Lanh Van Nga pointed to the 60ha forest where InnovGreen plants eclyptus. Nga said he would not give his forest land to this company, but keep it to his children.

Background: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on March 10 instructed local governments to pause leasing forest land to foreign investors until the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MARD) completes a review of projects of this kind.

Dung acted on the basis of concerns raised by retired Lieutenant General Dong Sy Nguyen, who protested that among the areas being leased were tracts of old-growth forest, forests in watersheds and in strategically significant border locations.

According to the MARD, ten provinces have granted investment certificates to plant forest to foreign investors for a total area of 305,000 hectares. Actually, provinces have thus far only allocated and leased 33,800 hectares of forest land, or eleven percent of the total area licenced.

VietNamNet reporters have traveled to Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Nghe An and Quang Nam to investigate the situation, and thus provide further information for the government’s reference.

Part 2 (Lang Son):  “I know that I was cheated”

Believing its promises of high compensation, improved roads, electricity jobs for local people, many in Dong Quan commune in the northern mountain province of Lang Son agreed to hand over forest land to InnovGreen, a Hong Kong company.

However, they now have realized that they made a blunder. They haven’t seen any benefits from the project. Even their wages have not been paid.  Others are more fortunate. They refused to sign over forest land to this foreign investor because they werere afraid that their families would lose all resources that support their livelihood.

Dong Quan is a poor mountain commune in Loc Binh district, Lang Son province.  Residents grow a bit of rice on dry fields, but mainly they live on products they can gather from the forest. In 2007, InnovGreen came to lease forest land for 50 years to grow eucalyptus trees. The Hong Kong company promised to build facilities and offer jobs to local people. Many families, but not all, handed over their land to this firm, said Vi Van Mai, chief of Song Sai village in Dong Quan commune.

VietNamNet reporters visited Ly Thi Thiet, who handed over 3.8 hectares of forest land to InnovGreen. “Yes, I gave them my land to grow eucalyptus and now I know that I’m cheated,” she said.

According to Thiet, InnovGreen employees and officials of Dong Quan commune visited her family and promised to pay compensation for land and trees and to recruit her family members as their workers with high salary. Believing in their promises, Thiet transferred her pine forest to InnovGreen and planted eucalyptus on this land with the wage of 100,000 dong per day. But five months since she allocated her forest to this company, the women has not been paid what’s due her for planting the trees, let alone compensation for her land and pines.

Giving her land to InnovGreen, Thiet is bare-handed.

Thiet led VietNamNet reporters to a hill planted with eucalyptus, planted she said by herself and Song Sai villagers for InnovGreen. “They (InnovGreen) pledged to pay wages on January 28 but they didn’t. They only advanced several hundred thousand dong.  We have not received compensation for our land yet because local officials say that though my family exploited that land, we don’t have the land use right certificate,” Thiet said.

Similarly, Be Thi Cau gave 3 hectares of pine forest to InnovGreen and planted eucalyptus for them but she has not been paid wages nor compensation yet.

“We gave them our land and we become hired labour for them. But after we planted eucalyptus, they don’t pay us wages due. When we asked them about compensation for land and trees, local officials told us that we are not compensated because we don’t have land use rights certificates. Now we don’t know how to live,” Cau said.

This is the typical situation of dozens of families in Song Sai village.

Meanwhile, some families who were more cautious did not hand over their land to InnovGreen. They reasoned that every inch of land is an inch of gold and that losing land is losing a livelihood.

Lanh Van Nga, also from Song Sai village, said that in the winter of 2007-08, InnovGreen’s representatives and local officials visited him in his home. They asked his family to give 3.1 hectares of forest land to InnovGreen but his family didn’t agree.

“I didn’t agree because if that company leases land for 50 years, my children will not have land to work. Without forest land we will starve to death because apart from several hundred square meters of rice paddy, we mainly live on forest land,” Nga said.

Vy Van Y, another Song Sai villager, said that his forest land is where he grazes cattle.  The pine trees there will be assets for his children in the future.

Other families shared Nga and Y’s opinion and they didn’t give up their land to InnovGreen. 

Colonel Hoang Cong Ham, the Chief of Staff of the military headquarters of Lang Son province, jumped when VietNamNet’s reporter told him that a foreign company has leased 63,000 hectares of land to grow trees in Lang Son province for the next 50 years.   Ham said that he has not received even a line of information about this project. He said that the Lang Son military headquarters would reject any reforestation which directly affects defence and security.   “We surprised to know that a foreign company has leaser forest land for up to 50 years. The area along the border must be green and be controlled by Vietnamese people.  This leasing business is really a problem,” Ham said.   Ham said he is upset because normaly local officials discuss very carefully projects for the next five to ten years. Now this project may continue for up to 50 years, but the military doesn’t know about it.   He said the provincial military headquarters would analyze this project’s impact on defence and security concerns .

VietNamNet reporters met Dong Quan commune officials to learn about the situation.

Dong Quan’s chairman Vi Sy Phong said that the province and district governments have allowed the Hong Kong company to grow forest in Dong Quan. This company also is planting forest in three other communes in Loc Binh district.

Phong confirmed that InnovGreen has grown 60 hectares of eucalyptus in the commune. They hired local people on oral contracts, via several contractors. Some contractors have paid 65 percent of the wages promised to local people.

Meanwhile, some local people said that while they worked for InnovGreen, the firm paid several hundred thousand dong in advance but it still owes them some money and they don’t know when it will pay the rest.

Dong Quan commune has 974 families, totaling 4500 residents living in 7 villages. InnovGreen has surveyed and leased 1,390 hectare of forest land in four villages: Song Sai, Ban Nung, Na Lau and Phieng Et. Song Sai and Phieng Et are remote and isolated villages that have neither roads nor electricity.

VietNamNet reporters asked local officials why InnovGreen was allowed to plant eucalyptus forest on a trial basis in Dong Quan. Commune chairman Vi Sy Phong said that this project is not yet established yet but the province and district governments permitted this investor to grow forest here.

Initially Phong told VietNamNet that he didn’t know whether the provincial authorities licenced InnovGreen to plant forest or not, but after a while he said that this project is not licenced by Lang Son province.

He said that the provincial government told districts to instruct communes to survey forest land to submit to the province government for consideration as licensed forest projects.  Though this task is not finished, the foreign investor has planted trees already.

“Recently the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (of Lang Son province) said that though they have not yet been licenced but still to let them (InnovGreen) plant forest,” Phong added.

The commune official said that InnovGreen came to Dong Quan commune in 2007 to survey forest land for leasing. “They told us that they would lease forest land to establish a tree plantation for 50 years. They would hire local people based on yearly contracts to plant trees and protect the forest. When they sell products, they will share profit,” Phong said.

Phong also said that the investor promised to build roads and power grids to the two remote villages of Song Sai and Phieng Et. They also pledged to build public works like community centers and schools as well as offer jobs for local people.

Vi Thi Khoan, who is in charge of land management in Dong Quan commune, said “I attended a meeting about this project on May 28, 2009. Officials of the Lang Son Department of Agriculture and Rural Development spoke. They said that they completely agreed with InnovGreen’s project and allowed them to plant forest. I asked them how can they grow forest without a licence.”

The foreign investor not only owes wages to local people but also hasn’t kept its promise to build infrastructure. The seven kilometer road from Na Xa village to the forest area where the project is being implemented is not built yet because of problems related to site clearance and compensation.

Vi Thi Lo, a Na Xa villager who had to sell 2000 square meters of pine forest to make way for the construction of this road, said: “Last year we agreed to give our land so a road could be build. They (InnovGreen) promised to pay compensation before 15 October 2009 but they didn’t pay then so we haven’t allowed them to build the road”.

Vi Thi Khoan, who is in charge of land management in Dong Quan commune, said that Dong Quan commune has received two maps showing InnovGreen forest leases from the provincial and district governments. However, Khoan and the chairman of Dong Quan commune have not put their signatures on that map because the commune has not yet liquidated two previous forest growing projects on the same land.

Before it agreed to lease land to InnovGreen, Lang Son province implemented a project in 2004 to establish a pulpwood plantation to serve a paper factory but this project was a failure. After that the provincial government hired people in Song Sai and Na Lau to plant 225 hectares of pine trees. However, after they planted the pines, 60 local families were not paid for their work. This area of pines is now under the management of local people, but they don’t have land use rights certificates.

Vi Thi Khoan said that this project is not liquidated yet. Another afforestation project totaling 661 hectares in Ban Nung and Phieng Et villages is not liquidated either.

Though old projects are not liquidated and local people hadn’t received their wages yet, Dong Quan commune was instructed to assist InnovGreen to implement a new project that overlaps the old ones. For this reason, Dong Quan commune officials hesitate to sign the the maps.

That doesn’t mean that InnovGreen has failed entirely to build promised infrastructure works. Notably, Lang Son province approved its plan to build a 38 hectare training ground in Dong Quan commune, which is one kilometer from the Dong Quan commune People’s Committee.

InnovGreen also has planted monoculture forest in three other communes – Huu Lan, Minh Phat and Nam Quan – on a trial basis. 

VietNamNet questioned Lang Son province officials about this project. Joining the talk were province vice chairman Nguyen Van Binh, deputy director for agriculture and rural development Vu Trung Bac, deputy director for planning and investment Duong Van Chieu and deputy director for natural resources and environment Nguyen Van Khanh.   VietNamNet: Why did Lang Son province allocate such a large area of forest land to a foreign company?  What are the terms of the licencing project? Why didn’t the local government allocate forest land to local people instead of to a foreign investor who turns local residents into hired labourers on their own land?   Nguyen Van Binh: Lang Son develops and takes care of the forest with State funds, which are appropriated on an annual basis. Annually we plant around 3000-4000 hectares of forest. This year the state budget allocated us around 31 billion dong (less than $2 million) for this task.   The state funding for reforestation is limited so Lang Son mobilizes capital from other economic sectorsas well. The total area of newly planted forest is around 10,000-11,000 hectares a year.   The province grants licences to a foreign investor based on survey sconducted and submitted by the investor and the authorities of related villages and communes. I confirm that the foreign investor is not allocated watershed forest land because that type of land is controlled by the state.   The licencing process had the involvement of the provincial army headquarters and border guards.   Vu Trung Bac: Lang Son has 640,280 hectares of forest land, of which 250,000 hectares has been logged and cleared. The land area is vast and the human resources requirement is huge but the state funding and local budget for reforestation is limited, so we need to mobilize capital from local and foreign investors.   VietNamNet: Why was the forest investor allowed to plant trees even though its lease has not yet been approved?   Nguyen Van Binh: Our viewpoint is that when investors have been licenced, they must mplement their projects.   VietNamNet: When investment licences are granted to foreign companies, does the local government pay attention to defence and security interests in addition to economic purpose?   Nguyen Van Binh: We are the ones who defend the border so defence and security must be the top priority. The foreign investor is only allowed to plant forest, not anything else.   VietNamNet: Did the local administration ask the opinion of defence and security agencies related to this project?   Binh: Of course yes. There were members of the local army, the local military headquarters and the border guard foreces in the committee that considered and approved this project.   VietNamNet: The Lang Son military headquarters told us that they don’t know about this project. How can you explain that?   Binh: We are exchanging information (he smiles) and I confirm that we obeyed the right process.   VietNamNet: You confirmed that defence and security must be the top priority. What’s the basis of your belief that leasing forest land to a foreign company for 50 years will not harm our security?   Binh: Ensuring security is the job of the army and border guards. I can only tell you that it’s the top priority. I can’t say what locations are sensitive in terms of defence and security. That’s the job of military agencies, not forest management agencies.   VietNamNet: You signed the investment certificate for InnovGreen in Lang Son province. As the province vice chairman, why don’t you answer whether security agencies participated in the decision on this project or not? If they did, what documents show it?   Binh: I’ve said that the project evaluation process must be correct. I’ll have to review the documents because this project has been implemented for several years already.   VietNamNet: For sensitive projects like this, did Lang Son think of reporting to the central authorities and seeking their opinions?   Binh: It’s the right of each province to grant licences to projects within our area of competence.

Duy Tuan – Vu Diep

“We collect bamboo from the natural forest to weave baskets and collect reeds to dry for brooms. Now foreigners come. If they lease all the forest land here to grow eucalyptus, what will my family do to live?” said Tang A Tai said.

Background: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on March 10 instructed local governments to pause leasing forest land to foreign investors until the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MARD) completes a review of projects of this kind.

Dung acted on the basis of concerns raised by retired Lieutenant General Dong Sy Nguyen, who protested that among the areas being leased were tracts of old-growth forest, forests in watersheds and in strategically significant border locations.

According to the MARD, ten provinces have granted investment certificates to plant forest to foreign investors for a total area of 305,000 hectares. Actually, provinces have thus far only allocated and leased 33,800 hectares of forest land, or eleven percent of the total area licenced.

VietNamNet’s reporters have traveled to Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Nghe An and Quang Nam to investigate the situation, and thus provide further information for the government’s reference.

Part 1 (Quang Ninh): “We will starve to death without the forest”

From Ha Lau town, Tien Yen district, Quang Ninh province, it took VietNamNet reporters over one hour on motorbikes to reach Ban Danh village. The village is considered a “hot spot” in Quang Ninh province, because local people have been resolutely protesting the lease of forest land to foreign investors.

“We definitively don’t agree. My village has 17 families. Five families don’t have any forest land at all, so how can we give forest to foreigners” asked village chief Tang Coong Venh.

The reporters met with families who don’t have forest land at the recommendation of the village chief.

Weaving a bamboo basket in front of his tattered house, Tang A Tai said that his family is in very difficult circumstances because they don’t own forest land. His family is makes its living exploiting forest products.

“We collect bamboo from the natural forest to weave baskets and collect reeds to dry for brooms. Now foreigners come. If they lease all the forest land here to grow eucalyptus, what will my family do to live?” Tai said truthfully.

All the 17 families in this village depend on the forest.  Pun Tai, 65, said: “Thanks to the forest I can earn some money from chopping reeds and drying them to sell. If foreigners chop down all bamboos and reeds to grow eucalyptus, how can we live? We have been living on the forest so we cannot give it to them (foreigners)”.

Ban Danh villagers also worry they may lose their only pasture.  Tang Phuc Henh, who has the biggest herd of cattle in the village, said: “Our village has over 100 buffaloes and cows. The Ban Danh hill is our only grass pasture. If foreigners lease it to grow eucalyptus, where will our cattle graze? We will try to keep the pasture at any cost!”.

Hoang Vinh Hai, chairman of Ha Lau commune, verified the local people’s worries. He said that this case was reported to the district administration and InnovGreen stopped planting eucalyptus on that hill.

Like people in Ban Danh village, La Van Vi, secretary of the youth branch of Ha Lau commune, and 13 families in Ban Buong village don’t agree to yield forest to foreign investors.

“Why should we lease our forest to foreigners and become their hired workers?” Vi asked. “Man can give birth but land cannot. If they keep the forest for 50 years, not only I but also my children and grandchildren will not know what to do to live. Many things will change in 50 years but one thing is sure: without forest land, we will starve to death!”

Leasing forest in Ha Lau commune, InnovGreen promised to build roads and create jobs for local people but until now, the ten kilometer road to Ban Danh village is still a rough dirt road.

Ha Lau commune vice chairman Giap Hong Hanh emphasizes that “InnovGreen has not built the road or anything else for local people. This half-made road is funded by the local budget.”

Since it was licenced to plant forest in Ha Lau in 2006, the InnovGreen Company has planted 96 hectares of eucalyptus in Ban Khuong village. Initially, it hired local people to tend this plantation, but many of them have quit because the pay is low and the work is hard.

Vi said InnovGreen paid only 70,000 dong (nearly $4) per day but workers have to cut down trees, carry fertilizer and transport seedlings to hill peaks. Local people don’t want such hard work for such low pay.

Asking local officials why land has been allocated to foreigners when many local people don’t have ownership rights to parcels of forest land, Ha Lau commune’s chairman Hoang Vinh Hai explainedd that the commune administrative has tried to allocate land to local residents but they refused to accept it.

At Tien Yen district headquarters, vice chairman Vu Hong Thang, explained it another way. After forest land was allocated to InnovGreen, some new families were established. The district administration knew that these families didn’t have land yet, and invited them to submit applications for land but these families didn’t do so.

Ban Danh villagers also worry they may lose their only pasture.

At present, the Ha Lau forest has many acacia trees which grow very well. The reporters asked why the local government doesn’t let local people develop acacia plantations, but instead allows InnovGreen, a Hong Kong firm, to grow eucalyptus.

Thang said that this is the policy of Quang Ninh province and his district has to follow it. “This is the province’s instruction.  But we are considering whether this project is effective or not. We have to be careful to keep land for our descendants,” Thang said.

PV 

It is very easy to seek such a game on the Internet.

From streets to shopping centres

On a Sunday afternoon, the game area at a shopping mall in HCM City was very crowded. A group of four teens sat in front of a big screen displaying two sexy girls. Their “mission” is to find differences between two similar porn pictures that are often located in “sensitive” places on women’s bodies. Such touch-screen games are very popular at arcades and trading centres. Players buy tokens worth 2-3000 dong to play.

“These games opened several months ago,” a student at the arcade explained. “Most machines here have this game for players to find different points on the girls.”

The porn games have frustrated many visitors to this shopping mall. Hai, on a shopping trip with his family, complained that he couldn’t understand why the mall allowed such games. “I wonder if the students were playing games or staring at the girls in the pictures,” he remarked. Some parents quickly led their small kids out when they saw the sexy girls on the screens. “How can kids play this game?” commented one mother.

These game are dismissed by some as “very simple”. College student Thanh Hoang maintained that, “This game is only for kids. We play many games of ‘higher class’ on the Internet.” He provided some URLs for porn games, ones with innocuous names like “kungfu”, “snake hunting”, “chess”, and “piling bricks”. Yet the content of these games is not so innocent.

For instance, “snake hunting” features a girl wearing showing her décolleté and wearing a Santa Claus hat. The more gamers win points, the more her clothes are taken off until she is entirely nude. Other games featuring sexy girls have more direct names: “shoot to remove clothes”, “XXX chess”, “XXX action game”, and “penis hammer”.  Many of these free games are very graphic and full of sexual pictures. Gamers control characters to make love and in the game forums, players make “open” comments about sex.

Many computer games shops on Huynh Thuc Khang and Pasteur streets sell porn game discs for PlayStation 2. A shopkeeper revealed that she sells many games with sexy girls daily, adding that they were a favorite among teens. Another shopkeeper said most porn games had the word “teen” on their labels and that many violent games were also popular among the youth.

A Tuoi Tre reporter bought a game disc with a picture of five girls in sexy clothes being sold for 20,000 dong (US$1.07). The reporter also found a number of sex games on discs without porn pictures on the labels.

The paper blamed lax management of Internet shops which has allowed many young customers to download porn games from the Internet. Porn games have no limit of space of relations and players’ characters in these games can have sexual relations anywhere at anytime.

Opinions

A game available at a shopping mall in HCM City.

Tuoi Tre talked with an official, a psychologist and a Youth Union’s official about this issue.

The online games boom in recent years has created a negative aftermath. Many students quit school to play games and some of them have disappeared into a virtual life. How has the Department of Information and Communications dealt with this situation?

Le Manh Ha, director of the HCM City Department of Information and Communications: After the circular on online game businesses was issued, we have imposed fines on six firms who offered games without licences. However, there are many problems associated with management of online games. We have proposed that the Ministry of Information and Communications deal with it, but it has not been solved properly.

Many types of games have been distributed in Vietnam, including those featuring violence and gambling. We asked for definition of violence and gambling to licence such games, but these definitions are still absent. We also requested to end the licencing of new games while these definitions are being drafted.

It is nonsensical to restrict the time for playing game when so many games are distributed.

I know that in many rural areas, the people think that the Internet is for online games. Kids only go to Internet cafes to play games. Many criminal cases have happened because gamers need money for games or they act as their characters do in these games.

We know about the porn games at shopping malls, but the responsibility lies with other departments.

Businesses have to strictly control games. Our department will fine all firms that offer games without licences.

Vietnam is considered as the biggest online game market in Southeast Asia. Do competent agencies give up to aftermaths fromonline games for the youth?

To restrict these harmful games, we need cooperation from three sides. Players have to be aware of the uselessness and dangers of the games. Families have to educate their children about the harmfulness of these games. The state has to strengthen management over games.

What is the role of the Youth Union in assisting youngsters to protect themselves from bad games?

Le Van Minh, chief of the HCM City Youth Union’s Culture and Ideology Department: Several years ago, online games and game disks were still unfamiliar to young people, but now they can sit in their rooms and connect to the whole world very easily.

But the young can be easily infected by unhealthy content because, with several clicks, they can access porn games and pictures. This is one of the reasons for the increase in social evils and crime among the youth.

Besides close cooperation between families, schools and society, social organizations must take action to educate young people about the harmfulness of pornographic games and hold practical and attractive programmes for the youth.

I also think that the media needs to orient the youth’s awareness and struggle against porn games.

Le Minh Cong from the Central Mental Hospital: Being addicted to porn games is a form of addiction to online games or online sex. This addiction damages the dignity and futures of the players, especially the youth..

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre

A Bentley and a Mercedes in Dak Lak province with “nice” registration numbers.

What is a special registration number?

Special registration numbers are easy-to-remember numbers. Moreover, Asian people think that numbers like car numbers are linked closely to their fate and success.

The best numbers have many 6s and 8s (which mean luckiness and prosperity), for example 6666, 8888, 6868 or 8686. Other four-digit registration numbers with only one number (2222, 3333, etc) are also said to be good, except for 1111 and 4444, because 1 means making no headway and 4 means death. Other registration numbers like 0660, 7887, 6886, 1234, 5678, etc. are also special.

There are some numbers which don’t obey the above rules but are said to be special by car owners, such as 1102 (uniqueness), 1668 (more prosperity), 8386 (getting rich), etc.

How much is a special registration number?

According to Dan Tri, it is very easy to see brokers of motorbike and car registration numbers: in front of the head office of the Transportation Police Department – Hanoi Police Agency at 86 Ly Thuong Kiet street, Hanoi.

A broker told Dan Tri that to get a registration number which has the total number of all digits of eight and nine, customers have to pay 4 million dong. Customers can also choose the registration number they like but they have to wait for period of time.

Asking the broker about “tu quy” registration number (with four same digit, for instand 8888, 7777, 6666), he said that clients will have to wait for a long time. He said he couldn’t get the numbers 8888 or 9999 because these are very special numbers, just for “big bosses”. The prices for other “tu quy” numbers like 7777 or 6666 are from $7000 to 10,000.

At another office of Hanoi Transportation Police Department on Nguyen Trai road, Ha Dong district, Dan Tri’s reporters also met with a broker named Tuan, who offered to get number 6868 at the price of $12,000 and 3168 at $9,000-10,000.

This man said the prices for “tu quy” numbers are from $15,000-16,000 and from 5-10 million for numbers with digits rising (for example 1234, 2345). He affirmed that the desired numbers will be available within one week.

A “playboy” in Hanoi told Dan Tri that the most special number is 9999 because its meaning is “saving your life”. Other “nice” numbers include 8888, meaning “good fortune”, 6886 meaning “prosperity”, 6789 meaning “leveling everything”, 7979 meaning “twin gift”, 6363 as “luck and prosperity”.

In addition, there are numbers that look very simple but to get it, people will have to pay a lot of money, for example 1102, which means “second to none” or 1368 (good fortune), 2204 (immortality), 1122 (one is one, two is two).

PV

The torch bearers of Viet Nam’s haute couture industry, its young designers, have their sights trained firmly on the local market. And the market is showing increasing appreciation for their talent in undeniable fashion – with open wallets.

This was apparent at the Viet Nam Fashion Week held in HCM City this month, which featured for two nights, the Spring Summer collections of 22 designers from two of the country’s leading garment companies, Viet Tien and Viet Thang.

Organised by the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment group (Vinatex) and its partners, including the Viet Nam Fashion and Design Institute (Fadin), the event showcased 200 new designs by young faces like Ngoc Dieu and Van Khoa that dazzled foreign and local audiences, some working for international fashion brand names that have opened outlets in Viet Nam.

Sure, the fabric might have been lace or metallic, just like on the catwalks in New York or Tokyo this season, but their shapes were distinctly Vietnamese, and distinctly individual.

Young designer Bich Ha, who works for Viet Tien’s brands Bulliant and Three Camels, said, “Despite the economic recession, we have gained results in selling our clothes.”

Ha’s collection of 25 designs used lemon yellow, silver-grey and metallic – the season’s rage in the west.

Her colleague, Van Khoa, used dye-washed and carbon-washed fabric because “everyone, irrespective of age and sex, poor or rich, is interested in [it],” he said.

While Ha and Khoa love the latest foreign trends, their competitor, Trong Nguyen of Viet Thang, said: “My way is to adopt global styles but in an individual manner.”

Nguyen presented 20 creations under the brand name Smart Casual, using cotton and linen, mostly ready-to-wear.

For Nguyen, designing is like shopping. “I think about what my friends and I want to wear before making the clothes,” said the 28-year-old who has played a key role in expanding the new brand name established two years ago.

The two nights also featured more than 40 top models from fashion agencies in Ha Noi and HCM City.

“Through the event, we introduced our customers to our latest collections, new brand names and fashion projects,” said Le Nguyen Ngoc, general director of Viet Thang. Garment companies see Viet Nam’s fashion industry as a promising market, he added.

In business

In competition with foreign brand names, Vietnamese brands are hoping to capitalise on the shopping season that begins in earnest ahead of Christmas and New Year, and are forking out plenty of money on advertising.

Collections under brand names Viet Thang, Bulliant and Three Camels at newly opened shops are attracting the interest of an increasing number of Vietnamese and foreign customers.

Limited edition items under Sansciaro and T-UP brand names created by young designers like Hoai Sang, Trong Nguyen and Ngoc Dieu of the Viet Tien company, are proving popular.

“Our products are pricey, most of them starting at over VND500,000 (US$27.10), but customers who can afford it are thrilled that sophisticated designs can now be made by Vietnamese,” said Ngoc Dieu, who works with the brand name T-UP.

But many of the collections available at Viet Tien shops also have products costing as little as VND150,000 ($8.13) for both men and women while still providing quality and modern styles, she added.

Dieu’s employer, Phan Van Kiet, deputy general director of Viet Tien, said: “We have invested a lot, both money and in terms of human resources, to improve our business.

“We hope to popularise and diversify our products in the local market, instead of subcontracting to foreign partners.”

“We believe in our future prospects here, in Viet Nam,” he said.

Smaller than Viet Tien and Viet Thang, dozens of HCM City-based garment companies like Thanh Thuy and Phuoc Thinh, have also upgraded their products and worked with dealers to open new outlets.

Good quality, good prices

At Ben Thanh and Tan Dinh, two of HCM City’s most famous downtown markets, foreign and local customers are drawn by Vietnamese products that offer high-end styles at reasonable prices.

“Come here. No more foreign items. Vietnamese only, good quality and good prices,” said Nguyen Thi Kieu, a shopkeeper in Tan Dinh Market. Her shop offers clothing for children and women made by small factories in nearby districts 5 and Tan Binh.

She stocked Thai, Korean and Chinese goods last year but went local this year because “Customers, particularly the youth, now don’t care about where the products come from but only about price and quality.

“My customers like Vietnamese designs because they are trendy and high-quality and their prices are reasonable.”

The products she sells cost just VND30,000 – 90,000 ($1.62 -4.87) for each item, and over VND100,000 ($5.42) for an adult item, saving customers a lot of money.

Nguyen Thi Oanh, owner of a fashion shop on Ly Chinh Thang, offers T-shirts and jeans made by private garment factories in rural districts from just VND45,000 – 150,000 ($2.43 – 8.13)per item.

“This year I am also selling famous clothing brands like Phuoc Thinh, Thanh Cong and Phuong Dong – they are liked by both urban and rural people,” she said.

“My goal is to create styles for Vietnamese because the country’s fashion industry should be built on their demands,” said designer Vo Viet Chung, owner of two shops in HCM City and Ha Noi under the label VOV.

With his staff of 20 seamstresses and embroiders, Chung offers several hundred outfits for men and women in different styles every three months, most of them elegant and eye-catching, at prices ranging from VND300,000 ($16.26) to over VND1 million ($54.20).

His designs, mostly on Vietnamese satins and silks, are a combination of traditional Vietnamese and modern European styles.

There is severe competition among young designers, “but I have my own niche,” said the 29-year-old Chung, who spent two years in Italy and Denmark, honing his designing skills.

“Studying and working abroad is a great opportunity for Vietnamese designers like me,” said Chung, who has shown his collections at fashion shows throughout the country and in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Paris.

Chung’s younger peers, Nguyen Hang and Dieu Anh, agreed with him, adding, however, that while the fashion scene was attracting more and more young people to meet increasing demand of both foreign and local garment companies, the country still did not have a fashion institute.

“We hope that colleagues and universities will expand their courses of study in design and open fashion design departments,” said Hang, who has participated in a training course launched by the Fadin and its French partner, Institut Francais de la Mode.

Hang and Dieu Anh have prospered this season by delivering quality collections through their retail outlets in the Zen Plaza – a shopping centre that offers prominent Vietnamese products. Five years ago, they could barely survive on their own, but they makes enough now to open their own shops.

“I can earn more than a hundred million dong a month,” said Hang, adding that he not only dreams of building his business in Viet Nam, but also of exporting his designs.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News

Xoan singing is performed at holy venus in the communal house which begins with offering incense for gods.

VnnNews – With a traditional music style on the verge of extinction, residents in An Thai Village ramp up efforts to protect their sacred art.

When spring comes, men and women at An Thai Village (in Viet Tri City’s Phuong Lau Commune) eagerly prepare their costumes and gather every night at the village’s communal house to practise singing and dancing.

Spring festivals and Tet (Lunar New Year) are occasions for them to raise their voice to the rhythm of xoan (folk singing) which is the integral part of every festival in the province.

The northern province of Phu Tho is the cradle of xoan singing but now only a handful of villages have a place for it. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has submitted a file to UNESCO to gain recognition for traditional xoan singing as world cultural heritage that needs urgent protection.

Old tune

Nguyen Thi Lich was born in a family with a tradition of singing xoan. Her grandfather and father have been leaders of xoan troupes.

When she was young, she was attracted by xoan singing and picked up some singing from her family. From the age of 10, she began to be trained by them, instilling a love for xoan singing that hasn’t declined yet.

According to legend the sacred art appeared long ago, during the reign of the Hung Kings, some 4,000 years ago. According myth, at that time xoan singing was usually organised in front of communal houses (dinh) during the spring, hence it is also called hat cua dinh (singing in front of the communal house). Xoan singing is organised not only to entertain the villagers and honour the Hung Kings but also to pray for clement weather and good harvests, praise the natural landscapes and depict the work, agriculture and daily activities in rural areas.

Located in the most remote commune of Viet Tri City, An Thai Village has the typical appearance of an old village of the northern midlands, with thatch-roofed houses and earthen walls lying under the shades of palm trees. Here senior artist Lich and her troupe of 42 never tire of singing and recounting stories about xoan.

As the legend has it, the sixth Hung King’s queen became pregnant. On the day of the delivery, she struggled for hours to give birth, but couldn’t. A servant suggested that Que Hoa who was talented in singing and dancing should be called from An Thai Village to entertain the queen and help her reduce the pains of child-birth. Hoa came and sang beside the queen’s bed. Her voice was sweet and her dance so delicate that it helped the queen forget the birth pangs and successfully deliver three handsome and healthy sons. In indescribable joy, the king invited Hoa to stay in the palace and teach the princes to sing. Hoa agreed. It was the beginning of spring so that the singing became known as xuan (spring) singing. Over time the name was slowly transformed into xoan. Time has changed the meaning of much of xoan tradition. The name of An Thai, meaning safe womb has now become just An Thai. The stories and names of legend that have been passed down orally in just three living copies have resulted in similar deviations.

Each xoan song is featured by a dance.

The singing is performed at certain places at the communal house’s doors. Each team of xoan performance holds a certain number of communal house’s doors.

It requires the establishment of teams of xoan or families of xoan. Each team usually has 4-5 men and 12-15 women led by a principal singer. The costume of a male singer includes a four-flapped gown, a turban and white trousers and the costumes of a female singer includes a five-flapped gown, a white loose-fitting blouse, a belt, brassiere bands of different colours and silk trousers.

Xoan is performed according to a certain order consisting of three parts: rites, performance and festive singing. Firstly, the performers pray in front of the communal house’s gate. They commune with the genies and sing the praise of Saints and Gods. The performance begins when the performers describe old rural life or sing the praise of natural beauty or retell old stories and legends. Festive singing features love songs with dances and games. This is the most joyful part of xoan.

Xoan is very difficult to learn. It requires the combination of good voice, appearance and gestures. To convey the emotion of the song, the performer must sing from the heart. Xoan singing traditionally has a total 14 tempos. The singer must be proficient in the rhythm before starting to learn the song lyrics. The songs are attached with one another by movements, dances and performance in different scenes. The musical instruments for xoan singing are similar to many other kinds of folk songs, including drums, wooden bells and castanets. Drums and castanets are played by men, while singing and dancing are done by women. There are dances performed by two 10-year-old boys.

A xoan performance begins at 5am with a drum beat to gather the people and lengthens until the next morning. Singers and instrumentalists only have a rest at the midnight but no one complains about the tiredness, according to Lich.

“Respect for the Gods, a love for singing and the encouragement of the audience help us lose ourselves in singing,” she says.

Xoan is an invaluable cultural heritage of the local people in Phu Tho Province. To preserve and develop this art form, the singing groups have constantly taught the younger generations traditional folk songs imbued with love for their native land, contributing to preservation of Vietnamese folklore.
 
New blood

Among senior xoan singers of An Thai xoan singing troupe, only Lich has transferred the ancient art to the current generation. She has opened a xoan class to preserve the art. She has taught more than 100 young singers.

Children at An Thai Village gather to play and watch Lich’s xoan troupe practise and perform at the communal house.

The class takes place in the yard of the communal house. No fee is required. Both teacher and students have a passion for singing and submerging themselves into the emotional and velvety xoan songs. Each class has 20 students; most of them are 14 to 15 years old. Training takes several months, enough for the students to basically grasp the old xoan songs.

“I teach the students the songs orally and correct each tune and dance movement. Now the xoan singing classes are attracting an increasing number of young people, even children of nine to 11 years old.”

“My class has been in existence for nearly a decade but all of the trainees have moved and it is very difficult to get them together,” she says.

The younger ones have to work to earn a living. Some of them have left the village to find job in cities. If this situation continues xoan singing could be lost when Lich’s generation passes.

“It is not so difficult to train good singers but it is extremely hard to keep them singing xoan,” she adds.

Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung, 16, is one among Lich’s best students. She began learning xoan at the age of 10 and has performed together with veteran artists in festivals and performances. As a high school’s student, Nhung is often busy studying. She has classes every morning and several afternoons but hasn’t missed any of Lich’s class. “I love singing xoan,” she says, “I want to study at a university in Ha Noi, but I will sing xoan as long as I stay at the village.”

Bui Duc Thanh left the village for military service. He has come back and started singing xoan at the age of 30 together with Lich’s other students. Learning a song can take up to four months, but after two months, he already has the rhythm of several songs, although he still needs to stand his teacher to follow her voice.

“For any An Thai villager, xoan is as familiar as a lullaby,” Thanh says, “I learned the lyrics by heart, and can sing thanks to the drum and castanets.”

Lich may face difficulties in training the next generation but she’s really proud of her students. “All of them have a love and responsibility for our heritage,” she says, “they learn with all hearts”.

“After school, they gather at the communal house to practise. Sometimes, when I can’t come or come late, they don’t wait, but come to my house to ask for help in their training.”

As a way of preserving this heritage, xoan groups like Lich’s troupe have spent money buying musical instruments and outfits and practicing singing xoan songs as a catalyst for young people to follow the tradition.

She hopes the troupe and her classes will receive recognition and concrete state support.

Chairman of Phuong Lau Communal People’s Committee, Nguyen Van Bay says that it is lucky so many young people have as strong an attachment to xoan as Nhung.

“We, truly want to do something to help the artists but due to a lack of money, all we can do is provide them with a venue to perform, practise and train,” he says.

Musician Dang Hoanh Loan agrees with Lich’s idea of bringing xoan into schools. Children don’t have to learn how to sing but they should know xoan lyrics as poems and try to play musical instruments, he said.

Vietnamese academics all agree on the urgent need to protect the art as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.

They say attention should be given to collecting and organising xoan related documents for careful research and analysis as well as the restoration of the traditional rituals of xoan singing.

Researcher Nguyen Khac Xuong thinks xoan should be professionalised, with directors, nicer costumes instead of just having old people performing the traditional music.

“Apart from the ritual section, xoan singing includes performances which are romantic and cheerful; it should be performed by young people.”

Musician Loan affirms the important position of xoan singing in folk culture.

“Artists in their 70s and 80s who still remember and can sing are still popular,” he says, “we don’t have to worry about materials and lyrics on xoan singing because they are collected and stored at the institute.”

Loan praises xoan singing as a valuable part of the nation’s heritage. Xoan singers like Lich are day by day trying their own best to preserve this heritage and spread their passion to the younger generation. Every time they don their festive costumes to sing in the communal house, their hearts share the same beat of respect and love for the traditional xoan folk songs.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News

The Phiac hemlet in Cao Bang province.

Story 1: The man who didn’t even know of Tet

Ban Gioc waterfall in the northern mountain province of Cao Bang is known for its wild beauty but nearby there is also great sadness.

“The most miserable thing is that he doesn’t know how miserable he is”

The first house we visited in our trip to Trung Khanh, Cao Bang province was the house of two mentally disabled men Ly Van Nhuong and his son in Phiac hamlet, Dam Thuy commune, one of the most isolated border communes in Trung Khanh district.

The unexpected rain made the border area colder and more solitary. The pathway was messily sticky. Phiac is the most distant hamlet of Dam Thuy commune, which is next to the Vietnam-China border.

Hamlet chief Ly Van Nham said: “He is the most miserable and poorest man in this hamlet. But it is most miserable that he doesn’t know that he is miserable and what the future will be for his son. He has been mentally ill since he was a child”.

Nhuong’s house is very easy to identify because it is smallest in the hamlet, with weeds surrounding.

We knocked the door several times but nobody answered. The hamlet chief Kham pushed the door. Dim light poured into the dark house, exposing rain water pools on the foundation. A cooker made of three pieces of stone was cold. A empty rice basket was placed right at the door. Some aluminum pots without handles lay about the house.

Ly Van Son, 4, Nhuong’s son was at the kindergarten. Nhuong was lying down on a bed in the house’s corner, covered by a torn blanket.

Ly Van Nhuong sifts the remaining rice he has.

After a while, our eyes were familiar with the house’s darkness and we saw chickens standing in a corner. These were all Nhuong owns.

Nhuong, a Nung ethnic man, was born in 1978 in Phiac hamlet. At the age of 7, he lost his parents. Nhuong lived thanks to his neighbors’ assistance but they were also very poor like him.

Nhuong lived together with a neighboring boy named Chu, who was also an orphan and mentally ill. The two kids earned their living by working for neighbors or gleaning ore from nearby mining sites.

In 2005, Nhuong also got married a girl, who suffered from heart disease. Nobody dared to marry her, but Nhuong.

His only happiness is his son, left by his wife, who died two years ago. Once again, Nhuong needs his neighbors’ help to take care of the child.

“He doesn’t know about Tet”

Ly Van Nhuong’s charity house.

In 2007, Nhuong was chosen as beneficiary of a charity programme, under which he was allocated with 5 million dong ($300) to build a house. The hamlet chief bought construction materials and neighbors joined in to build the house for Nhuong and his son.

The hamlet chief said that Nhuong has a donkey to carry ore. Since the government banned illegal mining activities in the nearby mountains, Nhuong was not hired to carry ore anymore so he sold the donkey for 800,000 dong.

Looking into the empty rice basket, the hamlet chief said perhaps Nhuong used that money to buy rice.

This man doesn’t know about Tet.

Seeing strangers in his house, Nhuong sat up and walked down the bed to a wood trunk in the middle of the house to scrape some handfuls of rice, put it in a flat basket to sift, then poured it into a pot.

“He has over 400m of field. We help him to plant and harvest rice, around 300kg rice/season. In addition, he has social allowances totaling over 100,000 dong ($5-6) a month. That’s the means of support for him and his son,” the hamlet chief said.

We asked Nhuong about the coming Tet festival. He said nothing and smiled dully.

The hamlet chief Kham answered on Nhuong’s behalf: “He doesn’t know about Tet. Tet holiday is a free day for him because nobody hires him to work these days”.

Leaving Phiac village, we think back to Kham’s statement: “He is the most miserable and poorest man in Phiac. But it is most miserable that he doesn’t even know that he is miserable. He has never known about Tet.”

Kien Trung

“Tet is coming. I want to buy new clothes to them but I can’t. Why God didn’t kill me instead of my son and his wife? If I die, who will bring up the kids?” Mrs. May said in tears.

Six months have passed but the bodies of the nine victims have not been found. Local people built three tombs without remains at the foot of the mountain for victims.

After that disaster, 12 families living at the foot of the Khen Len mountain were moved to another site, where their lives became harder.

We went to the new house, built by charity organization, of  Tran Thi May, 85, who escaped from the death in that landscape incident with a broken arm.

“Whenever the weather change, my arm is very painful,” she said.

Before the accident, Mrs. May lived with his son, Trieu Van Nhi and his wife, Trieu Thi Lieu and two grandchildren. The incident killed the couple and left the old woman. She now has to feed two grandchildren.

“Tet is coming. I want to buy new clothes to them but I can’t. Why God didn’t kill me instead of my son and his wife? If I die, who will bring up the kids?” she said in tears.

After moving to the new house, a kid named Tan, an 8^th grader, studies at the Ba Be boarding school. She comes home once a month. Another kid, named Nai, a 4^th grade pupil, studies near her home so she lives with Mrs. May.

“We love my grandmother very much but we can’t help her. We only try to study very well. She cries every night because this Tet we don’t have my father and mother and my brother,” Nai said.

Sisters Ban Thi Pet and Ban Thi Khe also lost their family in that accident. They are living with their poor uncle Ban Van Khe.

Khe said he has to take care of two nieces after their parents died. He loves the kids but he is too poor to well take care of them.

“I want to buy new clothes for them but I can’t afford it,” Khe said.

Ban Thi Pet looks very sad and older than her age. She said after school, she follows her uncle to the field. She also does housework like cooking and cleaning.

Pet said last Tet, her mother led the two sisters to market to buy Tet gifts. This Tet Pet and her sister may not have new clothes because their uncle is very poor and the kids don’t want to be a burden.

Pet’s younger sister, Khe, 10 years old, said: “I dreamed of my parents last night. They said they will buy Tet gifts for me and my sister. My mother said she will buy me a white shirt”.

Saying goodbye to the kids, we only hope to return this land as soon as possible to bring them assistance from benefactors to help them have a normal Tet like other kids.

No Tet for the village without children

I’ve eaten nothing but cassava and wild vegetables for nearly one month to save rice for my daughter, who will return home this Tet,” Phuong said.

“I’ve eaten just cassava and wild vegetables for nearly one month to save rice for my daughter who will return this Tet,” said Mrs. Phuong in Long Nguyen village, Phu Yen province.

After the devastating flood on November 2 2009, Long Nguyen villagers still live in ruined houses. We called on a house, which looked the most intact, to ask the owner about the Tet holidays. Mrs. Vo Thi Phuong, 55, a widow, said: “I’ve just left hospital. I don’t have any money. All assets in the house were swept away by the flood. I don’t want to talk about Tet”.

She only has a pack of rice for Tet, which she received from the local government as food aid.

“I’ve eaten nothing but cassava and wild vegetables for nearly one month to save rice for my daughter, who will return home this Tet,” Phuong said.

Nguyen Khac Diem’s house, 84, was ruined by the flood. It leans on wood pillars and can collapse anytime.

Tet is very near but his house is empty. Diem said he didn’t dare to think about Tet holidays because he there isn’t enough to eat as it is.

Not very far from Mr. Diem’s house is the home of Truong Thi Lai, 60. She said she asked a neighbor to buy some pieces of canvas to stretch around the house to prevent wind. Since November, she has lived in this house which is all that remains of her kitchen. Whenever it rains, she goes to the neighbors’ home.

Markets? What are they?

The road from Long Nguyen village to the nearest market is very far. They are also too poor so they rarely go to the market.

Lai said that to welcome in Tet holiday, she saved some money to buy a kilo of pork.

The home of Mrs. Truong Thi Lai, 60.

Diem said: “This Tet, we will only buy some cakes and flowers to have a little Tet atmosphere”.

The village has no electricity so local residents entertain themselves by listening to music from battery cassette players or radios. In the past, Diem often turned on his old radio to listen to the President’s New Year message at the New Year’s Eve. This year his radio was swept away by flood. He is awaiting a new radio sent from Saigon by his niece.

A local official, Pham Thi Lan Anh, said that Long Nguyen village doesn’t have children because new couples often go to the lowland to live when they have children because this village is very isolated. Most of the people in the village, with 14 houses, are elderly.

Tram Tran – Vu Diep – Le Anh Dung 

At the age of six, the eyes of Dang Thi Hua in Po Tai hamlet, Trung Khanh district, Cao Bang province could not see the sunlight. Her parents were very poor so they couldn’t afford to take the child to a hospital. At that time, Trung Khanh didn’t have it’s own hospital.

Hua, 62, has lived in darkness for over half of a century. Her mother died very young. The father lived alone to take care of his daughter. He died 18 years ago, leaving in this life his blind daughter, who was 40 at that time.

Tri Vien commune is 20km from the town. At the time VietNamNet’s reporter was there, the road to Ms Hua’s village was alsphalted, making great changes to the life of the locals.

However, Tri Vien is still a poor commune and there are many people like Ms Hua.

Ms Hua’s house is on the root of a hill. When we arrived at the house, it was locked.

After a while, the blind woman appeared with a stick on her hand. The stick led the woman through furrow drains and a slope. Hua stopped at the door and opened the lock.

Hua has a brother, who is living in a southern province, and a sister who has lost contact for a dozen years. Her only asset is several thousand meters of unfertilized land, which her leases to earn five bundles of rice a year. That’s her only source of living.

Some people advised her to sell the field but she said she has to keep it to have rice.

The blind woman lives in a ten-square meter house, with a a bed and a wood trunk to keep clothes and rice. That’s all.

In 2006, she borrowed 7 million dong ($400) to build the house because her old house was falling down. She pays the debt in a very strange way: the government pays her 120,000 dong a month as social allowance and she pays the allowance to the creditor. It will take five years to pay this debt.

“How do you live if you have to pay that debt?”

“I’m able to get by on five bundles of rice,” she said.

Tien, the interpreter, explained: “She borrowed money to build this house in 2006. Until 2007 the local government had a policy to build houses for the poor. She had this house already so they rejected her from that programme”.

The neighbors said that in order to pay the debt, the old woman has not had Tet for five years. For her, Tet is good if she has a meal.

Woman who takes care four paralytic brothers-in-law

The charity house of Nong Van Thanh.

We went to Bai Xieng hamlet, Phong Chau commune, Trung Khanh district to visit Nong Van Thanh’s family. Thanh is paralyzed as are his three brothers, Lanh, Bao and Chung.

In 1986, Bao married Bach.

Lanh died nearly 20 years ago and then six years ago, Bao died because of an infected bite of a dog.

The two brothers Chung and Thanh lived off their sister-in-law. Then, last year Nong Van Chung died

The paralyzed man’s charity house is located near the house of his sister-in-law, Bach. He takes meal with his sister-in-law and her daughter and helps around the house.

The house is built on the hill slope, looking to the hamlet’s field. “Peeople ask why do you build this house on a slope but I was out of land so I had no choice”.

Thanh has a wheelchair, a gift from the local Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. But the slope is high so he can’t use the wheelchair. When he moves – e moves with crutches.

We were talking with Thanh when Bach returned from the field.

She married Thanh’s brother over 20 years ago. They have three children. The eldest daughter, 22, has just gone to Malaysia to work under a program for the poor. The second daughter is studying at a college and the youngest daughter, a 7^th grader, stays home with the mother.

Since the eldest daughter went to Malaysia to work, Bach’s family has been rejected from the list of poor families and they no longer receive social welfare anymore.

“My daughter has gone for nearly one year but she wrote to me, saying that she doesn’t have stable job so income is very low. She cannot send money back home,” Bach said.

Kien Trung 

An offline meeting.

One of the most notorious of these websites hosts various “groups” in north, central and southern Vietnam with names like “Farmers’ Exchange,” “Commodity Exchange” and “Frequent Fliers,” which specialize in holding sex parties of all sorts. The “farmers’ exchange” is the ‘hottest’ and busiest of these groups.

The rules of the game

Would-be members can choose a group that suits their individual interest.  Webmasters classify the participants according to their “contribution” to the group (or ‘forum’), awarding ‘credits.’  Those who share the most information about flesh-pots and have the most experience as “players” are accorded the highest status. As members earn credits, they are promoted to higher levels.

To get more credits, members have to write entries and comments that share information about “goods” (women they can call up anytime to serve their “off-line meetings),” “vegetables” (members’ girlfriends), “airplanes” (middle-aged women who need partners and have good “reports” by members) and so on. High-ranking members are given priority access to information and experience in the fields of “goods,” “vegetables” or “airplanes” on request.

It is a taboo for members to post phone numbers of themselves or “goods,” “vegetables” and “airplanes” in their entries or comments. Anyone who does so is ejected from the forum.

According to a group leader named Truc, who has organized many “off-line meetings,” the meetings typically have three “phases”. In the first phase, all members in the off-line list assemble at a café chosen and informed by the organizer at the last minute, together with their “goods” and “vegetables” for sharing.

In the second phase, they go to a restaurant and in the third phase, the most eagerly awaited one, the group goes on to a resort, a karaoke bar, etc. to make love.

The webmasters only share information about “goods” of high class to prestigious members. These people, after “checking” these girls, can then share information to others with the agreement of webmasters or moderators.  However, if the information about these “goods” is widely shared, “beautiful goods” may become “rotten”. Many “beautiful goods” reportedly turn off their mobile phones if they are constantly disturbed. In that case, a forum would lose a “good item” to share.

Any member who “shares” at wrong places is considered to have violated the rules and may be excluded from off-line meetings or suspended from participating in the forum for several weeks.

A typical off-line meeting

An off-line meeting of the “farmer exchange” took place in late January. At 9 am, 24 members were present at a café in Binh Thanh district, HCM City. The organizer with nickname Zhang Liao put his arm over the shoulder of a young girl and announced: “This is my ‘bear’. I will not share her to anybody today”.

A member nicknamed Heyy, a very young guy, advertised that his partner is high-class “goods” (beautiful, young, expert at making love) and he was willing to share her to all members who had come to the off-line meeting, depending on their seduction ability. The young girl didn’t feel ashamed, smiled and nodded her head to say hello to the others. Hevy said that the girl is a 18-year-old student.

Some new members, who didn’t have “goods” or “vegetables” immediately asked to “sharing” “goods” of others. A very young man introduced himself as a photographer in Tan Binh District, a very new member. “I have joined this meeting to look for some “vegetables” for myself and then share them to newcomers,” he said.

A member nicknamed Victory replied: “You don’t know how to differentiate between “vegetables” and “goods.” It is very costly and difficult to ‘tend vegetables.’ The more beautiful ‘vegetables’ are, the more difficult to tend them. You must have a motor scooter or even a car to ‘tend’ them, especially if they are long-legged students”.

“’Goods’ are different,” Victory continued: “They don’t take time, just money. With 200,000 dong, you could have a girl with a pretty face and good form. ‘Goods’ with standard body measurements, white skin and long legs will cost you 500,000. Not many members dare to ask to share VIP goods because the price is at least a million dong. These ‘goods’ are beautiful as models, but most of the members are students so they can’t afford them.”

The Phase 1 meeting closed after members greeted each other and the “goods.” The group then moved to Phase 2, drinking at a fancy restaurant on Ung Van Khiem Road. Phase 3 followed at a karaoke bar in a small alley.

The organizer, Zhang Liao, and his “bear” hid in a corner to “do something”. A young man nicknamed “Invi” took charge.  Beer bottles were opened and poured into a big ice barrel. Invi stood on a table and declared the programme open, to “learn about and discover each other.”

The participants divided into pairs to make love of all kinds in the darkened room. 

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre