Vietnamese people will celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) – the Year of the Dog in three weeks’ time. These days, time seems to fly and everybody is busy preparing for Tet celebrations. Twigs of red peach and kumquats can be seen here and there along streets. Unlike previous years, the chilly weather over the past weeks has badly affected the growing process of peach and kumquats and their prices are expected to rise this year.

Hanoi has been famous for its Nhat Tan peach varieties for a long time. Although the acreage of peach growing in Nhat Tan and Phu Thuong wards has halved to approximately 100 hectares compared to previous years, peach growers are determined to maintain the traditional practice and offer rare and precious varieties.
Meanwhile, kumquat gardens in Nhat Tan and Phu Thuong are expected to make profits this year and customers are flocking to the two wards to place orders.

Due to the prolonged bird flu epidemic, many consumers wondered whether poultry products will be available for their daily meals during the Tet holiday. By January 9, no new bird flu outbreaks had been reported across the country for the past 21 days. Safe poultry products such as chickens and eggs are now allowed to be displayed at supermarkets and big markets.

However, the Government has asked localities to continue to adopt preventive measures, control the slaughtering and veterinary work of poultry and poultry products and establish concentrated slaughterhouses in several provinces and cities to ensure a sufficient supply of poultry products for local people during Tet.

Now back to the mailbag. From Germany, Reinhard Popp wrote that he is establishing a collection of national anthems of all countries in the world and he wanted VOVNews to send him the script and music of the Vietnamese anthem.

Well, you can visit VOVNews Music webpage and download the recorded national anthem at the address http://203/162.1.208/amthanh/tiengviet/tulieulichsu/tulieulichsu.htm.

Nguyen Thi Ha wrote an email to VOVNews wondering how she could send letters to the VOV Listeners Board.

To send letters directly to the board, you need to write the address of the board at 58 Quan Su Street, Hanoi. If you have a personal question, the board will give the answer to you by post. You can also phone directly to the board’s Talk to Listeners programme on 04.9343301 and 04.8266345 for a quick reply.

Listener Nguyen Mai Huong asked VOVNews for information about TRAENCO company, which specialises in labour import-export activities.

We contacted the company and found that TRAENCO is the initials of the Construction and Trade Company under the Ministry of Transport. Currently, the company is involved in labour export and its major markets include Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Middle East and European Union.   

Currently, TRAENCO is among the very few companies in Vietnam, providing initial financial assistance to guestworkers of difficult circumstances. You can directly contact the company at its email address traenco@hn.vnn.vn for further information and assistance.

Another listener Le Le wrote, “I am a regular listener of VOV, particularly for music programmes. I prefer the Quick and Snow show and want to know its email address for convenient contact.” 

Well, many other listeners, especially young people also like this show. Many of them wrote letters to VOVNews, saying that it is a useful programme. Through the programme, students and young people share their feelings and send their favourite songs to their loved ones.

The programme is on air on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings on the Music and Entertainment Channel (VOV3). You can also listen live to this programme on VOVNews on Sunday mornings. If you have any questions, you can log on to www.theoyeucau.com and programme staff will provide answers.

In another email to VOVNews, Nguyen The Hai said that he likes listening to the English Broadcast for the foreign community in Vietnam (VOV5). He said he likes one of the trailers in the programme, beginning with the word “One day…” and wanted to know the name and singer who performed the song.

We phoned VOV5 staff and found that it is the song High presented by the Lighthouse Family band from Newcastle in the UK. The band consists of composer Paul Tucker and singer Tunde Baiyewu. The band got its fame first in the 1980s with the song Ocean Driver. Following is the full text of the song High.

When you're close to tears remember

Someday it'll all be over

One day we're gonna get so high

Though it's darker than December

What's ahead is a different colour

One day we're gonna get so high

And at the end of the day remember the days

When we were close to the end

And wonder how we made it through the night

At the end of the day

Remember the way we stayed so close to the end

We'll remember it was me and you

Chorus:
Cause we are gonna be

Forever, you and me

You will always keep it flying high in the sky

Of love

Don't you think it's time you started

Doing what we always wanted

One day we're gonna get so high

Cause even the impossible

Is easy when we got each other

One day we're gonna get so high

And at the end of the day remember the days

When we were close to the end

And wonder how we made it through the night

At the end of the day

Remember the way we stayed so close to the end

We'll remember it was me and you

And at the end of the day

Remember the days when we were close to the end

And wonder how we made it through the night

At the end of the day

Remember the way we stayed so close to the end

We'll remember it was me and you

Last week, we received an email from Dinh Cong Cuong, a second-year student of the Hanoi University of Technology, who complained about the bad operations of private tutor centres, which have deceived him and many of his friends.

Currently, Hanoi has many tutor centres and many of them operate without a license. Students are advised to find licensed centres to avoid future troubles.

During the week, we also received emails, articles and photos from Dinh Khai, Yen Trang, Mai Hanh, Thu Hang, Huong Giang, Dinh Trung, Hien Trang, Minh Son and Thanh Binh.

Thank you very much for your co-operation. If you have any queries about Vietnam, please write to us at the VOVNews Office, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam.

You can send your questions to vovnews@hn.vnn.vn or english@vovnews.vn or telephone us on (84-4) 8255319.

Thanks for joining us and goodbye.