A New Year greeting card from Ashik Eqbal Tokon of Bangladesh

B: Here at VOV, we’re preparing special programs for the largest festival in Vietnam with a bunch of interesting stories  to help you better understand Vietnamese Tet, its customs and traditions. So tune in to VOV on shortwave or  check out our stories on the internet at vovworld.vn.

A: These days, we continue to receive New Year greetings  from listeners around the world.

A: Mr. Ashik Eqbal Tokon of Bangladesh sent us a beautiful New Year card with wishes: “Happy New Lunar Year 2023. We wish you all a very Happy and prosperous Cat year 2023.”

A: Next, we’d like to say hello to Sutomo Huang of Indonesia, who wrote: “Dear friends, I am glad to inform you that I'm enjoying your interesting and informative programs regularly.”

B: Mr. Huang listened to our broadcast from January 8 to 12 on the frequency of 12020 khz and 9840 khz with SINPO of between 3s and 4s.

A: Sanil Deep of India sent us two reception reports with wishes for a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful new Year. He wrote: “Greetings from Calicut once again.  It is my pleasure to send this mail which is the first  for this year.   This is my regular monthly report of your station which I hope will be very useful to your engineering department. I am sending  2 reception reports for the month of December 2022.

B: He added. “For me, the best program is still letterbox in  which a friendly atmosphere is created by the hosts. The views expressed by your listeners  shows how the different programs are liked by various people around the globe. I am glad to see your faithful listeners who are picking up the programs for more than 40 years and still enjoying it. The Sunday Show is also one of my favorite programs.”

A: In his email to VOV this week, Amir Jameel of Pakistan sent us 2 New Year greeting cards and wrote: “Happy New Lunar Year. The Year of the Cat. I and our club members extend our heartiest greetings on the eve of new lunar year. I am praying and my so great wishes for the staff and management of Voice of Vietnam English Service so nice so good so great health, prosperity, and more happiness in your beautiful life & Voice of Vietnam English Service will more grow, progress and present more nice, good, informative, educational and interesting programs in the new lunar year of the cat. We want to know about the sequence and about the Vietnamese zodiacs?

B: That’s an interesting question. When a Vietnamese asks another how old she is, how do you expect her to answer? 21, 22 or 34? The answer probably is “I am a buffalo”. It matters which sign or animal a person belongs to since it can decide how the rest of their life is going to shape.

A: First, the Zodiac of the Rat is considered the smart one. The Orient in general, has some common features. They share animals that have dominated roles in their lives. Respected for its smartness and quick-wit, people with the rat sign are imaginative and generous, especially with people in their same boat.

B: People with the Zodiac of Buffalo are considered born leaders. For Vietnamese, a buffalo is the greatest asset of a commoner, and even for a village mayor, his buffalo herd is the most important property to protect. The “buffalo person” is supposed to be a firm characteristic with born leadership. However, a buffalo life is rarely smooth but rather rough before achieving success at the end of a journey.

A: Those with the Zodiac of Tiger are considered the 'power' ones. Tiger is definitely a holy animal of Vietnam, where it is considered the king of forest. People with the tiger sign are brave, smart and risky. They are expected to do unusual, and extraordinary, things and become extremely successful in life. However, as the strong one is often a black sheep, some tigers confront many challenges from social bias, living very troubled lives.

B: This year is the Zodiac Year of the Cat which is the flexible one.  It is the same from the East to the West for dog and cat to be popular domestic pets. These two animals are loved by people all around the world (except those with an allergy), yet cat in Vietnam seems to be raised more widespread than dog. The very first reason for this difference is that cats are extremely useful for keeping rice from pests. Gradually, cats have become more and more familiar with Vietnamese, sharing with them wealth and poverty, sorrow and happiness.

A: Cat person reflects the typical characteristics of a cat, who is supposed to be tender but secretive. Cat people are courteous and sociable, yet always keep a secret that makes them attractive. It is hard to tell whether cat people can be happy or unhappy in life since fate depends on many other things, but cat people are definitely deep.

B: People with the Zodiac of the Dragon, the holy one, are supposed to be born talented however arrogant and tactless. As placed at the position of king, their image is associated with royal places such as palace and on king’s robe. It is said that dragon people never live poorly but will be wealthy or at least well-to-do.

A: Next is the Zodiac of the Snake – the lucky one. Vietnam’s wet climate is definitely a prime land for snakes. The interaction between snake and human and snake use for medicine have put the snake in the important place of an animal that symbolizes a great part of Vietnamese culture. While snakes always appear dangerous, its venom and skin are very useful in medicine. Don’t be surprised to see a snake person so lucky!

B: The Horse Zodiac is the nomadic one. Horses played a prime role in transportation in Vietnamese society in the past. Horse people are fated to move all their life. Staying in the same place is something unbearable for a horse. A horse man is often very generous, has a lot of friends and treats them like siblings.

A: The Goat Zodiac is the dreamy one. Why do we say so? Born in mountainous areas, goat love the airy atmosphere there and the thing that they like the most is grazing on grass and sleeping in day time. However, if a goat person knows that dreaming is both a strength and weakness, he can apply it properly and become successful in some areas such as painting and performance arts.

B: People with the Zodiac of the Monkey are the cheerful ones.  A monkey person is the one that can make you smile since he is cheerful from the bottom of his heart. As the animal closest to humans, monkeys are appreciated for their smartness and desire for new things in life. A mundane life could kill a monkey zodiac and a cheerfully lively one on the other hand rouses positivity.

A: People with the Zodiac of Rooster are the self-righteous ones.  Rooster is an indispensable poultry, which gives humans the most protein-dense nourishment. All rooster men are believed to be cheeky, which may cause a lot of trouble in their lives.

B: Those with the Zodiac of the Dog are the faithful ones. The same as cat, dogs are a close friend to Vietnamese and they respect dogs for their faithfulness. A dog person is secretive and you can feel free telling them your secrets. However, the dog zodiac often worry without reason and this makes them nervous, peevish.

A: Last on the Zodiac list is Pig – the optimistic one. Pig, after the buffalo, stands second in importance among Vietnam's animal in everyday life. Pig people do not worry about things. Life is a lovely pink color and food attracts them the most. Pig people are known to be very selfless.

B: Well, we have listed all the Vietnamese zodiacs for you. So, tell us, what’s your zodiac? Do you agree with the interpretation of your characteristics based on the zodiacs? Share your thoughts and your comments on our story with us.

A: Thank you all for your interest in VOV and for sending us your feedback. We 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.

B: Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platforms, 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!