People collect waste on the beach in Quang Ngai province. (photo: VOV)

B: Bidhan Chandra Sanyal wrote: “I came to know about Environment Day on June 5th in Vietnam through various programs. It is interesting to note that the members of the Vietnam Youth Union in every province and the people of Vietnam as a whole are well aware of environmental protection. For that fact I can say that all work related to the environment will be successful.”

A: In response to both World Environment Day 2022 and International Day for Biological Diversity, provinces and organizations have launched diverse action plans to raise public awareness on climate change and environmental protection. The Youth Union, which is the largest organization of young people, has encouragedits members to participate in this drive.

B: Other sectors and localities have also organized activities suiting their conditions. For example the coastal province of Binh Dinh’s Fisheries Department launched programs to clean beaches, collect waste, and organize conferences on coral and sea turtle protection.

A: Phu Yen Province launched a program to grow and restore mangrove forests. On the launching day, people planted 500 new mangroves, apple mangrove, and nipa palm trees on a surface area of nearly 3,000 square meters at O Loan Estuary. The program is scheduled to grow mangrove trees on 17 hectares until the end of this year.

B: Binh Thuan province People’s Committee and NovaGroup launched a campaign to plant trees along major roads in Phan Thiet City.

A: Vung Tau city has cooperated with local businesses to expand the sorting of waste involving 200 householdsas part of a circular economy model in the Long Son island commune.

B: Vietnam is identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as one of the countries likely to be most affected by climate change due to its extensive coastline, vast deltas and floodplains, location on the path of typhoons as well as its large population in poverty. So environmental protection and climate change response is one of major concerns in the country.

A: Another listener,Dawt Hniang, read a story on betel leaves and areca nuts on our website at vovworld.vn and asked us where to buy them.

B: Well betel leaves and areca nuts are sold in every market in Vietnam. Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, parts of China, and Vietnam.

A bunch of areca nuts and betel leaves at a wedding

A: The custom of chewing betel remains popular in some Vietnamese villages and among the old. When Vietnamese people worship their ancestors, betel and areca nut must be present at the altar. They have become spiritual items in Vietnamese culture so it’s easy to buy betel leaves and areca nuts in traditional markets.

B: The combination of areca nut and betel leaves and the cultural significance of inviting and chewing betel quid are explained in a folk tale called Legend of Betel and Areca Nut. It tells the story of a spouse’s love, brotherhood, and great sacrifice.

Phoenix-wing betel quids

A: In a village, there were two brothers as similar as two drops of water. They loved each other very much. Then the older brother got married. The three people lived happily together until one day the wife confused the younger brother as her husband and held him closely in affection.

B: The husband came back home just in time to see it. He expressed his jealousy and suspicion of his brother, and the brothers became distant. The younger brother was upset and left home. He incessantly cried and turned to limestone lying on the bank of the river.

A: The older brother regretted his actions and went to the road looking for his younger brother. Finding his brother petrified, he cried to death and turned into a straight-up-to-sky tree beside the stone.

B: The wife could not wait for her husband to come back, so she left home to look for him. She went to the place where her husband and his brother died. She was too upset so she turned into a betel vine that crept and twined round the tree.

A: When the King came through the place and heard the story from villagers, he was surprised and ordered his servants to pick the tree’s fruit for tasting. When he chewed the nuts and leaves from the vine, it tasted sweet, hot, and pungent, and created a liquid as red as blood.

B: The King demanded all his people to plant this tree and vine throughout the regions and thus the custom of betel chewing in marriage to wish the spouse’s affection.

Areca nuts and betel leaves are indispenable worship offering.

A: Since then, at proposals and wedding ceremonies, the groom’s wedding gifts for the bride must always have areca nuts and betel leaves, along with other kinds of fruit, young-sticky-rice cakes, tea, and wine.

B: It should be a bunch of equally big, fresh areca nuts. Betel leaves must be large and green piled up on top of each other. The bunch of areca nuts and betel leaves are placed on a red box, covered with a red scarf to represent good luck.

A: Betel chewing became a unique custom at Vietnam’s festivals, weddings, and engagements. It connects people and symbolizes the goodness of villages, neighborhood, family relationship, friendship, and love.

B: I’m reading an email from Igor Belevich of Belarus. The 38-year-old man said he listens to VOV in Russian, English, and Vietnamese on short wave on the frequency of 11500 khz and 12120 khz.  He asked us “Do you plan to broadcast to Belarus?

A: Thanks a lot for listening to VOV and sending us your report. It’s a pity that VOV is not directly beamed to Belarus. So maybe the signal you caught was audible but not as good as you wish.

B: We’ll send you the frequency list of the English section. You’re invited to visit our website at www.vovworld.vn to listen to our programs again and read more news and stories. 

A: This week we acknowledge reception reports and feedback from Sardar Munir Akhter of Pakistan, Siddhartha Bhattacharjee, Ratan Kumar Paul of India of India, Riaz Ahmad Khan – a teacher in Indonesia, Vincentiu Daniel, and Kalab Abbas.

B: Thank you for tuning in to VOV and sending us your feedback. We welcome your comments at English Service, VOVworld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam.

A: Our email address is: englishsection@vov.vn. You’re invited to visit us online and leave your comments at vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye.