Authorities see crisis as opportunity to enhance Vietnam ’s tourism reputation

Lanta Tour’s Russian tourists at the Bamboo Village Resort in Binh Thuan Province’s Mui Ne resort area. Vietnamese tourism authorities have committed to take good care of the stranded tourists after Lanta Tour – one of the biggest tour operators in Russia – announced its bankruptcy on January 27. Photo: Que Ha

Vietnamese tourism authorities have committed to doing their best to assist hundreds of Russian tourists stranded in the Mui Ne resort area after a major Russian tourism firm that brought them to Vietnam went bankrupt last week.

Nguyen Anh Tuan of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Travel Department said Minister Hoang Tuan Anh had instructed his department to find solutions for the resorts at Mui Ne where the Russian tourists are staying.

They would have to take good care of Lanta Tour’s clients to promote the image of Vietnamese tourism, he said.

About 120 Russian tourists are still stuck in Mui Ne, located in Binh Thuan Province’s Phan Thiet Town, after Lanta-Tour Voyage, one of Russia’s largest tour operators, declared bankruptcy on January 27 and shut down because of its inability to pay for contracted services.

“Vietnamese authorities from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism are cooperating with the Russian Consulate in HCMC to resolve the situation. They have reached a conclusion that all people in Mui Ne must go to Russia without having to pay double,” Sergey Babakhin, head of the consular section at the Russian embassy in Hanoi, told Vietweek on Wednesday.

“By February 8, all tourist clients of Lanta Tour will go to Russia without paying extra. If they would like to stay, they must pay extra,” he said.

Earlier, Russian tourists were left behind at the resorts after the staff at Lanta Tour’s office in Vietnam – Lanta Viet – disappeared without an explanation. The tourists learnt about their tour operator’s bankruptcy later on the Internet.

The Binh Thuan People’s Committee held a meeting Wednesday to discuss solutions to the issue, with the participation of representatives from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Lanta Viet director Konstantin Prikhodko.

RELATED CONTENT

Lanta Viet resumes operation in Mui Ne Russian tourists stranded in Vietnam as tour operator goes bust

At the meeting, Prikhodko rejected accusations that his agency had abandoned their clients. He said he had allowed his employees to leave Phan Thiet Town because “it is not safe to wear the Lanta-Viet uniform in Phan Thiet now.”

Asked why he had switched off his cell phone over the past days, he said he had to report the situation to the Russian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.

Nguyen Van Khoa, Chairman of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association, said the organization has asked the resorts to continue serving the Russian tourists.

“We have also requested Prikhodko to open the office again until the last Lanta Tour’s Russian tourist leaves and in order to sign debt notes,” he told Vietweek on Wednesday, adding that Prikhodko had accepted the request.

Khoa said the Russian Consulate in HCMC was committed to solving the issue.

Le Ngoc Ha, director of the Hoang Ngoc Resort in Mui Ne, said the resort was hosting 36 Lanta Tour’s clients and six of them had left.

“We feel secure after the Russian Consulate in HCMC informed us that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has instructed that Lanta Tour’s debt be paid,” he said, adding that all the resorts had been serving the stranded Russian tourists as contracted even before any action was taken by Vietnamese tourism authorities.

Nguyen Thanh Tam, deputy chairman of Binh Thuan People’s Committee, also said they were committed to taking good care of Lanta Tour clients despite many difficulties caused by the bankruptcy of the Russian tour operator.

“It is not only a professional move in tourism but also based on the traditionally good relationship between the two countries,” he said.

The sudden bankruptcy of Lanta Tour Voyage has ruined the holidays of over 3,500 Russian tourists, according to the Pravda newspaper.

The largest group of Russian tourists who have found themselves abandoned abroad was in Thailand with 1,072 people. There were 468 people in India’s Goa state, 309 in Vietnam, 250 in the Czech Republic, 146 in France, 135 in Cuba and 112 in the Dominican Republic. The company had sold more than 3,000 tours before mid-February 2012.

According to Itar Tass, the Russian Federal Tourism Agency (Rostourism) has confirmed the arrest of the director of the Thailand office of the bankrupt company.

“There are no details of the arrest, but it is quite likely that the company’s office director was arrested because of the office’s debts to Thai hotels,” said Grigory Sarishvili, Rostourism’s special envoy in Thailand.

Lanta Tour has operated for more than 12 years and specialized in organizing trips to Thailand, Vietnam and India.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has asked that the Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy, Vitaly Mutko, resolve all problems surrounding tourists who are stranded abroad or are facing difficulties because of Lanta-Tour within 24 hours, the Voice of Russia reported on February 1.

The report said that while the company announced the suspension of its activities because of financial problems, Russian state-owned banks were ready to provide the company with operating capital.

HOT SPOT FOR RUSSIAN TOURISTS

Enchanting beaches, inexpensive shopping and cheap alcohol are said to be the main reasons Russian tourists like to visit Vietnam’s south-central region over the past several years. “Thousands of Russian tourists have spent the Lunar New Year in Binh Thuan Province’s Mui Ne resorts. Many of them came for the second or third time after finding beautiful beaches and tropical sunshine,” said Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association. “They have come since 2009 when there was a big campaign to promote tourism in the area,” he said, adding most Russian tourists arrived via Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport and Khanh Hoa Province’s Cam Ranh Airport. Around 12,000 Russian tourists visited Khanh Hoa Province’s Nha Trang Town for the Lunar New Year holiday, twice as many as last year, according to Nguyen Van Thanh, director of the Khanh Hoa Tourism Promotion Center.  In 2010, the city received around 28,000 visitors. The number climbed to 60,000 in 2011. “There are lots of Russians coming here – partly to do with the two countries’ historical ties, but mainly because for them Vietnam has cheap shopping, cheap alcohol – Russians drink a lot! – and good beaches. It is also relatively quick to get to from Russia with direct flights in and out of Hanoi, HCMC and even Nha Trang,” said Tim Russell, owner of the HCMC-based tour operator Come & Go Vietnam. “All they really need is shopping, beaches, bars/restaurants and full-service resorts where they can sleep, sunbathe, eat and drink,” he said. Richard McKenzie, an American expat who has been in Vietnam for eight years, said Nha Trang has changed “rather dramatically with the huge influx of Russian tourists.” “The lighted Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year) signs on the main streets had the greeting in Russian in addition to English. Most of the tourist businesses in the central districts have their larger signs in Russian, some have dropped English all together, and translators are in scarce supply,” he told Vietweek. The influx of Russian tourists has created a serious shortage of translators in south central provinces. “Several of my Vietnamese friends who own three star hotels in the area told me they were booked solid with Russian tourists but had major problems pleasing them because of the language,” McKenzie said. Khoa said Russian tourism agencies have employed Russian tour guides to cope with the translator shortage. (By An Dien – Minh Hung)

Japanese conductor Tetsuji Honna and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra perform at a concert in Hanoi last year

A dearth of good teachers and learning materials in the Vietnamese language are stumbling blocks in the development of classical music in the country, says Tetsuji Honna, the Japanese conductor of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra, who has been honored by the governments of Japan and Vietnam for his contributions to cultural exchanges between the two countries. Honna has been working in Vietnam for the last 11 years.

Vietweek: What brought you to Vietnam?

Tetsuji Honna: I came to Vietnam under the Toyota classic concert program in the autumn of 2000. It is a big concert tour of eight Asian countries, including Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. In Hanoi, I had a big concert with Vietnamese soloist Ngo Hoang Quan (now director of the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra), and he requested my help. Then we started to work together.

You have been here for 11 years now. What are the differences you see in Vietnam compared to Japan and other countries?

A long time ago, life in Vietnam and some other countries in the world were similar. Mornings are now very noisy, but very alive, very active. I like the feel of Vietnam, still a lot of nature, even in the capital. In the streets, there are many motorbikes, but I like this. Everything is changing slowly, but it’s a better change. I hope Vietnam continues to keep this kind of feeling.

What has impressed you most in Vietnam?

Family and co-workers of slain journalist reject police conclusions, saying there are too many loose ends in the case

Nguyen Thi Kim Nga, 75, the mother of murdered journalist Le Hoang Hung, is afraid she might die before the case gets to trial with police apparently ignoring several leads and drawing conclusions not accepted by the family of the victim. Photo: Hien Dong.

When 75-year-old Nguyen Thi Kim Nga was asked to go to the local police station investigating her journalist son’s gruesome murder for the first time, nearly a year had passed.

“They called me and questioned me about whether and why I lodged a complaint to the central agencies, rather than focus on my son’s death,” she told Vietweek last Monday (January 30) at her house in Long An Province’s Thu Thua District.

Nga’s son Le Hoang Hung, a journalist with the Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper, was set on fire while he was sleeping in his bed on the night of January 19, 2011. He died 11 days later.

The investigation by the police into his death has been dogged by controversy from the very beginning, frustrating Hung’s family and prompting Nga to file complaints with the offices of President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and judiciary leaders.

“I lodged the complaint because there has been no trial so many months after my son’s death,” she said.

“Also, I think my daughter-in-law would never be able to kill my son [without help]. I want investigators to find her possible accomplice[s] who instigated the murder.”

In July 2011, police wrapped up their initial investigation, concluding that Hung’s 42-year-old wife, Tran Thuy Lieu was the only culprit in her husband’s murder. They said Hung had become aware of an extramarital affair taking place between his wife and Nguyen Van Tam, a former official at the Long An Market Management Agency – a governmental office in charge of detecting trade violations.

Nga spoke of her vexation at the sluggish progress in her son’s case and questioned the methods being employed by investigators.

When they called her to the police station, the investigators did not allow her son, Le Hoang Minh, or her licensed lawyer Nguyen Van Duc, to sit in, saying they only wanted to interview Nga.

In response to Nga’s formal complaint, the Long An People’s Court has ordered a fresh probe into the murder of the investigative journalist, which relatives and colleagues have always insisted could not have been perpetrated by Hung’s wife without significant help from other person[s].

RELATED CONTENT

Court orders probe to fill holes in Vietnam journalist murder Newspaper calls for fresh probe into journalist’s murder

On Monday, Cao Minh Tri, a spokesman for Long An prosecutors’ office told Vietweek that the provincial people’s court had asked the police to conduct an additional probe into Hung’s case.

“The police had recorded Hung’s testimony when he was in the hospital but it was not included in the file,” he said.

“Police would also have to clarify calls and text messages between Lieu and Tam before and after Hung was set on fire.”

The court has requested Lieu’s confession to examine potential contradictions.

“Lieu confessed to the killing, saying she wanted to sell the family house but Hung refused,” Tri explained. He said arson was an odd choice, considering it “could have destroyed the house and she would not be able to sell the property then.”

Loose ends

On January 19, 2011, Hung was set on fire at around 1 a.m. while he was asleep in his bed at his house in Dai Duong Residential Area – a new and sparsely populated area in Long An’s Tan An Town in the Mekong Delta.

He died 11 days later from severe burns he had sustained on 60 percent of his body.

The case grabbed headlines both locally and abroad. Hung had covered several corruption cases in the Mekong Delta as a local correspondent of the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper in Long An, Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces.

A month after his death, Lieu turned herself in to the police, saying that she had killed Hung because he beat her and accused her of having an affair and that he had refused to sell their house to cover her debts. She said she bought two liters of gasoline in a plastic bag, tied a rope on the balcony to make it seem someone had come into the house from outside, and set her husband on fire on her own.

The confession drew more questions from his family and the public, who suspected there were more people involved. They argued that a wife would never kill her husband with the causes listed so far as motivation.

The latest demand for additional investigation was made after almost a year of transferring the case forward and back among judicial agencies.

An important aspect of the case, which seems to have been insufficiently examined by authorities, is the alleged relationship between Lieu and Tam, the former market watchdog official. Tam was sacked from his post in August for gambling and having an affair with Lieu.

Police said Lieu had accompanied Tam to Cambodian casinos several times, crossing the border illegally.

The provincial prosecutors’ office has rejected the conclusions of the initial investigation and has asked that police scrutinize several details, including Tam’s lack of an alibi and Lieu’s motivation for murder and the contradictions in her confession.

In September 2011, the prosecutors’ office ratified murder charges against Lieu and transferred the case to the Long An People’s Court.

Unlikely

Hung’s younger brother, Le Hoang Thanh echoed his mother when he said he does not believe Lieu had acted alone.

“We have known each other for years. She would not dare to kill a chicken or a duck, how is it that she can kill a human being?” said the 43-year-old daily laborer.

Nga’s attorney, Nguyen Van Duc, said that the new probe was a good sign. However, he did not comment on the possibility of other suspects, saying he was waiting for the results of the new investigation.

Meanwhile, editor-in-chief Do Danh Phuong of Nguoi Lao Dong said that he and other people at the newspaper knew Lieu was involved but was not the only one “soon after we visited Hung at the hospital.”

“Logically, a wife may set her husband on fire due to a sudden conflict. There was no sudden conflict in this case,” he told the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in a recent interview.

“Hung was a good reporter and was covering various fields, including corruption. It is too simple to conclude that this was a case of a wife killing her husband,” he said.

“Before, during and after Hung’s funeral, Tam and Lieu exchanged a number of phone calls, text messages and hand-written letters. Why didn’t investigators clarify this issue?” he said.

Le Hoang Tuan, Hung’s younger brother, also visited him at the hospital and asked him who he thought it was who set him ablaze. Hung refused to say, changing the subject quickly.

On January 20, Nguoi Lao Dong received a document from the governmental office notifying that Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has instructed relevant agencies to clarify Hung’s case.

But Nga, Hung’s mother, said she had grown weary waiting for a trial.

 “I am old and may die any time. I am afraid that I will die before a trial opens and the actual culprits are convicted.”

A South Korean woman is establishing herself as one of the best foreign students of the Vietnamese language by getting a thesis published and translating Vietnamese novels into Korean.

Choi Hana is expected to publish next year her master thesis on Vietnamese and South Korean cooperation via official development assistance. Her thesis received 9.9 marks out of 10, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said in a recent report.

The 100-page thesis was assessed by professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, head of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences at the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, as “a perfect Vietnamese thesis written by a foreigner.”

Ngoc said there were no typos and the thesis showed the author’s very high command over the Vietnamese language.

The 41-year-old Choi Hana, now back in South Korea, is also translating into Korean the novel “Trong suong hong hien ra” (Beyond the Red Mist) by famous contemporary writer Ho Anh Thai.

According to Hana, the novel is an excellent depiction of modern life in Vietnam. The book has been translated into different languages, including Swedish, and has captured the interest of writers and social researchers in many countries.

Like us on Facebook and scroll down to share your comment

“I’m translating the book since I want Korean readers to understand more about the social situation in modern Vietnam,” Hana told Tuoi Tre in fluent Vietnamese.

“I believe that Korean experts on Vietnam and Korean writers will be very interested.”

Last year, Hana translated Thai’s “Nguoi dan ba tren dao” (The Woman on the Island) and the translation has been well received by Korean readers, she said.

To gain her current mastery of the Vietnamese language, Hana has spent more than 20 years working hard, including weeks when she just stayed indoors and read Vietnamese theses written by Vietnamese professors.

Hana started learning Vietnamese when she was 19 years old. Her method was to read intensively and to practice writing as much as she could.

She recalled that during the first year of her master’s course in Vietnam, she could not write anything.

In the second year, she consulted many language professors and they gave her their books and theses to read.

After weeks of reading, she continuously wrote nearly 30 Vietnamese essays in nine months, before finishing her own thesis successfully.

Hana said she had to pay a price for her focus on studying the language.

She gained a lot of weight and when returning to South Korea, doctors asked her to stop using the computer, stop reading books and walk more.

But the woman is still studying Vietnamese history under a South Korean professor.

“I want to know about Vietnam so that I can be a bridge between the two countries, and just to simply contribute something to Vietnamese society,” she said.

Hana said she has many great memories with many friendly Vietnamese friends, and that she was lucky to start learning Vietnamese during the time the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.

The woman has traveled throughout Vietnam and knows every street and alley in Hanoi. She has been an interpreter for many Vietnamese delegations to Korea and vice versa.

During her time of study in Vietnam, Hana was dubbed “Voi Coi yeu quy”, which means “Dear Little Elephant,” by her Vietnamese friends. She uses the Vietnamese nickname as her email ID.

The biggest holiday of the year is passing by without any hint of festivity for an ethnic group living in a northern village.

Local reports say large numbers of uneducated children are a factor that puts most families in the village close to starvation every day.

Mo Ba village of Dao people in Thai Nguyen Province, around 100 kilometers from Hanoi, has more than 130 families, most of whom are very poor.

Vuong Van Lau, the village head, said the situation has been that way for many years.

The village has the worst birth control rate in the country, Lau was quoted as saying by news website VietNamNet in a report on January 22.

La Thi Hoa, a mother of nine, said having plain noodles to eat during Tet is “very happy already.

“Otherwise, we would just starve.”

Her 4-year-old son survived a Tet day by roasting and eating a fat worm.

An old man in the village said his house is all packed every time all the children come for Tet or other holidays.

“There’s not enough food for all of them though I have a 60 kilo pig butchered. That’s why families here are still poor no matter how hard they work.

“But want it or not, giving birth is natural,” the man told VietNamNet.

The villagers go hunting in the jungle, some are hired as illegal loggers or just to collect and carry the timber, for VND250,000 (US$12) each time.

But not many trees or livestock are left, so the villagers are unpaid most of the days, said Lau.

His subordinate, Trieu Phuc Binh, said young people from the village are not employed at local coal and stone mines as they did not finish their high school education.

The youth found school boring and the parents failed to persuade them to continue.

Di, a 16 year old boy in the village, also goes hunting and logging trees every day after dropping out of school at seventh grade as he was “bored and scared.” The boy has forgotten the taste of meat and does not get rice everyday.

Hoang Van Dong, 25, also said that “it was so boring going to school so I dropped out at ninth grade.”

Vuong Van, a father of seven, said he really wants his children to go to school but “none of them likes to.”

One of his children quit at grade six and another at seven.

In 2009, a kindergarten and primary school were built inside the village and teachers were allowed to stay close to their working place.

Lau said he and all parents in the village hope that the teachers can motivate the children to learn and not fear going to school.

Like us on Facebook and scroll down to share your comment

The Ba Chua Kho Temple in the northern province of Bac Ninh becomes busy with visitors returning to pay back their debt to Ba Chua Kho.

Truong Quoc Thang and his wife lead busy lives but they are very mindful of their need to repay debts on time, especially when the creditor happens to be a deity.

The residents of Ba Dinh District in Hanoi always make time to return to the Ba Chua Kho Temple in the northern province of Bac Ninh at the end of the year.

This year, they took advantage of the New Year Holiday to go with some of their business partners and friends who also ‘owe some money’ to Ba Chua Kho and want to pay her back before the lunar year ends.

This is a popular custom that many local entrepreneurs have followed for years. The custom originates in a legend dating back long time ago.

The legend has it that Ba Chua Kho was the Queen of the Ly Dynasty. She was both beautiful and intelligent. The King asked her to look after the country’s food store during a war against the Chinese Song invader. After the enemy was defeated, she helped people rebuild their lives and produce food. She founded the village of Co Me, which was then a wild land, by calling upon people to break fresh ground for cultivation. She was killed by the enemy while distributing food to people on 12th January, 1077. Villagers in Co Me built a temple to commemorate her right at the place where the store stood. They called her Ba Chua Kho, which means Lord of the Granary.

Since then, trusting in Ba Chua Kho’s generosity, many people, especially entrepreneurs, often visit the temple in the beginning of the lunar New Year to ‘borrow’ some money to invest in their business and pray for her support. In their prayers, they tell her about their business plans, especially the sum of money they want to borrow for their investment. And at the end of the year, they come back to thank her and pay her back the money (in votive currency) which they had borrowed earlier.

As such, the small temple, which is 20 kilometers north of Hanoi, becomes extremely crowded at these times.

Thang, who runs a hotel in Hanoi, also comes to Ba Chua Kho two times a year to ‘borrow’ and ‘return’ money.

“Our business has run well this year,” Thang said. “I am going to return VND500 million which I borrowed from Ba Chua Kho at the beginning of this year. Thanks to her support, we have done well in this difficult year.”

According to Thang, success in business is sometimes only a matter of luck. “I have a strong belief in Saints and Gods and Ba Chua Kho is the best place to pray for good luck in business,” Thang said. “Thanks to her support, I have made a lot of profit this year.”

 Thang’s friend Pham Thanh Hoa from Dong Da District has not been very lucky this year. He lost a lot of money in real estate projects due to the stagnant market. Yet, he was returning to the temple to repay his debt and pray for a better year in 2012.

“We are not superstitious but we always feel more secure about our business after coming here to ask for Ba Chua Kho’s support,” Hoa said. “We had done really well over the last years but this year the situation is the same for almost everyone in our market, it is not that Ba Chua Kho has not blessed us.”

Like all other visitors, Thang, Hoa and their friends each prepared a big tray with votive money and gold, fruits, cakes, boiled chicken, pork, etc. to offer to Ba Chua Kho. They brought their trays to her altar, folded their hands and reported their business results for this year. They told her they had come to repay the money and thank her for her support through out the year.

While the exact amount of transactions is only known to the devotees and the deity herself, a rough guess can be made by looking at the offerings on their trays.

After reporting at Ba Chua Kho’s altar, they bring their votive offerings to her store, repaying their debt. They would also receive some votive papers as a gift from Ba Chua Kho at this time. At the beginning of the year, the gift would mean a ‘loan’.

There are also people like Thang’s wife who come with simpler wishes.

“I am a nurse at a health center so I don’t borrow money from Ba Chua Kho,” she said. “I just come to pray for health and happiness for our family.”

Asia’s fastest inflation is the last thing on Tran Hang’s mind as she jostles fellow shoppers at a street stall in Hanoi’s Old Quarter to snap up Belgian chocolates and Thai candies for Tet, or lunar New Year.

While Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the central bank urged consumers to spend less to usher in the Year of the Dragon, the 25-year-old office worker said she plans to spend about $100 more than she did in 2011 for the country’s biggest festival.

“You can’t celebrate Tet by spending less than you did last year,” said Hang, who donned a white polka-dotted raincoat during a light drizzle to shop for presents she would take back to her hometown for the nine-day holiday. “It doesn’t feel right to cut back even if everything is more expensive.”

Consumer prices climbed more than 17 percent in January, the fastest among 17 Asia Pacific economies. A surge in spending on new clothes, preserved fruit and decorations threatens to derail efforts to curb price gains that triggered the dong’s biggest decline since 2008 and helped put an estimated one in 10 companies out of business last year.

Dung urged citizens to celebrate the holiday in a “frugal atmosphere,” according to a Jan. 14 statement on the government’s website. Central Bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh said he hoped modest Tet spending would help rein in inflation.

“We aim to change people’s spending habits,” said Binh at a press briefing Jan. 11. “People shouldn’t spend too lavishly for an extravagant Tet. I want to see people limit their spending as much as they can.”

Sales jump

Retailers and government officials say that’s not happening. In the capital, retail sales during the holiday were forecast to rise as much as 22 percent to almost $1.4 billion, according to Nguyen Van Dong, deputy director of the city’s Industry and Trade Service. That’s equivalent to about 1 percent of estimated gross domestic product last year for the country.

Consumer demand for holiday goods and transportation will grow 10 percent from last year, according to a government forecast that urged authorities to monitor and stabilize prices.

Saigon Beer-Alcohol Beverages Corp., the country’s largest brewer, said it will make 120 million liters of beer this month, 20 percent more than for last year’s holiday season. Kinh Do Corp., (KDC) the biggest bakery, expects demand to be up 15 percent, according to spokeswoman Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lien. The bakery’s holiday cakes and sweets are 10 percent more expensive this year.

“For food and beverage companies, Tet sales are critical,” said Hoang Huong Giang, a Ho Chi Minh City-based consumer analyst at Viet Capital Securities. “Tet contributes 30 to 40 percent of their full-year profit.”

Gold candy

Bibica Corp. (BBC), which sells pound cake and gold nugget-shaped candy, met its 30 percent holiday-sales growth target a week before the festival started, said Phan Van Thien, deputy general director of the Ho Chi Minh City-based company.

“Tet is a period where people feel they almost have to spend,” said Darin Williams, managing director of research company Nielsen Co. (Vietnam) Ltd. “The cultural tradition is so strong. There’s an obligation.”

Like most Vietnamese, taxi driver Tran Dinh Long and his wife have been saving up all year for this celebration, deferring spending to replace an aging air conditioner and stove in order to maintain, or exceed, last year’s holiday spree, he said. Their home is decorated with a new potted kumquat tree and a peach tree with blooming pink blossoms, symbols of wealth and happiness that are as ubiquitous in Vietnamese homes as Christmas trees during the winter holiday in the US.

Sticky cakes

Long said he would buy green tea, preserved kiwi, plums and apricots, along with steamed, sticky rice cakes to offer the numerous guests and family who will visit.

“It’s our long-standing tradition that Tet is a period for consumption,” said Long. “If your neighbors are buying trees and candy and new clothes for their children, you need to do the same.”

The fireworks and feasting are in marked contrast to the economic gloom in the past two years.

After the global financial crisis in 2009, Vietnam pumped fiscal stimulus, subsidized a loan program and lowered interest rates as export markets weakened. While the moves spurred growth, they also fed a credit expansion that resulted in a series of dong devaluations, including a record 7 percent weakening of the currency in February 2011. The currency was the worst performer in Southeast Asia last year, stoking inflation that reached 23 percent in August.

Labor strikes

While the nation isn’t alone in trying to battle price gains — central banks from India to the Philippines raised interest rates last year as global commodity and energy prices jumped — Vietnam has been hardest hit, with wage demands prompting strikes and demonstrations at companies such as Panasonic Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co.

Breaking that rising price-wage spiral may be even harder this year because a dragon year typically brings a spike in births, as many Vietnamese and other Asians believe dragon babies will be graced with intelligence, good looks, wealth and success.

That’s good news for consumer-related companies, according to Viet Capital Securities, which advised the nation’s biggest fuel supplier on selling part of the government’s stake to investors. The company’s 2012 Outlook report says this year will see an “exceptional” baby boom that will benefit producers of infant products. Viet Capital suggests investors consider Vietnam Dairy Products Joint-Stock Co. (VNM), which sells milk and infant powdered milk, and toymaker Duc Thanh Wood Processing. (GDT)

Dining out

Meanwhile, Vietnamese are celebrating, boosting sales at restaurant chains such as Al Fresco’s Group, which has 33 outlets across the country.

“We are not finding that people are spending less,” said Craig Jackson, Ho Chi Minh City-based general manager for Al Fresco’s. “They are spending more.”

For taxi driver Long, inflation is most obvious in the red li xi envelopes of money that Vietnamese hand out to relatives and friends at New Year. Last year he filled them with 20,000 dong ($1) bills. This year, he said, they will have to be replaced with 50,000 dong bills.

Property projects under construction seen from a high-rise building in downtown Ho Chi Minh City

Many companies in Vietnam were dealt a harsh blow by the real estate market slump last year. Singapore property developer Keppel Land, though not completely untouched, has weathered the downturn well. Linson Lim, President of Keppel Land Vietnam, is confident that the market will recover soon.

Lim, who says Vietnam’s growth has been resilient, speaks about the long-term strategies of his company and sheds light on a social housing project developed under a public-private partnership – a relatively new model in the country.

Vietweek: Vietnam’s property market ended 2011 on a negative note. Some experts have blamed the downturn on the credit tightening that left both developers and homebuyers struggling financially. Do you agree with this?

Linson Lim: I agree that the global downturn and tightening measures have had its impact. But property developers should not take a short-term view. Financially strong and responsible property developers will take a longer term view of the country.

At Keppel Land, we believe in the strong fundamentals in Vietnam. We believe the demographics are very favorable – you have a young population, a high urbanization rate and a growing middle class. As the country prospers, buyers will become more discerning in the choice of properties and reputation of the developers. Developers who are able to deliver on time and with quality will continue to do well.

We see that the government has taken positive measures to address the economic challenges. We are tracking the consumer price index and we’ve found that it has improved month-on-month. It will take some time but things are moving in the right direction.

I think that in 2012, maybe the second half of 2012, we may see a turnaround.

How does the Vietnamese market stack up compared to other regional markets, like China and Singapore, for instance?

I think the two markets did much better than Vietnam. But each country is in a different stage of development, so we cannot compare. There were times in 2007 when Vietnam did very well in its property market compared to other countries.

Can you rank the three markets?

It’s hard to rank them because this is not like a beauty pageant where you have first, second or third place.

For Keppel Land, our focus is on China, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and India. Each country will not give you the same return on investments, but we take a long-term view in these countries. We may not enjoy as much return as we would if we had invested in other countries. But over a longer term, we think we will do much better.

We have been in Vietnam for more than 20 years and we want to continue to grow with the country.

But statistics show that Vietnam’s property sector has fallen behind other sectors like manufacturing or energy in attracting foreign investors. Does it mean the market is no longer considered attractive by investors in general?

Foreign investors are still watching to see how other developers here are performing. In 2007-2008, when the property market was very attractive, you saw a sudden influx of developers coming in to acquire sites and seek investments.

There are some developers who are more opportunistic and they will come into the market as it shows signs of recovery. But you also have developers like us who are in for the long haul.

Keppel Land has been here since the early 1990s and we have gone through many ups and downs with Vietnam – like the Asian financial crisis and the SARS epidemic – but we stayed on course and progressed with our projects

Should developers reduce prices to draw homebuyers back to the market?

The market recovery will be in tandem with the recovery of the macroeconomy. When the inflation rate is more manageable and interest rates are reduced, people will start to invest more in properties. Then you will begin to see the turnaround.

We do not believe in fire sales or cutting prices because we have quality developments in good locations and we deliver on time. What we can do is to give some flexible options to the purchasers. For instance, a homebuyer can buy a unit that is completely fitted up or one that is not fully fitted up. So it’s more of a pricing strategy rather than just giving steep discounts.

You mentioned the high borrowing rates, which are now more than 20 percent. What do you think would be a reasonable rate for developers and buyers?

If you look back to the time when the property market was moving and progressing, the interest rates were in the low teens. So if we can bring the rates to that kind of level, you will see a higher interest in terms of home ownership.

So was your company affected by the market downturn last year in any way? And what is the business plan for the new year?

We were not unscathed, because it was not only in Vietnam but the global economy was affected by the US debt crisis and now, the crisis in Europe. There was a reduction in the number of business travelers which in turn affected our serviced apartment take-up. As for the office sector, during a global crisis, the expansion of multinational corporations here were not as fast as we would have wished for.

Taking the longer term view, we broke ground for the second phase of the Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh City in November. The project is a mixed-use development and it’s a heavy investment, but we believe foreign investors will continue to come to the country and will require offices and service apartments. The retail market is also doing well. Our mixed development is comprised of retail, office and service apartments, and scheduled for completion in 2015.

We are in the midst of preparing, developing plans or applying for investment certificates in some other projects. Depending on the market, we may launch one or two projects this year.

It is also significant that we recently opened a safety awareness center in District 7, HCMC. The construction industry of Vietnam is young. Most construction workers are not well trained in terms of safety awareness. Our center will provide training to workers, especially to those working in high-risk areas.

Keppel Land is developing a residential project in District 2 under a public-private initiative with the HCMC government. How does this work?

This is a unique partnership in a sense that we are developing 1,800 units of social housing for the city in return for land for our developments.

The second phase of the project has just been handed over to the residents this week. Then we will complete the final phase some time at the end of this year or in the first half of next year.

It’s a win-win for all. For us, as the developer, we get the land. The city has a social housing project and the residents can move to better homes. We would definitely look at more projects like this and look forward to opportunities to work with the city. It’s something worth pursuing and exploring. We are open to doing this in other cities and provinces as well.

Affluence and status-mongering could distort the meaning and purpose of a venerable custom

A ceremony held to celebrate longevity for both parents in Hanoi

“Kinh gia, gia de tuoi cho” – Respect the elders and you will live for as long as they do, goes a well-known Vietnamese saying.

Hence, the older the elder, the more respect she/he deserves – and gets.

In Vietnam, the strong tradition of paying homage to ancestors and respecting elders finds expression in the longevity ceremony that is held in the early days of the Lunar New Year.

It is not clear when the first ceremony was held, but it has been held for a long while, said my grandfather, now 86. The first one is held when the person is 70, and repeated every five years till the person passes away, he added.

“This is a nice custom. The celebration can be better understood as a way of expressing our gratitude and respect to the predecessors for all the things that they have done for us.

“This ceremony, called Le Mung Tho in Vietnamese, is normally held during spring time, mostly during the first days of the Lunar New Year,” my grandfather continued. “As most people born during my time don’t have the custom of organizing birthday ceremonies, we consider the Lunar New Year as a mark to count our ages.”

The longevity celebration is a traditional, formal ceremony with some simple but stylized rituals. It can be held at home by the elder’s children or at a public place like a communal house, a meeting room, etc. by a public association which organizes a group party for all the elders who have reached a certain age.

Whether it is a large or small event, the ceremony is always a joyful, happy occasion for family members, friends, and of course, the elder in the house who is being feted.

Today, there is an association for elderly people in almost every village and urban district that organizes many events for its members, including the longevity ceremony.

POPULAR WISHES FOR ELDERLY IN TET HOLIDAY

* Kính chúc ông bà – Sống lâu trăm tuổi  Kin chóop om bà sóm low cham doỏi * Tăng phúc tăng thọ  Dung phóop dung thạw * Dồi dào sức khoẻ  Zòy dòw súk kwảir

The place where the ceremony takes place, often the communal house, is decorated very beautifully on that day with red carpets, colorful flowers and a notice-board with the names of people being honored.

To begin the ceremony, the eldest man in the association lights some joss sticks and kowtows in front of an altar inside the house to pray for the health, prosperity and happiness of all people in the community. He will then read out the names of the people being honored that day and pray for their good health and happiness. Families who have their parents being honored will prepare a tray of offerings including fruits and cakes for the gods to thank them for blessing their parents so that they can lead a long life.

Once the prayers are over, people will approach the elders, who are dressed in traditional long red dresses, to present gifts and express their best wishes.

Many people hold the celebration in their own homes. These ceremonies can be small or big events, depending on each family’s wish and ability. However, all the close family members and friends are usually expected attend the event. Some rituals will be observed first at the family altar, with people gathering around to place offerings and expressing thanks to the ancestors for blessing their parents. Then the old parent, dressed in the traditional long red dress, sits on a chair and each of the children and grandchildren will present gifts, mostly clothes or restoratives and best wishes. Finally, a party will be held to complete the event.

“People say we will be lucky children when we have old parents or grandparents living with us,” said Tran Thanh Mui from Hanoi at a party celebrating his great-grandfather’s 90th ‘birthday’. It’s true because old people have a treasure of valuable experiences for us to learn from. My great- grandpa is weak now but is of sound mind still.”

Missing the point

As people’s living standards have improved over the last few decades, and it has become to show off one’s affluence and status, the ceremony has also turned into an opportunity to be exploited.

Stories of a high-ranking official holding an extravagant longevity ceremony for his parent in order to receive lavish gifts from his staff and friends are not very uncommon these days. But it also an approach that is self-defeating finally, because it sets tongues wagging.

“What’s important is how children behave towards their parents every day,” my grandfather said. “A big celebration will not necessarily show children’s gratitude to their parents.”

A bunch of young Hanoi cyclists have apparently mainstreamed the phrase “pain in the ass” by naming their club Ê Mông, literally meaning “buttock pain.”

Buttock Pain was founded in 2008 after a group of cycling lovers met on the web site ttvnol.com and organized a successful trip to Truc Lam Tay Thien Zen Monastery in Tam Dao District, some 80 kilometers from the capital.

A female member, who calls herself Paper_hn, suggested forming a cycling club and quickly got the nod from others. Their second trip was planned soon after, to Kim Boi mineral hot spring in Hoa Binh Province. And the club has continued to grow since.

“We chose that name just because it describes the most typical problem affecting cyclists,” Ngoc Anh, one of the club’s first members, said about the name.

Club members now have their own forums on social sites like xedap.org, xedap.vn, and phuot.net, but the most active ones recently launched their own website, emong.org, so that the others can share in all of the group’s activities.

Nguyen Ngoc Linh, 34, of the Hanoi University of Transport used to be considered the head of the club on ttvnol.com’s forum for his active role in organizing trips.

 “Now we have gathered in our own house at emong.org, where we have some 300 active members and 2,000 other registered accounts,” Linh said.

“We usually form a group of 10 to 20 people living near each another for trips, which are usually around 100 kilometers, on weekends and holidays. Anyone can join if they love cycling and are fit.”

Nguyen Van Manh, a student at the Hanoi University of Law, said that he has had a great time since joining the club.

“I love discovering new places by bicycle. It is a bit tiring, but we get a much closer look at the site and have a lot of fun on the road.

“And more importantly, cycling is good for our health and for the environment.”

Another member, Phuong Xuan, said in one recent entry on emong.org that she likes adventures and often joins on the most challenging routes.

“I’ve just come back from a two-day trip to Moc Chau District in Son La Province,” she wrote.

Cyclists on their way to Hang Te Cho Waterfall in Yen Bai Province. Photo: Ê Mông Club

“It was thrilling. The fields were full of colorful flowers, the wooden houses of the H’Mong people, and the breathtaking mountains were all great. I don’t think that I lost any energy on the trip, but in fact gained some.”

Nguyen Hoang Long, an architect who often takes photos on the trips, said he could find stunning sites just 30 kilometers away from Hanoi, in Dong Anh or Gia Lam districts.

“I love the peaceful rice fields and the quiet rivers,” he said. “We have a small group of eight people who share my hobby. We ride our bikes around every weekend to some neighboring province of Hanoi, sometimes as far as Thai Binh (some 180 kilometers away) or Thanh Hoa (more than 200 kilometers away) if we have more time.”

Truong Ngoc Ha, who works for a public relations company and joined the club two years ago, said she has formed some of her best friendships through Ê Mông.

“With a common passion, we have together overcome many difficulties as well as shared a lot of joy through our journeys,” Ha said.

She has even persuaded her husband and some friends to join the club, and they are having a great time as well.

Ha recalled a trip to the Kim Boi spring last summer. It was a terribly hot day and the ride took so much time that they could not reach their destination by lunchtime as planned. A long and rough hilly road was ahead while there was no food or water left.

“We were all really exhausted at that time, but encouraged one another to try our best,” Ha said. “That was one of my best trips.”

According to senior member Linh, Ê Mông went on a number of incredible trips in 2011 with the most recent being a five-day journey to Hang Te Cho Waterfall in Yen Bai Province in early November.

“We had 10 members on this trip, who went through chilly mountain roads and icy streams during the night despite feeling ravenous to find a place to sleep,” he said.

But the cyclists had compensation in the form of a “stunning day of sightseeing.”

“It was among the hardest trips and also the most memorable in 2011.

“We are going to start the new year after Tet with a ride along the Red River.”

WHERE TO GO

The winding mountain roads to Mai Chau (Hoa Binh Province), Sa Pa (Lao Cai Province), Cao Bang, and Yen Bai are always the most attractive to cyclists from Hanoi. The routes may be challenging, but they are compensated by the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and hills. Cyclists in the north can also opt for easier trips to rural areas along the Red River – to Nam Dinh, Hai Duong, or Ninh Binh provinces, all of which also offer a great deal of beautiful scenery. In the central region, no cycling lover can resist the charm of the Hai Van Pass, which offers a breathtaking view of the sea from atop the mountain. A ride round Hue or Hoi An Town is also a nice experience. The southern region has many ideal routes for cyclists from Ho Chi Minh City, such as Tien Giang, Phan Thiet, Da Lat-Phan Thiet, and Can Tho.