The region’s estimated 9-9.5 million transgender population is “bearing the brunt of the HIV epidemic”, the UN Development Programme study said, adding that figures suggest 49 percent of the community could be infected.

The figure is drawn from anecdotal evidence of infection rates among trans-women — men who become women — taken from the “scattered and often small-scale research” available across the region, the UNDP said.

Report author Sam Winter, of Hong Kong University, urged governments to take note of the “burning need to address a very human crisis”, pointing out many transgender people end up working as prostitutes and having unsafe sex.

“Social exclusion, poverty and HIV infection contribute to what we call a ‘stigma sickness slope’ — a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse,” he said in the “Lost in Transition” study.

Transgender people also routinely suffer violence and prejudice while being offered narrow economic opportunities and scant psychological support, the report found.

Billed as the region’s most comprehensive study, the report collates information from the last 12 years, painting a picture of hardship for many transgender people, who lack basic healthcare and emotional help.

It recorded cases of “backyard” sex change surgery including castration and the widespread use of unsafe industrial silicone for breast implants among those who cannot afford quality healthcare.

Often transgender people leave home at a young age in response to family disapproval, drop out off school because of bullying and struggle to find work, which pushes them into prostitution, it said.

But the study also highlighted positive developments, noting an increasingly confident transgender identity has taken root. It also detected greater will from the community to engage with mainstream services and policy discussions.

“The creation of advocacy networks, community-based organisations and non-government organisations devoted to empowering our communities is a source of joy,” according to Thai transgender activist Prempreeda Pramoj Na Ayutthaya.

At 5.13am, Ariane-5 lifted off and it took 36 minutes to reach orbit. There, VINASAT-2 split from Ariane-5 and moved to the position of 131.8 degree east, 0.2 degree far from VINASAT-1, on the orbit.

Witnessing the successful launch of VINASAT-2 in Hanoi, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung highly appreciated the great efforts of VNPT, the Ministry of Information and Communications, partnerships and contractors in implementing this meaningful project of the nation. He asked VNPT to quickly and effectively exploit this satellite.

The Prime Minister stressed that the project partly confirmed the determination that IT and Communications would be a driving force to ensure the growth and stable development of the country. The target of this project was to make Vietnam a strong country in IT and telecommunications.

The launch of VINASAT-2, the second satellite of Vietnam, into space affirmed Vietnam’s position in space and contributed to promoting the image of Vietnam on the international arena.

VINASAT-2, weighing around 3 tons, will be operational over 15 years. VINASAT-2 will focus on the Ku-band transponders, which provide radio, television and telephone transmission services for all of Vietnam and other parts of the Southeast Asia region.

On Thursday “Rust and Bone” (De rouille et d’os) by French director Jacques Audiard and “After the Battle””(Baad el Mawkeaa) by Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah met with journalists and fans, while on Wednesday Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” had its debut as the festival’s opening film.

The three are among the 22 selected films to compete for the Palme d’Or in front of a nine-strong jury headed by Italian director Nanni Moretti.

Starring Oscar-winning Marion Cotillard from France and Matthias Schoenaerts from Belgium, “Rust and Bone” tells a strange and surprising love story between an unemployed 25-year-old man and a killer whale trainer.

“After the Battle” depicts the aftermath of the overthrow of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year and cast no real actors as it was filmed while the uprising and its uncertain aftermath were unfolding. It was a “love letter” to the Egyptian people at a difficult time, as the director said here on Thursday.

Set on an island off the coast of New England, “Moonrise Kingdom” is a 1960s drama about two 12-year-olds who fall in love and run away together into wilderness and then a violent storm turn the peaceful island community upside down.

On Friday, “Reality” by Matteo Garrone and “Paradise: Love” (Paradies: Liebe) are scheduled to join the race, followed by all the rest until the end of the festival on May 27.

The 20 kilometre Metro Line 2 will link Thu Thiem in District 2 with An Suong Bus Station in District 12, running through Ben Thanh Market, Pham Hong Thai, Cach Mang Thang Tam and Truong Chinh Streets, and also Tham Luong.

The route will have 10 underground stations at Ben Thanh Market, Tao Dan Park, Dan Chu Square, Hoa Hung, Le Thi Rieng, Pham Van Hai, Bay Hien, Nguyen Hong Dao, Ba Queo, Pham Van Bach and one above ground in Tan Binh District.

The $1.4 billion project will be financed by Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank and German Development Bank and expected to be complete by 2016.

Construction of the Tham Luong Station has kicked off on 26 hectares in Tan Thoi Nhat Ward in District 12.

Metro Line 2 is expected to transport 526,000 passengers per day.

After the appearance of Viettel, numerous small mobile providers joined the market, including EVN Telecom, S-fone, HT Mobile, Beeline, and Vietnamobile. They helped to foster the development of mobile telecommunication networks nationwide

Over the past decade, the telecom industry in Vietnam has seen rapid development, becoming one of the world’s eight most competitive markets for the telecom sector.

The development is shown in skyrocketing number mobile subscribers, at over 116 million subcribers by the end of last year. This figure is 1.5 times higher than the nation’s population.

However, the major providers have seen a slowdown in the number of customers recently because of market saturation.

This year there have been no mobile service providers that have set a target of more than 5 million new subscribers.

There were also been a number of smaller providers who have set out to sell their stakes.

EVN Telecom was acquired by Viettel in early 2012. Shortly after, in late April, VimpelCom Group decided to sell all of its 49% stake in Gtel Mobile Joint Stock Company (Gtel Mobile), who ran the Beeline mobile network in Vietnam, for USD45 million.

Beeline was the first foreign-invested mobile provider in Vietnam. Their 2G network, Gtel Mobile changed the marketing landscape for mobile services in Vietnam, with their partnership with Manchester United and the ‘billionaire’ package.

Despite record growth in the number of subscribers after these promotion programmes, Beeline’s revenues were modest, less than USD1 per subscriber per month during the fourth quarter of 2011. The figure was too low compared to USD4 each in Laos, and from USD2-3 in Cambodia, to continue business in the country. Among the 19 countries in which it operated, Vietnam brought in the lowest revenues.

In the race to lower rates, mobile providers have seen their revenues decrease. A survey by Business Monitor International (BMI) showed that the average revenue per unit (ARPU) in the Vietnam’s mobile market gradually fell to USD6.5 per subscriber per month in 2007, USD6 in 2008 and USD5.52 in 2009. The rate is expected to decrease to USD3.51 by 2015.

The withdrawal of Beeline, along with the merger of EVN Telecom with Viettel and S-fone’s decision to end its CDMA service have indicated that Vietnam has become a less attractive telecom market.

Still, FPT decided not to enter the market after several months of looking for investment opportunities.

Looking for new business opportunities

Experts forecast a gloomy future for smaller telecom operators in Vietnam. The telecommunications market is dominated by three major players, VinaPhone, MobiPhone and Viettel, which hold a combined 95% of the market share, while Beeline, Vietnamobile, S-Fone and EVN Telecom had only 5%.

In order to maintain operations, the larger companies’ strategy has been to improve their service quality and provide more services.

Vietnam Posts and Communications Group (VNPT), with its hefty infrastructure, has sought approval from the Government to merge VinaPhone with MobiFone, in a bid increase its competitiveness with Vettel.

On the other hand, VNPT has made plans to boost co-operation with international partners to seek new investment opportunities overseas.

In terms of overseas investment, Viettel seems to have made greater strides than VNPT.

Viettel, the military-run telecom group, launched its first overseas mobile network, Metfone, in Cambodia in February 2009. They also continued to expand their operations in the region by setting up the Unitel network in Laos in 2009.

They launched Natcom, a mobile network in Haiti in 2011, and recently started a mobile phone network, named Movitel, in Mozambique with an initial investment of more than USD400 million.

Nguyen Manh Hung, Deputy General Director of Viettel said that the group has set a target to have one billion subscribers. In the five markets in which they do business the group currently has a total of 60 million.

Last year, Viettel reported a total revenue of USD6 billion, Hung added.

After pulling out of the Vietnamese market, Vimpelcom still has plans to further invest in Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and Laos.

Many other mobile providers that have withdrawn investment from Vietnam, such as Hutchison and SK Telecom, are looking at other potential markets in developing countries.

The documentary has been filmed in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and is a factual presentation of events on the legendary Truong Son Road during the war and reflects images of historical sites and the daily lives of ethnic minority groups living along this route.

The film is a long journey with many moving stories of Truong Son soldiers, and showcasing the close relationship between Vietnam and Laos.

The documentary will be screened on HTV7 channel at 10.30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday starting with the first part showing on May 22.

For being such an excellent student, Duong was given the honour of receiving German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Vietnam in October last year.

Duong graduated with an excellent bachelor’s degree with a major in mechanical engineering from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology in 2009.

His desire to increase professional knowledge and his university professor’s advice led him to join the Vietnamese German University (VGU) for a master’s degree.

Duong’s topic for his master’s degree was ‘Modeling polygonisation in single crystals within the continuum dislocation theory’, which was suggested and guided by math’s Professor Le Khanh Chau, who is presently teaching in Germany.

This topic got Duong the highest marks and was published in an international magazine on science and technology in September last year. It was also reported at the Plasticity International Conference hosted in the US in January this year.

Duong says that he chose the subject as it is highly applicable in the study to create materials that serve our life. Specifically, they can be used for making Multi Phase Twin-Induced Plasticity, which is used in the automobile industry.

Duong was an excellent student at the Vietnamese German University. He was honoured to receive German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her business visit to Vietnam in October last year. Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroder also presented him his master’s degree.

After four years in VGU, Duong said that he was very impressed by the friendly and helpful attitude of VGU teachers, who helped Vietnamese students to catch up with the school’s English curriculum.

Besides, the school also created advantageous conditions for students to study some subjects and sit for exams with international students in Germany.

After completing the master’s programme, Duong was sponsored by the German Foundation Research to continue his doctorate in Germany.

His doctoral thesis, developed from the master’s topic, is named ‘Analysis and Numerical Simulations of the plastic deformations of single crystals and TWIP-alloys within continuum dislocation theory’.

Sharing his future plans, Duong said “I think my duty is to try my best to study in order not to betray the feeling of teachers, Vietnamese and German Governments. I will return to my native country to work and help Vietnamese students access advanced technology in world science.”

images419085_Halong bay cruises

Chairman of many New7Wonders on April 27 presented the symbol of new world natural wonder to Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh and Chairman of Quang Ninh province with a ceremony in Hanoi.Speaking for the ceremony, Minister Hoang Tuan Anh expressed gratitude to international friends who voted for Ha Long Bay as a new natural wonder worldwide. He explained until this is regarded as a capability to introduce the wonder of Vietnam worldwide and also to turn Ha Long Bay into an attractive destination of Vietnam.Chairman of your New7Wonders, Mr. Bernard Weber, said that the poll of many new seven natural wonders of the world was a lively and fair competition. Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay has won the title and became the main global memories.Within the light of fireworks, Mr. Weber announced that Ha Long Bay is a new natural wonder worldwide and presented the bronze symbol of 1.3m long, 1.1m wide to Minister Hoang Tuan Anh and Quang Ninh province’s Chair Nguyen Van Doc.Earlier, the New7Wonders brought two symbols to Vietnam, which were manufactured manually in Switzerland, that placed in Hanoi and Ha Long city.Speaking along at the ceremony, Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan declared the title will be the pride of Vietnamese people. However, it requires each Vietnamese to become accountable for preserving Ha Long Bay.Over 3,000 people participated in the art show to welcome the new title of Ha Long Bay.

ha-long-bay-recognized-natural-world-Halong bay Cruises

12_Lehoicarnaval2012-Halong bay Cruise

ceremony-held-dinh-national-stadium-miniature-ha-long-bay-set-sta-Halong bay Cruises

Talk Vietnam

Bin_Ca_Lo_1-Halong bay Cruises

NGHE AN — Cua Lo Town in central Nghe An Province hosted a ceremony on Monday to launch this year’s sea tourism season, with National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung attending the event.Challenging year’s season, Cua Lo has set a target to welcome 2.a million tourists, earning revenues of more than VND1.1 trillion (US$52.3 million).To arrange for the season, the small town has upgraded tourist sites and shops under the beach, started measures to make sure of food hygiene and safety for tourists, improved service quality, introduced new tourism products and restored traditional coastal villages.A wide range of activities featuring the coastal culture and portraying the land and people of Cua Lo will be held while in the season to attract tourists from both in and out of doors the united states.Cua Lo beach, which stretches over 10km, is among the most beautiful beaches in central Viet Nam with white sand and clear blue water.

baitamnghithu-Halong bay Cruises

Talk Vietnam

dac-sac-le-hoi-xuan-thang-long-ha-noi-153470-1-2-Halong bay Cruises

Hanoi uses a rich repertoire of unique ancient dances, nevertheless it only began gaining attention from the broad public during its 1,000th anniversary in 10.It was because of efforts produced by local researchers and scholars in collecting and staging the dances inside the project “restoring and developing Thang Long – Ha Noi dances”.It all started together with the project proposal towards the Hanoi Department of Culture in 2004 by some 60- and 70-year-old artists that came from the Hanoi Association of Dancers.The department recognized a good value in the project and approved it. The artists then travelled to locations close to Hanoi where they believed might also find traces of a typical city’s ancient dances. They discovered that there had been around 80 dances throughout Hanoi’s history. They are often divided into three groups: royal, religious and folk dances.Pursuing the field work, throughout spring of 2007, Hanoi held performances of its ancient dances along at the Thang Long – Hanoi Dance Festival along at the Ly Thai To Monument near Hoan Kiem Lake. Hanoi continued to organize dancing festivals in 2008 and 2009 and helped increase curiosity about Hanoi’s ancient dances.Associate Professor, Le Ngoc Canh, the driving force in the area of the project, said, “We spent a great deal of time means, however i were able to collect and restore only 28 ancient dances of Hanoi.”Most of these were folk dances performed during traditional festivals in Hanoi’s villages a long time ago. Among the list of interesting dances collected is “Thien Long Bat Bo” preserved from the monks from Dong Lim pagoda, Long Bien district. It is performed during Buddhist festivals, opening ceremonies of pagodas and temples, and also worshipping ceremonies. It expresses the ability of solidarity and wish for peace, stability and prosperity.Another interesting dance is the “Bai bong” dance from Phu Nhieu village (Quang Trung Commune, Phu Xuyen district), which extols the greatness of your country and also the beauty of life and love.Within the “Trong bong” dance from Trieu Khc village, Thanh Tri District, boys humorously wearing girls’ colorful clothes and black headbands make strong and quick movements.The “Luc Cung” dance from Minh Quang pagoda (Dong Da District) features a display of lamps to pray for the happiness and peace of all people.Much of Thang Long – Hanoi’s ancient dances were folkloric so it was harder than you would think to determine exactly when they first appeared.One local researcher has attempted to classify ancient dances of Vietnam according to historical figures. He believes you can find various kinds of dance in Hanoi. One example is, after he moved the funding to Thang Long, King Ly Thai To had Phu Dong Temple built for worshipping the national hero Thanh Giong, and then the Phu Dong festival followed and hastily morphed into a national event. The festival includes performances of individuals songs, drums and gongs, and dances.Hanoi also possesses other traditional dances for example the dragon dance, flag dance, Trong Bong dance in Trieu Khuc, lamp dance from Hai Ba Trung temple festival in Dong Nhan, and snake dance from Le Mat village, all thought to are actually introduced hundreds to thousand years ago.Even if only some in past years dances of Hanoi have already been collected and restored, their regular performances have revived a culture which includes helped make Hanoi a cultural center of Vietnam and also the world.

citadel - Halong bay Cruises

Bai-Bong-dance-Halong bay Cruises

3507328149_fd67df491Halong bay Cruises

 Talk Vietnam