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam is our highest court. It is one of the two institutions at the apex of the judicial system of Vietnam, with the other body being the Supreme People's Procuracy.

Vietnam's Supreme People's Court building (Photo: VnExpress)

B: Under law, the Court's organisation consists of the Council of Justices, its supporting apparatus, as well as training facilities as needed.

A: The Court's Council of Justices consists of the Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justices, and other justices of the Supreme People's Court as appointed by the National Assembly on nomination by the President. It must have at least 13 members, and at most 17 members. Appeals are heard by panels of five justices, or by the entire Council of Justices when appropriate under law.

B: We still have much to talk about Vietnam’s court system but due to limited airtime, we’re ready to email you if you need more information, Mr. Bhattacharjee.   

A: Next, we’d like to acknowledge feedback and interaction of VOV’s listeners on our fanpage VOV5 English Service. Since we increased stories on our fanpage, we have received growing feedback from our listeners and viewers who shared interest in our stories on both traditional shortwave broadcasts and digital platforms which are available on vovworld.vn, VOV Media app, and VOV5 English Service fanpage on Facebook.

A: Thank you all for supporting VOV across different platforms. This week, many listeners asked about Vietnamese billionaires after reading our story about Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong. Kalab Abbas of Pakistan wrote: “Congratulations. Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong could be the first Vietnamese to ensure the world’s top 50 richest people.”

A: The annual Forbes list of the richest people in the world includes 6 Vietnamese citizens. The five men and one woman have a total net worth of 16.7 billion USD.

B: Pham Nhat Vuong, owner of Vietnam's biggest private conglomerate Vingroup and the country's first billionaire, is on the list for the ninth consecutive year. He remains Vietnam’s richest man with a net worth of 7.3 billion USD, up 1.7 billion USD compared to 2020, and ranked 344th in the world.

From left, front row: Thaco Group Chairman Tran Ba Duong, Masan Group Chairman Nguyen Dang Quang, Hoa Phat Group Chairman Tran Dinh Long; second row: Vietjet CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Techcombank chairman Ho Hung Anh; back: Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong. Photo designed by VnExpress/Ta Lu.

A: The upcoming IPO of automaker VinFast could make Vuong the first Vietnamese to enter the world’s top 50 richest people. The initial public offering of conglomerate Vingroup’s VinFast in the US, expected to happen by next quarter as reported by Bloomberg and Reuters, could increase Vingroup chairman Vuong’s net worth by 23 billion USD.

B: If VinFast, the first fully fledged automaker in Vietnam, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a minimum value of 50 billion USD, Vuong will see his net worth more than triple to 32 billion USD. That figure exceeds the 30.7 billion USD net worth of the current 50th richest man on Forbes' 2021 billionaires list.

A: Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao made the list for the fifth time with a net worth of 2.8 billion USD. Thao is currently the vice chairwoman of HDBank, vice president and CEO of budget carrier VietJet Air.

B: Tran Ba Duong, chairman and founder of the Truong Hai Auto Company (Thaco), has been in the Forbes list since 2018. His current net worth is 1.6 billion USD. Thaco initially sold only automobiles, but gradually expanded to car assembly for foreign brands like Kia, Mazda and Peugeot, as well as manufacturing Vietnamese branded buses and trucks.

A: Techcombank chairman Ho Hung Anh is on the Forbes list for the third time. His net worth is the same as Duong’s.

B: Masan group Chairman Nguyen Dang Quang has returned to the list after being absent last year. His net worth is 1.2 billion USD.

A: Tran Dinh Long, chairman of the Hoa Phat Group, also re-entered the Forbes list after his first appearance in 2018. His net worth is 2.2 billion USD.

B: Forbes has said it created the list by evaluating an individual's assets based on the stock price and exchange rate as of March 5, 2021.

A: Raul Newton of England sent us a letter and reception report for our broadcast at 16:00 on March 21 on the frequency of 9730 kHz. He reported that the signal was strong but there was noise and fading was also high. He added that the broadcast on the frequency of 7280 kHz was audible.

B: Thank you, Mr. Newton, for sending us a detailed reception report. We will forward your report to our technicians to improve the transmission.

A: We’d like to thank you all for listening to our broadcasts and sending feedback to us. We always welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVWORLD, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. 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.

A: Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platform, to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye until next time.