MobiFone promises compensations, after disruptions

Manh Hung, a MobiFone subscriber said he could not call from 11m to 6pm on April 8

Photo: Tuoi Tre

TUOI TRE

Within a week, MobiFone subscribers in southern provinces, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, have twice experienced the disruption.

On April 8 and April 12, MobiFone users were unable to make calls to subscribers of other service providers. Even when their phone signals indicated full strength, their messages still failed to be delivered.

A serious problem not to be taken lightly
The two disruptions lasted almost the whole day, occurring in large cities such as HCMC, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Danang, and Buon Ma Thuot. The failures affected many businesses and subscribers.

Many people expressed anger as their calls were suddenly dropped, causing their business to be delayed as they could not contact their partners.

“That day (April 8) was a useless workday as I could not contact any of my customers,” said B., a Mobifone subscriber.

The delay in delivering messages also caused trouble to many people. One of them is Huu Minh, a resident in the city’s District 5. 

On the morning of April 4, Minh’s son had a fever at school and his teacher texted Minh to come and pick him up. The message did not arrive until 11.20am, when his son had already walked home by himself.

Many people were not aware of the service disruption and thought their phone was faulty.

Hung was on his business trip to Danang at the time and had appointments with several partners. However, he could not call or text any of them although he could still receive incoming calls.

“I thought there was a problem with my phone,” said Hung.

After many attempts to fix it but without success, Hung got mad and smashed his phone.

“Later on, I went online and found out it was MobiFone’s service failure, not my phone’s defects,” said Hung.

“The provider should inform the subscribers once a problem occurs so that they can find other ways to communicate.”

Apologize and promise to compensate
On April 14, MobiFone once again explained that the problem was due to the expansion and upgrade in their management system for prepaid subscribers. 

MobiFone offered apologies to all affected customers and asked for understanding.
The provider also promised to update information about the upgrade and expansion plans on their homepage.

In an interview with Tuoi Tre, a MobiFone representative said they would soon find a solution to make up for their customers’ loss, without stating how and when the compensation will be made.

Up to now, big providers have occasionally offered compensation to their subscribers in the forms of discounts, free messages or calls, which do not satisfy many customers.
 

Kids take extra classes despite an official ban

VNA

Ha Noi – In Viet Nam, extra classes are taken for granted – for children already attending school. But now, five-year-olds who have just "graduated" from kindergarten are being taken to pre-school classes.

Although there is still nearly half a year left to the new school year, the race has begun to find good schools and good teachers. It also means pushing children to learn the alphabet and develop good hand writing in special classes.

No one, including teachers and parents, seems to take much notice of an official ban on the practice, declared by the Ministry of Education and Training in September 2009.

The ban on pre-school classes is simply not working. It was aimed at avoiding harmful effects on children's health and erasing any unfair advantages pre-school studies may give children.

All parties involved have their own reasons for keeping the new pre-school tradition alive.

"I don't think I am doing something wrong," said one teacher. "The Ministry bans us from forcing children to go to our classes, but what if this is the parents' will? We even have their application letters asking us to help their children out."

The teacher was upset that doctors can work in other clinics in their extra time, while teachers cannot teach extra classes in their free time.

This teacher, who is an excellent primary school teacher, has an extremely busy schedule trying to fit in two extra classes a day, which brings his earnings to about VND50 million (US$2,380) a month.

With such an income, it is unlikely he wants to stop such a handy money-making machine.

Tran Thanh Nga (not her real name) has taught at Thanh Cong A Primary School for seven years for a lowly VND2.5 million (US$120) per month.

She can barely make ends meet in today's world of inflated costs.

"My salary is not enough to support myself and my family. It isn't even as much as my house-keeper gets," said Nga.

She told Viet Nam News that by teaching three extra Vietnamese classes a week, she could earn at least another VND1.2 million.

She finds it hard to say no, especially when pupils are the children from her own circle of acquaintances.

Many teachers are faced with a dilemma when parents keep asking them to open extra classes to teach their children.

Asked why parents wanted their children to take classes even before being accepted at a primary school, Nga said most feared that the large number of children in standard school classes would hinder learning.

Do Minh Phuong, 31, whose daughter will start at Nguyen Du Primary School this September, decided to take her to a pre-school class starting next month.

Although the child already knows the alphabet and can read stories in picture books, Phuong still thinks it is not enough.

"Study programmes are getting harder and harder. Preparation will be much better as it helps my daughter overcome her shyness in the early school days," said Phuong.

She admitted she felt uneasy about letting her daughter stay at home while other children were taking the special classes.

Le Tien Thanh, Director of the Primary Education Department under the Ministry of Education and Training, said the current primary education programme was designed appropriately and there was no need for pupils to take extra classes.

The ministry has instructed primary schools to cease running extra pre-school classes.

Thanh also said that the ministry had organised frequent inspections to control pre-school classes.

"Teachers at our school are asked to sign a commitment not to teach extra classes," said Dinh Thuy Duong, headmistress at Thanh Xuan Trung Primary School in Ha Noi.

Those who keep teaching will lose their bonuses and their title of "good teacher". Duong said she was firmly against parents who pushed their children into pre-school classes.

She thought the practice harmed children by helping create bone defects and short-sightedness.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/education/education-news/kids-take-extra-classes-despite-an-official-ban-1.27691

Cigarettes smuggled into Ho Chi Minh City by bus

TUOI TRE

Thousands of packs of cigarettes are smuggled into Ho Chi Minh City from Cambodia every day by bus from Long An.

They are slipped in through the Duc Hue border in Long An in black plastic bags and loaded on bus No. 627 at Hau Nghia station headed for HCMC.

The number of packs per trip sometimes reaches 5,000.

The bus staff use cell phones to keep in touch together and even ignore passengers to focus on delivering the cigarettes.

Tuoi Tre discovered that two of the main drop-off points in HCMC are provincial road No. 10 in Binh Tan District and Xom Voi Street in District 5.

The rest of the cargo continues on to Cho Lon Bus Station from where motorcyclists deliver them to resellers on Hoc Lac Street, District 5 (See video clip).

When Tuoi Tre filmed one such bus crew involved in the smuggling, the cigarettes that were delivered were Jet, a brand banned in Vietnam.

For transporting them 30 kilometers from Long An to HCMC, the transport staff get VND500 to VND700 per pack.

More pictures at wwwtuoitrenws.vn

Monkeys disturb Tay Ninh Holy See

TAY NINH NEWSPAPER 

In recent years, a large number of monkeys - which come from a natural forest belonging to Cao Dai Holy See in the southern province of Tay Ninh – have been spotted causing troubles to passers-by and local people.

According to residents, they come in groups and not only steal all food in the holy site’s kitchen, but also rummage the fridge for foodstuffs.

They even lie on the sofa and/or fully sunbathe in the yard of the religious building.

Nguyen Thi Xuan Dao, head of the Cao Dai Holy See, said they have suffered a lot after forest management forces seized long tailed monkeys from poachers and later released them to the holy site’s natural forest.

In some first years when there were just a few monkeys, Dao together with some staff working in the Children’s Cultural House nearby purchased fruits to feed them. But the herd has grown day by day and begun to make troubles since.

Dao said she used to be attacked by a monkey and it took a whole 3 months to heal her wounds. 

She added that last year, a group of students made a visit to the Holy See and took photographs of monkeys gathering nearby on their cell phones. Suddenly, a monkey snatched a cell phone from one student’s hands and even smacked him when he tried to hold onto his phone.

“As a result, we had to take him to hospital for emergency treatment,” Dao said. 

Nguyen Minh Sang, a staff working at Mac Dinh Chi junior school, said: “They [the monkeys] make a mess at the school’s corridor. They even stare intensely at female teachers.” 

“One year ago, numerous monkeys snaked through our hospital, taking fruits and even patients’ clothes away,” Dr. Ngo Kim Thuan, director of Tay Ninh traditional medicine hospital, complained. 

Mai Van Thoi, deputy chief of Tay Ninh Forest Management Department, said: “In the two years of 2003 and 2004, we seized 27 long-tailed monkeys from illegal hunters, and released them to the natural forest. After that, some local people also sent monkeys here. The population of monkeys in the forest is now estimated at 100.” 

However, Thoi added they have had some complaints from the Children Cultural House about the monkeys’ disturbance and they have proposed the Cao Dai Temple to move the animals to another place, but they didn’t agree. 

In response, To Van Kien, a security employee at the holy site, said: “I have never seen monkeys biting someone. They are good-natured.”

“We didn’t agree to move these monkeys to another place. We asked for local authorities’ permission to keep them for ecological balance and attracting more tourists”.

Cao Dai is a monotheistic religion originating in Tay Ninh.

A dusty, risky highway

TUOI TRE

More pictures at www.tuoitrenews.vn

Dust, rocks, sand and poor warning systems plague a section of the National Highway No 51 which is under an expansion project.

Tuoi Tre observes some mayhem at an area leading towards Ba Ria Vung Tau from Dong Nai province where, for dozens of kilometers, dirt, sand, and rocks are tossed all over while warning signs and barriers are sloppily erected. 

Most passers-by have to shut their eyes and hold their breath when passing a section in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province due to too much dust.

Streetside cafes here have remained closed in the past months.

According to the traffic monitoring station on Highway 51, there have been 42 accidents killing 45 people since the highway started being expanded in September 2009.

Many of the accidents stem from the project implementers not erecting barriers or warning signs as stipulated. 

Last week, police said they would seek charges against those responsible for the death of a student who died when her motorbike hit a concrete block there.

On January 17, Vu Thi Dung was carrying her 17-year-old daughter Pham Hoai Diem on a motorbike towards Dong Nai’s Bien Hoa City when the vehicle hit the concrete block mindlessly put in the middle of the highway in Long Thanh district’s An Phuoc commune.

Both were hurled from the vehicle.

Dung was only injured but Diem died on the spot when a car from ran over her from behind.

Local police said two construction officials from Licogi 9 and Licogi 9-2 based in Bien Hoa are to blame.

According to police, the highway was under an expansion project and the project developer hired Licogi 9 to spray asphalt there.

Licogi 9 instead commissioned its subsidiary Licogi 9-2 to carry out the job.

Licogi 9-2 then irresponsibly erected a concrete block at the project site but did not install any warning signs nearby.

Tuoi Tre

The Vietnam Register, a government agency responsible for vehicles’ safety, said Thursday it received a communication from Toyota Vietnam saying it will carry out free repairs on faulty cars.
The document said the Japanese company will check and repair Innova vehicles with technical problems related to brakes, screws, and seats.
But Toyota did not make a public announcement about the recall plan by Thursday afternoon. It had earlier ruled out a recall, saying the flaws are minor.
Do Huu Duc, deputy head of the Vietnam Register, said the communication is a positive sign of Toyota taking responsibility for its products but the company must soon announce plans.
Another senior official from the Vietnam Register said the fact that Toyota has sent such a document means it is preparing to recall all faulty vehicles.
Earlier Le Van Tach, an engineer working for Toyota, had released documents revealing three major glitches in Innova and Fortuner vehicles.
The cars made in Vietnam face balance issues since their screws are not tightened properly as instructed by the Japanese company, he said. The brakes and seats do not meet safety standards either, he said.
He blamed them on outdated equipment used at Toyota Vietnam’s factory.
Two of the glitches are likely to take a long time to fix and only Toyota can fix them since they require special tools and training, he explained.
At a press briefing on April 1, Toyota had admitted to these problems in nearly 9,000 Innova cars, saying they could have a bearing on safety.
Camry also suffers flaws?
Toyota sent another communication to the Vietnam Register saying it will recall and check all Camry 3.5 and Camry 2.4 models produced between January 28 and March 23 this year.
Many of the vehicles have a problem with bolts, it said.
Toyota is the largest and most popular carmaker in Vietnam, with the Innova being especially popular and used by many taxi companies.
The company sold 2,223 units last February.

Read it at www.tuoitrenews.vn

Illicit Chinese eggs, MSG seized in border town

Tuoi Tre

Market control authorities in Lao Cai town on the Chinese border yesterday caught a local woman smuggling in 9,800 eggs and 250 kg of seasoning powder from China.

Nguyen Quang Hieu, head of the Market Management Team 7A said the woman, Phan Thi Dinh, did not have invoices for the goods.

The MSG was packed in 20 sacks and the eggs were hidden in 13 cartons containing vegetables and fruits, he said.

Dinh, a resident of the town’s Duyen Hai Ward, said she had traveled to Hekou town in China’s Yunnan Province to buy the goods and had brought them back by bus.

She had planned to take them to neighboring Lai Chau Province for sale.

The team has seized the goods pending an investigation.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/illicit-chinese-eggs-msg-seized-in-border-town-1.26928