Mixed feelings as hcmc parents consider kindergarten reopening vnexpress international

HCMC is home to more than 20 schools that teach bilingual programs or programs of the U.K., U.S., Canada, and Australia. For the upcoming academic year, most schools have raised their tuition fee by VND15-40 million ($650-1,730) per year against the 2021-2022 school year. Among those that have announced enrollments, the school fees for kindergartens remain around VND100-300 million per year, elementary schools at VND150-500 million per year, and secondary-high schools at VND200-700 million per year. Depending on different schools, the listed fee could or not include funds for books, uniforms, insurance, and extracurricular activities. HCMC has around 2,300 schools, including 1,300 public schools, with the rest all private. Among the private schools, 900 are kindergartens, 100 inter-level schools that comprise classes from first to 12th grades, and more than 20 international schools. As for the tuition fee of public schools, the fee of secondary schools in the inner-city … [Read more...] about Highest int’l school fee in HCMC to hit $32,500

Four members in the family were found unconscious inside their apartment in Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward of Thu Duc City by their neighbors. As the family usually got up early in the morning, with the parents selling goods at Tan Dinh Market in District 1, their neighbors found it unsual that their apartment remained close at 6 a.m. and no one answered the door. After smashing the door, the neighbors reported the situation to local police and took all four people to hospital but the father Luong Van Kien, 45, his wife, 44, and their 16-year-old son did not survive. The daughter, 23, is still under treatment at Cho Ray Hospital in District 5. The family had migrated from the central Ninh Thuan Province and stayed in HCMC for five years now. Nguyen Van Cuong, a neighbor, said Kien and his wife made a living by steaming fish at night and selling them at the market the next morning. The couple used a charcoal stove to steam the fish and placed the stove right in front of their … [Read more...] about Parents, son killed by coal poisoning in HCMC

A 500-m section of To Ngoc Van Street was submerged, causing motorcyclists to pull over to the side to prevent their engines from being flooded. Hoang Anh, 21, pushes his motorbike along in the swirling waters. Time for a spark plug change, it appears. A man rides his scooter through a flooded section. Five kilometers away from To Ngoc Van Street, the Thao Dien area, home to an expat community, was also inundated. Two students wade through the waters in Thao Dien Ward after school. The girl on the bicycle, a sixth grader, said, "Luckily I ride a bicycle to school because most of my friends are still stuck at school since their parents pick them up by motorbike and could not make it." A foreign man walks home with shoes around his neck. He was coming by a ride-hailing motorbike, but the driver dropped him in the middle of the street … [Read more...] about Heavy rains drown parts of HCMC

While many chase a "perfect" life, they do not anticipate the pressure that comes with it, and are mentally ill-equipped to deal with the psychological stress. Those that do not see a way out end up taking their own lives as a means to the end. Our mind is a judging machine. When we experience something, usually our mind automatically thinks it's good, or bad. If the experience is pleasant, our mind hangs on to that feeling, and we want more of it. If the experience is unpleasant, we will try to hide, resist, and escape. And all other feelings are judged as "neutral", so we tend to forget it. There's nothing wrong with these judgments. It's natural for the mind to judge. Sometimes, these judgments are helpful. They can help us to understand why we like to do certain things, and why something makes us upset. The problem starts when we allow our mind to judge automatically too often and too much. We must always have a balance in everything. Sometimes too much of a good thing is not … [Read more...] about We need to be mindful parents

The People’s Committee of HCMC has delegated the municipal Department of Education and Training to build a plan on tuition fee exemption in the academic year 2022-2023. The HCMC Department of Education and Training previously announced a draft plan on new tuition fees that are expected to be applied for public kindergarten and high school levels from the academic year 2022-2023 in the city. Last year, the People’s Council of HCMC approved financial aid for students of public kindergarten and high school levels in the city in the 2021-2022 school year. The assistance aims to help students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department of Education and Training will continue to propose a policy on the exemption of school fee for students of secondary schools to the municipal authorities in order to reduce the burden on parents. Back-to-School season is bringing additional financial burdens for parents. The department will consider when deciding on the … [Read more...] about HCMC proposes not to raise tuition fees from academic year 2022-2023

But people around the 24-year-old, who is admittedly at the higher end of the range, call her "sumo." Nguyen, who used to love munching on snacks and sipping boba milk tea in the evening, admits: "I act as if I don’t care, but I'm still a girl and such a label triggers in me a subconscious fear of becoming fat." The office worker in HCMC's District 7 tries not to let others’ negative comments bother her, but has nevertheless grown tired of people’s criticism. Her weight and eating habits have become "semi-public" with family members often criticizing her appearance during the Lunar New Year, and friends constantly pushing her to lose weight. As a result her self-esteem has plummeted, she says. The shame and guilt caused by others has pushed her into action. She spends the better part of the day in front of a computer screen and is not physically active, and so has embarked on a strict eat-clean diet in the hope of losing two to three kilograms this summer. "I am not … [Read more...] about Thin-skinned souls work hard to keep bodies slim and fit

"The first thing I used to do after waking up was to open my crypto wallet and check how much money I gained or lost," the Hanoi-based cryptocurrency trader says. Every day his account would fluctuate by a few to dozens of dollars, and he says his investment of US$1,000 at the end of last year would sometimes hover around $1,500. Then it dropped to below $900 a week ago. "I thought I had been hacked, but when I looked at the tokens in my wallet, they were still there but all in the 'red'." Another precipitous drop took the value to around $600 on May 10, and he decided to delete the trading app and stop looking at the market. "I unfollowed some cryptocurrency groups and removed related apps." Le Minh of HCMC says he recently deleted all cryptocurrency-related apps from his phone. When prices plunged last week he decided to sell some tokens that he thought had little potential and used the few hundred dollars to buy Bitcoin. But within a few days Bitcoin and others in his … [Read more...] about Investors delete cryptocurrency trading apps as prices crash

She was recently admitted to the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Hanoi in critical condition. Dr Phan Chi Thanh of the hospital’s department of examination says patients like Mai could require a hysterectomy and face the risk of no longer being able to have children if not treated promptly. When Mai and her high school boyfriend discovered she was pregnant, they were both confused and scared, and decided to get an abortion done at an illegal clinic. But the pregnancy was already too advanced and the procedure was done at an unsanitary facility. Thanh says many adolescents do not want to get abortions done at public hospitals and so go to unlicensed clinics or do it by themselves at deserted places to prevent others from finding out. After having sex without a condom at the age of 14, Nguyen Ngoc Ha Mai developed bumps on her body and the doctor diagnosed her as having genital warts, a sexually transmitted disease. Mai’s boyfriend did not get the disease at … [Read more...] about Adolescents engage in early sexual activities at ‘alarming’ rate

Duong Thuy Vi performs in the jianshu event of SEA Games 31 in Hanoi on Friday. She is considered the golden girl of Vietnamese wushu, who often claims gold for Vietnam in SEA Games and Asian Games. Vi solidified herself as one of the most successful Vietnamese wushu athletes with two world titles, one Asian Games gold and six SEA Games gold, including two at the ongoing Games. Tran Thi Kieu Trang competes in the jianshu event. The girl from Quang Ninh Province said that she developed a passion for wushu after watching other athletes perform on TV. Wushu is a soft, hard and mixed martial art originated from China. Its events are performed using compulsory or individual routines. Before the performance, the athletes must first register for difficulty level A, B or C. In the freestyle event, the referee will give the score based on difficulty and the skill of the athletes. … [Read more...] about SEA Games: The beauty of Vietnamese wushu

He first goes out for a five-kilometer jog, returns home to work for an hour or two and then has some spare time before resuming work in the afternoon. Though his days are productive, for the 30-year-old software engineer in HCMC, working remotely for U.S.-based software company Acumatica gives him much greater flexibility than a traditional office job. As more and more global companies look to developing economies for skilled English-proficient workers at relatively lower salaries, in Vietnam, many young people like Dang are embracing the opportunity to acquire a whole new working experience. "The only difficulty is the different time zones," Dang, who has been working for Acumatica for four years as a regional product engineer, says. Every day, after meeting online with the North American team at 5 a.m, Dang also meets his colleagues in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines at 7 a.m. and in India and Sri Lanka at 5 p.m. Huynh Minh Dang during a business trip to … [Read more...] about Working remotely for foreign employers opens up dynamic lifestyle