Performance during the Ao dai Week in Thua Thien-Hue in June, 2024 (photo: thuathienhue.gov.vn)

 

A:  We welcome Guido Panebianco of Catania, Italy, who listened to VOV’s English program for the first time on August 14 on 11885 kHz. The signal beamed to Europe was decent with a little bit of fading, Mr. Panebianco said.

B: Another Italian listener, Michele Gasparri, told us that he tuned in to our program on 9730 kHz on August 16 using an ICOM IC-R6 radio. He rated SINPO 54344.

A: Sean Walmsley passed along a report for the program on August 10on the frequency of 12020 kHz. The signal strength was good, he said, with low noise and interference.

B: Han Hardonk of the Netherlands listened to VOV’s English program on August 6 on the frequency of 11885 kHz. He told us: “After visiting Vietnam a few years ago, Vietnam has a special place in my heart. Your programs help keep the memory alive. I hope to visit your beautiful country again. And I hope you keep making good radio shows like I'm hearing right now.”

A: Thank you very much, dear listeners, for tuning in to our programs and sending us reports. We appreciate your feedback and we’ll definitely send you QSL cards to verify your reports.

B: Last week, a piece of news that drew many listeners’ interest was that the Hue ao dai (long dress) was recognised as a National Intangible Heritage of Vietnam. Some of our listeners have visited the ancient city of Hue and were impressed by seeing people wearing ao dai everywhere.

A: Hue’s 300-year-old long dress fashion and craft is on Vietnam’s list of national folklore intellectual property, along with the art of ca Huế folk singing, the Dèng textile trade of the Tà Ôi ethnic group, and the Aza Koonh Festival, which is a spiritual new rice celebration of the Pa Cô ethnic community.

B: Between 1826 to 1837, King Minh Mang decided to drastically change the national costume and choose the ao dai as Vietnam’s national uniform. Hue’s style of ao dai was worn by men and women of all ages in all social strata, including officials, students, and shopkeepers.

A: In 2022 Thua Thien-Hue province revived the wearing of ao dai by State employees and mandated that men and women should wear them as an official uniform on certain days of the month.

B: Hue’s ao dai was based on feudal culture and the strict aesthetic principles of the Nguyen royal dynasty combined with folk values, which distinguished it from ao dai worn in other regions.

A: Many projects have been implemented to preserve and promote the ao dai as a national intangible heritage, such as Ao dai Day during the biennial Hue Festival and the ‘Hue – capital of Vietnam’s ao dai” project.

B: The annual Hue’s Ao dai Community Week held in June includes a display of experimental Ao dai designs, an exchange by Ao dai tailors from the north, south, and central regions, a fashion show for Hanoi-Hue-Sai Gon Ao dai, Vietnamese Ao dai and South Korean Hanbok, and an Ao dai carnival.

Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Thua Thien-Hue provincial Department of Culture and Sports, said: “The Ao dai Week is truly a community event. All activities are designed for the community and encourage all people to participate in the festival. We hope these activities will make wearing ao dai a broader movement.”

A: Hue, the imperial capital in Vietnam for over 100 years, offers a unique tourism service – having and ao dai tailored-made within 3 hours. Ao dai tailoring shops are concentrated in the Gia Hội-Dinh, Kim Long, Vĩ Dạ, and Phủ Cam markets, areas with a long tradition of making ao dai for famous brands like Tân Nghiệp, Minh Tân, Mỹ Lệ, and Đoan Trang.

B: After choosing a fabric and having their measurements taken, the customer can go sight-seeing for 3 hours and then return to pick up their tailor-made ao dai.

A: Students usually opt for a simple, white ao dai for everyday wear, but special occasions like the Tet Lunar New Year and weddings call for vibrant colors and decorative elements. Purple, the color of royalty, is considered the iconic color of Hue ao dai.

B: Now we’ll read some more emails and letters from listeners. Mr. Najimuddin of India’s International DX Radio Listeners Club tunes in to our program on the frequency of 7220 kHz almost every day. He is particularly interested in world news and information about the Middle East. He wrote: “I enjoy your very nice songs. Your other features are always a reliable source of information.”

A: Fumio Hokamura of Japan sent us a report for the program on July 3saying he liked the story on terraced paddy fields in Vietnam’s northern region. He saw many beautiful photos of terraced fields when the green rice had begun to mature and turned a golden color.

B: Jayanta Chakrabarty of India emailed us to say: “It's a  pleasure to report on your broadcast of August 20 which I listened to from 12:30 to 13:00 UTC. Reception quality on 9840 kHz was fairly good, with strong signal strength and SINPO rating 43333, as monitored from Delhi. I used a Grundig receiver with a telescopic rod antenna.”

A: He commented on the news that he heard: “The report on AI innovation in Vietnam was interesting and informative. Vietnam, one of the leading Southeast Asian nations in technological growth and development, is now on the cusp of leading AI research and application. This was authenticated by Google Cloud at the 2024 GenAI Summit in Ho Chi Minh City. The overall aim is to make Vietnam an innovation and AI hub in ASEAN and the world. As an Indian listener I’m proud of the fact that Vietnam-India cooperation in science and technology is an important pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries.”

B: Fachiri of Indonesia reported receiving VOV’s English program beamed to Asia on 9840 kHz on August 19. He rated SINPO all 4s. The main stories were Chinese  top leader Xi Jinping hosting a red-carpet welcome ceremony for Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam in Beijing, countries tightening entry checks to prevent the spread of mpox, and Vietnamese fruits being available in 60 markets worldwide, Fachiri said.

A: From Japan, listener Mikio Sudo told us she often shops at supermarkets, but doesn’t see Vietnamese rice, only rice from Thailand and the Philippines. She asked, “Can you tell us more about Vietnamese rice exports?”

B: According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan, Vietnamese enterprises have satisfied more than 600 strict technical requirements and met the very high standards of Japanese consumers to export ST25 rice into Japan. This rice variety won the World's Best Rice Award in 2019 and 2023.

A: Vietnam’s rice exports have been shifting toward higher-quality and specialty products and had a stable annual turnover between 6.2 and 6.3 million tons from 2019 to 2023. Asia is a major market for Vietnamese rice, but the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia have emerged in recent year as big importers of ST24, ST25, Jasmin 85, Japonica, and sticky rice.

B: The Vietnam Trade Office in Japan said that in 2021 Vietnam's rice export turnover to Japan reached only 48.7 million yen (330,000 USD) and accounted for just 0.09% of Japan's total rice imports.

A: Last March the ST25 rice varietywas served at a lunch at the Japanese cabinet office. A representative of Tan Long Group, which spent a year making every effort to bring ST25 to the Japanese market, said Japanese distributors want to order 1,000 tons of Vietnamese rice a year.

B: We’ll, time is up for today’s Letter Box. As always, we welcome your feedback at English Service, VOVWORLD, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam.

A: 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!