The newly-released Asia-Pacific Human Development Report titled One Planet to Share highlights the urgent need to successfully deal with the trade-offs between economic growth and reducing emissions “because there is no choosing one over the other”.

The report, sponsored by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), says that the Asia-Pacific region must do what has not been done before – continue to sustain growth, lift people out of poverty, but do so with reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

It argues that the region can solve the prosperity-emission dilemma because its unfinished development agenda allows it to do things differently.

The areas for changes, it suggests, include producing for the future, raising rural resilience, building greener cities and promoting fair and balanced consumption.

Speaking at the launching of the report in Ha Noi yesterday, May 15, Deputy Country Director of UNDP Viet Nam Bakhodir Burhanov said: “One thing that makes this report particularly distinguished is the coverage of sustainable lifestyle and consumption – an area which has not been covered extensively in international researches.”

He said that sustainable consumption became an increasingly important issue due to the rising middle-income class throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including Viet Nam.

United Nations Resident Co-ordinator Pratibha Mehta said that in alignment with the report’s recommendation, Viet Nam needed to prioritise disaster mitigation and investments in rural communities because the country was highly prone to climate-induced disasters, such as floods and storms.

“Repeated climate shocks reinforce inequalities and weaken human development. In order to help the poor to increase their resilience to climate change, much greater investment in infrastructure, institutions and capacities is therefore needed,” she said.

Apart from that, Viet Nam should do more to promote energy efficiency and energy conservation.

Mehta said the UN noted that more than half of all electricity in Viet Nam would be generated from imported coal by 2030, which would bring high pollution whilst global market prices were volatile.

She said as the report suggested for countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Viet Nam should gradually phase out undesirable subsidies on fossil fuels to give way for renewable energies. “Such subsidies have a considerable negative effect on the environment and are incompatible with sustainable development.”

In order to reduce heavy reliance on fossil fuels, Viet Nam also needed to reform energy prices, as well as measures to protect low-income groups, Mehta added.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Watching the launch at VNPT’ headquarters in Hanoi.

The 36-minute process of Ariane 5 and the two satellites successfully finished at 5.49am when Vinasat-2 split from the missile and moved to its position – 131.8o East on the orbit. Earlier, supported by two auxiliary missiles, Ariane 5 left the earth at 5.13am.

Within 30 seconds, two auxiliary missiles burnt more than 1,000 tons of fuel at the temperature of 3,000oC. After that, the two missiles separated from the major missile. Ariane 5 moved to the west and flew faster into the orbit.

At 5.16am, Ariane 5 went through the atmosphere and crossed the Atlantic Ocean within 20 minutes. In the western bank of Africa, JCSAT-13 split from the missile. Adriane 5 continued bringing Vinasat-2 to its position.

At 5.49am, Vinasat-2 split from the missile to its position. The launching was announced to be a success.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung congratulates VNPT on the successful launch.

Watching the launch at the headquarters of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) in Hanoi, PM Nguyen Tan Dung confirmed that the successful launching of Vinasat-2 is a significant event that marked a great move of Vietnam’s telecom industry.

Manufactured by Lockheed Martine from the US, VINASAT 2 is outfitted with Ku band transmission beams to blanket Southeast Asia and adjacent areas. The satellite weighs approximately 3 tons and has a lifespan of 15 years. The satellite will offer direct television broadcasting, telecommunications and Internet services.

Vinasat-2 project was implemented over two years, from October 2009, at total investment of $260-280 million. Earlier, Vinasat-1 was launched in April 2009. Both projects were invested by VNPT.

The launching process in pictures:

PV

SMS copy, a sub service of its SMS Plus programme, allows Vinaphone subscribers to automatically copy a text message from a mobile number to another number.

Subscribers needed to register to use the service.

Vinaphone, which has 30 million users, said customers had raised complaints about privacy.

Vinaphone, a member of State-owned VNPT (Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Group), is continuing to provide other services deemed to be controversial, such as family tracker, which allows a subscriber to track the location of another subscriber online.

SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application in the world, with over 3.7 billion active users, or 74 per cent of all mobile phone subscribers, world wide, according to the GSM Association

The Ministry of Information and Communications said there were 134.2 million telephone subscribers in Viet Nam, of which 119 million are mobile phone subscriptions and 15.3 million landline subscriptions.

VNS

Millions of Vietnamese people have benefited from the first satellite
project.  Thanks to VINASAT 1, telephone signals have reached out to
the country’s far-flung, border and island regions, helping bridge the
communication gaps between regions and improve the quality of
audio-visual and telecom services. 

The project was invested by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications
Group (VNPT), and Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems of the US was
selected to supply the satellite. Both are investor and contractor of
the second satellite project due to be launched on May 16, 2012

Effective use

Since taking over VINASAT 1 from US contractor Lockheed Martin, the
Vietnam Telecom International (VTI) under VNPT has successfully operated
and exploited satellite services, meeting local and foreign client
demands. 

Over the past three years, the satellite has been up and running
without incident, enabling it to compete with others in the region in
providing audio-visual and telecom services.

According to VTI, 90 percent of the satellite capacity has been hired,
and the remainder is used to develop VNPT’s telecom network, provide
irregular visual broadcasting services and meet client demand for
bandwidth expansion.

VINASAT 1 covers Southeast Asia and even reaches out to India, Japan
and the Republic of Korea. Despite being a late developer and facing
fierce competition from other satellite service providers, VTI has
secured major contracts with local and foreign clients such as Vietnam
Television (VTV), Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV), Vietnam Multimedia
Corporation (VTC), oil & gas companies, and telecom companies of
Laos, Thailand and Singapore.

Thanks to VINASAT 1, VNPT has gradually completed the national
telecom network by increasing the capacity to transmit signals and
provide services to far-flung, border and island areas where terrestrial
transmission capacity is limited.   

Technology mastering

VTI has not actually managed Vietnam’s first satellite until 2008
when VINASAT 1 went into orbit, though it has experienced in the field
for nearly 20 years. This is also the first time its engineers have
controlled and operated such a satellite owned by Vietnam.

Que Duong control station on the outskirts of Hanoi

To operate the satellite, Vietnam has built a control station in Que
Duong commune on the outskirts of Hanoi, where 30 young Vietnamese
engineers take turns on duty around the clock to ensure VINASAT 1 orbits
on the right track. 

Kieu Nguyen, deputy director of the VINASAT Information Centre, says
experts from Lockheed Martin supported Vietnamese engineers in
overseeing and controlling the satellite at Que Duong Station in the
first year of operation. 

After foreign experts returned to the US, Vietnamese engineers have
managed to monitor, control and use the satellite without any incidents
affecting satellite operations, as well as the quality and provision of
services.

To develop human resources, VTI has recruited and trained new employees to international standards to run future satellites.

Bui Thanh Tung, a young engineer, says that controlling a satellite
is rather complex, requiring precision, thorough consideration and a
large amount of knowledge. Under the guidance of senior experts, Tung
confides that he has honed the new skills quickly and is now confident
of operating the satellite. 

According to Hoang Phuc Thang, head of the Que Duong station, despite
short training courses, young engineers have mastered new technologies
responsibly so that they can manage the operation themselves.

Vietnam is scheduled to launch its second satellite, VINASAT 2, into
orbit on May 16, 2012. To operate the satellite, VNPT has sent
technicians to the US to oversee the manufacturing of VINASAT 2 under a
contract with Lockheed Martin. It is building a concrete foundation for
the antenna system in Que Duong to receive and transmit signals from
VINASAT 2.

Kieu Nguyen says the Que Duong station is able to incorporate a
variety of equipment to control not only VINASAT 1 and 2, but others in
the future. In addition, as VINASAT 2 is designed similarly to the
previous one, it will be not too difficult for Vietnamese engineers to
manage and run the facility.

Drawing on the experience from operating VINASAT 1 and careful human
and equipment preparation, Vietnamese engineers are confident of
managing VINASAT 2 services.

VOV

According statistics from the
provincial Department of Education and Training, 1,050 students left
school during the first term of the 2011-2012 academic year. The figures
included 291 primary pupils, 549 secondary students and 210 from high
schools.

Ea Tul is one of the communes with the
most alarming student drop-out rate in Cu M’gar District. The managing
board of Ea Tul Secondary School reported 27 drop-outs in the first term
of this school year, of whom 11 have since returned to school.

“We face a lot of difficulties in
persuading children especially those from ethnic minority groups here to
go to school,” said a teacher from Ea Tul Secondary School, Nguyen Dinh
Bac, who has spent years encouraging local children to go to school.

“Children usually run away when seeing teachers visiting their houses to persuade them to return to school.”

Bac took us to visit a student named Y
Dik Adrong in Yao Village, who has left school for several months.
Seeing us coming, Y Dik Adrong ran away.

The village head, Y Bhem Koza, then
took us to another student Y Cung Nie who had dropped out of school for
three months. Y Cung Nie said that he found studying boring and
difficult.

“I’ve decided to find a job and won’t return to school,” the sixth-form student confirmed.

Meanwhile, Y Cung Nie’s father, Y Thu
Ayun said that he had also tried to persuade his son to return to school
but Y Cung Nie had refused.

“We can only help the students who
don’t come to school due to economic difficulties,” Bac said. “But
there’s no way for us to deal with those who do not want to study
anymore.”

According to head of the Department
for Education and Traning in Cu M’ga Distrct, Dinh Van Lien, 70-80% of
the students are from Ede, Mnong and Jarai minority groups.

“Many parents also want their children
to go to school but the children don’t want to go,” Lien said. “Some
children even threaten to commit suicide if their parents force them to
study.”

Dantri

An exhibition on President Ho Chi Minh opened in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on May 14 to mark the President’s 122nd birthday (May 19, 1890-2012) and the 65th anniversary of the President’s arrival at the Thai Nguyen safe zone to lead the resistance war against the French colonists.

Visitors at the exhibition.  (Photo: baothainguyen.org.vn)

The exhibition contains more than 2,000 publications, including articles written by Uncle Ho when he lived and worked at the safe zone, writings honouring the President by Vietnamese and international scholars, submissions to the ‘Study and Follow President Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Example’ campaign, as well as writings on Party and State leaders and acclaimed army commanders.

The exhibition also focuses on the land and people of Thai Nguyen province, agriculture, farmers and rural areas and includes entries responding to the ‘The whole country joins hands to build a new rural lifestyle’ movement.

The exhibition provides readers, writers and researchers with treasured documents on the value of the country’s revolutionary movement, national traditions and the President’s ideology.

The exhibition will run until May 20.

Another book on late President launched

The Vietnamese edition of a book on Ho Chi Minh by Thai social activist Suprida Phanomjong was launched in Hanoi on May 15.
As part of activities to mark the 122nd anniversary of the birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, the event was jointly organised by the Party Central Committee’s Communication and Education Commission, National Politics Publishing House and Ho Chi Minh Museum.

With 190 pages and 16 parts, the book reflects the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh, who devoted his whole life to the fight for national liberation and for peace, solidarity, friendship and cooperation among nations.

The publication is also expected to help raise public awareness of Ho Chi Minh Thought and his moral examples, thus contributing to the “Studying and Following Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Example” campaign.

Film shines spotlight on clean water

A Thirsty World, a new film by French photographer and filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand, will be screened tonight in Ha Noi as part of the 6th World Water Forum.

It aims to raise public awareness of the major international challenge posed by the growing shortage of clean water. The film will screen at L’Espace, the French Cultural Centre, at 24 Trang Tien Street, at 6pm. Admission is free.

Quynh Gallery to join in Hong Kong fair

Ha Noi’s Quynh Gallery will participate in the Hong Kong International Art Fair tomorrow at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, presenting new works by young Vietnamese artists, including Hoang Duong Cam, Nguyen Manh Hung, Lien Truong and the group The Propeller. The fair has attracted 266 galleries from more than 30 countries.

Cai luong shows to promote culture

Khoang Troi Phuong Nam (Southern Sky), the first performance of the cai luong (renovated opera) rendezvous, will take place on Friday at Thanh Cong Palace at 22 Thanh Cong Street in Ha Noi. The rendezvous has been organised by the Viet Nam Cai Luong Theatre, and performances will continue every Saturday with the aim to make the southern art of cai luong more popular in Ha Noi.

Farmer unearths 2,000-year-old tomb

A farmer in Hung Yen province discovered a tomb believed to be a vestige of the Dong Son culture and estimated to be about 2,000 years old.

Farmer Nguyen Hoang Tay said the tomb was in the shape of a hollowed-out tree trunk, about 2.5m long and 4.5m wide and contained a human skeleton along with seven bronze lances, three bronze axes, a bronze bowl and five flints used for making fire.

New book marks President Ho’s birthday

The Viet Nam National Political Publishing House has published a new book on President Ho Chi Minh to celebrate his 122nd birthday on May 19.

The 200-page book, entitled Ho Chi Minh Ong Tien Song Mai (Ho Chi Minh: The Immortal Fairy), was written by Thai writer and activist Suprida Phanomjong and translated into Vietnamese by Nguyen Thanh Hoan and Nguyen Thi Thuy Chau.

Phanomjong was touched to see how the Vietnamese people worshipped the President, who also had a strong attachment to Thailand. He established a Vietnamese village in 1928-29 in the north-eastern part of the country.

Vietnamese director introduces unfinished movie at Cannes

Director Nguyen Hoang Diep will present a short film entitled Hai, Tu, Sau (Two, Four and Six) at the Cannes film festival.
She said she hoped to find funding to make a movie she is planning entitled Dap Canh Giua Khong Trung (Flapping in The Middle of Nowhere).

Diep, 30, said the project was listed in the Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde category on May 16-25 at the festival, which is designed to help movie directors in developing countries produce their first or second films.

“I chose the name since I want to express the confusion people feel when they are not able to fly high but do not feel safe enough to land. That’s why they keep flapping around in the middle of nowhere,” Diep said.

“Fabrique Cinemas du Monde is definitely a good chance to promote my movie to the world and to find sponsors,” she said.

The short film documents the life of Huyen, who is desperately trying to find money for an abortion. Eventually, a man offers help, but she is reluctant to take his money because he is in love with her.

The Vietnamese movie Canh Ba Ba (Turtle Soup), about two street kids who attempt to rescue a turtle from a restaurant, was among the best films in the 48-hour Film Project in 2011. It will be screened at Cannes this year.

Festival to commemorate Uncle Ho’s birthday

The 2012 Lang Sen (Sen Village) Festival will be held in the late President Ho Chi Minh’s home village of Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district in central Nghe An province from May 17-19, as part of a range of activities to celebrate his 122nd birthday.

This year’s Lang Sen Festival will include numerous events, such as a ceremony to offer incense, a ceremony to announce Nam
Dan district’s achievements and a traditional music festival.

The Lang Sen Festival is an annual event, held for the first time in 1981.

VNN/VOV/VNS/ND

What the Dickens? A scene from the film Oliver Twist, among 14 to be introduced during European Days. — File Photos

In a Better World, Danish director’s Susanne Bier latest work and winner of the best foreign film in the US Academy Awards, will open the film festival at the National Film Centre at 8pm.

The film is one of 14 to be introduced by the European Union Member States during the celebration of European Days in Viet Nam which began last week.

After the festival’s opening, films will be screened again on May 21 at 6pm.

The annual European film festival will feature an extensive and diverse range of films from Ireland, Sweden, Czech, Greece, Luxembourg, Finland, and the Netherlands. Each film will have two shows.

Two films entitled Une Vie de Chat (A Cat in Paris) from France and Chico & Rita from Spain will charm animation addicts. The Spanish film is set in 1948 in Cuba. Directed by Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba, Chico & Rita was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film for the 2012 Oscars.

The films will be screened on May 19 and 21 for A Cat in Paris and May 23 and 26 for Chico & Rita.

Luxembourg is the only country to introduce two films, Panique au Village and Hot Hot Hot.

An animation, Panique au Village (A Town Called Panic) is a 2009 stop-motion animated film. It was directed by Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar and is based on the TV series of the same name. It was the country’s first stop-motion film and premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

A touch of class: A scene from the movie Sonny Boy.

For those who love the works of Charles Dickens, one of his most known Oliver Twist will be screened. Directed by famous Roman Polanski, the British film celebrates one of the world’s most inspiring authors and marks the bicentenary of Charles Dickens.

The film will be shown on May 25-26.

The Poll Diaries from Germany and Sonny Boy from the Netherlands provide viewers with a better understanding of history. The Poll Diaries is a historical drama told from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl. It is a deeply moving drama by director Chris Kraus.

Sonny Boy follows a mixed race couple during World War II who helped others to survive in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands of the 1940’s.

Other movies include A Small Crime (Greece); Empties (Czech); Letters to Father Jacob (Finland); Made in Hungaria (Hungary); The Pier (Ireland) and Easy Money (Sweden).

This year, a short film section of the festival designed for children will offer a fantastic journey around Europe. Young cinema lovers will be entertained and amused by the diverse animated and featured films, including six short films from four countries: Une Histoire Vertbrale and La Chute de l’Ange (France), Manola (Germany), Free Chips Forever (Ireland), Jaccob’s Film and Broken Moon (The Netherlands).

Since 2000, the festival has been a permanent feature on the cultural calendars of both Ha Noi and HCM City. This year, for the first time, the festival will be introduced in the central city of Da Nang from May 18-27 at Le Do Cinema, 46 Tran Phu Street.

The festival will run until May 27 in Ha Noi and from the 17th to the 27th in HCM City at Dong Da Cinema, 890 Tran Hung Dao Street, District 5.

All tickets are free of charge and can be collected for screenings at the following locations: the Goethe Institute, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street; British Council, 20 Thuy Khe Street and L’Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street.

In HCM, tickets can be found at the Goethe Institute, 335/4 Dien Bien Phu Street, District 1; British Council, 25 Le Duan Street, District 1 and Dong Da Cinema, 890 Tran Hung Dao Street, District 5; in Da Nang at Le Do Cinema, 46 Tran Phu and at Cinema&Film Distribution Centre, 68 Tran Phu Street.

For details, see the separate film festival brochure available at the above-mentioned distribution places, or go to the website http://www.europeday2012.com/EUfilmfestival.html.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Singer Thu Minh is fined for wearing this costume.

Thu Minh will have to pay the fine within ten days while the show organizing firm served a warning.

On May 3, the Performing Art Agency asked HCM City authorities to check and punish singer Thu Minh for wearing scanty clothes in a music show in late April. Earlier, the local media criticized the singer for showing her breast in the show.

The Agency also asked HCM City to take tough measures to prevent artists from wearing scanty clothes.

Thanh Hang smokes on the catwalk.

On April 16, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh issued an instruction on addressing performing activities to deal with violations in art shows.

Before the case of Thu Minh, model Thanh Hang was criticized for smoking in the Elle Show 2012. HCM City authorities also decided to impose VND3.5 million of fine, on the show organizing company because smoking was arranged by the organizer.

Thanh Van

Long-legged Festival is an annual fashion show organized by Venus, a chance for models in the HCM City and Hanoi to see and exchange experience.

Below are collections by famous designers introduced at the festival:

Minh Tu’s designs:

Do Manh Cuong’s designs:

Designer Do Manh Cuong.

Phuong Lan

A woman undergoes an ultrasound at HCM City’s Reproductive Health Centre. Limited awareness of health risks during pregnancy is blamed for the high rate of maternal mortality in Viet Nam. (Photo: VNS)

City doctors discussed the findings at a conference following six deaths between April 19 and May 6 across the country.

Doctor Tran Ngoc Hai, from the Tu Du Hospital, said the obstetrical sector had the highest number of fatalities in the health sector though it had seen a decrease over the past decade.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the local maternal mortality rate was 250/100,000 cases.

Presently, the rate in developed countries such as the US and the UK was 14/100,000, Hai said.

Meanwhile, Vu Thi Nhung, chairwoman of the HCM City Obstetricians Association, blamed the limited awareness on health risks during pregnancy among women.

A large number of women did not go for periodical prenatal check-ups, she said, adding that many developed fevers thought to be due to colds, but in fact caused by bacterial infection.

However, she said that unexpected complications could always happen when women went into labour.

“The rate of women suffering from amniotic fluid embolism is from 1/8,000 to 1/30,000 and cannot be predicted,” Nhung said.

The occurrence was rare, but 90 per cent of women suffering from it died, she added.

Doctors said Vietnamese hospitals had recently been put under pressure as more and more women chose to give birth by caesarean sections since they thought the method entailed fewer risks than giving birth the natural way.

In fact, the rates of maternal and child deaths associated with caesareans were higher in comparison to that of natural births, Nhung noted.

In Viet Nam, 41 per cent of maternal deaths are caused by haemorrhage while convulsions account for 21.3 per cent, infection for 16.6 per cent and unsafe abortions for 11.5 per cent.

On April 29, Ngo Thi Hong Thu, 30, from HCM City, died due to amniotic fluid embolism during a caesarean birth while on April 20 a 34-year-old woman and her newborn baby died at the Kinh Bac Hospital in northern Bac Ninh City.

On April 19, a 23-year-old woman from central Quang Ngai Province died after a caesarean operation, her newborn son died some days later.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Illustrative image. (Photo: Internet)

The group’s standing vice Chairman Phan Minh Nhut said that consumer rights violations relating to online shopping were on the rise.

From last year to this month, the association alone received over 250 complaints, of which 91 were solved.

Meanwhile, from 2006 to 2010, AFCA’s precursor – Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper’s Anti-Counterfeit and Customer Rights Protection Club – received about 500 complaints

Most of the complaints were about automobiles, motorbikes and goods purchased via online shopping sites that posted misleading advertisements, discounts or promotions to cheat customers.

Nhut said many consumers were too trusting, and therefore easily ripped off when asked to pay for some goods in advance.
In such cases, consumers who have been cheated but do not have a receipt for their payment face little chance of getting their money back.

In some cases, customers have had receipts but have failed to read the fine print of a deal or promotion on offer, said Nhut.

He gave an example of a customer who paid VND20 million (US$960) in advance to buy a car that she saw advertised online by the “agency of an automobile importer”. However, after three days, she found that she had lost her money as the agency was not real.

AFCA general secretary Nguyen Tuong Minh said public awareness on customer rights was still limited, even though the Law on Customer Rights Protection took effect in July last year.

Minh noted that a Government decision on fines for violations on consumer rights took effect this month, and businesses now face fines for consumer rights violations as high as VND70 million ($3,360). However, independent surveys showed that few enterprises were aware of the new regulations.

The new regulations also require suppliers of necessities such as water, electricity, cable television, and mobilephone and fixed phones services must register so that their businesses can be supervised by authorised offices. Violators would be fined from VND10 million ($480) to VND70 million ($3,360).

Customers should not hand over money without getting a receipt, invoice and warranty, said Minh, adding that customers need to be especially careful when buying online from sites located at domain names “.com” as these addresses do not come under the responsibilities of local authorities.

Minh also encouraged customers to report violations related to substandard products and a lack of proper warranties.

He said customers can easily download sample forms for complaints on the association’s homepage. To make a complaint, fill out the form and send it to the association together with other related documents.

The association would work with the involved companies to solve the complaint after seven days, he said.

Joining hands with enterprises to fight fake goods, customers should require invoices or receipts, he said, adding that violators could falsify warranty papers but would be punished more strictly if found to have falsified invoices.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Most of the users such cylinders are students, workers and other low-income residents who find it cheaper and more convenient to exchange. (Photo: VNN)

The report says millions of time bombs are ticking away as authorities are apparently powerless to prevent millions of people from repeatedly reusing old mini gas cylinders that are refilled.

Most of the users such cylinders are students, workers and other low-income residents who find it cheaper and more convenient to exchange.

“Every week, my room with four people needs just three mini cylinders – costing VND6,000 each – to cook,” said Xuan Quynh, a student at Thu Duc District.

Mini gas cylinder also popularises in outskirt restaurants.

“We benefit a lot from such cylinders. For a hotpot, we need only VND4,000 for a mini gas cylinder, but if we use dried alcohol, we must spend VND16,000-20,000,” said Hung, owner of a restaurant in Binh Tan district’s Tan Ky Tan Quy street.

“Every three days, they bring 100 cylinders for me at VND4,000 each. I don’t know who they are,” Hung said.

A representative of Namilux company, which makes gas stoves, said that they had imported mini gas cylinders from South Korea, but the company does not exchange these and warns clients it is unsafe to use refilled ones.

Nguyen Kha, deputy head of Gas Technical Department, Sai Gon Petro, said that the small gas cylinders requires a strict production process and illegal refilling facilities cannot meet safety requirements.

Meanwhile, illegal gas refilling is easily carried out with a simple tool that costs just VND400,000 (US$20). The tool can refill the mini cylinders from the normal 12kg and 45kg LPB cylinders.

Kha said the refilling of “rusty and old mini cylinders” makes explosions “unavoidable.”

A market management official admitted that the practice of illegal refilling of cylinders was widespread and difficult to control because it could be done anywhere.

“The law is that mini gas cylinders cannot be refilled. It leads to a situation that manufacturers don’t control and collect the cylinders like they do for the bigger ones,” said Le Thi Anh Man, deputy chairwoman of the Viet Nam Gas Association.

“It’s time to change the law and ask manufacturers and importers to collect the mini gas cylinders,” she said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Dr. Hung talks with correspondents.

“That phenomenon only happens for priests, philosophers or painters,” said Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung, director of HCM City-based International University of Hong Bang.

A group of scientists of various fields, led by Dr. Hung visited the little girl’s home in Tan Binh district, HCM City.

Dr. Hung stated that the girl is capable of burning anything. “This is a very strange case in Vietnam and the world,” he said.

Scientists rejected environment as the element that causes the girl’s special ability because fires happened everywhere where the girl appeared. They collected soil, water, objects from the girl’s home for analysis.

Dr. Hung said that after scanning the girl’s brain, they discovered a strange line on her right brain’s right side, which only happens with the brains of philosophers or priests.

Correspondents surround the girl’s house.

“She burned objects near and far from her. There is no limit of distance between the girl and burnt objects. It is very odd!”

Hung said that there is a red mark on her forehead. The mark disappeared when she put on a black quartz bracelet and re-appeared when the bracelet was taken off. But when the girl wore the bracelet, she felt uncomfortable and felt an electric current running through her body.

The special ability of the little girl was discovered by her family about one month ago when fires appeared wherever the girl appeared.

At first, the family’s electricity network underwent repetitive short circuiting. Many electrical sockets in the house also burnt when the girl approached them. Taking the girl to other homes causes the same phenomenon. She also burnt the hotel room where her family stayed during their holiday on Vung Tau beach.

The little girl’s father talks with scientists.

Recently, the girl burnt a corner of the toilet seat. Sometimes, her clothes suddenly burst into flames. On May 12, the family’s third floor was burnt down.

Her family now guards her around the clock to prevent any possible incident. When she goes to sleep, water buckets and a wet towel will be placed next to her bed to put out the fire in case of emergency.

The little girl’s third floor after the fire on May 12.

The family took the girl to a scientist, named Du Quang Chau, at Hong Bang International University for treatment. After several tests, the scientist said he noticed variations from the norm in her cerebral hemisphere.

The girl was medically examined at Cho Ray Hospital and the Children No. 2 Hospital but doctors found nothing abnormal about her body.

The girl once had a serious accident at the age of 3.

Mai Lan