Sets for womens

The Tokyo Olympics had to be moved from 2020 to 2021 because of the pandemic, and it also affected the qualification chances of Vietnamese athletes.

If the Olympics had occurred last year as planned, Vietnam would have had one Judo athlete qualify, because the International Judo Federation would give the qualification ticket for the top six athletes in Asia by May 2020. At that time, Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy was peaking sixth in the region and set to claim on Olympics spot.

However, when the event was postponed, Thuy couldn’t hold her position because she couldn’t take part in any international tournament last year. She dropped to the 10th position, as a result. Her last hope is the Asian Judo Championship, conducted as an Olympic qualification tournament, on April 3 in Kyrgyzstan, but Thuy could not attend this one, too, because there is no commercial flight from there to Vietnam. This means that Vietnam will not have any Judo athlete at the Olympics this year.

Southeast Asia’s top fencing athlete, Vu Thanh An, is preparing to compete at the Olympic qualifiers in Uzbekistan in April, but at the moment, he’s not 100 percent sure that he can go.

In weightlifting, Vietnam has Thach Kim Tuan in the world’s top five and he just needs to stay in the top eight to get Olympic qualification. But Tuan can totally drop out of the top eight because he cannot compete in the Olympic qualifiers held April 15-25 in Uzbekistan. With no commercial flight from Uzbekistan to Vietnam, two other female weightlifters, Vuong Thi Huyen (ninth in the world) and Hoang Thi Duyen (seventh), will lose a chance to accumulate more points.

The Vietnamese athletics team will also have their last qualification chance at the International Relay Championship in Poland in May 2-3. They will have to be ranked in the world’s top 16 for a ticket to Tokyo. The taekwondo team will compete in the Olympic qualifiers hosted in Jordan in May, while the karate team will go to Paris. The gymnastic team will compete in China for the ticket, but with really strong opponents from South Korea, Japan and China, the qualification chances are slim.

The Department of Physical Education and Sports is planning for the rowing team to stay in Japan for training if they can qualify for the Olympics qualifiers in May, although this is a stiff challenge.

In 2020, Vietnam Aquatic Sports Association (VASA) asked the International Swimming Federation (FINA) for permission to make the results of the national tournament in May eligible for Olympic qualification and the FINA agreed. Therefore, the best swimmers in the country will compete in this tournament, hoping to get one more qualification ticket besides Nguyen Huy Hoang, who already earn his ticket in 2019. However, reaching the qualifying standards is not an easy task.

Vietnam has lost its chance at Olympic shooting after all of its three shooters attending the ongoing ISSF World Cup in India, their last chance to qualify for the Olympics, fell flat and were disqualified early. Hoang Xuan Vinh, who won the first Olympic goal medal ever for Vietnam in 2016, did not take part in this tournament because he is transitioning to a coach. High hopes were on the shoulders of Tran Quoc Cuong. The 45-year-old was 17th in the world and just needed to reach 16th place to qualify.

Vietnam can hope for two more qualifying spots in badminton, with Nguyen Tien Minh at 28th in men’s rankings, and Nguyen Thuy Linh 25th among women. The top 32 athletes will go to the Olympics, so Minh and Linh have great chances to qualify.

At the moment, Vietnam has five athletes who have already qualified for the Olympics: Nguyen Huy Hoang (swimming), Le Thanh Tung (gymnastics), Do Thi Anh Nguyet and Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu (archery) and Nguyen Van Duong (boxing).

The handover ceremony, held in Hanoi on March 22, 2021. (Photo: UNFPA Vietnam)

These sets will be sent to the Hai Duong Provincial Fatherland Front, Dong Anh district’s health centre in Hanoi city, and the Quang Ninh Provincial social work centre.

This follows UNFPA’s previous handovers of dignity kits to MOLISA to mitigate negative consequences of COVID-19 for women at risk of GBV in floods-affected provinces in Vietnam. Up to now, 16,246 women at risk of violence have received the Dignity Kits.

The Dignity Kit is a signature feature of UNFPA’s comprehensive package of humanitarian assistance to safeguard the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, mitigate the risk of gender-based violence, and protect the dignity of women and girls adversely affected by a crisis.

“UNFPA is calling on the Government and partners to prioritize sexual and reproductive health of women and girls, address high risks of gender-based violence, and respond urgently to their special needs,” said Ms. Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam at the handover ceremony.

“Supporting people affected by humanitarian crises is not only the right thing but also the wise thing to do to save lives and build resilience to avoid COVID-19 from cycling back to the vulnerable people and communities around the globe. Frontline health workers must also be protected from COVID-19 and be provided with personal protective equipment to treat infected patients and continue to provide essential services,” added Ms. Kitahara.

By Thai An

Another Women’s Day recently whizzed by – oh how quickly they come, go, and are forgotten. One day out of the entire year (ok, two days are celebrated here in Vietnam) with a bouquet of flowers, maybe a box of chocolates or a cake, a meal out, then in the blink of an eye it’s in the rear-view mirror.

Even if all 48,566,839 men (49.4 percent of the population) in Vietnam were on board regarding the tribute, the fact is most women don’t have time to stop what they’re doing and enjoy a special celebration totally dedicated to them, ironic as it may seem.

They’re simply too damn busy keeping the ship afloat.

Just walking down the street in any neighbourhood in Vietnam, women are seen humping away in markets and supermarkets, washing, preparing produce, cooking, serving food and drinks in restaurants and cafés, then cleaning up the mess left behind.

These old hands have seen…

We all know those activities, see them each and every day, but what about some niches and sectors in which women make major contributions, but are less noticeable, taken for granted.

Stick your nose in a local bank and check out who’s doing the heavy lifting.

A bank?

Oh boy, let me tell you, as odd as it may sound, a visit to the bank reveals a lot about how well things work here in Vietnam. In most countries, banks are austere and intimidating (they hold the cash we need and often send subtle messages through their posture and mannerisms to remind us), but not around here, we actually feel like customers, hooray!

Queuing up for service is not one of the highlights of commercial transactions in Vietnam, so there is no taking a number and a seat while awaiting one’s turn. It’s more like jostling for position in the Tokyo subway at rush hour, everyone pouncing on the teller announcing their business simultaneously and expecting immediate service.

That local flare adds to the challenge we customers face, but just imagine being on the receiving end of all that commotion as the tellers are!

To add to the ambience, the Vietnamese dong still includes smallish denominations of banknotes and the economy has been expanding at breakneck speed for years on end, so the VND500,000 notes are a dime a dozen.

It’s not uncommon for a client to stagger up to the counter with an entire backpack stuffed to the gills with VND500’s. Ever notice it nearly always seems like a nondescript, humbly dressed person that has the biggest clump of cash?

I vividly recall sitting in my Da Nang bank branch a couple of years ago waiting for my little transaction to conclude, during which time an elderly lady pulled up in an SUV chock-a-block full of cash.

I’m dead serious, the cash was piled up everywhere inside the vehicle, no way you could roll down the windows or it would have started blowing all over the parking area.

It turned out it was VND8 billion (US$350,000), which I know  because  the lady informed me with great pride that she was buying a hotel and had brought all that money to the bank to seal the deal.

That begged several questions, which of course I could not ask, such as:

* Where did she get so much cash from? (Under the mattress seems unlikely given the sheer volume.)

* Why schlepp it over in an SUV instead of doing a wire transfer? (Mistrust of electronic transactions, fearing money will disappear into cyberspace.)

* What happened when she stopped at stoplights and other drivers saw all that money piled up all over her vehicle? (Nothing, this is Vietnam.)

* Did the lady toss a few notes to any needy people she encountered along the way? (Nope, in a hurry.)

* Who counted it prior to hauling it over to the bank? (Her staff I guess.)

Anyway, the lady’s minions hauled the huge mountain of cash into the main office of the bank and an entire brigade of sharp-looking female tellers magically appeared through a discreet rear door and started counting the whole mess at a feverish pace.

If every note had been of the VND500,000 denomination, that would come to 16,000 notes, but I saw lots of stacks of VND500’s and VND200’s, so there must have been a lot more to count.

All I wanted that day was change for a couple of large notes (I hate giving them to vendors, forcing them to run around looking for change, plus the VND500’s draw attention in the wet market). I received them in a flash, then got the hell out of there, terrified something would happen and I would somehow be implicated in the drama.

I shuddered imaging the headlines: ALERT BANK STAFF STOPS LUNATIC EXPAT ATTEMPTING TO STICK UP LOCAL BANK!!  SUSPECT CLAIMS HE JUST WANTED SMALL NOTES FOR BANANA VENDOR.

That huge deposit was a special case, no doubt, but the overall point remains: those tellers are sealed tightly in the pressure cooker all day, every day.

Just prior to Women’s Day, and completely unrelated to the festivities, I popped into my local branch once again, this time to deposit a payment into my buddy’s account.

Outside, I saw a female staff member placing a note in Vietnamese and English kindly advising customers that their ATM was down, going that extra step.

Bilingual warning: ‘ATM not working’

Thanks to ATMs and online options, I rarely set foot inside the actual branch itself. The first thing that grabbed my attention is most (if not all) of the employees running the show were women.

Once again, endless questions popped into my mind, but people can’t just hang around in banks observing the workflow and asking questions while trying to be inconspicuous. So I had to make due with a few furtive sideways glances at the operation here and there.

The tellers are like machines, moving at a blistering pace and leafing through mounds of cash, slips, and signed papers. The bill counting machines clatter away like a locomotive in a Western movie, bills of VND500,000 flying by faster than the eye can follow.

Rat a tat, rat a tat, then a tidy clunk when the end of the stack is reached.

The teller was going like a one-armed wallpaper hanger, yet never lost focus of my little transaction, while at the same time fending off other customers. She even grabbed the wad of small bills I had placed on the counter because I forgot how much the service charge was for a deposit.

She then deftly removed the requisite VND11,000, waved those bills at me as proof, and neatly put the rest of the cash back.

Now, that is a take charge, professional attitude, quick and efficient, smooth and seamless, focused on the customer.

Truly, banks are the ideal showcase of women’s contributions to this country, but that’s just one example. They’re omnipresent, on construction sites, struggling alone to deliver heavy, bulky items by motorbike, selling trinkets, and hauling recycling items around with their ‘don ganh’ (shoulder-borne carrying poles). You-name-it, they’re doing it.

It’s high time we men turned it all up a notch, less flash, more class, choosing informal scenarios and random moments scattered throughout the year to show our gratitude, instead of a big hoopla once or twice.

This revolutionary approach has a boatload of advantages over the current celebrations, which are predictable, and, quite frankly, boring. And, gentlemen, we all know how women love surprises (as long as they’re good, that is), so let’s surprise them.

Bear in mind that if you do decide to take a gift for your favourite bank teller, make sure it’s in a transparent container or plastic bag, lest it be confused with a weapon. I can see the headline now:

‘WEIRD FOREIGNER APPREHENDED TRYING TO HOLD UP A BANK USING A GOURD – INSISTS IT WAS A GIFT!’

Random gestures, treats, goodies, and gifts big or small, invitations, it doesn’t matter, they’ll all be appreciated. Let’s just do it, every change is like a journey, starts with the first step taken.

‘Sleepless cities’ around the world such as Sentosa in Singapore, Ibiza in Spain, and Las Vegas in the U.S. have long been world-famous destinations as night-time entertainment is a prerequisite for any economy to attract tourists, according to experts.

Night-time entertainment activities involve different but harmonious experiences, from culture to cuisine, amusements and artistic performances, all of which have brought tens of billions of U.S. dollars to the aforementioned destinations.

New impetus for tourism revival

The number of visitors to tourism destinations across Vietnam has increased significantly over the past few days, with hotspots like Phu Quoc Island, Da Nang City, and some northern localities recording accommodation services’ room occupancy at 80-90 percent on weekends.

Tour operators anticipated that the high occupancy rate would linger through the peak travel season of summer, especially the upcoming holidays of Hung Kings’ Festival, Reunification Day (April 30), and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

The family of Trang Thu, who just arrived in Phu Quoc from Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday morning, was picked up from the airport to their hotel, where they had breakfast before starting their visit to Vinpearl Safari, a semi-wildlife park, to the excitement of her six-year-old son.

All of their itinerary, along with three meals a day, had been included in the holiday package that Thu had paid for in advance.

In this way, the whole family was able to comfortably enjoy their journey without having to wonder what and where to eat during the day or which places to visit.

Safe holiday packages like the one that Thu’s family chose have become popular among family holidaymakers and groups of friends recently, according to Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, deputy director of marketing at Vietnam’s top tourism company Vietravel.

The packages consisting of air tickets, hotel stays, and meals have been in demand lately.

The destinations of these packages are places with leisure activities, resorts, shopping and entertainment complexes such as Phu Quoc and northern Quang Ninh Province.

“Now is the golden time for tourism companies to prepare for welcoming the return of tourists,” Khanh said.

Meanwhile, Doan Thi Thanh Tra, a representative of Ho Chi Minh City-based travel firm Saigontourist, assessed that the demand for self-organizing tours to have private trips of groups of tourists and families would also be quite high this summer.

To meet this demand, Saigontourist has provided travel services such as car rental, air ticket sales, luxury hotel or resort booking at preferential prices, as well as organizing tour programs at the destination that customers choose.

On this type of tour, visitors go to their desired destination on their own and book a tour designed by the tour operator to last within the day, with the company of a fluent local guide.

Classy art shows at Grand World

Countries such as Japan, South Korea, and the UK have been very successful in developing closed tourism complexes which offer shopping, dining, entertainment, and cultural experiences, excellent arts, and casino activities, according to experts.

According to Vietnamese art performance director Viet Tu, who was responsible for the production of art shows at Grand World, a new project at the Phu Quoc United Center super complex, entertainment plays an important role in the economic model of 24/7 business and entertainment areas.

Tu said in the past, when he started his trip to ‘sleepless cities’ like Las Vegas, he always wondered what fun to enjoy and which places to visit there.

“Visitors always expect new entertainment experiences, not only that, they also want to easily get access to reputable brands with methodical organization and high-quality service,” Tu said.

Therefore, when designing art shows for Grand World, he always pays the most attention to entertainment factors besides cultural and artistic elements.

Two women pose for a selfie at Phu Quoc United Center on Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. Photo: T.T.D. / Tuoi Tre

Tool for tourist spending increase

Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong, an economist, believed that such amusement and entertainment complexes could attract not only young people but also many other types of tourists, including both middle-aged and old people.

“Such interesting destinations will benefit not merely businesses but also local people and the economy,” said Dr. Phong.

According to experts, the establishment of entertainment, amusement, and resort complexes shows that Vietnam’s tourism is transitioning to a higher stage of development.

After the model of Phu Quoc United Center, Vietnam is forecast to have more similar international tourism products in other regions, which will contribute to both the tourist industry and the Vietnamese economy.

According to the night-time tourism product development project of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the night-time tourism sector is assigned to increase the average tourist spending by five to six percent, the proportion of tourist spending on night-time tourism products by 30 percent, and the percentage of tourist additional spending by five to six percent by 2025.

In addition, the night-time tourism product must also be attractive enough to elevate the average tourist stay by 0.5 days.

According to a representative of VNAT, overnight tourists spend an average of US$1,074 per pax during the average trip length of 8.1 days, equivalent to an average spending of $132.6 a day, while day visitors spend an average of $99.86 per pax

The VNAT representative said that prolonging the tourist stay was one of the national tourism industry’s priority goals, while the ‘sleepless’ amusement and entertainment complexes are the keys to achieving that goal.

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