VietNamNet Bridge – It was a Sunday afternoon in a café by Hoan Kiem Lake in Ha Noi. A young man was lighting up a cigarette while holding an infant, possibly his son or daughter, with his other hand. Such a sight isn’t rare in Viet Nam, a country where more than 45 per cent of the male population are smokers, according to a report by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey published in 2015. While the number of smokers has slowly declined in recent years thanks to awareness-raising campaigns that have publicised the harmful effects of cigarettes, not much has been done to change smokers’ behavior, especially when it comes to exposing their children to second- hand smoke at home or in public. Studies have shown that second-hand smoke is almost as deadly as first-hand smoke, especially to children. Children with parents who smoke are more likely … [Read more...] about Stub it out, for the sake of the children
The inconvenient truth
An inconvenient truth about free trade
It’s easy to scoff at the anti-free-trade rhetoric emanating from the U.S. presidential campaign trail. Donald Trump keeps yelling about China, Mexico, and Japan. Bernie Sanders won’t stop shouting about greedy multinational corporations. Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich are awkwardly leaning in the same direction. If you’re a typical pro-trade business executive, you’re tempted to ask: Were these people throwing Frisbees on the quad during Econ 101? A recent article in the National Review expressed disdain by blaming a swath of America for its own problems, attributing Trump’s success to a “white American underclass” that’s “in thrall to a vicious, selfish culture whose main products are misery and used heroin needles.” Wait. Trump and Sanders may be clumsy and overly dramatic, and their solutions may be misbegotten, but they’re on to something real. New research confirms what a lot of ordinary people have … [Read more...] about An inconvenient truth about free trade
The post-hearing reality in the East Sea arbitration case revisited
China’s position paper published on December 7, 2014, is one of the rare documents in which Beijing officially expressed its opinions on the issues in the East Sea (international known as the South China Sea) as well as on the arbitration proceedings that the Philippines initiated at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in January 2013. It seems that the motivation was the December 15 deadline (which China has ignored) for its response to the Philippines’s claims before the Tribunal. China’s views on its refusal to appear in the arbitral proceedings can be summarized in four inter-related main points. First, lying at the heart of the disputes between China and the Philippines is the territorial claims over sovereignty over the archipelagos in the area, rather than interpreting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS). Therefore, in Beijing’s view it is beyond the scope of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to entertain the case. Second, … [Read more...] about The post-hearing reality in the East Sea arbitration case revisited
Dutch architect seeks solutions to climate change issues in Vietnam
In 2009, Dutch architect Joep Janssen quit his job in the Netherlands and moved to Vietnam with his girlfriend to study impacts of climate change on the Southeast Asian country. Three years earlier, after watching Davis Guggenheim’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” about former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming, the architect wondered how his profession could contribute to a solution to one of the world’s most pressing issues. During his time in the architecture industry, Janssen studied how Dutch cities have coped with water issues since the Middle Ages. Drawing on his background, he selected Vietnam as his destination to seek out a solution in “a place defined by the UN Climate Panel as the front line of climate change: the Mekong Delta.” After four years living in Ho Chi Minh City, Janssen traveled through the delta to meet people and experts to learn about how climate change affects Vietnam. … [Read more...] about Dutch architect seeks solutions to climate change issues in Vietnam
The Man Who Glorifies Vietnamese Mathematics
Vietnamese mathematic professor Hoang Tuy is famous worldwide. But few know that he had to been through many ups and downs to pursue his career in science and to nurture his passion at the age of 78. Family tradition and passion As a small student in the district school or a famous mathematician, he did not tell many that Hoang Dieu, the Governor of Ha Noi, who died a matyr in the battle against the French in 1885, was his uncle. Hoang Dieu's mother, therefore, was Tuy's great grandmother. There was a story about the mother, who came from dien Ban of Quang Nam Province. Hoang Dieu was a high-ranking official of the former feudalist court, but he was so honest that the family was very poor. Assigned the position of Governor of Ha Noi Capital, he missed his mother in the far central province. He sent her a piece of silk to make a dress. The present was returned with a stick, which implied her reminder that he should not be corrupted, making people suffer. With such family … [Read more...] about The Man Who Glorifies Vietnamese Mathematics