Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, our weekly feature dedicated to our listeners throughout the world. We are Mai Phuong and Phuong Khanh.
A: First on our show today, we’d like to acknowledge an email from Christer Brunstrom of Sweden, who listened to our broadcasts on June 4th from 17:00 to 17:27 UTC on the frequency of 9625 and reported excellent reception.
B: Christer Brunstrom wrote: “ As always, I enjoyed your broadcast but I find you could easily reduce the amount of international news and concentrate on Vietnam and neighboring countries. The music session is one of my favorite shows on VOV. This time it was devoted to songs about Hanoi”.
A: “We’ve had a period of very hot weather here in Sweden with temperatures reaching 28 DC. This certainly is too much for me and my wife but I guess this kind of hot or even higher temperatures is nothing unusual in Vietnam. How do Vietnamese people cope with very hot weather? What do they drink and what do they wear? Any suggestions would be most helpful”.
B: Vietnam is now in the middle of summer. The weather is really hot these days despite occasional rain showers. Due to the El Nino phenomenon, the summer weather has become severely hot and dry and the hot spell is longer than in previous years.
A: As you guessed, Vietnamese people are used to hot weather. In the summer, temperatures range from 28 to 38 DC on average. Occasionally, temperatures reach 40 DC or even 42 DC. It’s really hot then.
B: To cope with the hot weather, we drink a lot of water and fruit juices. Lemon juice is the most common drink in the summer. We wear long-sleeved shirts and facemasks when we go out on our motorbike.
A; Swimming pools are favorite places during the hot summer days. There are a lot of indoor and outdoor swimming pools in the bigger cities. There, you can relax and get away from the heat.
B: This week, we received a number of reception reports from Toshiya Nishimura of Japan. Toshiya used a TECSUN PL 600 to listen to our broadcasts on May 21st from 11:30 to 11:57 on the frequency of 12020 Khz and on May 26th from 13:30 to 13:57 on the frequency of 12020 khz. Rating SINPO at 34333, Toshiya wrote that the reception was good for the most part and the signal is stable.
A: We received an email from Gerry Neumann this week. Gerry visited our studio last week and was taken out for Bun Cha, a Hanoi specialty. He wrote: “Thank you very much for the warm welcome I received when I visited the English section of VOV during my visit to Hanoi a few days ago. I was delighted to meet all the staff and meet the announcers face to face. I also want to thank Ms Viet Anh and Cam Thi for inviting me to eat Bun Cha, a Hanoi specialty, at the same restaurant where President Obama ate during his visit to Vietnam. It was really delicious”.
B: “I’m sure other listeners will get the same warm welcome I did if they visit VOV at 45 Ba Trieu street. Finally, I want to wish the staff and VOV success in the future. I’ll certainly keep tuning in to VOV when I’m in England and will keep in touch”.
A: Thank you, Gerry. We were very glad to see you in Vietnam and hope we will keep in touch. Dear listeners, if you ever have a chance to come to Vietnam, take the time to visit us at 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi. We look forward to meeting you soon.
B: Atish Bhattacharya of India wrote: "I am a regular listener of your English Service. Yesterday on 22 May 2016 I had the opportunity to hear your station quite clearly. I am sending a reception report on my latest reception of your English language broadcast on May 22, 2016.
A: Atish Bahattacharya listened to our broadcasts from 1900 UTC to 1930 UTC on the frequency of 7280 KHz and rated SINPO at 54444. We also listened on the frequency of 9730 and rated SINPO at 53443.
B: He wrote: “I was eager to hear about the Election in Vietnam and VOV fullfilled my expectation. May 22 2016 was the day the people of Vietnam exercised their right and duty to vote in the 14th National Assembly and People’s Council Election. The news coverage of the event provided by VOV was very informative. I got a detailed picture of voter turnout throughout the whole country. It was good to hear there were no cases of election fraud or any other unexpected events during the election. Thanks, VOV, for the complete coverage”.
Final results of the election for the 14th National Assembly and People’s Councils have been announced. The May 22 election was assessed as democratic and lawful. |
A: “I would like to thank you for your hard work in supplying very important information on the election to your listeners. I loved the good pieces of music played at the end of the broadcast. Voice of Vietnam is like a wide open window that allows me to look at every aspect of life in Vietnam. It's very true that the content of your programming is interesting and informative and the presentation of your shows is very attractive. I would like to thank the hosts of the programs for their good work”
B: “I am very pleased to have heard VOV’s English broadcasts so loud and clear. The broadcast at UTC 1900 Hours on 7280 Khz and 9730 Khz is beamed to Europe and Central Asia according to your schedule. Yet your signal on 7280 Khz was booming here at my place with SINPO 54444 and the signal on 9730 Khz was fair with SINPO 53443 with only slight interference by some station of CRI. The reception quality of Voice of Vietnam is very much appreciated. Please keep up the good work”.
A: Thank you, Atish Bhattacharya, for your detailed report. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm it.
B: Richard Nowak of the US sent us an email this week. He wrote: “Thanks for the awesome QSL cards. The lovely photo of VOV’s English section is great. Nice to see the faces behind the great programs. I enjoyed tonight’s show on 12005 from 1:00 to 1:27 UTC listening with a Gonset G 33 tube receiver hooked up to a Mini Fan dipole balcony antenna. Reception was all 5s. Perfect until the Sunday Show when noise and propagation set in”.
A: “The great Sunday Show had a nice segment on orphans who changed their lives through music. A choir class was mentioned with nice examples of music. There was noise and fading during this segment. The segment on the orphans was heartfelt and inspiring. Thanks for the nice show and for your support of shortwave”.
B: Thank you, Richard, for your update reports on VOV programs. We confirm that we’ve received reception reports from Mr. Muralidhar, Sreenivasa Raju of India, Abdu Razzak of Bangladesh, Hannu Kiiski of Finland, Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Peter Ng of Malaysia, Richard Lemke of Canada, Andy Martynyuk of Russia, Kalab Abbas of Pakistan and Dewan Rafiqul Islam, President of the Friends Radio Club in Bangladesh. We’ll verify them all with our new QSL cards.
A: That’s all for today’s Letter Box. We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. You can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time.