The medlar tree has been part of the lives of the Mong ethnic minority group in Son La province for generations, bringing economic benefits and greening bare land and hills. (Photo: VNA)

B: This week, we received a lot of emails and letters from listeners around the world. In his email to VOV this week, Sanil Deep of India, who call himself a long-time listener of VOV, wrote:  ‘The increasing number of letters and emails you receive each week shows how much your programs are liked by listeners. The Sunday Show is one of my favorite programs. The Letterbox maintains its superior quality both in terms of presentation and content. Nice to hear regular listeners giving comments on the program.  Colorful Vietnam and Discovery Vietnam are well presented by the hosts.  I’m listening to many songs in between your programs everyday getting up-to-date with the music scene in your country.’

A: For his technical report, he wrote: ‘Nowadays reception on the frequency of 12020 khz varies at 13.30 hours but is performing well while reception on the frequency of 7220 khz at 16.00 hours is the best in my area.’

B: This week, Sanil Deep said he would like to hear about Vietnam’s banking system.

A: At the top of the Vietnamese banking system is the State Bank of Vietnam, a Government agency responsible for issuing currency, managing money and advising on monetary policy for the Government, preparing draft laws on banking business and credit institutions, and managing state-owned commercial banks. 

B: The Vietnamese commercial bank system includes: 5 state-owned commercial banks, 34 joint-stock commercial banks, 4 joint-venture banks, 35 branch offices of foreign banks and representative offices, and 6 financial companies.

B: Here’s a reception report from Shivendu Paul of the Metali listeners club of India. In his email to us this week, he told us about a radio festival called Radio Listeners’ Meet held in Murshidabad, West Bengal, India. He wrote: ‘150 radio listeners attended the 4th Radio Festival which featured conferences, a DX Radio exhibition and the publication of a radio magazine called Betar Bhuban. The event brought together radio listeners, writers, radio and TV journalists and announcers, and radio club organizers from several districts of West Bengal.’

A: He said there were stories and items related to VOV at the exhibition.  

B: Well, big applause for India’s radio fans. Such events are a source of great encouragement for radio broadcasters in the context of the explosion of multi-media platforms. The appreciation and dedication of listeners around the world are the reason we strive us to improve our programs on both shortwave and the digital platform. Thank you.

A: Next, we’d like to welcome 73-year-old Paul Flanagan of the UK, who listened to our broadcast on from 16:15 to 16:27 GMT, on Wednesday March 15^th 2023. Paul said the frequency was between 11884 and 11886khz. That’s correct, Paul. Our frequency is actually 11885 khz.

B: Paul said he listened to our Letter Box stories about snow and ice, spring festivals, and heritage festivals. He wrote: ‘The signal strength was good. There was a small amount of static and some noise. The signal kept fading in and out, but the conversation could be followed.’

A: "Over 45yrs ago I started DXing in my home town of Billingham (where I have just moved back to). And it was 45yrs ago that I received my last QSL cards from you. I heard The Voice of Vietnam on many occasions and really enjoyed the programming. I sent in QSL reports and received 2 QSL cards from you. Attached are the original QSL cards from two reports in May and August 1978. I have also attached screenshots from my logbooks at the time. I look forward to hearing more cultural, educational, entertaining and informing programming from the Voice of Vietnam.

B: We really appreciate your listening to VOV for such a long time. 1978 was quite long ago. The screenshots of your verification cards impressed us. Our  generation of VOV broadcasters had never seen them before. Thank you very much. We’ll send you our newest frequency list and program schedule. Btw, our programs are now also available on the website vovworld.vn and the mobile app VOV Media. We hope to receive more feedback from you."

B: Jayanta Chakrabarty of India wrote: "I’m delighted to report on your broadcast of March 19, beamed to India on the frequency of 7220 khz. The reception quality as usual was good with satisfactory signal strength with no atmospheric interference. I enjoyed listening to the encouraging news report on the 2023 Vietnam Business Summit. Vietnam is one of the world's leading countries with the fastest rate of growth. This forum no doubt will be the cornerstone of further consolidating sustainable development of your country. "

A; Thank you for your regular reports to VOV, Mr. Jayanta Chakrabarty of India. To our surprise, this week we received a letter from a listener in Slovakia, Mr. Simon Kulich.

B: We believed this is the first time he has written to us. After listening to our broadcast from 21:30 to 22:00 on March 2 on the frequency of 9730 khz, he wrote: ‘I like your broadcasts, especially your English and Russian language programs. The most beautiful was the music in the program but the information was also interesting. I hope my reception report is accurate and will be useful to you. The signal was strong. I live in a block of flats and the signal is usually noisy, but your signal was good.’

A: Welcome to VOV, Mr. Simon Kulich, and thanks for your reception report. We look forward to receiving more comments and feedback from you. We’ll send you our frequency list and program schedule, so keep tuning in to VOV.

B: Karuna Kanta Pal of India wrote to VOV this week and asked about places to go in Hanoi to explore Vietnamese traditional culture.

A: There are many historical and cultural relic sites around Hanoi where you can explore Vietnamese history, traditions, culture and lifestyle. But there is one place where you can get an overview of Vietnamese culture without going from place to place - the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology.

A: That’s right. The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi features the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam. It is full of information about traditional Vietnamese ways of life, from daily activities to the symbolic rituals of each Vietnamese ethnic groups.

B: The museum has two exhibits. The bronze-trimmed main building covering an area of 2,500 square meters has a unique architectural design. The stairs resemble the stairs of the stilt houses of ethnic minority people. The exhibits are arranged by language group: the Kinh majority language, and the Tay, Thai, Ka Dai, Mon-Khmer, and Hoa minority languages.

A: The museum exhibits cultural artifacts of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups. Of its 27,000 artifacts, 23,000 reveal the culture of Vietnam’s ethnic groups and the rest are from ethnic groups in other countries.

B: The museum’s outdoor display area exhibits full-scale replicas of various ethnic houses in authentic settings as well as traditional water puppet theatre and calligraphy events. The museum’s scope goes beyond Vietnam to other countries in Southeast Asia.

A: Next, we’d like to welcome Dave MacDonald of Canada to VOV. Dave listened to our Saturday Report on March 18 from 1610 to 1627 UTC on the frequency of 11885Khz. He wrote: ‘There was minor interference in the signal while I listened. At 1627 UTC the station went off air. This was my first time listening to the Voice of Vietnam. I look forward to listening to more of your programs in the future.’

B: We’d like also to welcome Patrick Travers of England, who tuned in to our broadcast on March 11, 2023, at 16.04 UTC on 9730 khz and rated a SINPO 23322.

A: Thank you, Dave MacDonald and Patrick Travers, for tuning in to VOV. We hope to receive more feedback from you. We’d also like to acknowledge letters and emails from Abdul Mannan of Bangladesh,  and Robert Stewart of Australia who listened to our broadcast on March 19, at 21:20 on the frequency of 9840 khz and reported a clear signal, and the many other listeners who listen to VOV on shortwave, visit our website at vovworld.vn or follow us on our Facebook fanpage VOV5 English Service.

B: 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.

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