VietNamNet Bridge - Nguyen Sieu, who studied in the US, says each culture has its own bright and dark parts. Instead of criticizing Vietnam, international students should learn about the culture and adapt to it. Nguyen Sieu won scholarships from seven leading universities in the US Nguyen Sieu won scholarships from seven leading universities in the US, has a bachelor’s degree in cinema and media studies at Vassar College, New York with the impressive GPA of 3.9/4.0. He now works for Paramount Network as Junior Associate Producer-Editor after internship periods at Walt Disney, MTV and Blumhouse. Sieu became a ‘hot face’ after publishing his book ‘Co don de truong thanh – Nhat ky tu nuoc My’ (Being lonely to mature – a diary from the US). The book shows the US country, people and culture in the eyes of Sieu, who has been living there for five years. Sieu became a ‘hot face’ after publishing his book ‘Co don … [Read more...] about Vietnamese student writes book about living, studying in Vietnam
New house in dream
Two new schools opened for rural communities
Two new schools opened for rural communities Students of Ba Tang Commune in Quang Tri Province pose in front of their new school - PHOTO: COURTESY OF CARGILL To commemorate International Children’s Day, the feed producer Cargill has opened two kindergartens for children, one in Ba Tang Commune in Quang Tri Province and the other in Xuan Hong District of Nam Dinh Province. Ba Tang kindergarten is located in a mountainous area in the central province of Quang Tri, where both Kinh and Van Kieu ethnic people live together. Most of them are from low income families and work on banana plantations. The old school which was built many years ago was in a dilapidated condition and had to be shut down a few years ago. This forced the children of different ages to learn together in a temporary classroom located within a local’s house. The new kindergarten is the 87th one developed under the Cargill Cares school program, providing pre-school education in a safe, convenient and … [Read more...] about Two new schools opened for rural communities
Thousands flee after Hawaii quake triggers new volcano eruptions
Thousands of people have been forced to flee after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook Hawaii's Big Island, triggering the collapse of a coastal cliff and prompting fresh eruptions of a volcano that has been spewing lava near residential areas. No injuries have been reported but several homes were destroyed or badly damaged by the quake Friday, the biggest to hit the island since 1975, authorities said. It caused small sea-level changes but no tsunamis. The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 12:32 pm (2232 GMT) and was centered on the south flank of the Kilauea volcano, which first erupted on Thursday after a series of tremors. A 5.7-magnitude tremor hit the island earlier on Friday. The quakes prompted the Kilauea volcano, one of five active on the island, to erupt. The quakes temporarily cut power to thousands of households. The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the area through Monday for all but relief operations. The quakes triggered rock … [Read more...] about Thousands flee after Hawaii quake triggers new volcano eruptions
To street vendors in Vietnam’s biggest cities, sidewalk is a lifeline
A new day starts at 2:30 a.m. for Hiep and her four housemates who rent a small apartment tucked away down a Saigon alley. They need to make tofu pudding in time for 6 a.m., when they loads pots full of the hot dessert onto their bicycles and off they go to the inner city to find customers. At the same time, around 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) north, Quyen loads duck embryos and chicken eggs onto the back of a motorbike and travels from the outskirts of Hanoi to the Old Quarter in the downtown district of Hoan Kiem. Everyday, tens of thousands of vendors leave their rented apartments in big cities for busy streets to pay off debts and keep their families in the countryside afloat. They are the faces behind telling statistics that have been troubling policymakers for years: migrants and unofficial workers. Official government data from 2015 showed that migrants aged between 15 and 59 made up 17.3 percent of the country’s population of 90 million. The majority of them work in the … [Read more...] about To street vendors in Vietnam’s biggest cities, sidewalk is a lifeline
Effective spending required for people’s acceptance of new property tax proposal
The Ministry of Finance has proposed imposing a new tax on people who own property worth VNĐ700 million ($31,000) or more. - Photo vneconomy.vn The Ministry of Finance claims that the 0.4 per cent tax would bring in VNĐ31 trillion ($1.3 billion) per year and help Việt Nam “get in line with regulations on property tax rates in other countries.” But does that get it line with the people? Not likely. Currently, there is no tax on owning a house. Land users must pay an annual non-agriculture land use tax at a progressive rate of 0.03 per cent to 0.15 per cent of the land price per square metre, determined by the state every five years. The proposal means house owners will have to pay a new kind of tax for their house, apart from the land use tax they’re paying now. The finance ministry justified this new tax by saying that data from other countries show that the lowest property tax rate stands at 0.2 per cent, which makes Việt Nam’s tax rate … [Read more...] about Effective spending required for people’s acceptance of new property tax proposal