 Red silk cotton flowers in full bloom in March (Photo: Doan Thi Trung) |
A: Listeners who now tune to 7280 khz should switch to 11885 khz to listen to VOV. We hope the change gives better reception quality.
B: Next, we’d like to acknowledge feedback from Tarmo Tanilsoo, who wrote to us on Tuesday commenting on our transmission in Europe.
A: He wrote: “Your shortwave transmitter operating in the European evening hours on 9730 kHz is not working properly. In addition to the main signal at 9730 kHz, there are identical AM signals at 8 kHz steps within about 40 kHz radius from the centre frequency. This means that you can receive the signal of your station also on 9690, 9698, 9706, 9714, 9722, 9730, and many more kHz. The closer to 9730, the stronger the copy is. This is causing interference to other stations within 40-50 kHz of your transmitter. In fact, I was drawn to investigate this after discovering a wave noise from the carriers when listening to Nippon Hoso Kyokai at 9765. I look forward for the quick resolution of this problem.”
B: Thank you very much for your detailed reception report. It’s very helpful for us. We’ll forward it to our technicians to improve the transmission quality.
A: This week, we received a letter from 12-year old Kosuke Yomaru of Japan and a reception report for our broadcast at 11:30-11:50 UTC on March 14th on the frequency of 12020 khz. He wrote he used D-808 receiver with wire antenna and the reception quality was good with SINPO of 45434.
B: We’re so surprised to receive feedback from a teen listener because Dxers are often people of older age while young people tend to prefer online platforms.
A: In his letter, Yomaru expressed his interest in Vietnamese music saying he enjoyed our music programs.
 Rappers Den Vau and Justa Tee's "Way back home" was placed at the top 1 trending on YouTube, No.1 on Vietnam iTunes, and Hot14 Realtime. Additionally, there are more than 68 million views and nearly 1.2 million likes on YouTube. This remarkable imposing success is not only due to the reputation of the two rappers but also because of the profoundly meaningful message (Source: vpopwire.com) |
B: Actually, the landscape of Vietnamese music is now really bustling. There are various types of music including Pop, rock, R&B, classic, and traditional music of different genres.
A: Among all these types, Rap is becoming more and more most popular in Vietnam with more rappers and an expanding audience.
B: Rap, which was previously unpopular in Vietnam due to its dark and violent content, slowly won over young music lovers before finding its way into the mainstream.
A: The genre first appeared in Vietnam in the late 1990s but did not attract many fans until around a decade ago when many rappers became popular on the Internet.
B: In the last few years dozens of rap artists, mostly underground, have appeared and achieved success with their music videos getting millions of views and shows attracting tens of thousands of fans.
A: In August something unprecedented happened: rap made its way to national television. Reality shows looking for talented rappers began to air on prime time Saturday nights, wowing audiences and smashing TV records.
A: Videos of performances from the show got millions of hits on YouTube and thousands of comments. One episode had more than 700,000 concurrent viewers on the streaming platform, a record for a TV show in Vietnam.
B: The influence of foreign culture brought rap to young Vietnamese, but it didn’t gain prominence until local rappers began to write lyrics with more diverse stories, poetic words and metaphors.
A: Rappers are nowadays smart and professional and put a lot of effort into their songs and lyrics, the opposite of what people thought about rap.
B: The so-called underground music has become a loose term as many artists, especially rappers, have stepped out and widely recognized.
A: Another reason for the rise of rap is that it came as a breath of fresh air for audiences who were tired of mainstream music.
A: One of the most prominent faces is Den Vau, famous on the underground and independent music scenes and an icon of rap lovers in recent years. Names like Binz, Suboi, Wowy, LK, Khoi, Karik, Big Daddy, and B Ray also have many hits under their belt and millions of fans, marking the rise of the genre in the Vietnamese music industry.
 Rapper Binz (Photo courtesy of Binz) |
B: In October, Rapper Binz’s music video 'Bigcityboi' impressed U.S. entertainment website Billboard, which hailed his performance. The video raked in over 62 million views on YouTube, and made its way to the site’s Top Trending in several countries within 12 hours of its premiere in July.
B: Next, we’d like to acknowledge a reception report from Hayato Furukawa of Japan who listened to our broadcast on March 13 from 20:30 to 21:00 on the frequency of 12020 khz. Hayato said he has sent us 3 reception reports so far this year and will continue to listen to VOV.
A: Thank you very much Hayato for your feedback on our programs and sending us reception reports which are very helpful to us to make our broadcast better.
B: Next, we’d like to acknowledge feedback from Martin Steiner who said: “I just want to write to you to say a big Thank You for your daily shortwave transmissions in English! My name is Martin Steiner, I am a regular listener of your programs. I live in a small town called Denmark which is on the South Coast of Western Australia. A few years ago, I was lucky to have visited your beautiful country. I really do want to make Vietnam my next overseas destination again, once we are all safe to go travelling again. There is so much that I haven't seen yet. “
A: Mr. Steiner continued: “I like the style of your radio programs with the beautiful selection of Vietnamese music before the end of each transmission. Today, like most days I received your program at 12.30UTC on 9840kHz.
Reception was pretty good at SINPO 454444 on my old YAESU FRG-7 which is connected to a 30m long wire antenna. The main purpose of my email is to let you know that I am one of the many listeners who truly enjoy your daily programs. All the best wishes.’
B: Thank you very much, Mr. Steiner, for your sentiment for VOV. We appreciate your listening and feedback on our programs and look forward to hearing more from you.
A: This week, many listeners said they wanted to learn more about Vietnamese beer culture.
 Bia Hoi is a must-try when you visit Hanoi |
A: Vietnam is one of the world's top ten markets for beer consumption, with an established indigenous beer culture that emerged during French colonization.
B: A first-time visitor in Vietnam will be surprised by the variety of local and regional beers offered here. Along with imported beer brands such as Carlsberg, Tiger, San Miguel and Heineken, local people have produced and developed their own beer. Every city seems to have its own beer. For example, Saigon Beer is made in Ho Chi Minh City, Huda or Hue Beer comes from Hue, Hanoi Beer from Hanoi and so on. Vietnamese beer culture is influenced by traditional European styles as well as embracing unique local taste called fresh beer (bia hoi). The latter is so popular that for travelers who visit Vietnam, drinking bia hoi on the streets of Hanoi is as emblematic as eating pad Thai in Bangkok.
 Bia Hoi in Hanoi |
A: Unlike canned or bottled beer, “Bia Hoi” is made fresh each day with no additives or preservatives. When in its pure form, bia hoi is foamy, light with a crisp taste suggesting rice. Its taste is probably similar to Bud Light beer. Alcohol content of bia hoi is somewhere between 3% and 4.5 % and is best when served as close to when it has been made as possible because the taste will decline with time. After 20 hours or so, bia hoi will become undrinkable as it goes flat and really bad.
B: You can find hundreds of corner bars along the side walk or at every street in Hanoi. The price in these restaurants, as well as their accessibility and the relaxing atmosphere, is the main attraction for beer drinkers. In hot and humid weather, a cold delicious glass of beer not only cools down the thirst but is also a relaxing treat after a stressful day – with an extremely cheap price of only $0.20 USD for a glass. That is the reason why everyone, regardless of age and occupation goes there at lunch or in early evening to unwind and share their stories.
A: Next, we’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from H.M Tarek and Faria Khanam Mumu of Bangladesh, and Ratan Kumar Paul and Jayanta Chakrabarty of India. We always 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 live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye until next time.