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Receiving consensus from the public, these candidates are officially named in the election list, which is posted at 72 election locations of District 3. The voter list is also completed.

Noticeably, District 3 has launched a special information portal for the voter list at the address of quan3tphcm.gov.vn , along with a QR code so that the general public can check their personal information.

If there is a mistake, they can request information editing, which will be then passed to the corresponding wards for verification. Within 2 business days, the editing request will be fulfilled, less than the regulated time by 2 days.

District 3 also implements IT to publicize the voter list via its official Facebook fanpage and Zalo page, the Zalo groups of each neighborhood.

“Only after 2 days after activation, the portal welcomed around 3,000 visits, 60 of whom asked for information revision”, said Chairman Duc.

Deputy Secretary Nguyen Ho Hai highly appreciated the effort of state officers in District 3 in performing necessary election preparation tasks and applying technology innovatively to ease the burden.

He then asked that the district continue to propagandize necessary election information to the community, especially those living in apartment buildings, so that all can actively join in the upcoming ‘Citizen Festival’ on May 23.

Finally, the Deputy Secretary reminded the localities that District 3 accommodates several central-leveled and city-leveled offices, which means the state leaders here need to pay more attention to public security maintenance on election days.

Chairman of District 1 People’s Committee Nguyen Van Dung also reported the current status of election preparation tasks. Accordingly, the district has finished hanging 213 banners and 21 panels in different locations. It has also distributed 9,600 pamphlets and 7,000 booklets of election regulations to its residents.

District 1 has 73 election locations to accommodate 164,143 voters.

Deputy Secretary Nguyen Ho Hai praised the localities here for their completion of the assigned election-related tasks.

He then noted that the district should propagandize the content of Resolution No.131/2020 by the National Assembly and Decree No.33/2021 by the Government about establishing the urban administration in HCMC. Simultaneously, the community should be updated about legal regulations regarding the election process.

Lastly, he reminded that state officers who serve the election tasks must try their best to aid the public in fulfilling their voting duty and to ensure security at election locations.

By Kieu Phong – Translated by Vien Hong

Nowhere else in Vietnam serves up leftovers like Hue – the country’s ancient capital – where yesterday’s rice is the hottest item on the menu.

In Hue’s city center, where tourists abound, bun bo Hue – a beef and vermicelli soup famous in the ancient capital – may be the most popular dish at local street stalls.

But walk just a few minutes from the city’s famous and attractions and visitors will find themselves immersed in a culinary world centered around a rather peculiar ingredient: leftover rice, known in Vietnamese as com nguoi .

For day laborers, the leftover rice served with bun bo Hue is integral, giving them the extra energy they need to work from dawn till noon.

Arguably, Hue is a city which runs on yesterday’s rice.

An unknown version of bun bo Hue

Hue’s Gia Hoi Islet is a hotbed of bun bo stalls, with the area surrounding Bach Dang, Chi Lang, To Hien Thanh, Nguyen Du, and Chua Ong Streets doubling as the epicenter of the city’s traditional cooking styles.

The close observer will notice that most of the bun bo stalls there have a lunchbox sitting near the service area.

Inside the lunchbox is the stall owner’s leftover rice, an ingredient that many locals agree is necessary in order to enjoy bun bo in true Hue fashion.

Cultural researcher Tran Dinh Son said serving leftover rice with bun bo dates back to the 1950s and 1960s when vendors, after running out of fresh vermicelli, would wander around the city selling their leftover ingredients – chopped pig’s feet, cooked beef, pig blood curd, and meatballs – to those who would have them with leftover rice.

A bowl of bun bo broth and rice in Hue. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Strange servings

Com va or ‘slurping rice’ is another traditional dish in Hue which has not yet made it on tourists’ radar screen.

This dish consists of large strings of vermicelli, julienned pork ham, banana flowers, herbs, and a spoonful of chicken broth.

Long ago, the people of Hue enjoyed leftover rice in a variety of ways, including by munching on it with shrimp paste and fresh chili, or topping it with fat, shrimp sauce, and hot pepper flakes.

Hue’s famous mam tom chua or sour fermented shrimp paste is made using cooked glutinous rice which adds a sweet taste and thickens the dish.

According to many mam tom chua enthusiasts, the dish must be prepared with leftover rice rather than glutinous rice in order to embody the true Hue spirit.

Worker’s food for royalty

It would not be right to talk about leftover rice without mentioning com hen or baby mussel rice.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Nga, the owner of an eatery at 17 Han Mac Tu, Hue City, says she cooks rice early in the morning and waits for it to cool down before making baby mussel rice. Photo: Thai Loc / Tuoi Tre

Hoang Tung De – a cousin of Vietnam’s last emperor Bao Dai – loved eating at street stalls outside of the citadel despite knowing it might ruin his royal status, according to cultural researcher Son.

When Bao Dai was asked about it, the emperor said he “would like to do the same thing but could not.”

There is no official record of whether com hen was served to royals, yet many former servants said the emperor often asked to have vendors cook the dish at the palace.

Leftover rice accounts for much of the food in com hen so it would have been carried along with the vendors in order to serve the royalty.

Later, when Emperor Bao Dai built his palace in Central Highlands city of Da Lat, to cook his favorite dish of com hen , servants released baby mussel breeds in several springs nearby.

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Pickled jellyfish wrapped with fried tofu in a perilla leaf is definitely not a traditional Hanoian delicacy as the dish originated in coastal areas.

However, every year, during the cool late springtime and early summer, Hanoians find themselves craving raw jellyfish dipped into mam tom – savory, funky shrimp paste.

A gift from the sea

In late spring, Bich, a snack seller at Mo Market, an ancient fresh market in the capital, starts arranging some small stools around plastic tables.

She carefully puts a ceramic pot containing transparent, reddish water in front of the stall.

It is now the red jellyfish season which local culinary connoisseurs have been waiting for.

“Red jellyfish here. I sell red jellyfish,” Bich enthusiastically introduced her specialty to market goers.

“Should you give it a try, helping me to start a prosperous day?” she offered, putting baskets of herbs, namely Vietnamese balm and perilla, next to dishes of perfectly grilled tofu – crunchy from the outside, soft, juicy from the inside – and a plate of sliced coconut pieces.

Pickled red jellyfish is among the staples of Hanoi’s cuisine.

One may put a leaf of perilla on one hand, layer it with a slice of coconut, herbs, some pieces of red jelly, wrap them up, and dunk them into a tiny bowl of shrimp paste.

Except for the dipping sauce, each of the ingredients does not have a very impressive taste.

However, their combination gives off a fresh feeling and strange texture, surprising diners and urging them to have another bite.

Fishermen in the coastal localities of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh catch jellyfish then soak them in special water along with roots and barks of bruguiera, a type of mangrove trees.

The pickling process helps jellyfish eliminate inner water, makes them crunchier, and gives them a glossy reddish color.

A complete serving of red jellyfish always comes with shrimp paste as dipping sauce. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

An affordable delight

At noon, a frequent guest of Bich paid a visit to her stall, ordering a portion of raw red jellyfish.

First things first, Bich put a tiny bowl of shrimp paste in front of him.

The tempting, funky smell plays as an introduction for the culinary feast coming next.

Grabbing a block of grilled tofu, she cut it into smaller pieces, perfect for them to be properly wrapped in perilla leaves.

Jellyfish came last as she had to choose the part that fitted his preference.

Bich’s knife is made of a piece of bamboo – a Vietnamese ancient cutting tool specialized for soft food.

As she gave her guest a basket of herbs, Bich told him to enjoy the dish slowly.

According to her, the jellyfish season comes once a year, why do not diners enjoy it to the fullest?

“The changing weather tires me out,” said the guest.

“Such a comfort it is to have crunchy jellyfish with tofu, coconut and herbs.

“Having a sip of rice wine, I feel so much better.

“This dish is an affordable delight for all.”

Our ancestors ate jellyfish that way

For Do Thi Thai, a picky home cook, it has to be tentacles and bell margins which offer the best texture.

“Those parts may be not very good-looking yet the quality is top-notch,” she said while asking Bich to give her a piece of lime.

Squeezing lime juice into shrimp paste, Thai whisked the dipping mixture up to give off its signature smell then topped it with some slices of red hot chili peppers.

Thai has been addicted to red jellyfish since she was little.

Although she lives far from Mo Market, in the red jellyfish season, she has to come there many times to enjoy the dish.

Thai said the way it served was simple and witnessed no change over time.

“Our ancestors ate red jellyfish that way and we follow suit,” she said.

The dish can now be found in several lanes of Hanoi’s Old Quarter or ancient fresh markets.

A red jellyfish stall in Hanoi’s Hang Chieu Street is among a few shops still offering the dish. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

Light and fresh, red jellyfish is a food designated for the changing weather in late spring, early summer.

It would be a pity if one of Hanoi’s culinary staples only remains in memory one day.

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The Vietnamese economy is forecast to grow seven percent per annum in 2021-22, largely driven by increased export and investment, Fitch Ratings said in a post on its website on Tuesday.

“Strong export growth and a successful campaign to contain the spread of COVID-19 have supported Vietnam’s economy through the pandemic,” the American credit rating agency remarked.

Other parts of Vietnam’s economy have proved robust despite tourism, one of the country’s main sectors, hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis.

The government posted 2.9 percent in GDP growth last year, placing Vietnam among a handful of nations globally that reported positive economic growth amid the pandemic stress.

“Growth was buoyed by external demand, with goods exports rising by 6.9 percent,” Fitch Ratings stated.

“Domestic activity was also supported by the limited spread of COVID-19 in the country.

“Just 1,465 cases and 35 deaths from the virus were officially recorded in 2020.

“We expect growth to remain strong, at around seven percent annually, in 2021-2022, buoyed by continued export expansion and higher investment.”

The Southeast Asian country’s COVID-19 tally has reached 2,733, with 2,445 patients having recovered from the respiratory disease, as of Wednesday evening, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

Growth prospects will be reinforced by a pandemic fiscal package for 2020-21 of about VND292 trillion (US$12.7 billion), or roughly 3.6 percent of the 2020 GDP, Fitch Ratings forecast.

Goods exports rose 23.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, supporting real economic growth in the quarter of 4.5 percent year on year.

Vietnam is benefiting from such new trade agreements as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as the country’s cost competitiveness.

“Rapid increases in public infrastructure investment and FDI should bolster the sustainability of strong medium-term growth,” Fitch Ratings said.

Vietnam’s generally robust economic outlook remains subject to risks, as its vaccination program has moved slowly, beginning only on March 8, the company observed.

The nation has so far received 928,800 coronavirus vaccine doses from direct purchases or the COVAX scheme, co-led by the World Health Organization, according to the health ministry’s figures.

Over 60,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening.

“Vaccine hesitancy among the public appears low, which is a positive sign, but Vietnam’s confirmed vaccine orders cover a lower proportion of the population than in some neighboring states, such as Indonesia and Malaysia,” Fitch Ratings said.

“Should the country experience a major COVID-19 outbreak before vaccines are widely rolled out – prompting lockdowns – growth prospects and public finances could be affected.”

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Under the Cambodia lockdown, which is also imposed on a satellite district of the capital, most people are banned from leaving home except for going to work, to buy food, or for medical treatment.

Police manning checkpoints on Thursday in Phnom Penh asked motorists to show work documents and identity cards in order to pass, television footage on local media showed.

In a voice message posted on his official Facebook page, Hun Sen warned Cambodia was on the brink of “death valley” and urged people to work together to avoid calamity.

“The purpose of the lockdown is to combat the spread of Covid-19 and this closure is not a way to make people die or suffer,” he said.

The Southeast Asian country still has one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February saw cases spike almost ten-fold to 4,874 within two months and the first deaths recorded with 36 fatalities.

Hours before the lockdown, Hun Sen’s message was leaked on social media, prompted panic buying of food and other goods in shops by residents in Phnom Penh and the nearby Takhmau area, where a lockdown has also been imposed.

Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor of the Vietnamese Health Ministry’s public health emergency operations center, has warned on Tuesday that the infection risk across the Cambodia-Vietnam border is high.

“The border between Vietnam and Cambodia is really long, not to mention the sea and air routes. It should be noted that controlling travel by sea is truly difficult.”

Many Vietnamese people stay and do business in Cambodia and the number of people traveling back and forth, both legally and illegally, is high, he said.

There have also been concerns among the public in Vietnam about the situation in Thailand, another Southeast Asian neighbor.

Thailand reported 1,543 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the sharpest increase since the start of the pandemic and the fourth record rise this week, amid a third wave of infections in the country.

It reported 1,335 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

The spike in cases comes as Thais celebrate the Songkran new year holidays and authorities have urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and reduce gatherings to help limit the outbreak, which includes the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain.