Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, a weekly feature dedicated to our listeners around the world. We are Ngoc Huyen and Nhat Quynh.
A: This week, we received an email from SB Sharma of India and his report on VOV’s broadcasts on March 25th and 26th on the frequency of 7280 khz at 16:00 UTC. Sharing his impression of our story about Earth Hours, he wrote: “I think it is not a one day celebration. Energy saving should be our normal behavior. By habit, we must save energy in daily use, turn off unwanted lights and fans.”
B: Thank you, SB Sharma, for your regular reports on VOV broadcasts. We’ll confirm your reports with QSL cards. The 2017 Earth Hour campaign 2017 was launched in Vietnam with the theme “Lights off to turn on the future”. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and 60 other cities and provinces turned off the lights from 8.30 PM to 9.30 PM on March 25, in sync with other countries. The campaign encourages people to use energy economically and efficiently.
Art performances at the "Switching Off Lights" night. (Photo: VOV5)
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A: In Hanoi thousands of students and other volunteers attended the launch ceremony. This was the 9th Earth Hour event held in Vietnam. Last year’s campaign saved 450,000kwh, 3 times higher than in 2009, when Vietnam hosted the first event. The amount of electricity saved during the one hour the lights are off is the measures of society’s response to Earth Hour.
B: Here’s an email from Richard Nowak of the US. Listening to our broadcast on March 23 from 0:00 to 0:27 UTC on a frequency of 7315 khz, he reported perfect reception with SINPO rating all 5s.
A: In his email, he wrote: “The news mentioned the Israeli President visiting Vietnam and World Water Day. This is the first time I’ve heard of World Water Day and I’m glad to learn of this. I wish more people here knew about World Water Day. We have a problem in Florida with agricultural pollution and water. When the summer time comes and it rains, the water in lake Okeechobee rises. Since the dike surrounding the lake is dirt, the Army Corp of Engineers releases water into canals which carry the water and nutrients into the St. Lucie River. The river gets algae blooms in summer and people are told not to swim. This is crazy in touristy Florida.”
B: Thank you, Richard, for sharing your story with us. Water pollution is a global problem. World Water Day 2017 takes the theme “Water and Wastewater” with a view to raising public awareness of water pollution mitigation, water resources protection, and economical and efficient use of water resources.
A: This week, we received a number of letters from Grant Skinner of England. He shared with us stories about February and March, their meanings and implications and sent us reports on our broadcasts on February 14th and March 1st on the frequency of 9730 khz. He reported poor reception for both programs.
A: In his stories, Grant Skinner wrote: “February means “purification” from the Latin February. It derives its name from an ancient fertility rite which was part of a Roman festival celebrated during this month”.
B: Meanwhile, “March called after Mars, the Roman god of war, was originally the first month of the year. People have rightly wondered how any nation could begin the year by venerating a martial deity dedicated to death and destruction.”
A: Grant Skinner also further delved into stories behind these months. Thank you, Mr. Skinner, for tuning in to VOV regularly and sharing with us your stories. We found them very interesting. We’ll confirm your reports with QSL cards.
A: In his letters to VOV this week, Masaru Sekimoto of Japan sent us reception reports for VOV broadcasts on March 12th and March 18th from 11:30 to 11:58 on the frequency of 9840 khz and rated SINPO between 2 and 4. He wrote: “I’m glad to catch your program. I have a good time listening to your English programs. I want to learn more about Vietnamese people and their culture. Recently, reception has not been good. But I will try to listen to your program.”
B: Thank you, Mr. Sekimoto, for your frequent reports on our broadcasts. In addition to our shortwave broadcasts, you can visit our website at www.vovworld.vn for more stories about Vietnam, its land and people.
A: In a long letter to VOV this week, Mr. Anand Mohan Bain of India discussed shortwave broadcasting. He wrote: “If you read the Shortwave Committee Report Fact Sheet the BBG published last year, you might be led to believe that shortwave should be replaced by more recent communications media. The BBG committee claims that listeners use mobile technologies and computers to access broadcasters around the globe. There is some truth in this argument. If you surveyed people living in, for example, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok and Singapore, you would likely find very few people who still listen to shortwave radio.”
B: Thank you for sharing your thoughts on shortwave broadcast with us. We are aware that the listenership of shortwave has declined but we still maintain it and consider it an important channel for reaching our friends around the world who are still passionate about shortwave and use it as their main avenue of information. There are also a lot of people in the world who do not have computers or cell phones. In addition to shortwave broadcasts, we also make our programs available on the internet so we can reach listeners in every corner of the world. Check out our website at www.vovworld.vn to hear both live and recorded VOV programs. We hope to receive more feedback from you.
A: Sharing his passion for shortwave broadcasts, Roger Roussel of Canada wrote: “Dear radio friends, I am always happy to listen to your very interesting and well presented radio broadcasts. For me, it is with great pleasure that I listen to your radio station. Keep up the great job.”
B: Sending a report for the program on March 4th from 1900 to 1930 UTC on the frequency of 7280 khz, David Ansell of the UK wrote: “Dear friends. Your radio station on shortwave is much valued and enjoyed. Please continue this way. Despite modern trends, I do not use the internet, e-mail, or social media. Greetings from Horsham which is situated 37 miles south of London.”
A: In a letter to VOV this week, Stephen Hogan of Australia wrote that he is now hanging our calendar on his lounge room wall. He wrote: “Reception conditions are very good at present particularly the reliable frequency of 12020 khz. Thank you for your welcome presence on the shortwave frequencies. Your broadcasts are always informative, interesting and well-balanced. Vietnamese music is a joy to listen to.”
B: Thank you, Mr. Stephen Hogan, for your report. It has been such a long time since we last received feedback from you. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your report.
A: Also from Australia, Mr. Michael Cunningham, sent us a report for the program on February 27th from 10:00 to 10:30 UTC on the frequency of 12020 khz. He suggests we reduce the volume of the voice and sounds we insert when we do voice over in our stories and increase the amount of Vietnamese music.
B: Thank you, Mr. Cunningham, for your comments, which are extremely helpful for our service. We highly appreciate them and hope to receive more feedback from you.
A: We’d like to acknowledge emails and letters from Fumito Hokamura and Toshiya Nishimura of Japan, Reginaldo Annuciancao of Brazil, Richard Lemke of Canada, Adalat Das of India, Hector Frias Jofre of Chile, Hannu Kiiski of Finland, Koichi Ikeda of Trinidad and Tobago, and Richard Cook of the UK.
A: We’ll send you QSL cards to confirm your reports. We welcome your feedback at English Section, VOVworld, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Thank you for listening to VOV on shortwave and following us online. Good bye until next time.