PREVIEW alkie alkie

Malaysia Journey Mid-autumn Festival Gas Delivery

There are different ways to
travel from Vietnam to
Malaysia. I chose to go to
Singapore first by air ..more..
Page 2
Lantern was another story.
There was much less vari-
ety compared to what we
have in the market ..more..
Page 5
Customers are choosier
day by day; and to increase
the sale, these three men
must take longer ..more..
Page 8
 two parts by the South China Sea and they

A TRIP TO MALAYSIA are Peninsular Malaysia located near the

south of Thailand and Malaysian Borneo
sharing an island with a part of Indonesia.
At the beginning of this year, I had a The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur aka
chance to travel to Malaysia and Singapore. KL. Its currency is Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
Since these two countries are relatively close to which equals to approximately 5,100 VND.
each other in terms of history and geographic Its time is one hour ahead of Vietnam. The
distance, people usually choose to go to both at official language in Malaysia is Malay;
the same time like me. I would love to share my however, English, different dialects of
travelling experience with you and, more Chinese and Hindi are also spoken by
interestingly, some travelling tips you may find different population groups. The Malaysian
useful for your upcoming trip. Because it is tourism’s motto is “Truly Asia” which is said
exhaustive to cover both countries in one issue, I to reflect a variety of cultures of different
will make it a series of three of which each will be Asian countries existing in Malaysia.
devoted to one destination. The first two issues There are
are about Malaysia which was also my first stop different ways to
and the trip to Singapore will be mentioned in the travel from Vietnam
third one. to Malaysia. I chose
Before getting into details, there are a few to go to Singapore
interesting facts about Malaysia. It is a South first by air and
East Asian country and a member of ASEAN like caught a coach to
Vietnam. Its official name is Federation of Flying by air with Tiger Malaysia. Tiger
Malaysia which consists of thirteen states and Airline Airline seems to be
three federal states. Malaysia is separated into an affordable choice
and if you can find a sale, you really get a
bargain like me. I
remember my ticket
was really cheap
although I could not
recall the exact price
(but please believe
me, it was a real
bargain). From Catching a coach
Singapore to Malaysia,
a coach seems to be better and more
convenient than other means of
transportation there. One of my friends used
the train and she found it noisy and
uncomfortable. Travelling time from
Singapore to Melaka and to KL took me
Malaysia map about 4 and 6 hours, respectively. I took the

Transnational Express Bus at
KT terminal
Strait View Condominium,
Johor Bahru, Malaysia
View of of place Stadhuys in
Malacca.
Christ Church Melaka
Photo by Hannibal
Transnational coach since it had good services such
as air-conditioned and luxurious coaches, custom
declaration cards. More importantly, I did not need to
change the coach after finishing immigration check at
Singaporean and Malaysian borders. I nearly forget to
tell you that Vietnamese passport holders do not
need a visa to get into Singapore and Malaysia.
Usually you will be allowed to stay in each country for
maximum 30 days (that sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?).
The border area between Singapore and
Malaysia, a city called Johor Bahru, was dead boring.
At first, I was so excited to see a change but there
was pretty much nothing there. What you can expect
is a change from a modern and bright Singapore to a
duller and less developed Malaysia. However, do not
let this feeling spoil your day since Johor Bahru is just
like a rural area in Malaysia.
Melaka (Malacca) is a relatively small city
located on the western edge of Pennisular Malaysia
and on the south of KL. It is less developed than KL
but Melaka people are proud of the city history. Used
to be a trading port where traders from India, China
and other Asian countries arrived, the city has its own
kind of culture. Having also been ruled by the Dutch
and Portuguese in the past, Melaka culture has been
strongly influenced by these two as well.
Sight-seeing is the best thing to do in Melaka.
There are some places I visited and think that they
are worth seeing. One of them is the Christ Church
Melaka. This church was built by the Dutch in 1753
and is still being used now. The area around this
church is beautiful because of its European style and
nice construction planning. I really recommend you to
take a lot of photographs here. From this church, you
can go uphill to another historical site called St Paul
church. It exists only for the tourism purpose but the
nice view of most of the Melaka city from here makes
it score fame. Also from the Christ Church
 Melaka, in the opposite
direction, you will go into a
place that looks like a China
town. There are a handful of
monasteries and Hindi mosques
to see here. Although there is a
heritage trail you can follow to
see all of them, you probably
want to see one or two of each
Trishaw, also known as tricycle rickshaw
type because they are very
or pedicab similar to each other.
Another place to visit is
Proclamation of Independence
Memorial. There are some
remains of what used to be
watch-towers here and there
that are worth some
photographs. There is the
Portuguese Square which is
about 20 minute travelling by
bus from the Melaka Central.
However, it looks more like a
red light district to me and there
is nothing to see or to do there.
Another highlight of
Proclamation of Independence Memorial
Melaka is a means of
transportation called “Trishaw”. I
reckon it is similar to a tuk-tuk
but has no machine attached to
it. It is better to rent one at night
and have the driver take you
around. Please be prepared to
feel excited and/or embarrassed
(it depends on your type of
person) because all the
trishaws are colourfully
Melaka Cuisine
decorated and the drivers will
Photo by Hannibal
play some kinds of funky music
when taking you around. I
remember the one driving my
trishaw always blew the horn
when he saw other trishaws on
the street. It was funny and
quite unique though.
Lastly, how can we
discover a new place without
tasting some local foods? My
hunt for the Melaka cuisine
started right on the night when
we arrived there. My impression
about Melaka cuisine may be
summarized by one word
“FLAT”. People here should
have developed an aversion to
spices or their taste buds are
more sensitive than mine
because all the foods that I
tasted were very flat. However,
the signature dish did not
disappoint me that much. It was
Hainanese Chicken Rice. What
is special about this dish is that
the rice balls are made by
machine. There are fried or
steam chicken for your choice
but I prefer the former one.
There is a word of caution here:
they put a generous amount of
garlic in the rice balls, so be
careful if you are allergic to it.
That is only the first part
of my trip and there are more
things that I would like to share
with you. I am looking forward
to telling you more about my
travelling experience in the next
time.
Hannibal
 Every year, when school starts after a sunny sum-
mer, gradual changes of weather come in the cool breeze
that caresses my cheeks
H e as
a l tI hwalk
a n along
d B e a the
u t ystreet. Autumn

is coming.
When I was a child, I used to look forward to the
special mid-autumn festival just as my younger sister now
does. However, most families could not afford beautiful
lanterns which were considered luxurious at that time.
This year, I no longer long for the day. Time passes
so quickly. Looking at children making preparations for the
festival, I realize how much older I have become; yet in them,
I can see the image of myself in the past.
Sometimes I wonder if there are any other times in
our lives when our dreams are as simple and innocent as
those we had during childhood. When you happily share the
festival with your family, when you've escaped from worries
and conflicts of life in the rope of a Buddhist monk, or even
when you’re homeless and spend your days on the street
When I was a child, I spent this festive day in almost
the same way every year. I would stubbornly ask my mother
to buy moon cakes and sweets which were not as delicious
and attractive as they are now, and which were usually
grabbed and greedily eaten before the evening, before the
full moon could be seen. Lantern was another story. There
was much less variety compared to what we have in the
market today, let alone fancy lanterns that were way out of
my budget. I used to take a washing powder container
which was made of plastic and put a candle inside it, use a small string to give it
a handle, and voila – my handmade lantern. Many lanterns of that kind spent the
night in the hands of children my age with their candles burning bright in the dark.
But do you believe that they could ever light up our dreams?
However, I had never seen a sign of happiness on my mother's face on that
day. Long after that, when I grew up, I found out that at times, to many people, the
moon cake festival was something unnecessarily romantic, something that was
only important to the children, who were still protected from the worries and
difficulties of life.
Nowadays, life is much better when we are provided with chances of en-
tertainment and recreation. Mid-autumn festival has become a joyful time enjoyed
by children and adults alike. Unfortunately, not all children are able to spend this
day in happiness. I think of children in areas suffering from the recent devastating
flood. How are they supposed to greet the festive season with the pain from the
loss of their parents and the damages of their homes? This year, these children
have no chance to enjoy a night of candle light and light up their dreams like oth-
ers in this country. Hopefully, they will soon overcome the pain and be able to
carry on and keep their dreams alive. Hopefully, the moon, a symbol of peace,
will shine on our prayers and good wishes for a better future for the less fortu-
nate.
And may you, my friends, be blessed with a warm and happy festival.
Poinsettian
 Society: Flash floods and landslides in Northern provinces N E W S
The past flash flood triggered by the tropical storm Kammuri was considered to

1 be the biggest one within 22 years in northern mountainous provinces, killing more than
100 people and leaving many others missing and injured. In addition, the historic flood
caused widespread landslides, blocked lots of roads, damaged houses, swept away
cattle and destroyed thousands of hectares of rice. Four worst-hit provinces are Lao
Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Quang Ninh. Heavy rain and high river water levels broke a
2800 meter stretch of dykes, submerging thousands of houses in Phu Tho province. A train departing from
Ha Noi to Lao Cai due to flash floods was also derailed in Yen Bai, holding up two other trains. In the Quang
Ninh coastal, a building under construction was collapsed, killing a local contractor and six workers. Rescue
and relief activities were carried out, bringing clean water and instant noodles to help victims in the flooded
areas. Besides, many people and organizations donated money to help repair the serious damages after
floods.

2
Culture: Festival in Tay Son, Binh Dinh Education: Floor level points for entrance exams

From August 1 to 3 On August 8, The Ministry of Education

August 3 in 2008, a and Training announced the floor level points
spectacular cultural festival for the university entrance exams. Specifically,
was celebrated in Quy Nhon 13 points for group A (Math, Physics,
province with the title “Gather Chemistry) and group D (Math, Literature,
and Develop”. During three English), 14 points for
festive days, all local people group C ( Literature,
as well as tourists were enjoying the truly exciting History, Geography) and
atmosphere of many activities held here. The festival 15 point for group B
was a sacred offer devoted to Quang Trung (Math, Chemistry,
emperor_one of the most renowned kings in Biology). Floor level
VietNam history and started with an impressive score is at least the one
opening ceremony with drum for all universities in our
performances and martial arts, country to set the level points in order to
retracing Tay Son farmers’ recruit students; therefore, with such points
uprising against Chinese Qing above, 500000 students nationwide no longer
occupiers. Besides, there are have a chance to enter universities in 2008. A
many interesting activities number of students achieving marks higher
such as the International than floor level points are 140000 (group A),
competition of Traditional 25000( group B), 22000 (group C), and 37000
Vietnamese Martial Arts, the National Tuong (group D). In comparison with the level marks
(classical drama) Festival, the poetry night to of the universities, those for colleges this year
remember two famous poets Xuan Dieu and Han are 3 points less and there are 220000 college
Mac Tu, the lantern festive night and the food and applicants satisfying this demand. In Vietnam,
drink festival to introduce getting an opportunity to study at university is
specialities of the province, etc. all students’ desire; hence, the entrance exam
Especially, one of the events is always considered to be the rat race and
caught a lot of attention is Miss only truly good students can pass it.
Martial Art pageant with an aim to

4
honor women’s beauty and martial
talent in Binh Dinh. And Bui Thi Petrol prices
Thanh Thao, a student from Quang
After the petrol price increased up to
Trung university, was crowned Miss
19000VND a liter in the last July, on August 5,
Martial Arts after passing three
it was rumored that the gas price was on the
rounds including performances in traditional
verge of being raised again up to 25000VND,
costumes, martial arts costumes and a martial arts
or even 26000VND per liter. This fake
display. Although Binh Dinh firstly held Tay Son
information made a lot of people in HCM city
festival, it has made a particular impression on
and in some other provinces gather at the gas
tourists and succeeded in popularizing province’s
stations to fill up. At 12pm on Tuesday in Binh
traditional values and attracting foreign and
Tan district, hundreds of people were
domestic investments.
 N E W S
queuing at the filling stations to buy gas and even some carried petrol cans for

4 reserve. At around 3pm, the word-of-mouth rumors spread very quickly, such
crowded scenes also happened in districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 10. Gas stations were
crowded till 6pm when the rumor was announced to be false. Few days later, the
price hike rumor was confirmed to start from two gas stations in Binh Huong Hoa
ward, Binh Tan district and authorities here were asked to join with police to find out
the rumormongers who will possibly face tough penalties due to causing market
unrest. Also in August, Ministry of Finance announced that the price retail of petrol
would be decreased from 19000VND to 18000VND a liter and this decision has
been come into effect at 10am on August 14. So within one month, the gas price has been changed so
much due to the effect of world market.

5 Sport: Olympic Games in Beijing

One of the most

Nowadays with the blossom of technology,
people have more chances than ever to own a
outstanding events in camera, in many forms (professional, compact, cell
August is Olympic Games phone or even web cam). And as long as you have a
in Beijing, China. After camera in your hand, you certainly want to take
seven years of preparation extraordinary beautiful pictures, don’t you? Despite the
with billions of dollars, the fact that I’m an amateur cameraman myself, I hope to
Beijing Olympic was help you by collecting various tutorials about
launched at the spectacular opening ceremony in photography with the purpose of taking beautiful
the Bird’s Nest national stadium on 08/08/08-the pictures of yourself (people call that “tự sướng”) or
number eight is considered to be very lucky in friends, family, landscapes or pets… with the available
China. The splendid performances of 15000 equipments.
artists and the colorful fireworks displays in the
three and half hour ceremony successfully In this article, I will propose the importance of
expressed precious layout in taking a good picture. Compare the 2 pictures
values of Chinese
ancient civilization as
well as introduced the
image of integrated and
modern China.
Representative Olympic
spirits are Fuwa serving
as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games. Fuwa embodies four
The first picture captures just exactly what it
China’s most popular
needs; it looks OK but nothing special also.
animals: the Fish, the Panda,
the Tibetan Antelope, the The second one shows you the depth of the
Swallow and the Olympic frame, hence gives a more ‘artistic’ picture. Moreover, it
Flame, carrying the best satisfies the famous “One Third Rule” (applied also to
wishes from China for the sculpture, architecture and painting)
successful Olympic. Sixteen days of Olympic So
Games was the duration of the fierce 1. Let’s divide our photo layout (imagine it by
competitions of athletes coming from more than yourself) in 9 parts by 2 horizontal and 2
200 countries in many sports events such as vertical lines. These lines are called strong
athletics, football, swimming, judo, wrestling,
lines.
gymnastics, shooting, badminton, etc. The host
country has made every effort to hold the
Olympic Games successfully and significantly for
the purpose of promoting friendship,
sportsmanship as well as world peace among
countries.
Christine
 (Continue One Third Rule)
2. The four connection points are called strong
points.
3. All you need to do is to SHIFT your TARGET as
close as possible to STRONG LINES and
STRONG POINTS. Note that TARGET here
does not necessarily mean the whole person or
object. It may be a beautiful eye, cute nose,
wavy hair, whitening teeth… i.e any features or
details that you want to stress their
importance.
Here are some more well-taken pictures to
illustrate the . By applying this tip, you’ve
already set foot in the world of photography. Have fun
with your pictures
Fanronaldo There’s a huge variety that not everyone can
After waking up at 6 in the morning, Mr.
Dung packs up his stuff and goes to work as a
distributor, representing a branch of Saigon Petrol
Company to deliver hundreds of gas tanks to small
retailers. The job may sound simple, but
challenges stay underneath.
His daily route can differ
each day, depending on the
number of destinations. While a
normal deliverer usually rides a
bike with one to three tanks
Normal deliverer behind his back to families who
order, a gas distributor has to drive a truck
carrying about 100 to 200 tanks to many
scheduled retailers. Going with him are two other
co-workers. Every morning, before gearing up, the
three men have to load the truck. Just imagine
25kg each multiplies 200, then divide the result
into 3, not to mention the second loading in the
afternoon, and you will know
how hard the job is.
Mr Dung has been
working at this job for about 5
years. Like any other jobs, a
distributor is required to have
specific skills and knowledge.
In the following interview, Mr
Dung shares some background information.
- Interviewer (I): In your
opinion, what takes the most
time in learning to do this job?
- Mr. Dung: It is the
classification of gas tanks
which is actually not very
familiar to many users. For example: Family (a
brand, which stands for Gas for Family), VT, SP,
BP, Shell Gas, Eff, UP, Picnic, Petrolimex, etc.
notice.
- I: Which one of them is the most used by family?
- Mr. Dung: Certainly it is Family.
- I: Can you give more
information about it?
- Mr. Dung: The tank weighs
12kg, while the liquid (inside)
weighs 13kg. So in total, it
weighs 25kgs. However, a
Family tank can be up to 45kg. In
Saigon, people often use SP, Eff,
Petrolimex, or Family while in
some other provinces, a lot more
must be counted in.
- I: How can we compare the
quality among them?
- Mr. Dung: Quite hard to say.
However, Saigon Petrol’s gas
seems to be the standard one.
You may consider the flame’s
color right after buying a new
tank. It should be flat blue. Try
not to judge the quality simply by
observing the tanks, or the
brands, since all tanks are quite
the same, and brands can be
faked.
- I: Why would you recommend
Saigon Petrol?
- Mr. Dung: SaiGon Petrol offers
good service. They collect tanks
to check the enduring quality
after the safety period expires.
On visiting the
warehouse Mr Dung was in
charge of, we were amazed by
thousands of tanks stored in
there. Trucks are the only mean
to transport tanks to small
retailers. In Ho Chi Minh City,
he said, the pickup truck load capacity can be
only 1 ton or a bit more, while it can be up to
2.5 to 5 tons in provinces outside the city. To
load a 5-ton truck, it may take one hour of
three men’s continuous work. “It can be
dangerous sometimes, as you may hurt
yourself while loading,” the men laughed, “we
are hardly able to do anything else after work
‘cause we’re all worn out.”
“There are many famous branches of
Gasoline Companies that people may not
notice, but indeed, we should know them,” Mr.
Dung suggested. According to him, Dai
Quang Minh is the strongest branch of SaiGon
Petrol in SaiGon, and going after it is Tan Hai
Viet. Branches in Dong Nai & Binh Duong
include Tan Quyen, Nguyen Khoa, Bao Anh,
Sau An, and Huong Khiem. And what makes
them the solid retailers is the number of tanks
they store in their warehouses, which plays an
important part in their business.
About 2 years ago, the price was quite
firm, thank to the government’s subsidization.
But now it fluctuates every month, depending
on the world market.
Customers are choosier day by day;
and to increase the sale, these three men
must take longer trips. “Sometimes we have to
drive to Da Lat city, 300 km from our houses,
to deliver tanks. The distance is so far; but
once the order comes late, we got complaint
right away. We drive back and forth without
stopping, just an hour for lunch, two times
loading the truck with 5 tons each time,” they
laughed the tiredness away, “we won’t be able
do this blue-collar job in the long run, for
sure..”
Nevertheless, they admit that they will
have to stay with the job at least for the next
few years. It’s a must to them, though it’s
tough, to earn a living these days.
Jenny
Photos:
Credits
All photos which are used
in the magazine are either
provided by freelance writers or
taken from websites as following:
Many thanks to our contributors
—----------------------
Birthday Note
Vietbao.vn Editor Team We’d like to send our
Imageshack.us Ms. Thanh Thao best wishes to anyone of us,
Vnexpress.net Ms. Nham T. Ngoc who was born in August. Let
Dalat.gov.vn Ms. Thanh Truc me say: Congratulations!
Xitrum.net
Ms. Minh Chau
Photospot2004.blogspot.com Ok, let me sing a song
Tinhte.com
—---------------------- for you, as my gift ...
Netfiles.uiuc.edu Freelance Writer Team
Thisisworld.com Hannibal
Freefoto.com Poinsettian
Farm3.static.flickr.com Christine
And many others. Fanronaldo
Jenny

Mr . Heart
WT Edition Contact: Your contribution is highly
Website: www.watavn.com appreciated. Unluckily, I have no medal
to grant you. Perhaps some ... candies?
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