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Vietnamese woman shares story after surviving week in wilderness

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Nguyen Thi Bich Lien, a resident of Hanoi who survived after spending a week lost in the wild, shared her story with Tien Phong (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday in the hope of motivating others to maintain a sense of purpose in life and equip themselves with survival skills.

Welcoming a Tien Phong reporter into her home in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, the 59-year-old woman said that she would always remember the seven days she spent lost in the wild after falling down a 30-meter cliff at Dong Pagoda, part of the Yen Tu national relic on the namesake mountain in northern Quang Ninh Province.

Lien was visiting a friend in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province on April 27 when she made the spontaneous decision to come to Yen Tu.

“My husband and I often go out for a few days at a time without telling each other, so I didn’t think twice before leaving [for Yen Tu],” Lien said. 

“I definitely didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did.”

Surviving on rice cakes, water, leaves, ferns

Lien took a bus from Ha Long to Yen Tu around the midday of April 27 and had lunch at the national relic site, before buying a cable car ticket to Dong Pagoda.

After praying, she began following a group of visitors down the mountain, but eventually stopped to take a break alone. 

When she stood up again, she got dizzy, lost her balance, and fell down a 30-meter cliff.

When she finally recovered, she heard someone’s voice and tried to shout for help, but she fell further down the cliff.

Worried that trying to climb back up would be dangerous, Lien simply did her best to hang, but the weight of her body pulled her further down. 

Nguyen Thi Bich Lien shows wounds on her arms at her house in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, May 4, 2022. Photo: Thanh Chung / Tien Phong

Nguyen Thi Bich Lien shows wounds on her arms at her house in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, May 4, 2022. Photo: Thanh Chung / Tien Phong

Eventually, she was able to grab a hold of some bamboo and pull herself over to a stone slab where she could rest and begin calling for help.

According to Lien, it was very rainy and foggy, with visibility only about two meters. 

She was wet, cold, and utterly dirty. 

Fortunately, she was able to use a rope to tie enough bamboo to the stone slab to protect herself from the rain. 

She also used plastic bags to cover her head, body, arms, and legs. 

For food and water, the woman was able to survive off the rice cakes and water that she had brought with her to the temple, as well as discarded water bottles that previous visitors had thrown down the cliff.

“In addition to scavenging, I picked leaves and ferns to eat,” Lien recalled.

“By the third day, I was almost finished with my rice cakes and water. 

“Luckily, just as I was going out to scavenge, someone heard my cries for help.”

Nguyen Thi Bich Lien shows wounds on her arms and legs at her house in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, May 4, 2022. Photo: Thanh Chung / Tien Phong

Nguyen Thi Bich Lien shows wounds on her arms and legs at her house in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, May 4, 2022. Photo: Thanh Chung / Tien Phong

‘I’m not making this up’

“I’m still somewhat panicked thinking about the incident,” Lien said.

“At the boundary of life and death, I just tried to save myself and find ways to survive.”

According to Lien, the only thing she could do was remind herself: “Don’t give up” and “Make it home to your husband and children.”

Lien’s shouts were eventually heard by an officer managing the national relic on Tuesday morning.

The woman repeatedly affirmed that her story is true, and even has her cable car ticket from April 27 as proof.  

“The ticket and security camera footage prove my journey,” Lien stated.

“I didn’t pick up the ticket to make up a story.

“I don’t have any motives to think up such a story to attract unwanted attention and thus to trade my family’s peaceful life.

“No one would make it up to put their family in crisis.”

The woman added that she shared her survival story in the hope of motivating others to maintain a sense of purpose in life and equip themselves with survival skills.

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Source: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20220506/vietnamese-woman-shares-story-after-surviving-week-in-wilderness/66985.html

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Belgian parliamentarian André Flahaut presents gifts to AO victims in Vietnam

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Belgian parliamentarian André Flahaut on November 30 handed over to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels four wheelchairs and four walkers as gifts to Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) victims in the central province of Quang Tri.

Belgian parliamentarian Andre Flahaut presents gifts to AO victims in Vietnam hinh anh 1Belgian parliamentarian André Flahaut (middle), Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao (R) and Tran To Nga, an oversea Vietnamese in France and an AO victim at the ceremony to hand over the gifts (Photo: VNA)

Brussels – Belgian parliamentarian André
Flahaut on November 30 handed over to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels four
wheelchairs and four walkers as gifts to Agent Orange/dioxin (AO) victims in
the central province of Quang Tri.

Ambassador Nguyen Van Thao thanked Flahaut for the warm
sentiments that he and the group of Belgian parliamentarians sponsoring a resolution on support for Vietnamese AO victims approved by the Belgian parliament in October, have shown towards
Vietnamese AO victims.

The diplomat highly appreciated the efforts and
contributions that Flahaut has made, together with other parliamentarians,
organisations and individuals in Belgium as well as international friends, to
assist AO victims in Vietnam.

For his part, Flahaut affirmed that he will exert
every effort to bring good things to AO victims in Vietnam with the hope that they
will have a better life.

The Belgian lawmaker showed his delight at the growing ties
between Belgium and Vietnam over the years with many high-ranking visits, most
recently the Belgium visit by Vietnamese National Assembly Vice Chairman Tran
Thanh Man.

Flahaut used to be President of the Belgian Chamber
of Representatives. In December 2021, he submitted to the Belgian parliament a
resolution on supporting AO victims in Vietnam, which was approved by the Belgian
Chamber of Representatives on October 5 with 100% approval votes. The Belgian parliament is the first parliament in the world to adopt a resolution supporting AO victims./.

Source: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/belgian-parliamentarian-andre-flahaut-presents-gifts-to-ao-victims-in-vietnam/272144.vnp

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In Vietnam, restaurant returns mistakenly transferred money

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A restaurant in Thanh Hoa Province, north-central Vietnam has found a customer who mistakenly transferred VND270 million (US$11,140) for a VND270,000 ($11.1) meal to return the spare amount, the restaurateur said on Thursday.

Hoang Hiep, the owner of Lan Ngan Restaurant in Thanh Hoa City under the namesake province, had earlier asked for netizens’ and media agencies’ help to find the customer who made the error.

On Thursday afternoon, the customer, named H.T.T.T., 40, residing in Nghi Son Town, Thanh Hoa Province, contacted the restaurant after reading its notification on social media and in newspapers.

T. had returned to Vietnam after working in Taiwan and had lunch at Lan Ngan Restaurant on Friday last week.

When making the payment, she was not aware that she had transferred VND270 million to the restaurant’s account.

Her personal information and the money transfer time coincided with those of the customer transferring the money to the restaurant.

The restaurant also checked its CCTV footage to confirm that T. was the customer that it was seeking.

The restaurateur asked her to come to a local police station to receive the money on Friday morning.

Hiep said that many imposters had contacted his restaurant attempting to take the money.

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Source: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20231201/in-vietnam-restaurant-returns-mistakenly-transferred-money/77037.html

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Vietnam, France share experience in modernising public services

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Representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs and the French Ministry of Public Transformation and Service exchanged experience in modernising public services, reforming administrative procedures, and raising digital transformation capacity, at a symposium in Hanoi on November 30.

Vietnam, France share experience in modernising public services hinh anh 1A view of the symposium. (Photo: VNA)


Hanoi –
Representatives from the
Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs and the French Ministry of Public
Transformation and Service exchanged experience in modernising public services,
reforming administrative procedures, and raising digital transformation capacity, at a symposium in Hanoi on November 30.

The event formed part of the cooperation activities
between the two ministries to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-France
diplomatic relations and the 10 years of the bilateral strategic partnership.

In her opening remarks, Minister of Home Affairs Pham
Thi Thanh Tra stressed that Vietnam always advocates accelerating administrative
reform and the modernisation of public services, considering this a
breakthrough for national development.

Administrative reform must serve the interests of
people and businesses, placing their legal and legitimate rights and interests at
the centre, and promoting innovation, for rapid, sustainable national
development, the official stressed.

Tra expressed her belief that the symposium will
contribute to tightening the friendship and cooperation between the two
countries, saying the two ministries will carry forward their cooperation
outcomes and enhance experience sharing in the time ahead.

French Minister of Public Transformation and Service
Stanislas Guérini pointed to challenges regarding demography, digital transformation
and ecology, noting that both France and Vietnam face demography-related issues
given their declining birth rates and aging populations, which requires the
sector to take suitable changes.

For digital transformation, the minister said that it
has brought about great opportunities to French administrative agencies in
particular and others around the world.

Participating experts, scientists, and managers
from Vietnam and France evaluated achievements, as well as challenges in public
service modernisation, administrative reform, and digital transformation
capacity improvement in both nations.

They shared experiences, new models and policy
orientations to work towards building a professional, modern, streamlined,
effective, and efficient administrative sector./.

Source: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnam-france-share-experience-in-modernising-public-services/272141.vnp

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