Many had to wait at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi for hours to get blessings written in calligraphy on the first day of the Year of the Dog.
It’s long been a tradition among Hanoians to visit the Temple of Literature to have meaningful words written for them in calligraphy asking for good luck for the year ahead.
People stand in a queue spanning a few hundred meters to get blessings in calligraphy on red or yellow do paper priced at VND80,000 ($3.53) per sheet.
Calligraphers have no time to rest their hands on this busy day due to the huge number of customers.
Van Anh, a student, proudly shows her blessing after hours of waiting. She asked for the traditional script which means “Pass” (do dat), wishing that she, in the new year, will pass the entry exam to the university of her choice.
At 4 p.m. on Friday, long lines of people still patiently wait to buy calligraphy blessings.
Khanh Chi and Minh Thu, 9th graders from Trung Vuong school, asked for “pass” to be written in calligraphy, wishing for academic success as they will seat the high school entrance exam this summer.
Those too busy to queue for custom made calligraphy can buy ready-made ones at gift shops.
Many customers opt for lucky charms as presents for relatives.
Many people also light incense at the shrine of former teacher Chu Van An, a high ranking mandarin of the Tran Dynasty in Vietnam, in the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university built in 1070.
Pagodas are packed on the first day of the new lunar year in Saigon with people waiting to ring bells, wishing for peace.
Visiting pagodas is a long standing tradition of Vietnamese families during the Lunar New Year festival (Tet). Big pagodas in Saigon like Vinh Nghiem, Xa Loi, Vietnam Quoc Tu and Pho Quang are packed with visitors on the first day of the Year of the Dog.
At Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, hundreds of people, besides offering incense, queue for ring bells.
“In the New Year, a tolling bell expresses the harmony between heaven and earth. It is also considered a prayer for well-being to all,” a 52-year-old woman named Ngoc Lan said.
Despite having to queue for a long time in the hot weather, everyone feels happy at the prospect of tolling the bells.
In the pagoda’s main hall, everyone shows their respects, praying in front of Buddha statues.
“I always come to Vinh Nghiem Pagoda on the first day of Tet, praying for peace for the nation, and health for my family and me,” said Nguyen Thu Hang, 50.
Many people visit pagodas during Tet not only to pray, but also to relax, temporarily forgetting the hardships in of life.
Many people can be seen touching Buddha statues, wishing for good luck in the new year.
Pagodas offered visitors flowers and small bags of rice and salt on the eve of the new year. “Salt is believed to banish evils, bringing good luck to people in the new year. Salt also symbolizes depth of relations, while rice symbolizes the wholeness in the year ahead,” a woman named Hoa said.
As pagodas receive more and more visitors, they frequently use speakers to remind visitors to bring less than three incense sticks to the main halls, leave shoes outside, and not to put incense sticks in flowerpots.
Vehicles will be allowed to enter the walking zone around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Hanoi’s pedestrian area around Hoan Kiem Lake and nearby streets will be opened to vehicles this weekend to facilitate travel during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The walking streets are normally closed off to traffic over the weekends, but exceptions will be made during the country’s biggest holiday, which is also known as Tet.
Vehicles will be allowed to access Hoan Kiem Lake on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week, the first days of the holiday.
Around 15 minutes walk away, the streets between Hang Ngang, Hang Dao, Hang Duong and Ta Hien to Dong Xuan Market will also be open to vehicles this weekend, as well as the next.
However, celebrations on Lunar New Year’s Eve mean roads around the lake will be closed between 7:30 p.m. on Thursday to 1 a.m. on Friday.
Hanoi opened downtown walking venues in September 2016, and they have proved to be a hit with visitors.
The city plans to hold 30 fireworks shows to welcome the Year of the Dog, including a major display over the iconic lake.
Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country on the South China Sea known for its beaches, rivers, Buddhist pagodas and bustling cities. Hanoi, the capital, pays homage to the nation’s iconic Communist-era leader, Ho Chi Minh, via a huge marble mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) has French colonial landmarks, plus Vietnamese War history museums and the Củ Chi tunnels.
More and more foreigners are currently choosing Vietnam as an ideal place to live and work and especially, the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) is a special opportunity for them to gain a deeper understanding of the country’s fine customs and traditions.
In interviews granted to VOV, foreigners have expressed their different feelings and impressions of Tet in Vietnam.
Gunjan Punia from India, who has been living in Vietnam for three years, said she and her family are eagerly looking forward to Tet.
“It’s a time of celebration, festivities, and markets filled with flowers, cakes and lights. A time of excitement, happiness, and celebration for the complete family,” she said.
Gunjan added that all pre-Tet gift giving and dinners have already commenced and she relished the discounted sales that are available in the markets during this time.
“The markets are crowded with people buying gifts and eating in restaurants. The traffic is on the rise during the evenings.We really enjoy the typical Tet food that is served to us during this time. The Chung cake is really awesome. This festival reminds us of the Diwali celebrations that we celebrate back home,” she said.
While, most of the foreigners staying in Vietnam tend to leave the country during these holidays, Gunjan and her family have always stayed in Vietnam during Tet and enjoyed every moment of it.
“The unique thing about Hanoi is that while the roads are full with traffic before Tet, over the holiday period most of the city remains closed as locals prefer to go to their provincial homes. My best wishes to all my Vietnamese friends on the occasion of Tet 2018 and I look forward to celebrating with you all,” she said.
Meanwhile, Reuben Taylor, who works as a proof-reader at VOVnews, shared that one of the most wonderful sights he’s seen in the run up to Tet is the trade in beautiful flower displays and plants at the Quang Ba flower market, with people carrying bundles of peach blossoms and mandarin trees on the backs of their bikes weaving in and out of busy traffic on Yen Phu.
He also likes wandering along Hang Ma Street in the Old Quarter to look around the stunning scenes of shops selling hundreds of brightly coloured lanterns and Tet decorations.
“What impresses me most is that there is an effort to include everyone in the celebrations, with care and attention paid to those who have less than others. Walking around and seeing flower beds spring into life and young chickens scuttle across the street, there is a real feeling of growth and renewal around the city,” he said.
Reuben shared that he and his girlfriend will be travelling to Penang, Malaysia for a few days.
“However, in the lead up to the New Year I will be trying to see and learn about all of the wonderful traditions and ways of celebrating for different people in Hanoi and in other parts of Vietnam, and try some of the different types of Banh Chung too!” he added.
Guy Wilson from the UK spoke with a VOV reporter at a coffee shop in Hanoi, “I just cannot express how grateful I am to have a Vietnamese girlfriend. The decision of moving here and settling down as an English teacher is considered to be the most meaningful milestone of my life. Because I could stand a chance to witness the traditions and rituals related to this important fete in Vietnam: ancestor worship, praying at the temples and pagodas, giving out lucky money to the younger generations and so many more.”
As a foreigner, Guy said all those things surprise him in a fantastic way because he has never experienced the same things in his home country.
“I am genuinely in awe of the super culinary culture, the enthusiastic locals as well as the cozy yet fresh atmosphere of Vietnam that emerges, during Tet holiday in particular,” he noted.
A Chinese girl, Linda Boi, brightened up as she was asked about how she felt about Tet in Vietnam.
tet a special time for foreigners too hinh 3
“I moved to Vietnam last November so this will be my very first time enjoying Tet holiday. I’m so excited to experience the traditional celebration of the Lunar New Year with the locals here in Hanoi.”
Linda said she will be outside with her colleagues on New Year’s Eve to watch the fireworks show.
“Not sure about plans after that though. Can’t wait to have some Banh Chung! I’ll be working in Vietnam for 3 years so hopefully next time I will have some more interesting stories about my Tet to tell you,” she said.
“Happy New Year, Vietnam!” Linda said excitedly, “I wish you all the best of luck and may the upcoming Year of the Dog bring peace and prosperity to all.”
Two foreigners living in and outside Vietnam recalled their cozy memories with the Lunar New Year, or Tet in Vietnamese.
‘Starting afresh’
I’ve witnessed ten Tet since I started living here. In the early years I went to the fireworks and partied with friends in the expat bars around Hoi An. Often I would meet people I hadn’t seen for months as I tend to live quietly but was also busy with teaching. In the more recent years as I had some dogs as pets, I tended to stay at home or take the dogs for walks during the holiday evenings because it’s so calm, peaceful and lovely to see how people have decorated their houses.
I like the idea of “starting afresh’ – throwing out old things, cleaning up and yet, remembering their ancestors. I’ve lost both my parents in the last two years so this has been on my mind. I admire the devotion to the family, helping out with the Tet chores and working for the parents while they do stuff for Tet. I like the energy of it – everyone off to buy something nice and being excited about seeing their hometown relatives again.
Tet is the time for family, friends in Vietnam
Society has changed rapidly, but I don’t think Tet’s changed so much. However I have seen more noticeable status symbols – new cars, big TVs, brand new motorbikes or bicycles – and especially students with the latest smartphones which cost a small fortune. Also I’ve observed more families eating out in a fancy restaurant instead of home cooking as a way of enjoying their rising prosperity. And definitely more young adults cruising around on their motorbikes just for fun and company rather than doing traditional home customs.
I think there’s a Vietnamese proverb, “A day of travelling will bring a basket of learning” – I think young people are curious about their country and hungry for new experiences as daily life in Vietnamese can be monotonous. It’s also an empowering feeling to have the money and opportunity to see new places and show off or post on Facebook selfies of where you are. Also travel is becoming more affordable with cheaper flights, more buses and more local destinations opening up to domestic tourists. And given all the stress of life in the big cities I think it’s becoming more natural to think about ‘getting away from it all’.
A lot of foreigners (particularly living in Vietnam) are a bit jaded and it takes a bit of effort to impress them whereas the young Vietnamese tourist probably has a lot more appreciation for the simpler experiences of something new. Foreigners are looking for more exotic places and wilder experiences but the Vietnamese just revel in the sheer joy and fun of getting out of town!
Stivi Cooke, Australian
‘Tet is important to me and my family’
My first Tet in Vietnam was 2005. I was told by other American expatriates that the streets would be deserted and to make sure that I had enough food to eat for a week as all of the stores would we closed. That first Tet in Vietnam, I stayed at home and played video games a lot. I know many Western friends in Saigon who speak of the loveliness of the deserted streets of the city during Tet. But they don’t know what they’re missing.
I started to get a taste of the true spirit of Tet one holiday when an adult student of mine invited me to his house during the break. Hospitality was overflowing as we chatted, snacked, drank beer and gave lucky money to the roving bands of lion dancers going through the neighborhood. As the years went on, I got more and more invitations to come to people’s houses to experience Tet, and I really came to look forward to the holiday.
Then I moved to Saigon and got married. Now Tet was even more fun as it was a chance to get out of the big city and spend time in the Mekong Delta with friends and family. Empty streets of Saigon are no comparison to the festive nature of the holiday in the delta.
To be honest, Tet is in many ways more enjoyable than Christmas or Thanksgiving for me. I love driving and walking around the streets festooned with yellow and pink flowers picking up soft drinks, beer and snacks for the holiday. I love delivering gift baskets to close friends and family. I love meeting up with friends and relatives that I don’t see very often. And I love a little time to just be “ở không” (doing nothing).
However, now my family and I are in America. Tet has always and will always be different here. It is not a national holiday here, and it is not widely celebrated either. Tet can be a little sad in the U.S. as we sit in the midst of cold weather and remember the warm days full of fun in Vietnam. But Tet is important to me and my family and always will be. Even though the weather is dipping below freezing and nothing in the streets suggests that a holiday is approaching, we will be celebrating Tet in the US. We are fortunate to know other friends and families that have lived in Vietnam, and we will we celebrate Tet with them.
Even though we are on the other side of the world from Vietnam, I will observe the tradition of my wife’s family and eat vegetarian food until noon on Mùng Một (the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar). And even though I am in another country, I will remember with fondness all of the many wonderful times I have enjoyed Tet in Vietnam.
Nowadays, many banks in Vietnam has implemented marketing, loyalty and support solutions to connect, engage and grow throughout the customer lifecycle with unparalleled marketing resources and support.
As the Board of Management (BOM) member cum Head of Marketing and Communication Division (Marcom) at Vietnam International Bank (VIB), Mr. Duong Ngoc Dung said that, “the campaign and offer management is very important our retail banking business. Our products marketing team create, manage, distribute and measure targeted campaigns across relevant digital channels to reach the right customers with the right products”
Duong said, his bank leveraged propensity models provided by an international vendor to draw insights from user behavior to intelligently market specific solutions to customers based on their individual need.
Key features of the solution he mentioned, which the bank applied has helped the bank to manage the campaign and track the result easily, create campaigns across online and mobile banking channels, access to analytical models that target customers most likely in need of products and services. Based on the solution, they are able to create custom demographic segments for precision campaign targeting and upload user lists for use in campaigns.
“After implementing the solution, products and services revenue from targeted marketing improved significantly, and deliver better results with personalized messages. Time-to-market is our advantage and we move much faster than before”.
According to the information provided, the head count of Marcom division of VIB in 2013 ware 30, by end of December 2017, there were only 12 full-time employees.
“The key contributing factors to the success of every marketing campaign we implement still be assigning the quality person, who is in charge with the right solution, not about the quantity of the the team member.” Duong mentioned.
Many fish died as soon as they hit the water, while others choked in plastic bags.
Many Hanoi residents released carp on Thursday into the city’s ponds and rivers as part of a symbolic ritual, but for most of the fish, there was a high price to pay for their freedom.
Many died as soon as they hit the water, while others suffocated in plastic bags.
The ritual is an important tradition that takes place one week before the Lunar New Year. The idea is the fish will carry the Kitchen Gods to heaven so they can report to the Jade Emperor about what we’ve been doing this year.
Since Wednesday afternoon, people have been releasing the carp into any convenient body of water, including the highly polluted Nhue and To Lich rivers. Some of the fish could be seen gasping for oxygen on the surface.
Not to miss out on an opportunity, some people waited with nets hoping to recapure the live ones.
“I will feed them to the pigs, or sell them to people who keep ornamental fish,” said Nguyen.
“The water is heavily polluted and the fish will die otherwise.”
Nguyen was not the only one interrupting the tradition.
A group of youngsters determined to keep pollution to a minimum gathered along bridges and around lakes holding posters asking people not to throw plastic bags in with the fish.
Tran Thi Thuy, 68, also took part in the campaign to make sure the tradition was carried out in a “cultured” manner.
Thuy said that the West Lake, the largest in Hanoi, had been filled with plastic bags and incense burners that were “released” with the fish in previous years.
“Many people are actually throwing the fish to their deaths,” she said.
Thich Tinh Giac, a monk, said that releasing carp is an act to honor life, so pollution should not be tolerated.
“Releasing fish with other items destroys the meaning of the ritual,” he said.
Many lakes and rivers in Hanoi are polluted. The problem entered the spotlight after more than 100 tons of fish washed up dead in the West Lake in October 2016. The city subsequently announced plans to spend VND16.2 trillion ($726.4 million) on a sewage treatment project.
Vietnam is also one of the biggest plastic polluters in the world. In 2015, it was named among five countries that dump more plastic into the oceans than the rest of the world combined. Ocean Conservancy, an environmental non-profit, said in a report that 60 percent of the plastic trash flowing into the seas originates from China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
NovaLand, one of the leading property developers, expects to hand over 11 projects in 2018, bringing significant revenue and reducing inventory.
Besides continuing to focus on key residential products, especially low-rise projects, Novaland will expand to smart townships including various indoor and outdoor facilities.
The most important milestone will be to expand to hospitality in big cities with high tourism potential. Novaland will focus on seven main areas, including Hoi An town in Danang city, Cam Ranh in Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan, Con Dao in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Can Tho, and Phu Quoc.
Under its Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) plan, in the last quarter of 2017, Novaland completed the acquisition of two big projects—Newton Residence (in Phu Nhuan district) and Sunrise Cityview (in District 7), taking on 99.89 and 99.81 per cent ownership, respectively.
With eight projects being handed over, and 19 others under development along with M&A activities to expand the land fund, sufficient capital has been gathered to ensure the corporation’s delivery commitments and increase its value on the market.
Novaland recorded impressive business performance in the last quarter of 2017. The company continues to focus on the residential segment while expanding to new hospitality and commercial product types as per the second stage of its strategic roadmap.
The company’s total assets as of the last quarter of 2017 increased by 35 per cent year-over-year to VND49 trillion ($2.2 billion), based on the increase of cash and cash equivalents, inventories, investment properties, and long-term investments.
The current assets of the company now account for 83 per cent of its total assets, in which cash and cash equivalents were doubled to VND6.6 trillion ($293 million) from VND3.3 trillion ($147 million).
As of the end of 2017, inventories were reported at VND26 trillion ($1.2 billion), increasing by 70 per cent year-over-year due to properties under construction (VND 24 trillion or $1.1 billion), mainly including land costs, construction costs, consulting and designing fees paid to constructors, and others related costs.
Owners’ equity and charter capital increased by 32 and 9 per cent to VND13 trillion ($584 million) and VND6.9 trillion ($306 million), respectively, via the successful private placement of ordinary shares for Credit Suisse AG Bank, Singapore Branch’s loan conversion of $60 million, and the 20 million shares of ESOP issued in the last quarter of 2017.
Besides, Credit Suisse also approved to raise the credit limit to $125 million which was fully disbursed for Novaland to finance its projects.
Also, in early 2018, the second ESOP issuance of 9.8 million shares will contribute to increasing the charter capital to VND6.59 trillion ($291 million).
A highlight of the fourth quarter business performance was the net revenue of VND5.896 trillion ($260 million).
Total revenue in 2017 reached VND11.6 trillion ($512 million), improving 58 per cent year-over-year with 3,596 units handed over in 2017 versus 3,325 units in 2016.
In accordance with the second stage of the business strategy, Novaland continued to develop key residential products, especially low-rise projects including townhouses, villas, and shop houses. Revenue from the sale of real estate accounted for 94 per cent of the total.
There have been 15 projects with nearly 10,000 units handed over to clients with the average absorption rate of 93 per cent so far.
Bitcoin rallied from three-month lows below US$6,000 in choppy trading on Tuesday, but worries lingered about a global regulatory clampdown and moves by banks to ban buying bitcoin with credit cards.
On the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, bitcoin hit US$5,920, its lowest since mid-November, before recovering to above US$8,000. It hit a high of US$8,150 and was last at US$7,922.79 in late trading in New York, up nearly 15 percent on the day.
“Crypto is alive and well,” said Matthew Roszak, co-founder and chairman of U.S. blockchain technology company Bloq.
“This whole thing is a movie. It’s not a static feature. We will see continued investment, continued adoption, inspiring developers. This is the real thing.”
Bitcoin has slumped in recent sessions as a risk-off mood spread across financial markets. It has fallen about 70 percent from its peak of almost US$20,000 in December and was down more than 40 percent so far this year.
The original cryptocurrency gained more than 1,300 percent last year.
Other digital currencies also rose after posting steep losses the last few weeks. Ethereum, the second-largest by market value, was up 10.7 percent over the past 24 hours at US$791.33, while the third-largest, Ripple, edged up nearly 6 percent at 76 U.S. cents, according to cryptocurrency tracker coinmarketcap.com.
The gains came amid a U.S. Senate hearing on virtual currencies in which J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Jay Clayton, chairman at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) testified. The Senate is examining the role of the SEC and CFTC in regulating virtual currencies.
U.S. regulators may ask Congress to pass legislation to improve oversight of virtual currencies like bitcoin amid concerns about the risks posed by the emerging asset class, Clayton said on Tuesday.
After a massive run-up last year, in which investors across the world piled into the market, cryptocurrency prices have skidded lower while regulators have stepped up warnings about the risk of investing in them.
Regulatory clampdowns in South Korea and India and an advertising ban by Facebook Inc have hit sentiment. Several banks said in recent days that they were banning customers from buying cryptocurrencies with credit cards.
Still, many cryptocurrency backers said regulation should be welcomed and short-term price volatility is to be expected for a new market.
“I think regulators need to learn how to interact with this technology and not stop this,” Bloq’s Roszak said.
“Whenever you see a government banning cryptocurrencies, a bank banning, I think in many ways, that’s them pulling the handbrakes up to better understand how to interact this technology,” he added.
Iqbal Gandham, managing director at trading platform eToro said his company had seen a drop in trading interest from investors in recent weeks amid the selloff, but that interest remained far higher than before the fourth quarter of last year.
The plunge has come during a heavy selloff in global stock markets in recent days, undermining views that bitcoin’s price moves are generally uncorrelated to those of other asset classes.
Cleaned the house? Made the Kitchen Gods happy? Busy making cakes? Then you’re on the right track to a great Lunar New Year or Tet!
The cleaning is not just about starting the new year on the right foot. Apparently Vietnamese believe that luck clings to dirt and dust, so when Tet comes you are collecting the ‘new luck’ of the new year. It’s also why they don’t usually sweep the house during the first four days of the lunar year! It’s probably the best excuse I’ve ever heard of being lazy about housecleaning!
Have you got your Vietnamese phrase memorized yet? ‘Chuc Mung Nam Moi’ is roughly spoken like ‘Chook Muung Nam Mooi (‘oi’ sound)’. It doesn’t matter about what the gold and red banners are saying, it’s pretty obvious – mostly making wishes for the coming year.
Keep in mind that the actual holiday stretches out over 1 day before and about 3 to 5 days after the real date (the 16th of February) so lots of shops, banks, and importantly, visa offices will close earlier and re-open later. I often check with my local pubs and favorite shops about this so there are no nasty surprises.
People buy food in preparation for Tet in Ho Chi Minh City.
The nation is already on the move with many universities closing soon now and students on their way back to their hometowns. It is sometimes expensive too. Nha Trang University offered free bus travel to students whose families were affected by Typhoon Damrey, as just one example of many charitable efforts we’ll be hearing more about in the lead up to Tet.
Already charitable people and organizations have been busy carting up foodstuffs, cooking oil, warm clothes and toys to the rural poor. It’s heart-warming that Tet has some similar feelings to Christmas and helping others. And it doesn’t help that it’s been a very hard winter on top of the damage still being repaired after Damrey.
More customs you should consider; pay off your debts! Vietnamese believe this makes way for a more prosperous year to come. So don’t be surprised if you see people forking out moola even on Lunar New Year’s Eve, the 15th of February! So to all the jaded vile old expats who owe me millions (dong, of course), cough up!
The Tet schedule is busy. In the lunar calendar, December 23rd is Tet Tao Quan; Kitchen Gods’ Day – that’s when you’ll see the big tables outside homes with all the fruit and paper to burn. Between the 26th and 28th – it’s time to make cakes; those square packets wrapped in green leaves sold everywhere and given as gifts. Family reunion arrivals should be done by December 30th, Lunar New Year’s Eve and everyone heads off to the pagodas and temples to pray to the gods and ancestors. After LNYE it’s visiting time; generally parents, relatives, teachers and friends – in that order. If you’re planning to visit someone – check which day of Tet is most suitable.
New Year’s Tree is generally bought around the 26th (lunar date). Flowers and colors play a huge role in Vietnamese culture, in this case; about fertility, prosperity and getting most of what you want! I can’t speak for other parts of Vietnam but I have been told the extended cold weather has reduced the flower harvests this year. Yellow flowers also represent longevity.
Young Vietnamese women dress up for Tet, or Vietnam’s Lunar New Year.
Suitable gifts for locals are a big question on Facebook for many expats and tourists too. Lucky money for the kids is a must – put in however much you want to give in a red envelope – 2 dollars per munchkin is pretty good. For Westerners, most standard gifts are good: flowers, candy, maybe a good bottle of someone for dad and as at any time of the year, fruit!
Things to do: just take a walk. If the weather is good, it’s wonderfully relaxing to stroll around and check the neighbors’ fruit trees and decorations. When it’s hot, a lot of families leave the front doors open so you see dad sleeping in front of the telly, a left-over Christmas tree in the corner and the ladies chatting on the floor mat with kids giggling all over the place. The sense of community is charming and really will fill you with good cheer and a smile on your face.
And that’s it… Tet is about family and community – the powerful bond that has protected the Vietnamese for generations. It’s a time to slow down and treasure the really important things in life such as love, togetherness, companionship and that uniquely Vietnamese zest for life.
Nguyen Canh Vinh stopped assuming the position of CEO of Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SeABank) from February 8.
This was revealed in the bank’s announcement on the change of senior staff.
Le Van Tan, Deputy CEO of SeaBank will take charge till a new general director is appointed after Vinh’s termination. This is the second time in less than eight months Tan has been assigned the position of general director. When Dang Bao Khanh resigned as CEO of the bank, he had assumed the position on July 5, 2017.
Born in 1974, Vinh graduated from the National Economics University and the National University of Civil Engineering. He also holds a master’s degree from Australia’s Latrobe University. Vinh has 21 years of experience in finance, banking industry and has held many senior management positions, particularly in the retail sector.
Prior to his stint at SeABank, Vinh was deputy general director of Techcombank. Vinh took charge as the new general director of SeABank on September 25 last year.
“He says it’s good for your teeth, you should chew it!”
The translated advice from the elderly Vietnamese man seemed sage enough initially. I had just finished dinner and more than a few shots of rice wine at a colleague’s wedding in the outskirts of Hanoi, and with no Tic Tacs at hand, the betel leaves were my best shot at restoring my breath to its normally heavenly quality.
After chewing the green leaves for mere seconds, a scalding hot and bitter taste spread across my mouth, as if I’d been chewing on a nettle soaked in deep heat. I spat the horrible concoction out, to laughter all around. Chewing betel leaves and areca nuts has long been a Vietnamese tradition, but it’s safe to say I wasn’t about to trade in my Colgate for betel.
Cultural Clash
When cultures collide things like the betel incident are bound to happen, and there’s plenty about Vietnamese food culture that expats just don’t get, and other things that some simply don’t like. And that’s ok. Now, for those of you anger reading with the phrase “if you don’t like it go home” reverberating around your head, please take a breath, relax and stop chewing so hard on your betel leaves. It’s okay to question or be baffled by parts of other cultures. Doing so is just part of embracing our differences, as long as we do it in a respectful manner. So, without further ado, here are 600 words ragging on Vietnamese food.
Chicken Feet
Weird Meats
Perhaps the expats who know the most about Vietnamese food are those married to a local. Ollie Arci was the English groom at the aforementioned wedding and though he enjoys Vietnamese food, some of his wife Huyen’s favourite dishes don’t cut the mustard for this half-Italian stallion. For one, he told me while Huyen loves tucking into boiled chicken feet, he’s far from a fan of the slimy snack. He told me boiling them leaves the already ugly feet tough and chewy, and he pulled no punches on his feelings: “She loves the chicken feet, I hate the chicken feet.”
Bubble tea, while not uniquely Vietnamese, is another thing the couple disagree on. Ollie told me when he and Huyen were first dating they would often go out to one of Hanoi’s many bubble tea shops for sips of the lumpy broth, much to his confusion. Is it a drink, a sweet soup or dessert? Ollie’s biggest ‘what the food moment’ though, came when his future mother-in-law sent a package containing a raw pig’s womb to the couple. While the package contained roast duck and other treats, Ollie said Huyen was most excited about the womb, telling him it was an expensive cut of meat and a delicacy. The womb was, of course, boiled and served up soon after by Huyen. Ollie tried a few bites but was left underwhelmed at best:“It looked horrible. Like a pinky, white blob of flesh. It didn’t really taste of anything, just like eating an elastic band. Difficult to chew, difficult to swallow, why would you eat it?”
Boiled Meat
Boiling Over
The ubiquity of boiled food also confuses Jennifer Price to no end. The American has been living in Hanoi for more than three years by now, and in almost foreigner-free Dong Da District to boot, so she knows her com rang from her com trang.
Boiled chicken is often cited by foreigners as a strange way the Vietnamese enjoy one of the world’s favourite meats, and Jennifer is no exception. She pointed out to me that Vietnam does spectacular roast duck, with the crispy, tasty birds a hit with any meat lover. So why doesn’t chicken get the same treatment?
Vietnam also has something of a love affair with fruit, and while Jen appreciates this, she told me it frustrates her that fruit is often not ripe. Jennifer explained green fruit is definitely a no go for her: “Why would you serve green plums?”
With Tet holiday fast approaching Jennifer also mentioned chung cake as a local delicacy she hasn’t got on board with. The traditional dish is made of glutinous rice, pork, mung beans and various spices all packed into a square.
Jennifer told me she was a fan of chung cake’s presentation, with the mixture wrapped in green leaves, but the taste left something to be desired: “They look like they should taste good, but they don’t.”
Chung Cake – A Traditional Tet Dish
Lost in the Sauce
Daisy Flynn-Piercy, an English expat who has called Hanoi home for three years, would disagree with Jennifer on chung cake. Daisy told me she enjoys the traditional delicacy when she eats it on trips to her partner Duyen’s hometown, but only when it’s fried. She noted that one of Duyen’s aunts regularly comes to family meals with fried chung cake, perhaps explaining why she’s one of the more portly family members. For the most part, Daisy struggled to think of any particular Vietnamese dish she wasn’t a fan of, only able to come up with tiet ga (a kind of blood pudding) and durian as food she couldn’t stomach. She did, however, say she finds a lot of Vietnamese food bland before some sauce is applied to the dish, specifically fish sauce. She told me the simple and popular condiment adds something to almost everything she eats: “You have to have fish sauce”.
Food for Thought
Overall, it seemed the practice of boiling just about everything in Vietnam was the thing that vexed the expats I spoke to the most, unsurprisingly. What did surprise me was what Duyen told me when I asked what she found strangest about British food when she visited England a year ago. She told me she found it strange and a bit sad that corner shop meal deals consisting of sandwiches, a drink and some crisps were a staple of lunch food for British office workers.
“I look forward to going out for lunch with my colleagues and eating together, not alone,” she explained, a salient point considering the UK has just appointed a minister of loneliness.
The Greek philosopher Epicurus taught that who you ate with was much more important than what you ate, and eating alone should be avoided. On your next lunch break you could do worse than going out to eat with some Vietnamese colleagues, even if they are sitting down for a feast of chicken feet.
By: Peter Cowan – Peter is a Northern Irishman who washed up in Hanoi, discovered he couldn’t teach and hasn’t looked back since. He enjoys long walks through rice paddies and is still learning how to dress himself properly.
Việt Nam’s Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank) posted a pre-tax profit of VNĐ1.017 trillion (US$44.6 million) last year.
This marked a year-on-year increase of 160.5 per cent and exceeded the yearly target by 70 per cent.
The growth in Eximbank’s profit in 2017 is not attributed to its core business activities but to mainly irregular income from divestment and bad debt settlement.
Eximbank sold Sacombank’s shares in December 2017 and earned a portion of the profit, amounting to VNĐ126 billion. Bad debt recovered in the fourth quarter of 2017 brought some VNĐ400 billion profit for the bank.
From the beginning of 2017 to the end of June, credit increased by 3.3 per cent, while for the second half of the year, credit increased by 13.32 per cent. Credit growth mainly came from short-term loans worth VNĐ46.67 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 37.32 per cent. Medium and long-term loans increased only 3.35 per cent to reach VNĐ54.64 trillion.
Meanwhile, mobilised capital increased by 14.84 per cent to VNĐ117.53 trillion. In particular, term deposits increased 15.6 per cent to VNĐ110.43 trillion, accounting for 85.45 per cent of the total mobilised capital.
Operating expenses fell slightly by 2.18 per cent compared to 2016 with nearly VNĐ2.21 trillion due to a staff drop of 3.03 per cent to some 6,021 employees. Eximbank did not open any new branches or transaction offices throughout 2017.
The ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) dropped to 2.27 per cent from 2.95 per cent in 2016. NPLs balance also fell by VNĐ261 billion to approximately VNĐ2.3 trillion.
Conglomerate faces risks as it extends consumer businesses into automaking.
On an island off northern Vietnam, the conglomerate Vingroup is moving earth, raising girders, and working round the clock to build the most ambitious industrial project in the communist-ruled country’s history: a factory complex that, within two years, will make the first Vietnamese “national car”.
Vinfast, as Vingroup’s new car brand is called, will begin producing electric motorbikes at a factory on the site, near the port city of Haiphong, later this year, then next year a saloon and a sport utility vehicle. Design sketches for the two cars, which will be unveiled at the Paris car show in October, show sleek and sporty models, each with a “V” emblazoned on their grilles.
At the manufacturing site on Cat Hai island, a circular, glassy headquarters and research and development building is already in place, and the scooter plant is rising behind it. The project, on which Vingroup is spending $1.5bn in its initial phase, is so large that it has called in all the companies that supply pilings from northern Vietnam, and some from the south too.
However, the shift into carmaking will be a trip into the unknown both for the conglomerate and for Vietnam’s manufacturing-driven economy, analogous to the moment in the 1970s when the South Korean chaebol Hyundai, today a top producer, developed its first cars.
For Vingroup, it could prove a risky move: carmaking is an intensely competitive, low-margin global industry in which other producers who sought to hoist the national flag with a locally made vehicle — including Proton in nearby Malaysia — have struggled.
The Vietnamese group is leaning heavily on foreign expertise and suppliers to smooth its launch into cars, but some of China’s myriad fledgling producers have done the same and failed to build sustainable businesses.
Vietnamese consumers, who rely largely on two-wheeled transport, bought fewer than 250,000 cars last year, about a quarter of the number sold in bigger, richer Indonesia, where officials and businesspeople have also mooted — but until now resisted developing — a “national car”.
It will be new territory too for Vingroup. The conglomerate is Vietnam’s biggest real estate company, produces food, runs retail stores, operates schools and universities, and is building Indochina’s tallest building in Ho Chi Minh City.
However, for Vingroup executives, the move into cars is the next logical step for a company set on serving every need of Vietnam’s growing middle and affluent class.
“The concept is from the cradle to the grave,” Le Thi Thu Thuy, the senior group executive overseeing the Vinfast project, told the Financial Times. “The group wants to cater to every part of the consumer’s life in Vietnam, and giving the consumer a better life.”
The car project is clearly a point of pride for a country where patriotic feeling runs high, and which is striving to shift its foreign-dominated manufacturing sector into higher value-added areas.
“When you talk to people here, a lot were pulled in by the rallying cry of doing a car for the people,” says Jim DeLuca, the veteran General Motors executive Vinfast has recruited as chief executive. “It’s bigger than Vingroup, it’s bigger than us — this is for the people.”
Vingroup broke ground on its factory complex on September 2, Vietnam’s national holiday marking the date when the country declared independence from France in 1945.
“There’s a saying that every proper country needs five things: a flag, a national anthem, an army, an airline, and a car company,” says Robin Zhu, senior analyst for Asian autos at Bernstein.
Other countries in the region will be watching. Thailand, home to Southeast Asia’s biggest car industry, produces nearly 2m vehicles and has capacity to make 1m more. However, the producers — led by Toyota, Isuzu, and Honda — are foreign, and about half of what the industry makes goes to export.
Vietnam has one major car, truck and bus manufacturer, Truong Hai Automobile Co (Thaco), but it produces for foreign brands.
Vingroup’s Ms Thuy says the Vinfast project’s initial phase will cost $1.5bn, out of a total planned investment of $3bn-$3.5bn. Initially, Vinfast plans to install capacity to produce up to 300,000 electric scooters and 250,000 cars per year, but executives have spoken of increasing this to as many as 1m scooters and 500,000 cars annually by 2025 — an ambitious figure for a market of Vietnam’s size.
“I think they will have to produce for another brand to maintain their capacity,” said Titikorn Lertsirirungsun, regional manager for Asean countries at LMC Automotive in Bangkok.
Vingroup counters scepticism over its prospects of building a viable car brand from scratch by saying it has brought in expertise and executives from some of the industry’s top names.
In addition to Mr DeLuca, who headed global manufacturing at GM, Vinfast has also recruited as its head of purchasing an executive from Bosch, the German supply giant, and a head of manufacturing from Holden, the recently discontinued GM brand in Australia.
BMW, the German carmaker, is licensing a production platform and engine for the two forthcoming models, and contract manufacturer Magna Steyr is acting as a consultant to Vingroup on vehicle technology.
Vingroup commissioned design sketches for its two vehicles from four top design houses, and selected Italy’s Pininfarina to develop styling for the forthcoming models. The company says it will launch the two cars in the third quarter of 2019.
The company is not discussing prices, but Ms Thuy says the vehicles will be “affordable for the Vietnamese”. She says: “We are making cars for the mass market, so the pricing will be competitive.”
