Expats ho chi minh city

Currently, about 54 flights carry 20,000 arrivals to Phu Quoc Island every day, according to the Department of Tourism of Kien Giang Province, which administers the island regarded as Vietnam’s beach paradise.

The number is forecast to increase to 80 flights on the back-to-back holidays of Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

The figures are the result of not only the high demand of summer travel but also the opening of Vietnam’s first-ever ‘sleepless city’ on Phu Quoc — an example of the inevitable trend in the tourism industry, in which independent night-time entertainment complexes are established in big cities.

Turning point of entertainment travel

The nearly-1,000-hectare area of Phu Quoc United Center was bustling on Tuesday morning, welcoming huge throngs on crowded electric buses in preparation for its grand opening on Wednesday.

In the Grand World component, luxury shopping retailers were gearing up to complete the very last decorations and preparation for their mini music and art shows.

As soon as 9:00 am on Tuesday, hundreds of workers gathered to embellish small scenes with pavilions, craft villages, and traditional products to resemble the ancient Vietnamese spaces at the venue for ‘The Quintessence of Vietnam’ show, which employs the largest modern technology in Vietnam.

The show’s director Viet Tu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the performers’ goal is to attract visitors to the festive activities in the entertainment city.

Besides, visitors from other resort complexes and couples who were taking their pre-wedding photos at Grand World also added up the hustle and bustle in the city.

Tran Gia Hung, a tourist from District 7, Ho Chi Minh City who had traveled to different Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand, said that he was strongly impressed by the scenery and majesty of colorful buildings in Vietnam’s first ‘sleepless city.’

Hung was even prouder that the project is characterized by Vietnamese identity.

According to Nguyen Thi Thu Yen, an assistant at the Tous Les Temps café at Grand World, restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping stores there have generally finished their decorations and been ready for serving customers.

“The number of visitors to Grand World today is beyondall expectations,” Yen said.

“They spend time here from morning till night.

“Their main activities include sightseeing, coffee time, and shopping for souvenirs with families and friends.

“I think this area, once officially put into operation, will be crowded and bustling day and night.

“I can’t wait for it.”

Phu Quoc waits to shine

According to Vu The Binh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tours play an important part in the domestic tourism sector as customers with the demand of relaxation often prefer this traveling model to exploration trips.

“This is clearly reflected in the ‘sleepless city’ model of Japan,” Binh said.

“Visitors there will be hooked on the variety of services, most of which are culinary and shopping.”

According to experts, during the development of a night-time economy, it is necessary for Vietnam to establish a system of night tourism products before building independent night-time entertainment complexes.

This is also Vietnam’s development orientation for the night-time economic model in the future.

In this fashion, Grand World with a combination of vivid activities at night and a series of exciting daytime festivals is expected to bring new vitality to the tourism economy of both Phu Quoc and Kien Giang.

A representative of the Kien Giang tourism department said that the number of flights from the country’s mainland to Phu Quoc would reach 80 on the holidays of Reunification Day and International Workers’ Day.

Meanwhile, 30 ferry trips can carry more than 4,000 passengers to the island ahead of the opening of the ‘sleepless city,’ according to Ho Thanh Sang, deputy director of the Kien Giang Port Authority.

Along with Da Lat, Vung Tau, Da Nang, and Nha Trang, Phu Quoc has become the most popular destination for Vietnamese tourists during the aforementioned four-day public holiday, according to a survey by the hotel reservation site Booking.com.

To ensure safety for tourists in the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital has sent 13 experienced doctors to Kien Giang to coordinate with the province in disease prevention and control.

In addition, Phu Quoc City leaders recently directly assigned missions to the navy, coast guards, and border guards who are responsible for preventing illegal entry from neighboring Cambodia, where the virus is taking its toll on local residents.

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Cat Lai Port

Fee Schedule

By Quoc Hung – Translated by Kim Khanh

Accordingly, the official list and number of candidates for the 15th National Assembly (NA) and deputies for the People’s Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 tenure have been selected and adopted. From this list, each candidate will offer a specific action programme for voters and people to choose on the election day, scheduled for May 23.

After the third consultative conference, the Presidium of the VFF Central Committee and the Fatherland Front Committees of provinces and cities will complete the list of qualified persons at consultative conferences to transfer to the National Election Committee and election committees at all levels.

It is the responsibility of the VFF to oversee the referral of qualified individuals in their respective localities and constituencies. The Standing Committees of the Fatherland Front Committees of the provinces and centrally run cities must develop plans and direct the organisation of voters conferences so that candidates for the NA can meet with voters where they are running election campaigns.

The time for holding voter meetings begins from the date of announcement of the official list of candidates and ends 24 hours before the voting time (before 7.00am on May 22).

The human ‘mobile sign’

The scorching, suffocating and dusty summer road of Hung Nhon (Hamlet 3, Tan Kien Commune, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) at 11pm does not keep Ms. Nguyen Thi Bach Phuong (Ms. Hai Tri, 62) from going out to offer students of Tan Kien Secondary School support as they struggle to cross the crowded roads.

Grabbing her conical leaf hat, she rushes out onto the noisy lanes jam- packed with vehicles holding a sign: “Please stop for a second and let students cross the street”. Whenever a large car approaches with no intention of slowing down, she points the board towards it to ask for giving roads. When she notices that the two lines of cars has slowed down, she graciously leads the students across until they are safe, she then motions for the drivers to move normally.

Year after year, Ms. Hai Tri has become a “mobile traffic sign” to help students cross the street safely.

The small road from Tan Kien Secondary School to Hung Nhon Street. After school, students have to stand here for a long time trying to cross the road.

What she’s doing is of her own accord and comes from her love for the children. Her house is opposite the road from Tan Kien Secondary School leading to Hung Nhon Street.

She said: “One day, I saw the children standing on the other side of the street for a very long time looking at each other and not daring to pass. This road is quite narrow with 2-way traffic. At noon, there are more cars, trucks, and containers, so it is dangerous with no traffic signs.”

Some of them even pleaded for help so she ran out to them. After that day Mrs. Hai Tri wondered how to assist these kids with road crossing. She soon decided to take a pen and scribble on a cardboard, then waited every day for students to finish school, holding a doodle board in the middle of the traffic lane, leading the students through. In fear of what was written on the board as too small to be seen by the drivers, she even tried to bold the text with a felt pen.

Offering help, even without money

To help students cross the street safely, Mrs. Hai Tri hang a cardboard which writes: “Stop for students to cross the road”. Later, the parent of a student presented her a professionally-design signboard.

The students now feel more secure when crossing the street. Parents are no longer worried about their children being in traffic jams after class.

Seeing that the children were more confident and bravely crossed the street, Mrs. Hai Tri didn’t think there was any need to hold a traffic control sign anymore. But one day, the students, after crossing the street, came to her again and asked: “Grandma, why haven’t you been holding the signboard to lead us across the street for several days? I’m afraid of cars.”

Mrs. Hai Tri said: “I was deeply moved by that. For now, I think I will do it all the time as the children are used to having me ask for help. If they do not see me, they will look forward to it and dare not pass.

“I don’t see myself as much help for them. It’s only a little time and effort but the children are safe and happy. People have money, they go to charity. I don’t, so I devote my effort and love and time,” she added.

After school, she holds the board on the street to regulate traffic, helping children cross the street safely.

While some view her as a weirdo doing a “strange thing” or laugh at how she’s not minding her own business, a great many others highly appreciate what she’s doing for the children.

“I got laughed at a lot but also loved and cheered. Many parents see me, nod and say thank you. There was a parent named Tam who often picked up his children, saw me holding a handwritten cardboard board, and gifted me a more professional and beautiful sign. I offered some money back but he refused to take it, saying that he just wanted to pay it forward,” said Mrs. Hai Tri.

However, being kind is not always easy. There have been countless times she was shouted at and scolded for standing in the middle of the road by reckless drivers who refused to slow down.

“It does take my breath away standing between two lanes of vehicles. I have no right to stop anyone’s car. I just want to kindly ask them to speed down a bit so the students can cross the street, and then they can keep moving,” she said.

“The traffic in this section is quite complicated. After school, students and parents at two primary and secondary schools in Tan Kien commune pour in a lot. This road has no signs or traffic lights, so it is very dangerous.

One parent said: “I could not rest my mind if it’s not for the signboard and Ms. Hai Tri helping my child cross the street. We hope that the authorities do some research and arrange the traffic lights here to make the traffic circulation safer and easier.”

Nguyen Son

Despite his training in biotechnology, Nguyen Thai Duong, hailing from Ho Chi Minh City, made a bold choice to become an English teacher and has been riding a wave of success and popularity as a key opinion leader by using hit songs to teach vocabulary and packing his classes with fun.

The 30-year-old man, widely known as a teacher with innovative teaching methods and an influencer on social media, strives to pique interest and gives inspiration in teaching and learning English, mostly lexical items, through viral tunes.

His recent in-person show was a big success, during which he shared tips on how to learn English effectively through singing and dancing with nearly 350 of his hardcore fans.

The event was also an occasion for the young influencer, who has 97,000 followers on Facebook, to look back at his pursuit of language teaching.

A Google search with Duong’s full name as the keyword brings back nearly 2.7 million results.

Graduating top in biotechnology from Ho Chi Minh City University of Science in 2013, Duong realized his heart lies elsewhere.

The more he was immersed in English, the more he realized teaching the language is his life’s passion.

After weighing the pros and cons of a career move to English teaching, he made a bold decision not to pursue postgraduate education or become a scientist in biotechnology.

Without a background in language teaching, Duong signed up for a second-degree program in English linguistics and literature at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Upon graduation with a second university degree, he also obtained a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate awarded by the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.

The two colleges are the city’s most prestigious institutions in English linguistics and pedagogy.

Gradually, Duong built his image and came to establish himself as an inspiring teacher, singer, and composer.

The versatile teacher spared no efforts in piquing people’s interest in learning English, and sharing tips for them to effectively take up the language, particularly vocabulary.

Duong has gained popularity after sharing his video clips featuring English lessons creatively delivered on the catchy, viral tunes or his own songs, with lyrics adapted to match the lesson content.

Although it all simply started, his video clips have caught viewers’ attention for his eye-catching choreography and warm singing voice.

Many of his video clips have garnered millions of views each, turning him into a media personality who has appeared on national television channels including Vietnam Television (VTV) and Ho Chi Minh City Television (HTV).

The young teacher has put all of his pride and love for his hometown into his work, using his own childhood memories.

“I was born and raised in this city, which I hold dear to my heart. I’m lucky to have fond childhood memories, so I refer to them all as ‘Saigon9X,’ Duong shared.

Despite his growing popularity, the man said he has no intention to enter the local show industry.

“It’s quite unusual that an English teacher puts on his own show,” Duong admitted, referring to the success of his recent show.

“I organized the show just to satisfy my love for singing,” he noted, adding his main source of income comes from the English classes he offers at his own language center.

Duong also holds exchanges across the country to boost his real-life interaction and showcase his own pieces about Saigon9X.

“Of course, what my fans come for are mainly the methods and tips on learning English I’ve shared with them,” he said.

The young teacher shared he was quite moved at the influx of thank-you messages from his viewers.

Duong said he has never regretted his career choice, not even once.

“In fact, I’m so grateful. If I were a scientist now, I myself, my students and even other scientists would feel regretful,” he gleefully said as he recalled the milestone in his career.

He said he has applied the acquired knowledge in science to his artistic work to make it more logical and go smoothly.

The teacher revealed he always has a full plate, with his own family and language center to care for and new songs to compose and perform apart from being an influencer.

The roles, however, have taken him time to indulge in his hobbies, including playing soccer, watching films, and reading novels.

Duong admitted his first steps were met with countless immediate failures, which he said he could learn a lot from.

“They always meant something. I poured tons of money into branches of my language center, to no avail,” he recalled.

It later dawned on the aspiring man that launching a foreign language branch is not like opening a coffee shop.

“We basically need the same recipes and ingredients for the same products at a coffee shop,” he noted.

“On the contrary, humans play a central role when it comes to launching a foreign language center branch.”

Duong revealed there are quite many challenges in rewriting songs to match what he wants to teach.

“Besides a match in melodies and rhymes, catchy content and a captivating way to deliver knowledge are also needed,” he remarked.

“What comes out next must also be better than its predecessors.”

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