The Sound Kitchen essay contests

By Susan Owensby

It’s not just the quiz which wins you a prize! If you enter an essay contest, you can win an RFI radio or watch, an Mp3 player, or a box set of world music CDs, edited by RFI!

Here are the topics:

“This I Believe”: Write an essay about the principles that guide your life, what you have found to be true from your very own personal experience.
“My ‘Ordinary’ Hero: Write an essay about your un-sung hero – an “ordinary” person doing extraordinary things. The world is full of people who are quietly working to make the world a better place, in whatever way they can – it’s the nurse, the teacher, the mother. As listener Pramod Maheshwari said: “Just as small drops of water can fill a pitcher, small drops of kindness can change the world."
You can also win a prize if you write in about your most memorable moment, or your proudest achievement.
Be a co-chef in The Sound Kitchen! Send in your musical requests, your secret “guilty” pleasure (mine’s chocolate!), your tricks for remembering things, your favourite quotations and proverbs, descriptions of the local festivals you participate in, your weirdest dream, the book you are reading and what you think about it, or just your general all-around thoughts to:
thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr
Include a phone number, so I can call you. Put that pen to paper! Don’t put it off!

The Sound Kitchen

By Susan Owensby

This week on The Sound Kitchen, you’ll hear the answer to the quiz about the song Siempre lo Mismo. There’s On This Day, the listener mailbag, great music, and of course, the new quiz question. So click on that little “Listen” arrow above, and join in!

Hello everyone!
Welcome to The Sound Kitchen. You can catch the programme on-the-air every Saturday, at 6:15, 6:45, 14:45 and 16:45 universal time. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you have grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and tune in every Saturday.
Fabulous news! We have a shortwave frequency again! It’s 13725 kHz on the 22m band, and you can hear us between 6.00 and 7.00 UT every day. We’ve had reception reports from Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US, and although the frequency is “aimed” (or however that works) towards the African continent, give it a try. You never know … and be sure and send us your reception reports. Maybe we can get more time, which would be wonderful.
This week’s quiz: On 4 July, I asked you a question about Alison Hird’s program World Music Matters. On her 25 June show, she talked to Bruno Garcia, also known as Sergent Garcia, about his brand new album Contre Vents et Marées. Alison asked him what themes he explores on the album and Sergent Garcia told her what a couple of the songs are about. One of the songs he talked about was Siempre lo Mismo and I asked you what Garcia said about it.
The answer is: Garcia said the song is about the earth. He told Alison that at the end, the woman you hear speaking is talking about the humanity of rivers.
The winners this week are: RFI Listeners Club member Eyamin Hossain, from Murshidabad, West Bengal, India; Mogire Machuki, the president of the RFI Listeners Club in Kisii, Kenya; Jahangir Alam Manto, the president of the Kaptai RFI Fan Club – the club which won Most Active RFI Club for 2014 – 2015; Sadia Gulshan, a member of the Pak France International Listeners Club – soon to become an official RFI Listeners Club – in Sahiwal, Pakistan, and RFI Listeners Club member Ralf Urbanczyk, from Eisleben, Germany.
Congratulations winners!
This week’s question ... you'll have to listen to the show to participate. You have until 23 September to enter this week's quiz. The winners will be announced on the 3 October program. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address in with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.
Send your answers to:
english.service@rfi.fr
or
Susan Owensby
RFI – The Sound Kitchen
80, rue Camille Desmoulins
92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux
France
or
By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

KBS World Radio English Service

Hey all! A big congrats to last week's Y2C winner: Ahmed Elouaraq. Please email us your mailing address to kpop@kbs.co.kr so we can send out your prize.

If you want a chance at winning our weekly prize drawing, just answer the following question!

I know a lot of people around me that struggle with getting a healthy amount of sleep. This can stem from insomnia which is a very common problem many people face.

How are your sleeping habits? Do you fall asleep right away? Does it take you some time? What time do you normally go to sleep and what time do you wake up?

More importantly...do you have any tips on how to fall asleep better? Maybe it's something you eat or DON'T eat before bed. Maybe it's counting sheep. Maybe it's something you DON'T do before bed (i.e. like NOT looking at your smart phone).

Let us know about your sleeping habits and best sleeping tips!

-Angie

Letter box VOV

Wednesday August 26, 2015

Friday, August 28, 2015 - 11:22:17

(VOVworld) - I’m reading an interesting letter from 61-year-old Lauri Niemi of Finland. He lives in a Helsinki surburb called Laajasalo, which actually is an island in the Gulf of Finland. “This is a quiet, green place to live. I’m recently divorced so I have a lot of time for my radio hobby. Besides D’Xing and radio I collect books. DX-ing or trying to catch foreign radio stations, has been my main hobby since 1968. That is 46 years now. In that time I have heard and identified about 1,200 stations from 205 countries.”

B: There’s a photo of Lauri sitting in front of his huge book collection. Wow, such a treasure. Lauri said he and his friends bought one sq.km of lakes, ponds, creeks, and swamp. The place is called Aihkiniemi, which means “the Old Pine Cabin”. On this lot they put up 11 antennas, each 700 to 1,000 m long.

A: Your photos and DVD show us an amazing place. I’m very curious to see your listening facilities, including the antennas you stretched over a frozen lake. I’m imagining a region of ponds, lakes, and swamp similar to Vietnam’s Mekong delta region. But the weather, fauna, and flora must be quite different. Vietnam’s Mekong delta has plenty of rain and it’s hot and humid all year long. The land produces many kinds of delicious tropical fruits. The ponds and lakes are an abundant source of fish and water vegetables.

B: Lauri told us that last October he and his friend Markku Jussila used a Perseus multi-channel receiver connected to an ACER laptop. The conditions were good, nearly excellent, and he heard hundreds of new stations including VOV.

A: We listened to Lauri’s DVD and audio files of programs from local radio stations in Vietnam. Although there is a lot of static noise and it’s difficult to hear clearly, we recognized some as FM broadcasts of radio dramas in Vietnamese. 

B: We’re sorry to have to remind you that VOV’s World Service only verifies reports of our own programs, which are broadcast overseas in Vietnamese, English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Lao, Thai, and Cambodian. A lot of listeners have sent us reports of local stations in Vietnam but we can’t verify them. We’ll send you a frequency list and a program guide to make it easier for you to tune in to our channel. We hope to receive more reports from you soon. For more information about VOV’s World Service, please go to our website vovworld.vn.

A: Here I have an email and reception reports from Juan Carlos Gil of Spain. These reports date back to January and February. Although they are pretty old, we’ve checked and found they tallying with our station log. So we’ll send you some QSL cards soon.

Vu lan, the season of filial peity

B: Westerners celebrate Mothers’ Day on the second Sunday in May to show their appreciation of mothers. Vietnamese dedicate the full moon day of the 7th lunar month to expressing filial piety to both their parents. The Vu Lan festival is closely connected to the Asian tradition of ancestor worship and filial piety. We’ll tell you about the festival after this break.

A: Each year Vietnamese people honor their parents and welcome the souls of their ancestors back to earth on the full-moon day of the 7th lunar month. This year it will fall on Friday, June 28.

B: The legend behind the festival dates back to the earliest days of Buddhism. Muc Kieu Lien was one of the Buddha's ten principle disciples. One day while he was meditating, he saw his late mother being tortured in hell for the sins she had committed during her life. He saw that his mother was starving, but had nothing to eat. Muc Kieu Lien summoned all his spiritual powers to bring her a bowl of rice, but the food burned to ashes in front of her.

Offerings for wandering souls on Vu Lan Day

A: Muc Kieu Lien returned to the living world and asked the Buddha to help him to fulfill his duty as a pious son. The Buddha advised him to gather monks and devotees and ask them to pray together on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. Their combined prayers were so powerful that the god of hell released Muc Kieu Lien’s mother and many other souls. Ever since during the festival of Vu Lan - Wandering Soul’s Day- the gate of hell is believed to open to give tormented souls a 24-hour holiday.

B: Many other Buddhist countries share the Vietnamese custom of offering food, clothing, and other items to hungry spirits. The object of this annual custom is to feed the hungry ghosts and pray for their salvation and for living people to express their gratitude and appreciation to their living mothers. Traditionally Buddhist followers visit pagodas wearing red roses if their parents are alive and white roses if their parents have passed away. The rose is a symbol of love and sharing between parents and children regardless of social background.

People go to pagoda to pray for their parents on Vu Lan Day

A: The festival is no longer exclusively for Buddhists. It has become an occasion for everyone to express their love for their parents.

B: Many visitors to our web page have posted comments and requests. Ng Hong Ming of Singapore read a story called “Mid-Autumn traditional toys”, from September 3, 2014. He wants to hear more about the craft of making toys for children during the autumn full-moon festival.

A: Vietnam, like many other Asian countries, will celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival next month. We’ll have some in-depth stories about the festival in the coming weeks. S.B Sharma of India said a video about the Thai Phien flower village was very attractive. “The 2-minute video described all the steps of growing good flowers. If it’s possible please provide more detailed information on the Thai Phien flower village in your next VOV Letter Box show.”

Peach blossom in Nhat Tan flower village in Hanoi

B: The Thai Phien flower village is a famous flower hub in Da Lat. We’ll definitely bring this topic back in a future Letter Box edition. Ali Benchohra read an article about folk games and festivals and wrote: “The Vietnamese government has provided its people a lot of recreational and cultural opportunities, especially popular festivals that make the citizens happy. Their lives are filled with smiles and peace of mind. I hope to attend one of these unique and interesting festivals.”

A: Before we go, we’d like to express our sincere thanks to all of our listeners for your greetings on Vietnam’s National Day on September 2 and VOV’s 70th founding anniversary on Sep 7. We especially thank Amir Jameel, a shortwave enthusiast of Pakistan, for calling our station last week to share his thought of our programs. He congratulated us on Vietnam’s National Day and VOV’s anniversary.

B: That’s all for today. Remember that you can listen to this program again on our website at www.vovworld.vn. Please send your feedback to: English section, World Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Good bye until next time.

Nice Gift From Deutsche Welle

Voice of Indonesia

Dear listeners and friends,
On behalf of the Voice of Indonesia, we are deeply sorry to those who have participated to the quiz but no one coming as the representation of your country. We can understand the disappointment of the participants from some countries. As you know, every year we have only 3 places to win between hundreds of participants. 
This year, we have 10 places more for listeners coming from Asia and Pacific. This is under an arrangement with the Ministry of Tourism as the sponsor. We have no option for the country's origin of participant for the 10 places to decide. 
Dearest listeners and friends, we will do more to ensure that we have more countries to win under the cooperation with the sponsor; Ministry of Tourism for the coming years. We hope that you stay with the Voice of Indonesia and participate again next year.

Voice of Indonesia

Congratulations for the winners of Wonderful Indonesia Quiz 2015! Should you have any inquiries, do not hesitate to contact Asmawati at +6281281895484 or wati.voi@gmail.com
Dee at +6287876484673 or ysjs.jkt@gmail.com

Letter Box VOV

Wednesday, August 19,2015

Friday, August 21, 2015 - 15:17:29

Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, a weekly feature dedicated to our listeners throughout the world. We are Mai Phuong and Phuong Khanh.

A: Today is August 19th. Vietnamese people inside and outside Vietnam are jubilantly celebrating the 70th anniversary of the August Revolution, August 19 and National Day, September 2.

B: On this occasion, we’d like to cheer you up with songs about the 1945 August Revolution which greatly inflamed the fighting spirit of the national struggle. Years have gone by; these songs remain alive and have a firm hold on the hearts of Vietnamese music lovers.

A: Musician Xuan Oanh wrote “August 19” on August 19, 1945, when he was marching with other revolutionaries from the outlying district of Van Dien to Hanoi. The crackling atmosphere of the day inspired Xuan Oanh to write this song along the way on pieces of newspaper and cigarette paper covers.

B: Whenever he completed one phrase, he sang it out for others to hear and by the end of the day the song was not only finished, but widely known. The song echoed in the streets of Hanoi along with Van Cao’s “Marching song”, Nguyen Dinh Thi’s “Smashing fascism”, and Do Nhuan’s “Guerilla Song”.

A: August Revolution songs have been enjoyed and loved by generations of listeners. Each song was closely associated with one of Vietnam’s glorious historical milestones.

B: Written in 1944, Van Cao’s “Marching song” spread to the Viet Bac Revolutionary Base and throughout the secret bases of resistance in Hanoi. On August 19, 1945, this song echoed in the streets of Hanoi and was chosen by the National Congress in Tan Trao as the official song of the Viet Minh Front.

B: This week, we received a number of letters from Fumito Hokamura who was absent from our program for some time because he was sick. Fumito, it’s good to hear from you again.

A: Fumito listened to our programs on June 28, July 4, and August 2 on the frequency of 12020 MHz. He listened to these programs from 11:30 to 11:57 UTC and SINPO ratings were varied 45433, 45232, 55333 and 35222. In his letters to VOV, Fumito wrote that he wanted to know more about coffee drinking in Vietnam.

B: After tea, coffee is the second most popular beverage in Vietnam. Coffee was introduced into Vietnam in 1857 by a French Catholic priest in the form of a singleCoffea arabica tree. Vietnam quickly became a strong exporter of coffee with many plantations in the Central Highlands. The beverage was adopted with regional variations.

A: You can find Vietnamese people drinking coffee in the morning, at noon and at night, at proper cafes or on little plastic stools on the street. Cafes- sit-down, indoor establishments or more casual street-side cafes are gathering places for people of all ages.

B: Coffee is traditionally brewed in individual portions using a filter, which consists of a small cup, a filter chamber and a lid to catch dripping coffee. If the coffee is served this way, it forces you to slow down and savor the experience.

A: You literally watch the coffee being made drip by drip, which not only stokes your desire, but it also forces you to sit for a few minutes while the coffee gets made. Of course not all coffee is served this way and you can also find fast cafes where the coffee has already been brewed and is ready for you to drink right away or purchase to go. The classic slow drip method, however, is a real treat and reminder to slow down, which is especially welcome in the hustle and bustle you'll find in Vietnamese cities.

B: Vietnamese coffee is famous for its sweetened condensed milk, as it should be. Thick, creamy and yes, incredibly sugary, sweetened condensed milk is the perfect counterbalance to the incredibly strong, dark-roasted Vietnamese coffee. If you're dubious about the merits of sweetened condensed milk in coffee, spending even just a few hours in Vietnam will change your mind. It hits all the right notes, and once you get into it, you'll never want to go back.

A: Black or milk coffee is served hot or with ice in Vietnam. In addition, you might also find eggs, yogurt or even butter or cheese in your Vietnamese coffee. Giang Café in Hanoi is famous for its egg coffee, which includes egg yolk, Vietnamese coffee powder, sweetened condensed milk, butter and cheese. The egg yolk is whisked up and put into the coffee, followed by the rest of the ingredients, and the drink is kept in hot water to maintain its temperature.

B: Well, it sounds great! Let’s get back to more letters and emails from other listeners. Grant Skinner of the UK sent us a letter this week and reported listening to our program on July 27 on the frequency of 7280 and rate SINPO at 15331. Grant wrote that the broadcast was not clear and there was loud crackles and a low humming sound. He wrote: “On 9730 frequency, 31 Mb, the SINPO was 11451. The broadcast sounded OK but was faint in the background and more prominent was a foreign radio station broadcasting on the same frequency. The presenter was speaking French or German”.

A: Thank you, Grant, for your very useful and informative report. We will forward your report to the technical department for follow-up.

B: Chris Kelling of the US listened to our program on August 17 at 0342 UCT on the frequency of 6175 and reported that the program was very clear with mild static in the background.

A: Listening to our broadcast on August 10 from 1710 to 1720 UTC on the frequency of 9625, David Smith of the UK reported the SINPO was 43433.

B: This week, we also received a letter from Koichi Ikeda of Japan. He wrote: “The receiving condition was OK. I hear the program clearly. I usually listen to VOV English in Japan at 2030 JST (Japan Standard Time). I found that in Trinidad and Tobago, I can also listen to VOV English in the evening time”.

A: Thank you all very much for your feedback and reports on our broadcasts. We’ll send you QSL cards to confirm your reports and look forward to hearing more from you.

B: We welcome your feedback at: English section, VOV World Service, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. Keep tuning in to our English program on the Internet at vovworld.vn.  Good bye. See you next time. 

Voice of Indonesia

Stay tuned on Exotic Indonesia, a network program jointly broadcast by RRI World Service Voice Of Indonesia and RRI Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, every Monday 14.00-15.00 local time or 07.00-08.00 UTC onhttp://english.rriworldservice.com and 20.00-21.00 or 13.00-14.00 UTC only on www.voi.co.id and 9525 KHz. Today RRI Bukittinggi features Museum Perjuangan Tri Daya Eka Darma Bukittinggi. You can also listen to this program through mobile apps RRI Play & RRI World Service through your smart phone.

Letter Box. VOV

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Friday, August 14, 2015 - 15:50:47

Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, a weekly feature dedicated to our listeners throughout the world. We are Mai Phuong and Phuong Khanh.

A: First on our show today, we’d like to acknowledge letters from Abdukarim Ahmed Ali from Libya. This week, he sent us a batch of letters reporting listening to our broadcasts from June 13 to 23. Abdukarim listened to our programs on the frequency of 12005 khz from 01 to 0130 UTC and rated SINPO at all 4s for all programs.

Letters from Abdukarim Ahmed Ali from Libya.

B: Thank you, Abdukarim, for your reports and interest in our programs and thank you for a very nice postcard. Sharing an interest in D’xing, Henry Zapatka of the US sent us a letter this week. He wrote: “I’m writing to you to report reception of your radio station on shortwave. I have listened to your broadcasts quite often and have learned a lot about Vietnam from them. This is what shortwave is all about - learning about other countries directly from them. Since I still enjoy listening to the radio, I’m glad that you still broadcast on shortwave”.

A: Henry, thank you for writing to us. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your report. Last week, we posted on our website a story featuring the winners of India's Bharat Ratna Awards: Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Sending feedback on this story, SB Sharma of India wrote: “thanks for introducing India's Bharat Ratna awardees Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi to world vov's listeners. Both are well known personalities of India. They give new heights to Indian music”.

B: Thank you Mr. Sharma for your feedback. We’re very pleased to introduce these two well-known personalities to VOV listeners around the world. The Bharat Ratna award is the highest civilian award of India and Ustad Bismillah Khan is a great Indian shehnai maestro from Benares and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is a legendary exponent of Hindustani classical music.

A: Through this show, we hoped our listeners would learn something about Indian music and musical instrument. For more information about the award and these two artists, please check out our story on www.vovworld.vn in the Sunday Show segment.

B: In his email to VOV this week, Mogire Machuki of Kisii Kenya wrote: “Listening to this week's Letterbox I was very fascinated with the quality of this program. Many European stations have eventually closed down listeners programs after experiencing budgets cuts from their governments. It’s amazing that VOV has kept this tradition going on. I’m also amazed by the size of your staff, 3,400 reporters. It is really a big number. The quality of your internet feeds is awesome. The site is easy to access and rich in news about Vietnam. I’m dedicating my night time to read about Vietnam”.

VOV will celebrate its 70th founding anniversary on September 7th, 2015

A: Thank you, Mogire Machuki of Kisii Kenya, for your feedback. Our staff of 3,400 includes reporters, technicians, broadcasters, artists, and administrative personnel. The Voice of Vietnam will mark its 70th anniversary on September, 7, 2015. Over the last 70 years, the Voice of Vietnam has contributed significantly to Vietnam’s revolution, resistance, and national construction. The history of the Voice of Vietnam parallels Vietnam’s resistance and renewal, which was initiated and led by the Communist Party of Vietnam.
B: Since its first 90-minute broadcast at 11:30AM on September 7, 1945, the Voice of Vietnam has expanded into 4 media formats: radio, television, print, and online. It has 7 radio channels, 2 television channels, a print newspaper, an online newspaper, and a digital television station (VTC), which recently merged with VOV.

A: The Voice of Vietnam has grown steadily and has maintained its political firmness in fulfilling all tasks assigned by the Party and state. The Voice of Vietnam has been awarded many Party and state distinctions: the Gold Star Order, the Ho Chi Minh Order, the Independence Order (first class), the Order of Resistance against French invaders (first Class), the Order of Resistance against American invaders (first class), the title “Labor hero of the renewal process”, and the title “Hero of the people’s armed forces.”

B: VOV now has 6 domestic bureaus and 10 overseas bureaus. It intends to grow as a multimedia agency providing news to listeners in Vietnam and around the world.

A massive parade will be held to mark 70th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day, September 2.

A: VOV’s 70th anniversary coincides with the 70th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day. 70 years ago, on September 2, 1945, following the great victory of the August Revolution, President Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The revolutionary spirit of the August Revolution and National Day September 2, 1945, remain vital today.

B: Assessing the historic significance of the August Revolution, international friends agree that not just Vietnamese people but working classes and oppressed people around the world were inspired when, for the first time in the history of colonialism, a young Communist Party made a successful revolution. The victory of the 1945 August Revolution made history not only for Vietnam but also for the world, representing the desire for freedom and justice of colonial countries and setting an example for them to rise up to wrest back independence and put an end to colonialism.

A: Over the past 70 years, Vietnam has understood the value of independence and freedom better than any other nation in the world. To preserve the fruits of the revolution, in the last 70 years, millions of Vietnamese people sacrificed their lives to unify the country and wrest back independence and freedom. President Ho Chi Minh, in the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence read at Ba Dinh square in 1945, stated that Vietnam has the right to be free and independent and all the Vietnamese people are determined to enlist all their physical and mental strength, and if necessary sacrifice their lives and property, in order to safeguard their independence and liberty.

B: Rising up from the dark nights of centuries of slavery and living through two struggles against foreign invaders was not an easy task. That’s why Vietnam’s achievements of the last 70 years are so remarkable. For the first time in its history, Vietnam began to rise out of poverty with poverty rates falling sharply year after year. Vietnam was one of the first countries to complete the UN Millennium Development Goals.

A: Becoming an industrial country by 2020 is the keen desire of Vietnam. In the current context territorial disputes, the significance of National Day is all the greater.

B: Next is an email from Rasheed Naz of Pakistan. He wrote: “I am regular listeners to VOV, I like the programs. Happy 70 years of Vietnam. The Letter box program is good and all the listeners’ letters are interesting. The program is informative. I like it very much”.

A: Shahzad Shabbir of Pakistan wrote: “Hello. My Club members and I are fans of VOV and participated in your contest. We enjoy visiting VOV’s webpage and learning about Vietnam history. Thanks to the Management of VOV for this. Best wishes for everyone”.

B: Mizanur Rahman of Bangladesh listened to our programs from August 1st to the 5th from 1600 to 1630 UTC on the frequency of 9730 khz and rated SINPO at all 3s saying the reception condition was fair.

A: This week we received a letter from Samuel Carlos De Santana of Brazil. Sending a reception report for a VOV program on June 7 on the frequency of 6175 at 3:40 UTC, Samuel expressed his joy at listening to us. He wrote he has been listening to VOV for more than 10 years.

B: Thank you all for your feedback on our programs. We’ll send you QSL cards to verify your reception reports and send you the souvenirs you requested very soon.

A: If you are interested in learning more about Vietnam, please check out our website at www.vovworld.vn or send your questions to our email address atenglishsection@vov.org,vn. Our mailing address is: English Section, VOV World Service, Radio the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam.

B: That’s it for today’s program. Thanks for listening. Good bye.

KBS World Radio English Service

The answer of our first <Consonant Vowel Puzzle> is... ‘광복’. 100 participants who gave the right answer will be randomly selected to receive the bag pictured. The list of the winners can be found here...http://world.kbs.co.kr/…/kbsco…/english/kwr_event/winner.htm Thanks to all the participants and best of luck!

NICE GIFT FROM DEUTSCHE WELLE

Voice of Indonesia

The commemoration of the 70th Independence Day of Indonesia is coming on August 17, 2015! So do not hesitate to send your greeting to us and we will share it all! Ayo kerja! Let's work!

KBS World Radio English Service

Hey all! Congrats to our last week's Y2C winner: Kehkshan Ansari. Please email us your mailing address to kpop@kbs.co.kr so we can send out your prize.

This week, Korea is celebrating Gwangbokjeol, basically Korea's Independence Day/Liberation Day. We celebrate the fact that Korea is independent (of Japan) and we can enjoy many freedoms that used to be not allowed.

So on this note, let's talk about freedoms we are grateful for. It can be something on a national scale (like freedom to vote, freedom of speech, etc.) OR it can be something on a smaller scale too. For example, if you just turned 18, maybe now your parents gave you the freedom of having no curfew. Maybe you just got your driver's license and now have the freedom of personal transportation.

Let us know little (or big) freedoms that you get to enjoy! If you answer, you may win a prize! smile emoticon

Have a great week everyone,

KBS World Radio English Service

Happy Monday from Korea!! Ahead of the 70th anniversary of Liberation we made a special website looking at the past and future of Korea. Take a look and let us know what you think kiki emoticon
http://world.kbs.co.kr/special/kfuture/english/

The Road to Reconciliation and Cooperation

KBS WORLD Radio 70 Years of Liberation, 30 Years into the Future <The Road to Reconciliation and Cooperation>

WORLD.KBS.CO.KR

Winners of the contest 'Home with Mother Ruta's Spindle' RRI

Here are the winners of RRI Contest 'Home with Mother Ruta's Spindle'

Mother Ruta's Spindle

25 honourable mentions:

Delia Biţă of Italy, Atef Salama and Sami Ahmad Mosad, both of Egypt, Liuben Rosales Arevalo of Cuba, Christian Canoen, Franţa, Xue Fei of China, Victor Varzin of Russia, Hans Verner Lollike of Denmark, Grant Skinner and Matthew Loughlin, both from the UK, Ronny Forslund of Sweden, Keith Simmonds of France who wrote to the English section as well as Jaroslaw Jedrzejczak of Poland, the latest winner of the RRI contest "Holiday on the Black Sea Coast", Asghar Shah and Maaz Shahzad of Pakistan, Abdulkarim Alhouseini of Libya, Abur Rashid Biswass, Eyamin Hosain, S.B. Sharma, Jayanta Chakrabarty, Priyanka Paul, Chitturi Venkataramana, Shivendu Paul, Syamapada Sarkar and Najim Udin, all 9 of India.

Fifteen 3rd prizes:

Dejan Mijatovic of Serbia,Natalia Zabolotna, Ukraine,Cătălina Constantinovici of Romania, Ben Chohra Ali of Algeria, Ziyad Ahmad Aqil of Jordan, Juan Antonio Morales of Spain, Claude Unsinger of France, He  Xige and Zhang Xiaohua both of China, Nicolai Prigodici of Belarus, Brian Kendall of Britain, Muhammad Shamim and Deepita Chakrabarty both of India, Hamad Kiani of Pakistan and Oscar Machuki of Kenya.

Ten  2nd prizes:

Sara Souberan of Italy, Beate Hansen of Germany, Miodrag Ristic of Serbia, Ihor Gurovoi of Ukraine, our compatriot Cătălina Dejois of France, Boumchaal Farid of Algeria, Carlos Campos Aldana of Cuba, Jean-Michel Aubier of France, Ji Yuan of China, Oleg Voronov of Russia.

Five  1st prizes:

Mohamed El-Sayed Abdel-Rahim of Egypt, Enric Ballester Burcet of Spain, Xu Fei of China, Mihail Bahânov of Rusia and Gita Chakrabarty of India.

Five Special prizes:

Khalil  Abdel-Kader of Algeria, Aylton José Cordeiro Gama of Brazil, Anatoli Klepov of Russia, Debaki Biswas of India and Jahangir Alam of Bangladesh.

Grand Prize winners:

The winners of the 8 day trip, full board, in guest houses in Fagaras, Sambata de Sus, Brasov County, and in Marginimea Sibiului, Sibiu County, are Miss Jamila Bekkai of Marocco and Mr. Gilbert Dupont of France. Congratulations!

Letter Box VOV

Wednesday August 5, 2015

Thursday, August 06, 2015 - 14:21:37

(VOVworld) - Recently we’ve received more emails from listeners than post mails. But that doesn’t mean the number of letters from our loyal listeners is dwindling. We regularly receive letters from Yoshito Matsumoto, Masaru Sekimoto, and Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Chris Jenkins of the US, Grant Skinner of the UK, and Gordon Charland of Canada. With their reception reports, they often send us beautiful postcards of landscapes in their countries.  

B: Thank you very much for your loyalty to VOV and your compliments about our programs. Daniel Jenkins of the US wrote on a postcard showing the autumn beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee: “I enjoy your programs very much, keep up the good work”. Gordon Charland said he immensely enjoyed the program on July 15 on the frequency of 12005 khz.

A: Risto Happonen of Finland tuned in to our program on July 22 on the frequency of 7280 khz. He used an Eton Grundig satellite 750 and rated SINPO at 55545. Risto commented: “VOV heard on 7280 khz is often very good in Tuusniemi, a village near the city of Kuopio, in eastern Finland. The signal is strong. I sometimes listen to your station’s news and exotic Vietnamese music.” We have checked your reception reports which tally well with our station log. We’ll issue QSL cards to confirm them and trust you’ll get them soon.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during the latter's visit to India in October, 2014

B: From India, West Bengal, Soumya Bhattacharya, shared his views on some stories he heard on VOV. He wrote: “The visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to the US at the invitation of the Obama administration had my attention to this month. I found this move was very much appreciated and I am sure it will prove to be beneficial to Vietnam in many ways. I also believe it will make the role of Vietnam stronger in Asia. Thank you for providing detailed coverage of this visit and also for conducting a series of commentaries and reports on US-Vietnam relations. The same for your detailed coverage of the BRICS and SCO Summit in Ufa, Russia. The detailed analysis was very useful.”

A: Soumya continued: “Recently I saw an interesting report on Indonesian fisheries on TV and that report had some minor references to Vietnam and other countries in South East Asia. I am not sure if you have a program on Vietnam's fishing and fishery industry. If not then it would be wonderful if you could provide me and other listeners with some information about fishing in Vietnam, Vietnam's fish exports, imports, and consumption trends. Are Vietnamese people fond of fish and seafood?”

Braised fish is a popular dish in Vietnam

B: Well, my family has fish or seafood at least 4 times a week. We love both freshwater and marine fish, shrimps, crabs, and mollusks. Fishery products account for a large portion of the Vietnamese diet. Vietnamese people consume fishery products mainly because of their high nutritional value, their ease of digestion, and because they are relatively cheap.

A: We like to eat fish because it's easy to cook, widely available, safe, and adds variety to the daily diet. The average cost of popular species of fish is 3 USD per kg, while the price of pork and chicken averages 5 USD per kg and beef as much as 10 USD per kg.

A Seafood shop on Phu Quoc island

B: Vietnam has a long coastline of 3,260 km and more than 1 million km² of marine exclusive economic zones. This provides Viet Nam with abundant marine resources and biodiversity.  More than 2,000 fish species are found in the sea waters of Viet Nam. Of these, approximately 130 species are economically important. Additionally, there are more than 1,600 species of crustaceans and 2,500 species of mollusks with an annual allowable catch of 60,000 to 70,000 tons.

A: In 2014, seafood production totaled 6.8 million tons. Vietnamese seafood products are shipped to 164 foreign markets. The seafood industry earned nearly 8 billion USD from exports last year, putting Vietnam in the world’s top 5 seafood producers and exporters.

A temporary fish market on the seashore

A: The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, VASEP, reports that the most promising export market for Vietnamese seafood this year is the Republic of Korea. VASEP economists said the Vietnam-RoK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed early this year has added fresh impetus to Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the RoK. The RoK was Vietnam’s fifth largest shrimp consumption market after the US, Japan, the EU, and China in 2014, with shrimp exports to the market totaling 320 million USD. Vietnam surpassed China to become the largest shrimp provider to the RoK last year.

B: Dx’er Jayanta Chakrabarty of India said VOV has reported on Vietnam-India cooperation in technology, particularly space technology and exploration of outer space. He’s interested in knowing something about outer space research and space science development in Vietnam. Key agencies are the Space Technology Institute, the Vietnam National Space Center, the Vietnam Aerospace Association, and the FPT Technology Research Institute. Vietnam’s first space activity dates back to 1980 and cosmonaut Pham Tuan’s flight to the Salyut 6 space station as part of the Intercosmos program, making him the 1st Asian in space.

A: Although space technology is only beginning its development in Viet Nam, with the support of the government and international cooperation, Viet Nam is determined to build a solid foundation. Initial steps have been taken in hydrometeorology, information and communications, remote sensing, and satellite navigation. Ground stations have been constructed to serve television broadcasting and telecommunications, most notably the VINASAT project.

B: The VINASAT-1 and VINASAT-2 satellites are two commercial communication satellites launched into orbit in 2008 and 2012. The satellites are tracked and telecommanded 24/7 by two Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) stations. The satellites are principally used to offer high power direct-to-home television broadcasting, mobile telephony, internet, multimedia and fixed satellite services (FSS) to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

A: This has been the Letter Box on VOV. Remember that you can listen to this program again on our website at www.vovworld.vn. Please send your feedback to: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Good bye until next time.