Tieng Viet lovers club

[jackbl]

Legalizing “red light district,” should or should not?
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VietNamNet Bridge - Recently, the Department of Anti-social Evils of Ho Chi Minh City has proposed to open the "red light district" - to turn the phenomenon which is regarded as social evils into a stable "job," which is management and taxed in order to restrict other consequences affecting the security and social order. However, this opinion is so new to our society.

VietNamNet Bridge has received articles discussing this topic. We would like to introduce the following article. Please join our discussion.

The HCM City Department of Anti-social Evils has just proposed the plan to open the "red light district." In everyday language, this is the first "green light" of a turning point, a surge in awareness of the management body and the society for prostitution. Unfortunately, the proposal has been immediately withdrawn.

It is difficult to imagine how intense and stressful the "fight" between the two "sides" of supporters and opponents will be. But, it is for sure that we should discuss this proposal by a truism: It's not just close my eyes and the fact no longer exists....


In other countries

Several years ago I went to Shanghai and I was very surprised because on the crowded and bustling streets, why tens of bras of all colors were "exposed" in the front door of some houses?

It turned out that the local government does not want to advertise prostitution noisily to make harmful impacts on the youth, but it cannot prevent legitimate businesses from advertising their "product." So, the "icon" language was born, though it slightly disturbs but everyone could understand, except… me.

Prostitution is "older than the sea," like the words of the song Love Story: "The sweet love story that is older than the sea." It has at least 2,000 years of history and the clearest evidence is from the Bible:

When the crowd demanded stoning to death a hussy, infamous woman, who committed sexual promiscuity with many different men, the Lord asked that, if anyone of you who has never committed crime, please step up and throw stones! The crowd was silent and left out (John 7:53 -8:11).

The wisdom to understand life, to simply teach people in the Bible reflects a truth, it sounds that prostitution appeared even before the existence of Jesuse Christos.

In Luke 7:4.47, describing that God forgave all the sins of the bad woman, we should agree that when discussing the "bad streak" of a woman, it refers to the default.

The principle of this reasoning is simple: Most of all short, concise and convincing stories in the Bible are common things, at least in the ancient empire of Roma. If we further reason, we know that Jesuse did not say anything about the ban or not but accepted “sexual promiscuity” as a fact that cannot be denied.

The "lesson" of the problem is even simpler than life: Why do we to resolutely reject an obvious fact that has existed for thousands of years and probably will exist for hundreds of years?

Holland is famous for tulips and... the red-light district. Almost everyone knows that the Netherlands is one of the world's top five countries in living standards, with the best standard of living (after Norway, Sweden, Australia and Canada) and is also considered one of the most liberal and democratic countries. It is not accidental that the International Court chose the Netherlands to base in.

When the "red light district" was formed, the reaction of the people and the world opinion was extremely intense. Yet, only a few decades later, the red light district of the Netherlands has become a popular tourist destination. It is difficult to find a tour to the Netherlands that does not have the red light district as a part. In other words, naturally, it has become a part of life...

Analyzing the sensitive thing...

The people (a lot) who said that the "red light district" is unacceptable, have a series of walls to protect their prejudice: to protect the habits and customs, the red light district is an expression of the cultural degeneration, it is defamation of and lowering the dignity of women, it indirectly makes negative impacts on the education of the young generation etc.

Let’s analyze that argument.

First, all the alleged "customs, tradition" does not have, even if only a few percent, of persuasion. In fact, it is just another way of support from the burden of Confucianism.

There are evidences from ancient books showing that prostitutes appeared in China from the fifth or sixth centuries. In Vietnam, everyone knows Kieu, a prostitute in The Tales of Kieu by great poet Nguyen Du. In the eyes of Vietnamese people, Kieu is a good girl.

Second, from the evidence about Kieu, we postulated that young people are familiar with the image of prostitutes. And, the image which is both beautiful and poignant has followed us a lifetime. So, do not assume that opens the "red light district" is corrupting the young, because they know it... a long time ago. The media also talk about prostitution, crime, gambling everyday.

It is time to accept that reality as an integral part of life. Why is there no possible way to live with it? At least we can make 'it' less bad, less harmful to life?

Third, tens of thousands of prostitutes are an obvious fact. It is not the problem in Vietnam but an undeniable fact of each country. If it is not managed in terms of administration, health, society, that social evil and its consequences will be more serious.

Diseases, accompanied evils, the mess, the disguise make the society more tired with prostitution. Why don’t we “collect” or “gather” prostitutes into one “dim” zone to make the remaining 99% of the city be brighter?

Society will be less contempt for prostitutes if we see it as a “job” or at least a “work” that can be accepted? Once they are less contemned, then the girls would be better or worse?

Imposing very heavy fines will force all the disorder and chaos into control. And, every man wants to visit that place would have to look ahead, look after and their womanizing character - will definitely reduced because if they go to that place, they accept to be “considered” by society.

Fourth, Vietnam’s neighboring country – Thailand, which has had the “red light district” for a long time, in 2012 attracted 22 million foreign tourists. My grandmother (85 years old) recently traveled Singapore and Malaysia; when I asked her was there any place that I’ve never known, she said she was taken to a "red light district."

At this point, we must ask the question--why in Buddhism in Thailand and Confucianism in Singapore, why not loosen the "red light district" which has been there for a dozen years?

Fifth, in life, there are questions that the answer is often neglected but it must be answered. For example, you want a "red light district" to know where to avoid, rather than carrying your 10-year-old girl around the city to see..."red light" everywhere?

Ha Van Thinh

[jackbl]

Prostitution is not a profession!
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VietNamNet Bridge - If seeing it as a profession and licensing the establishment of a “red light district,” it will certainly cause many implications, not only for those who participate in this sector, but also cause negative consequences for society.

After publishing the article supporting the legalization of the “red light district” by Ha Van Thinh, VietNamNet has received an article from reader Giang Son. We would like to invite our readers to continue contributing your ideas on this issue.

On January 22, the vice chief of the HCM City Department for Anti-social Evils told the press that the city had asked for the government’s permission to gathering prostitutes into one zone for easy management, not to open a "red light district."

Answering the question--should Vietnam have "red light districts" or not, it is quite difficult but if prostitution is considered a profession, perhaps it is one of the few occupations appearing most early in human history.

Despite that fact, not many countries, including the "most open" accept prostitution as a profession. Why? In the view of the author, it is considered to be a profession, no matter what it is? It must benefit the ones who do that job and society, contributing to the development of society, making society better, more beautiful and healthier.

Prostitution could not do that function though it has apparently developed and brought about revenue for a group of people, including tax revenues for some countries. But if you consider it as a profession, and to admit it as a profession, the permission of “red light districts will certainly cause many implications, not only for those who "participate" in this field, but will cause negative consequences for society.

Who sell and who buy?

This question, the author once asked a French professor during his class that the author fortunately attended 30 years ago in magnificent Paris, in the "La France d'aujourd'hui" (France Today). At that time, in northern Vietnam there was almost no concept of "prostitution."

The professor answered and explained as follows: Sex workers are jobless or unemployed who have nothing to sell or have had not anything left to sell. For a living, they have to sell what the God gave. They are pitiful. The society and the government bear some responsibility here. Let’s go to Pigalle Street, you will see them. It's pitiful!

But part of them were those who love to have a lot of money fast. And people who went there to buy? They were mostly foreign tourists who liked “strange things." The French were quite "allergic" to this place.

A few days later, on a Saturday night, I visited this street with some friends. It was precisely as what my teacher said. Looking at the women of all ages, different colors standing on the sidewalk, under the snow, dressing very thin clothes, with heavily makeup faces and an invitation on their mouths: Please come in, guys!

Paris, at that time, was -5 degrees Celsius but they were in revealing outfits, their skin was pale... it was so pitiful! When we said "Nous sommes Français. Nous sommes de Paris" (We are French, Paris people), they went away.

Pigalle is considered the "red light district" of Paris and there are many other "red light districts" in France, but today the French government, the French people still do not recognize prostitution as a profession although they recognize legal prostitution and strictly manage it.

In Vietnam, in the French-ruled period (possibly before that), Hanoi had Kham Thien Street as the “street of songstresses” but this was not a "red light district." Prostitution in Vietnam from ancient times has been still a covert operation. So far, there are probably not many Vietnamese who accept that "job" and even in the existing psychological prejudices, they scorn, contempt it but prostitution still exists to meet the demand.

The Vietnamese society has to accept it as colds and headaches and has tried to reverse it gradually. There was a time when prostitutes were nearly wiped out. But today...

What should be done?

From the current social practices, prohibiting prostitution is impossible. Because if it is banned, how can we explain about the mushrooming development of motels and inns on Nguyen Van Cu Road and some other roads in Hanoi? Where many prostitutes were caught in the act? Local people there used to ask to change the street names to avoid the fame of living in the street of prostitution.

It is needed to confirm that prostitution is bad. We cannot condone this phenomenon because it involves a lot of implications. Therefore we cannot turn on the "green light" to the establishment of the "red light district."

But now, it is difficult to make full statistics of prostitutes and whoremasters. So what should we do?

The author just wants to reiterate what the social evils prevention force has more than once said: strengthening education by a variety of means, in which the media plays a very important role. Most importantly, the State must create jobs for people, especially young people.

Prostitution itself is not a crime, but it is a source creating crime. Therefore, we need more effective administrative measures, which are strong enough to prevent and reverse this operation, especially for whoremasters who have been neglected for a long time. Civil servants and State employees who are detected as whoremasters must be punished more seriously.

Vietnamese habits and customs cannot accept the "red light districts." There is no "red light district" but prostitution has destroyed so many families, "killed" a significant labor force and caused moral corruption.

Now, "gathering all sensitive activities into one area for easing management" as proposed by HCM City is feasible? It is worried that once this proposal is approved, it will be the beginning for the appearance of a "red light district" and the development of prostitution in other areas. At that time, what will the state management agencies do?

The Vietnamese society has its own specific characters and it's hard to apply the "model" of other countries in Vietnam. Prostitution in several neighboring countries is considered as motivation for tourism development but they do not know that the "driving force" has made the image of the countries worse.

Just to easily control prostitution is why we should open a “red like district?”

What should we do with the phenomenon of prostitution? We need a long-term strategy, with the participation of many sectors, agencies rather than just the immediate “doses of medicines” to treat the symptoms.

Giang Son

[jackbl]

Red light district” is not simply “service zone”
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VietNamNet Bridge – Setting a “red light district” seems to be a good way to solve physiological needs and related problems to illegal prostitution. But...

After the world-shaking case in India, when a girl was raped by a group of men on a bus and later died, the protection of women in this country has become a big issue. Some have suggested to "inject specialized chemicals for rapists" to take away their sexual inability.

When being asked about this idea, National Assembly deputy Do Van Duong said that besides imprisonment, "chemical castration" is an additional penalty. Duong also stressed that this is a measure of the efficiency and humanity!

Another controversial idea is legalizing prostitution and opening a "red light district" to manage prostitution in a formal way.

Both ideas related to sex are quite shocking and controversial.

The author of this article is not sociological expert. In this short article, he just gives a perspective on this complex social problem.

"Humanity" and the "inevitable?"

Prostitution is an ancient and common commercial activity of human. The use of sexual behavior to exchange an interest or goods is not uncommon. Even in Islamic countries which are bound by the strict religious and moral law, prostitution still take place silently.

It means that wherever men and women are, there is prostitution.

In Vietnam, which has never recognized legal prostitution, prostitution has been existing half-closed and half-open, exciting or hidden depending on ... the attitude of the social management body.

In densely populated cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, the "prostitution market" is also developed.

According to data provided by the People's Army Newspaper, the urban population is 26.88 million people. The labor force at the age of 15 and older in 2011 was 51.39 million. The number of people of working age (15 to 60) who can have sexual ability accounts for 58.4% of the total population of 88 million people.

Meanwhile, the age of marriage under the Law on Marriage and Family is from 18 to 20. Ignoring the factors such as marital breakups, adultery, wives/husbands incapable of sexual activity ... etc. the number of people in the age of having sexual demand but do not have sexual partner is estimated at about 10% of the total population, or 8.8 million.

Those in this category will have a number of solutions: 1) restraining their sexual needs; 2) finding a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a temporary sexual partner; 3) using sex services.

In the first situation: The views and 'solution' depend on the particular person, to go in in-depth analysis, we need another article with the participation of scientists and psychologists.

The second situation: It seems that this is the ideal solution for those who come of age, have sexual needs, but do not have sufficient conditions for marriage. But is it easy to do it? No! Especially in Asian countries, particularly Vietnam.

We can point out the clear phenomena for it: When "virginity" is still account for the majority of articles and is the cause of so many unhappy marriages, seeking a "temporary partner" is not and seem to be not a good choice.

Even in the Vietnamese thoughts, they are not sure that having sex (no marital relations) violates ethics or not when Confucianism and Western thinking are in a conflict in Vietnam. The school and parents still wonder whether they "show the path for the deer" or not when they discuss sexual topics with their children. A large group of people consider talking about sex is taboo and premarital sex relation is bad.

The third situation seems to be a good way to both deal with physiological needs while not committing all the problems in the two situations. But...

Lead to what?

The management bodies worry that legalizing prostitution will lead to problems in management and cause a lot of other implications, affecting the habits and customs, Eastern morals and the peace of families which are being shaken in the "corruption" of culture and morality.

Prostitution is much less a tourist attraction factor when it does not have the supportive conditions like services, environment, social... Nobody goes to a messy place just to sleep with prostitutes.

Nobody can ensure that once prostitution is admitted, the state of fraudulence, abuse and trafficking of women will reduce. Because when prostitution is considered illegal, in many cases the girls who for many reasons entered this path could not escape. So when prostitution is legalized, if they sign a "labor contract," do they have any opportunity to escape prostitution?

Legalization of prostitution, namely to build a special area for this activity seems not to be a viable idea. For example, in Hanoi, which area will be chosen as the "red light district" because such an area must satisfy the material conditions (hotels, motels concentrated in one area). In social and security conditions, how people will accept it?

In this assumption, perhaps we should let’s the owners of hotels and motels to register for business services (if prostitution is legalized) instead of building a separate area.

Not to mention that sex always goes with drugs and HIV... It may be more practical to close "rehabilitation" centers to open community health centers and health support and information centers for sex workers?

If prostitution is legalized, whether sex workers have the right/obligation to implement the Law on Marriage and Family? Do they have the right to have a family while working in this field? Or they lose this right until they give up this “job?”

On the subject of sex whoremasters, given the current conditions and social concept, customers will still be mainly... men. In conception, the women who spend money for sex, or relationship that is formed mainly from the sexual benefits are not supported by society.

In fact, the legal aspects of protecting women and children still have many loopholes. Women are still dependent on men and they ability of men taking advantage of this factor to force his wife to accept his “going” with sex workers. The marriage ties will be certainly affected, not to mention more relationships and moral standpoints to be hurt.

The collection of "income tax" and development of "tourism" is also unfeasible. Prostitution is only a small array of life, is a simple transaction between two subjects, it cannot be regarded as an economic sector to make profits, not to mention the moral relations.

With many complex factors, this idea, in comparison with the idea of "chemical castration" of deputy Do Van Duong, is equally challenging.

Hoang Huong

[jackbl]

Urban families pay highly to keep charladies at Tet
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VietNamNet Bridge – All families that hire charwomen want to have their assistance during the Lunar New Year in order to have really free and relaxing days. They have to employ adequate ways to persuade charladies to stay with them during the longest holiday in the year.


Previously, the New Year bonus for charladies was usually a Tet gift basket worth VND300,000-VND500,000, plus VND100,000 of traveling expenses. But in recent years, Tet bonus for maids has become a big headache for many families.

It is very popular that the Tet bonus for charwomen is even bigger than the Tet bonus that their employers receive from their companies. This year, a difficult year, when many companies have slashed the Tet bonus for their employees, the salary and Tet bonus for maids keep increasing.

As the need for charladies is rising, many maids ask for very high salaries and bonuses to work during the Tet holiday and after Tet.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huyen in Cau Giay District, Hanoi, has two children, at the age of 6 and 2. Huyen works for a foreign company. Because of work pressure and strict time requirement, she depends on her maid for housework.

Because of economic difficulty, last Tet Huyen gave her maid VND2 million ($100) as the Tet bonus. The maid immediately said: "I'm afraid that next year I cannot continue to look after the house for you." A few days later, she said goodbye and did not return after Tet.

The maid of Mrs. Tran Thuy Lan in Trung Hoa, Cau Giay district, made a straightforward proposal: "I would like to have a saving book as this Tet bonus." Although Lan’s company did not mention about Tet bonus yet, to keep her charlady, Lan had to give her VND6 million, equivalent to her two months of salary.

Mrs. Thuy Linh, from Ngoc Ha Street, Ba Dinh district, said: "My maid has lived with my family for three years. I currently pay her VND2.5 million per month. Annually, I pay her the 13th month salary as the Tet bonus, plus confectionary worth about VND300,000."

This year, despite common difficulty, Linh said she would maintain the Tet bonuses. By Linh’s experience, she usually gives the Tet bonus to her maid 15 days before the holiday so the maid has time to go shopping.

"Many families often buy candy, clothes and home appliances as a Tet bonus for their maids, but I prefer cash. Anyone prefers cash than gifts because they do not know the real value of the gift,” Linh added.


Mrs. Ha An, also from Hanoi, said: "My charlady has lived with my family for nearly six months so I will give her half of her one-month salary as the Tet bonus, VND1.5 million". In her experience, it is necessary to have a transparent “policy” on Tet bonus.

Mrs. Thu Ngoc from Thai Thinh Street, Dong Da district, said that her trick to force her charlady to return after Tet is only giving the Tet bonus when the maid returns after the Tet holiday. She also encourages the maid to return early by promising big lucky money.

Mrs. Nguyen Thanh Hue in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, said: "Charwomen now give themselves superior airs. They self suggest the New Year gifts, not waiting for the employer’s decision as before. This New Year my maid asked for the Tet bonus of at least VND5 million ($250). She told me to extract VND2 million to buy a coat which is the same with my coat and give her the remaining to send home."

Many women are willing to spend a lot of money or even “hunt” unique Tet bonuses to please their maids.

Having a qualified maid, Mrs. Nguyen Quynh Tram in Tu Liem District, Hanoi tried her best to keep her maid: "I had to buy clothes and worship items for her because her family just built a new house. I also gave lucky money in advance to her children."

To keep her maid to stay with the family until the last day of the lunar year, Mrs. Pham Mai Anh in Kham Thien Street, Hanoi had to take her mad to a supermarket to purchase a new coat. However, the maid also chose a coat for her daughter and a skirt for her grandchild.

"At the cashier desk, when she managed to pay for the two additional items, I had to pay for her to please her in order to keep her staying with us until the last day of the year," Mai Anh said.

This year, her company did not work well but Tran Hoai Anh, an office worker in Hanoi, planned to give Tet bonus of VND3.5 million to her maid, plus presents like candy and clothes...

She explained: "I have to try to win her heart. If she quit the job after the Tet, my family routine will go upside down." Hoai Anh’s anxiety is also the concern of many other women.

Gia Van

[jyjyjy88]

what does the shortform bj bj and hj hj means in vietnam language?

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by jyjyjy88

what does the shortform bj bj and hj hj means in vietnam language?

I guess that they are :

bj bj = bi bi = bye bye

hj=hj= hi hi = hehe

[jackbl]

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! Cung Hỉ Phát Tài!

[jackbl]

The most famous "flower paradises" in Vietnam
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VietNamNet Bridge - Going to New Year flower markets is a habit and traditional culture of many Vietnamese people. From north to south, the flower markets of each region have their own characters.



Hanoi’s flower markets, from ancient to modern

This market is special because it is located amid the ancient street of Hang Luoc, where people can walk from road to road to purchase flowers. The most beautiful flowers from Hanoi’s suburbs and neighboring areas are available here.

Currently, in terms of size, Hang Luoc flower market has been narrowed but it is still a favorite destination of many people during the Tet holiday. There, people can feel the ancient atmosphere, a taste of Hanoi’s Tet from the old days.


Every Lunar New Year, the market opens from the 23rd to the 30th day of the last month of the year. In addition to fresh flowers, there are also artificial flowers at the market.

Because the market is located in the busy trading area in the old quarter, visitors can also go from this street to others to purchase decorative items.

Starting from the 19th day of the lunar month, people from everywhere bring flowers, plants, seedlings to the Buoi market, which stretches more than 2 km on Hoang Hoa Tham Road.


In the last two market days on the 24th and 29th days of the 12th month of the lunar year, this place becomes a great flower market, which is bustling and crowded from morning until late at night.

The advantage of this flower road is locating next to the most famous night flower market in Hanoi in Nghi Tam, along with the ancient flower villages of Quang Ba, Quang An and Tu Lien. This is your must-come place every Lunar New Year.

Here, you can buy any kind of flower. From imported flowers to local flowers from all over the country, such as Dalat, Sapa, etc…



Mekong Delta floating flower market

Floating markets are the cultural characteristics of the Mekong Delta. When the New Year comes, this region "blooms" with flowers when hundreds of boats carry a wide variety of flowers from various flower-growing regions.
The most beautiful floating flower markets in the Mekong Delta region are Cai Rang in Can Tho City, Nga Bay in Hau Giang province and Chau Doc in An Giang province.

There are 1,000 species of flowers in the village. Thanks to skilled gardeners and good climate, Sa Dec flowers are very beautiful. Sa Dec flowers are transported through the southern region and to Laos, Cambodia and China.

Sa Dec flower village is the place where tourists can enjoy flowers all year round, especially in the spring.



Flower markets in Saigon

Like Hanoi, Saigon also has many flower markets, with Ho Thi Ky and Go Vap as the most famous.

Ho Thi Ky flower market is the largest in Saigon. It has been held for nearly 30 years, selling flowers from Da Lat, southwestern provinces and flowers imported from countries such as Thailand, Japan, China...

Flowers here are plentiful and the prices are often cheaper than flower shops from 30-50%. You can choose many kinds of flowers here and especially the accessories for making New Year beautiful bouquets.

However, as a wholesale flower market, Ho Thi Ky is not very suitable for visitors because it is not decorated well.

In Saigon, the Go Vap flower village is also very popular. This is the major source of Saigon-origin flowers. The market stretches along Phan Huy Ich and Cay Tram roads.



Da Lat flower market

Da Lat is the city of flowers, where flowers are everywhere. Da Lat Market is also the largest flower market here. Near Tet, the area around the Xuan Huong Lake becomes a forest of flowers, which are in very unique and fancy shapes

[vietboy]

Chuc mung nam moi! Van su nhu y! Cung hi phat tai! An khang thinh vuong! Phat tai phat loc! Happy year of the snake bros!

[jackbl]

Inward remittances hit four-year high
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Overseas remittances to Vietnam were estimated at a total $10 billion in 2012, the highest figure in the last four years.


Most of the remittances were sent through banks, according to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, compared to previous years when a lot was exchanged on the black market. The committee reported that the remittance volume was up 10 percent on 2011.

Around 4.5 million Vietnamese, including more than 400,000 guest workers, are living in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide, with over 80 percent of them in developed nations.

The remittances sent home by Vietnamese guest workers from Japan, the Republic of Koreas, Malaysia, Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia have increased considerably, while these from Europe and the US have decreased, according to Maritime Bank’s foreign remittance department.

Vietnam plans to send 90,000 people to work abroad this year, mainly to the RoK, Malaysia, Russia and Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Last year’s number was about 80,000.

The increase in oversea remittances is attributed to the renovation in money transfer to make transactions faster and easier.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the State Bank’s HCM City branch, said normally the remittance volume sent to the city accounts for between 42-43 per of the country’s total.

About $4.1 billion in foreign remittances were sent to HCM City last year. Of this figure, 70 percent went into production and business, 23 percent into real estate and 6 percent to relatives.

A leader of a commercial bank in Hanoi said that in previous years, a large volume of remittance was sent to Vietnam through unofficial channels due to the high disparity in exchange rate between the banks and the free market.

However, with new policies and measures put in place last year to keep the exchange rate relatively stable, thus helping narrow the gap between commercial banks and the black market, most of the remittances sent to Vietnam last year were made through commercial banks.

[jackbl]

NĂM tròn xin tiễn tiết đông qua
MỚI đón xuân tươi đến mọi nhà
CHÚC tặng trên đời thêm chữ Hỷ
MỪNG vui khắp chốn cất lời ca
HẠNH dung lễ nghĩa ngời tâm ngọc
PHÚC lộc, công danh rạng ánh ngà
CHAN chát trống kèn, Lân hợp cảnh
HÒA đàn, tấu sáo rộn ràng ca

[jackbl]

Just celebrate Tet as Vietnamese do
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This is my 6th Tet. I think I prefer Tet to Christmas since Tet is more about family with less emphasis on consumerism. I have learned in Vietnam, family is very important. Western culture is much more individualized as people spend more time with friends than they do with their family.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I usually go to my Vietnamese wife’s family around Binh Thanh district in Ho Chi Minh City to visit her mom, uncles and aunts as well as give li xi (lucky money) to children. My favorite Tet food is thit heo kho trung (pork cooked with eggs). We also go to pagoda during Tet for praying. For foreigners, they can see Vietnamese tradition from different aspects through Tet.

But I find many expats in Vietnam do not like Tet. Many foreigners I know tell me that they don’t celebrate Tet, they travel to Thailand or Cambodia for vacation instead. I understand Tet is very boring for them but then many are not married into a Vietnamese family. In my opinion, if a foreigner weds a local and want to stay here for a long time, they have to adapt to the local culture to fully appreciate living here. As for me, the weather, the food, and the people keep me stay in the country.

I traveled a lot of countries and I found that Vietnamese has an interesting culture. I like the Vietnamese history and tradition and of course I like to learn about Tet. I’m trying to learn Vietnamese customs and practices like cúng ông táo (Kitchen God worshipping ceremony) through bilingual books I’ve bought from bookstores in the downtown city.

In my experience, the best place to play during Tet is Ho Chi Minh City where you can visit Pham Ngu Lao spring flower market or Nguyen Hue flower street. But I have a feeling that Tet festivals in the city are getting smaller as the years go by such as the flower show on Nguyen Hue Boulevard. As far as I know people these days flock to district 7 to visit flower shows more than district 1. I spent my first Tet in Hanoi – my mother-in-law’s hometown - and I found that Tet in Hanoi was not as exciting. Hanoi is very quite during Tet as most restaurants and shops are closed while many local people stay in their house.

[hrzr]

Không hiểu tiếng việt

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by jackbl

NĂM tròn xin tiễn tiết đông qua
MỚI đón xuân tươi đến mọi nhà
CHÚC tặng trên đời thêm chữ Hỷ
MỪNG vui khắp chốn cất lời ca
HẠNH dung lễ nghĩa ngời tâm ngọc
PHÚC lộc, công danh rạng ánh ngà
CHAN chát trống kèn, Lân hợp cảnh
HÒA đàn, tấu sáo rộn ràng ca

what does this poem meant?

[jackbl]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

what does this poem meant?

Sorry, I dunno. Please help to find out from your gf(s) and share with us your findings. Thanks