Livelihood put to test

Friday,  February 3,2012,22:22 (GMT+7) Finally, the scheme of staggering working hours has come into real life in Hanoi as a situational measure taken on a trial basis to fight traffic congestion in the city. At first glance, the scheme over the past two days has yielded positive results, as the vehicular flow has turned looser, allowing the people to move about faster owing to fewer traffic jams. But, as admitted by traffic police officers and observers on local media, uncertainties still lie ahead.

When justice is wrongly taken

Friday,  January 13,2012,12:22 (GMT+7) When Doan Van Vuon took justice into his own hands, using excessive force to resist coercive measures by well-armed enforcement officers in Hai Phong City’s Tien Lang District to redeem a vast area under fish farming, shock waves immediately rippled through the country. This is the first time the resistance of such severity has taken place with six police and military officers seriously wounded by gun bullets, and two others getting fainted following a blast at the site. As the case unfolds itself, the explosion turns more deafening than physically heard at the time of the happening, as local media points out that the enforcement itself was problematic.

Out of touch

Friday,  January 6,2012,15:29 (GMT+7) Noble reasons are cited, and flowery terms are given when Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang unveils a plan to collect fees on private vehicles – automobiles and motorcycles alike – to build a fund for upgrading traffic infrastructure. In encounters with the media these days, the minister reiterates his determination to impose the fee. The ministry’s move, however, is set on the course of direct collision with people from all walks of life, as covered by local media.

Helpless consumers

Thursday,  December 29,2011,22:30 (GMT+7) For a month now, the problem of vehicles catching fire has captured the attention of almost all people in the society, as consumers have never been exposed to such huge risks. Days in days out, front pages are overwhelmed with such incidents, from a Hyundai Getz car destroyed while parking in Hanoi on Thursday morning as covered by Nguoi Lao Dong, to a Honda scooter in Danang charred to coal while moving on the street on the same day, as reported by Tuoi Tre. The rising number of such accidents is phenomenal, with at least two dozen reported in the past one month alone. It seems, however, that the response from responsible parties has been too slow.

Behind the red line
	Friday,  December 23,2011,13:57 (GMT+7) At a glimpse, they are deep in the red, incurring losses amounting to trillions of Vietnam dong in this year’s first half by selling oil products at subsidized prices to lend a helping hand to the Government’s drive to fight inflation and restore stability. It is just half of the truth, however.

Rotten in the root

Thursday,  December 15,2011,22:00 (GMT+7) The country’s forest coverage is shrinking and diminishing days in days out, with the agriculture ministry at a conference this week estimating the loss at nearly 32,000 hectares in the past five years, or nearly 20 hectares a day. Of the many reasons behind the alarming loss of the forest, illegal logging now turns the most worrying problem aggravated by the conspiracy between forest rangers and loggers. The latest case, as front-paged in local media this week, has angered the public when senior officials in charge of forest protection in the north-central province of Nghe An are found to have been deeply involved in illegal logging.

David vs Goliath
	Sunday,  December 11,2011,20:00 (GMT+7) One may not believe their eyes as they see media images of residents at one of the country’s newest and most luxurious apartment buildings using rustic coal stoves, setting up makeshift tents and sleeping in blankets on the ground floor. But it did happen at the Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower.

All that glitters is not gold

Friday,  December 2,2011,08:44 (GMT+7) If the end can justify the means, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is choosing the right course in consolidating its control over the gold market by petitioning the Government to impose State monopoly in gold processing and trading. In a draft decree already submitted to the Government for approval, the central bank sets tough conditions for those bullion traders who want to maintain manufacturing and trading in the industry. Provisions in the draft decree, in effect, will confine gold bar manufacturing to Saigon Jewelry Co. (SJC) only, while the number of gold traders will also be slashed from thousands now to dozens.

Easy business

Thursday,  November 24,2011,21:13 (GMT+7) For Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN), doing business seems to be quite easy. The State utility company is said to incur a huge loss of over VND10 trillion, or nearly US$500 million, in 2010, and to tackle the problem, all what it has to do is to ask for approval to hike the power price, a move instantly supported by key Government agencies despite the widespread disagreement of the public. There are numerous demands from National Assembly deputies at the ongoing NA sitting and experts to urge competent State agencies to grill EVN leaders on the company’s business performance. However, all such calls have fallen on the deaf ear, as relevant authorities yesterday simply decided to raise the power price by some 5% from next year, before the questions have been answered.

Opportunity of a lifetime

Thursday,  November 17,2011,22:29 (GMT+7) The Brangelina visit to Vietnam has been buzzing around the country and elsewhere in the world since last week. The trip was not announced and the schedule was kept secret but certainly the Jolie-Pitts did not try to keep a low profile this time. In fact, Jolie had a friendly attitude towards staff of Con Son airport when her family traveled to Con Dao Island and a photo session with them before departure. Just try googling a combination of keywords “Brad Pitt”, “Angelina Jolie”, “visit”, “Vietnam”, “November” and “2011”. The search will return more than 300,000 results. This once again indicates the great attention the media and the public both at home and abroad pay to the Hollywood couple.