Huge glass of wine

A 27-year-old Vietnamese comic series based loosely on the popular ‘Voltron’ animated series of the 1980s is getting republished in Vietnam, stirring up excitement among a generation of readers while prompting worries about copyright infringement.

Dung si Hesman (Hero Hesman) was a 160-volume comic series by ‘adaption arist’ Hung Lan. It was published for the first time in Vietnam in 1992.

The sci-fi adventure superhero comic follows the protagonist, Hesman the robot, as he battles evil forces in the galaxy in a fictional future set in the 23rd century.

It was a huge hit among Vietnamese children and youth at a time when entertainment options were scarce in the absence of computer games and the Internet, with its circulation reaching 160,000 copies per volume at times.

Many Vietnamese millennials recall queuing up and fighting with other kids at local bookstores to rent the newest volumes of Dung si Hesman when they first got out.

Collecting spin-off items were also popular with young Hesman fans at the time.

The nostalgic comic series is getting republished this summer by the Van Hoc (Literature) Publishing House and distributed by Hanoibooks, using scanned images of the original comic, the publisher and distributor said at a launch event on Sunday.

The first five volumes of the reprinted Dung si Hesman have already been available at bookstores nationwide since August.

The 2019 version will also run for 160 volumes like the original series, with an expected circulation of 2,000 copies per volume.

Its artist, Hung Lan, expressed his hope that the 2019 republication would appeal not only to nostalgic millennials but also to Vietnam’s Gen Z readers.

News of the reprint has caused fresh concerns about the comic’s violation of the copyrigh of the source material, an American animated series dating back to the 1980s.

Dung si Hesman is adapted by Hung Lan from Voltron: Defender of the Universe , an animated series produced by World Events Productions (WEP) in the U.S. from 1984 to 1985.

Hung Lan, 63, said he modeled his characters on those in the Voltron series and renamed the protagonist Hesman, a pun on ‘He is [a] man,’ to appeal to Vietnamese readers.

The Vietnamese artist added he only derived inspiration from Voltron for the first four volumes of Dung si Hesman , while the rest of the series are the results of his creativity at work.

The artist was referring to additional characters and original plots for more than 150 installments of the series.

A representative of Hanoibooks told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper it has worked solely with Hung Lan to have the comic republished and has not contacted WEP regarding copyright issues.

Hung Lan said he has always credited himself as an “adaptation artist” and not the “author” of the Hesman series.

He has only received “symbolic” royalties for his work, the man noted.

In a recent interview with Van Nghe Cong An newspaper, Lan underlined that right from the publication of the very first book in 1992, he required that the work be credited as “Hung Lan adapts from Voltron animated movie” on the comic book cover, never claiming he is the original author.

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A worker checks equipment at the Thủ Đức Water Supply Factory in HCM City. The city aims to prevent water pollution, groundwater exploitation, and lack of clean water for local use. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngọc Hà

HCM CITY — HCM City authorities have pledged to continue to carry out “drastic” measures to prevent water pollution, groundwater exploitation and lack of clean water for local use.

“Clean, safe water will continue to be supplied to all city households in every district,” the People’s Committee said.

The municipal government recently approved a master plan on water supply in the 2020-2050 period, and another on clean water supply and ending the exploitation of underground water by 2030.

Under the master plan, the city will strive to meet water demand in the 2020 – 2050 period, between 5 – 10 per cent lower or higher than the total forecasted demand.

By 2025 the city plans to ensure that every resident has access to tap water.

Under the plan, the municipal water supply capacity will reach 3.6 million cubic metres per day, using only 100,000cu.m of groundwater by 2030.

From 2030 to 2050, the supply capacity will increase an additional 2.4 million cubic metres a day.

The city is also gradually relocating its water supply sources further upstream of the Sài Gòn and Đồng Nai rivers to ensure clean water for local use.

The city will build reservoirs to store water for treatment to combat salinity caused by the impact of climate change and the pollution of water sources from regional socio-economic activities.

The city will also upgrade more than 1,430km of old pipelines and install more new pipelines by 2025.

It targets lowering water losses to 15 per cent.

In addition, the city will continue to develop a smart water supply system and carry out a pilot project to install drinking water taps in public areas such as parks, schools and hospitals.

Pollution downstream

According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, water in downstream Sài Gòn River is suffering from severe microbiological pollution and slight oil contamination.

Pollution indicators like ammonia, microorganisms and manganese have all increased, exceeding the permitted standards of Việt Nam and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Hồ Long Phi, director of the Centre for Water Management and Climate Change under the National University of HCM City, said that pollution in the Saigon River has become more serious.

He said the city would need a huge investment in building new pumping stations with extremely large capacity of millions of cubic metres a day, as well as investment in long and large-scale pipelines.

Experts have warned that rapid urbanisation has put pressure on the city’s water infrastructure, which is ageing. It is a great challenge for the city to maintain water supply and keep pace with economic growth.

In addition, the city plans to reduce the exploitation of groundwater by 2025 to prevent land subsidence and protect residents’ health.

More than 700,000cu.m of groundwater are being exploited daily in the city. Half of the total serves households, while the rest is for manufacturing activities.

Water samples collected from wells in the city have recently showed concentrations of iron, pH, E.coli bacteria and ammonia that failed to meet standards set by the Ministry of Health, according to a recent Preventive Health Centre investigation. — VNS

An oddly-shaped tiny house on Phạm Văn Đồng Street in HCM City’s Bình Thạnh District. The city government has approved a proposal to reclaim land along new road expansion projects as part of its effort to stop the construction of tiny houses. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh

HCM CITY — Land along new road projects in HCM City will be reclaimed for auction and resettlement as part of the city’s effort to get rid of or reduce the number of oddly-shaped tiny houses that have appeared as a result of road-expansion projects.

Dealing with super-small and skinny houses has been a problem for years, according to the city Department of Construction. Many houses have been built in tiny or oddly shaped land areas, especially along newly expanded roads, destroying the urban landscape.

Districts which have seen the construction of many tiny houses include 5, 6, 11, Bình Thạnh, Tân Phú and Tân Bình.

Tiny-sized houses can be seen on Trần Hưng Đạo Street (District 5), Điện Biên Phủ Street (Bình Thạnh District) and Võ Văn Kiệt Street (District 5 and District 6).

More of these tiny houses have been built recently on Tân Hóa – Lò Gốm Street (districts 6 and 11 and Tân Phú District) and Phạm Văn Đồng, Bùi Đình Túy, Nguyễn Xí streets (Bình Thạnh District).

The city has more than 1,000 oddly shaped tiny houses as result of road expansion projects.

On Cách Mạnh Tháng Tám Street (Tân Bình District) where construction of Metro Line 2 has begun, some 86 houses are sub-standard, accounting for 23 per cent of the total affected houses near the subway line, mostly near the Bảy Hiền intersection.

One owner of a tiny house on the street, who did not want to be named, said after site clearance was issued to expand the road, his remaining land was only 12sq.m. But it was street-side, which is considered more valuable, and he is now selling it at VNĐ4.5 billion (nearly US$200,000).

“Despite the tiny area, you can open a take-away coffee shop, lottery ticket agent or just hang up signboards,” said the owner, who said the price was still affordable.

The price of such houses in a nearby area is at least VNĐ300 million per square metre, according to local media reports.

Mai Văn Thuận, head of Tân Bình District’s Urban Management Division, said the super-thin houses are created as a result of road expansion projects approved without “careful planning”.

For example, after 80 per cent of area of a house is cleared, the remaining 20 per cent is often built with higher floors, making the house look strangely skinny.

District authorities have encouraged house owners to sell the remaining area to the owner of adjacent houses at the market price in order to form a new “normally sized house”, according to Thuận.

Poor management

Experts attributed the problem to planning management. Planners did not pay adequate attention to remaining areas of many land plots after site clearance, resulting in the creation of many plots that were too small or out of shape.

Combining the parcels of tiny land with neighbouring plots, however, can be difficult because of challenges in reaching agreement about prices as most tiny houses are street-side with very high prices.

Architect Ngô Viết Nam Sơn said: “HCM City must address this problem beginning at the planning stage so that there will not be any super-thin houses.”

Residents whose land was taken back in the past have not benefited from these road expansion projects, while those who were not affected by the projects benefited hugely from land price spikes.

To tackle the issue, city authorities have approved a proposal to reclaim land along new road projects in the city for auction and resettlement areas for affected households.

Under the proposal by the city Department of Natural Resources and Environment, people whose land is taken back will be resettled in the same locations but with smaller lots than their own.

The surplus land will be put up for auction to raise capital for the road projects.

The local authorities will negotiate with the affected residents. If two-thirds of the residents agree to the land reclamation plan, it will then be put into force.

Experts have also recommended that land areas ineligible for construction permits must be combined with a neighbouring plot.

In a related issue, the city said it would establish a “sectoral team” headed by a city leader, a leader of the Department of Finance, and a leader of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to review the total use of public assets such as public houses and land with a term of five years.

The People’s Committee will report to the People’s Council and then to the Prime Minister to help settle the issues. — VNS