A large range of locally made Christmas gifts and ornaments is available in shops around HCM City. Supermarkets, restaurants and hotels have announced special deals and discounts, including food, music, fashion and magic shows, for customers during the Christmas and New Year week. VNS Photo Phương MaiViet Nam News By Thu Anh HCM CITY — While many people are choosing ornaments for Christmas trees and gifts for relatives and friends, their children have only one thing in mind: Santa Claus and the gifts he will bring. In HCM City, many supermarkets, shops, restaurants and shopping malls are offering customers free delivery of gifts from Santa during the Christmas week. "Being Santa Claus is not easy," said Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, a second-year student at the HCM City University of Law, who delivered gifts to the homeless and children with disabilities last year. "We face many difficulties. Traffic problems means Santa can arrive late. Adults and … [Read more...] about Being Santa Claus: it’s a tough gig in HCM City
Hcm city hotel
HCM City appropriates controversial land plot
The HCM City People’s Committee has decided to repossess a 5,000sq.m. plot of land on Lê Duẩn Street in District 1 saying it was sold in violation of Land Law provisions.– Photo dantri.com.vn HCM CITY – The HCM City People’s Committee has decided to repossess a 5,000sq.m. plot of land on Lê Duẩn Street in District 1 saying it was sold in violation of Land Law provisions. The Government Inspectorate had recommended the appropriation following a thorough inspection of the transaction. The plot, stretching from numbers 8 to 12 Lê Duẩn Street and at the junction of three major streets in the downtown area, was public land originally leased to four companies belonging to the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2007. The ministry reportedly asked to buy the land but the city refused. The People’s Committee decided that a five-star hotel and a mall would be built on it instead. In 2009 then vice chairman Nguyễn … [Read more...] about HCM City appropriates controversial land plot
Water-bus services prove popular in HCM City
Water buses on the Sài Gòn River in HCM City. — VNS File Photo Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The city’s water buses provided services to about 900,000 passengers in the first 11 months of the year, up by 155 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to the HCM City Department of Transport. Trần Quang Lâm, deputy director of the department, said in the first 10 months of the year, the water bus Route No 1 provided services to 276,000 passengers, or about 780 passengers per day. The number of services provided by the water buses on Route No 1 rose from 18 in the first and second quarters to 26 in the third and fourth quarters. The time periods from 8:30am-11am and 3pm-5pm saw the most passengers. Under the city water bus plan approved in 2015, the water bus Route No 1, which is 10.8km long, runs through nine wharves from Bạch Đằng Wharf on Sài Gòn River in District 1, through Thanh Đa Canal to … [Read more...] about Water-bus services prove popular in HCM City
Four senior HCM City officials charged with land management violations
Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The former vice chairman of HCM City was detained on Saturday for alleged violations in his handling of a State-owned 5000sq.m. prime land lot in the city’s downtown district. Over the weekend, the investigation unit of the Ministry of Public Security started legal proceedings against Nguyễn Thành Tài, 66, who served as vice chairman and then permanent vice chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee in the 2001-10 and 2010-15 periods. Police announced that Tài, together with three other senior officials of HCM City’s Natural Resources and Environment Department – Nguyễn Hoài Nam, 53, Secretary of the District 2 Party Committee and former head of the department’s land management office; Trương Văn Út, 48, former deputy head of the land management office; and Đào Anh Kiệt, 61, the department’s former director – were charged with … [Read more...] about Four senior HCM City officials charged with land management violations
Italian Cuisine Week celebrated in HCM City
Italian Cuisine Week is being celebrated in HCM City to introduce the cultural values of the European nation. — VNS File Photo.Viet Nam News HCM CITY — Italian Cuisine Week is being celebrated in HCM City to introduce the cultural values of the European nation. Organised by the Italian consulate in the city and to run until November 29, the event includes Italian chefs, food tasting and dinners, cultural events, conferences, and commercial promotion programmes. It began with the “Learning by Eating the Italian Way” seminar on November 16. The “Triple I Conversation on the Theme of Food Business” seminar will be held at the consulate on November 23, and the “Borsa Vini” exhibition at The Reverie Saigon hotel on November 26. Many thematic dinners are planned in collaboration with restaurants and hotels in the city like Namo Tuscan Grill, Bamboo Chic Restaurant, The Reverie Saigon’s Romeo and Juliet Restaurant, and the Park Hyatt … [Read more...] about Italian Cuisine Week celebrated in HCM City