Need to know when buying a house

PM Dung’s online session a major draw (10-02-2007) Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung answers questions from citizens live.—VNA/VNS Photo Duc Tam Ha Noi — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung spent two-and-a-half hours chatting with the public in a forum on the Viet Nam Communist Party website yesterday morning. The event was also broadcast on Viet Nam Television and the VietnamNet. In total, more than 20,000 questions divided into nine topics were submitted by residents and foreigners. The nine discussion topics were: Viet Nam’s 2006 socio-economic achievements; anti-corruption; administrative reform; science and technology development; employment; social policies; socio-economic solutions for 2007 and the future; housing and land policies; education policies, culture and health and disaster relief and epidemic prevention. The following is an excerpt of the dialogue: Nguyen Van Sac, HCM City, Nguyen Van Tuan, Ha Noi; Do Van Binh, Phu Tho Province; Nguyen Chi … [Read more...] about PM Dung’s online session a major draw

One of the downsides of being early adopters of new technology is that we tend to buy the best system available at the time, only for a better one to come along later. I’m sure we’ve all been there. That was the case for me with wireless audio. I wanted, many years ago, to be able to stream music to two other rooms in the house. I invested in a couple of Logitech Streambox Booms, which did the job. My Mac acted as a music server, and I could stream both my music library and Internet radio to the Logitech boxes. But it was a clunky setup, a scrollwheel used to select artist, album and track in much the same way as the original scrollwheel iPod – though viewing only one line at a time. AirPlay, when it came along in 2010, was a markedly better solution, but also came with a far higher price-tag. However, the upside of Apple neglecting AirPlay is that there are a lot of heavily-discounted discontinued products around. It was only when writing that opinion piece that I noticed … [Read more...] about How-To: Get yourself an affordable multi-room AirPlay setup

Voters voice opinions to NA deputies (05-05-2005) Voters meet with candidates for the Ba Be District People’s Council in Bac Kan Province during the 2004-09 term. — VNA/ VNS Photo HCM CITY — Voters across the country have begun voicing their opinions to National Assembly deputies as lawmakers prepare for legislative meetings. Measures against corruption, wage reform, health insurance and low-income housing programmes are the main concerns of HCM City voters, according to a National Assembly delegation. Before the opening of the seventh meeting of the eleventh session of the National Assembly today, the HCM City NA delegates talked to voters in 24 city districts to determine their primary concerns. The voters interviewed late last month suggested that in order to prevent corruption, the NA should refine the regulations requiring leading State officials to publicly declare their assets. Voters in District 12 and Hoc Mon and Cu Chi districts said … [Read more...] about Voters voice opinions to NA deputies

HCM City seeks more green space amid rapid urbanisation Efforts needed to preserve wetlands Unconventional entrepreneur develops Việt Nam’s best-known co-working space Southern goodness, till the last bite, the last drop A comedian who made people cry Working hard: A man sorts and processes scraps in front of his house in the “scrap village” on Hoàng Cầu Street. — VNS Photo Khánh Dương By Khánh Dương HÀ NỘI — In a narrow alley on Hoàng Cầu Street in Đống Đa District, among a residential complex and multi-storey buildings, there is a row of shabby one-storey houses without address plaques. About 10 houses here were carelessly erected of wood. Pieces of canvas cover the low roofs and doors, making the houses more scruffy-looking. Passing these dark houses, nothing attracts more attention than big sacks filled with scraps, piled on the ground and stacked to the roof. This is where migrant scrap dealers have stayed and earned a living for more than 10 … [Read more...] about “Scrap villages” might explode in Hà Nội

A street market in a crowded HCM City neighborhood. Illustrative Photo — Photo laodong.com.vn Viet Nam News HCM CITY — Authorities in the southern economic hub have issued an ultimatum, ordering all its districts to submit plans to the People’s Committee on getting rid of unplanned markets by July. Unplanned markets, which are areas with a concentration of street vendors selling agricultural produces and other common items, usually crop up on pavements based on people’s needs and conveniences that are not met by modern supermarkets and stores, not part of city’s plannings. However, products sold in such spots are more often than not of questionable origin and food safety is a big issue. Authorities frequently crack down on such markets, both for food safety and during urban order restoration campaigns. Many experts are sceptical about the effectiveness of these campaigns, and argue that if forceful measures are not taken to address the root cause of the issue, then … [Read more...] about City plans to clear illegal street markets

A person living with HIV/AIDS receives ARV at the District 11 Preventive Medicine Centre. Photo Thu Hằng Viet Nam News San Hà HCM CITY — N.C.T, a 32-year-old man, and his partner, a 38-year-old man, are waiting at the District 11 Preventive Medicine Centre to receive free antiretroviral drugs. With international support, ARV treatment has been made available free of charge in Việt Nam. But from next year the two men will no longer enjoy free medicines and treatment, and health insurance cards will be the lifebuoy for HIV patients like them. They live together in a rented house in Bình Tân District, but have been coming to the centre for HIV treatment for the past three years for fear of being seen in their neighbourhood waiting in a queue to pick up medication for HIV. But since social stigma and discrimination remain widespread in the country, most insured people living with HIV are unwilling to use their health insurance cards for fear of revealing their … [Read more...] about Govt to bring all HIV patients into insurance net

Thousands of houses were razed to the ground by storm Linda in Cà Mau Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Trường Viet Nam News CÀ MAU — Twenty years later, to the day, the pain is still fresh and the tears flow easily. “Everything came crashing down so fast, so suddenly. That year I thought I couldn’t bear any more pain. In just a few hours, I lost my husband, my three sons, two sons-in-law, and two grandchildren.” An old woman said her family “almost went mad” desperately looking everywhere on the sea to find the bodies of their loved ones. The resident of Village 4 in Khánh Hội District, Ca Mau Province, was one of hundreds of thousands of people who’ve had to suffer the unbearable pain of losing loved ones and property to storm Linda , which struck on November 2, 1997. People in the affected areas remember that the month was a terrible time, with the sounds of mourning emanating from every house. Trần Thị Lăng, a 57-year-old resident of Village 7, also in Khánh Hội … [Read more...] about Poignant memories linger, 20 years after Linda

Students help sell the turnips at the gate of the Thống Nhất Park, on Lê Duẩn Street. – Photo dantri.com.vn by Thu Trang HÀ NỘI – Nguyễn Ngọc Hoàng is a man on a mission. He turns up at university to study two days of the week but the rest of the time he goes somewhere else - at the farm to help sell turnips. He is one of a number of volunteers who give up their spare time to help farmers sell their vegetables. This was because after over farming, many were left with too many turnips and not enough customers. So moved after hearing the plight of farmers in Tráng Việt Commune, Mê Linh District in Hà Nội, Hoàng decided to do something about it. Hoàng, a Hà Nội University of Technology student, has spent the past 10 days volunteering at the Thống Nhất Park because he knows farmers have been unable to sell 140ha of their produce after harvesting. Many vegetables will be thrown away, but not if Hoàng has anything to do with it. And he found out about the sale thanks to a … [Read more...] about Volunteers turning up to help sell farmers’ turnips

Migrants build temporary houses on the isolated land. — Photo danviet.vn Viet Nam News ĐẮK LẮK  — Half a year ago, the couple Lý Seo Xì and Tráng Thị Tòng moved to a temporarily iron-sheet house on barren land in which there remain tree roots. Their 18-month-old baby, Lý Thị Hoa, who had her hand burned by boiled water four days ago, is playing on the ground, and occasionally crying out in pain. Xì said that he bought medicine for his young daughter. “The pain will wear off after a few days. My house is too far from the hospital so I cannot take my daughter there,” he told Nông Thôn Ngày Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper. His house is one of thoses located in an isolated area in t he middle of a forest in Ea Súp District in the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk, where there is an without electricity, clean water, schools or clinics. The area is called Zone 286 of Cư M’Lan Commune, and is some 15km from Yok Đôn National Park. The commune … [Read more...] about Migrants dream of establishing village

Hoàng Văn Tiến plays with his dogs on the farm.— Photos tienphong.vn Viet Nam News ĐẮK LẮK — Hoàng Văn Tiến, 27, starts the day on his dog farm by grooming his four-pawed Alaskan Malamute friend Nana. Tiến, from the Central Highland province of Đắk Lắk, said Alaskans are notable for their beautiful fur coats. As well as a grooming Nana’s coat every day, Tiến also has to ensure a healthy diet for his dog. The food requires different levels of nutrition depending on each stage of Nana’s development. When Nana was a puppy, Tiến fed him milk and calcium, but as he grew, the diet changed to include chicken, beef, vegetables and trứng vịt lộn (duck embyo eggs), Tiến said. It costs more than VNĐ1 million (US$44) to feed Nana each month, he said. Nana is one of 30 dogs in Tiến’s farm now, along with Huskies, Poodles, Pugs and Bulldogs, among them 15 females. Tiến earns about VNĐ500 million ($21,825) per year from selling their puppies, Tiền Phong (Vanguard) … [Read more...] about Man makes his fortune from four-pawed friends