a very good party

Today,my parents and me went to a party of sacombank.It was so fun and helpful.I met many important people who work for my country's bank...They are very famous.All of customers are rich people and they have good business.I was very interested.Sacombank is a big bank in my country and they have branch around my country,they also have branch in oversea...I also met important people who work for my city and my coutry.They can control my country's finance...Also i met boss of big bank in asian ...improve my english...hehehe....Today is a lucky and happy in my life...

busy day

Today I had a good trip to Korean material's factory with my brother.It is really good for my business.I learned so much from them...I know how to choose good material, which kinds of them...I have known it before but i think it helps me improve my education ...

Gym again ...haizzz.Now i go there everyday.My body is better.It is a wonderful place...I can meet famous people and have more friends...They are so friendly and nice.In there i also met many business people ,It helps me find partners and have more information to improve my business idea....good day....

'Flying' T-shirt Store

'Flying 'T-shirt hear so great...It attracts young customer so much...If i can , i'll buy one to try the feeling.It also look good and comfortable for young customers.

It can fly above customer's heads so the price of them is not cheap too.One T-shirt is 30 pounds.It is too expensive for young people but for people who want to try this feeling is no problems...

I think this product is a unique product so it is difficult to be their partner...With their price ,i think they just buy 1 T -shirt ans share with their friends.We also need a location to keep our product .We will cost for store....I think this product is good but it just is interesting a short time....I think it is good for fashion...The looking of them is suitable for fashion clothes...

The SOS Helmet

It is dangerous when you fall down from a high places or when you are riding a bicycle / motorbike.It will be better if you have a good helmet.It will safe your life and your head.
This product is popular because a lot of people use bike/motorbike/go climbing...It has wide market and we just need a location and sell it by internet or shop.But the bad thing now is public transport is more popular and cheaper.Anyways we also will have customers.This product also has many competitors because it is a old idea....

Laughter Yoga

Yoga is a new physical education.Now it is very famous and popular.A lot of people do it.It is very good for our health and our bodies .I tried and all of my family members do it.I felt very wonderful and relax after i finished...It makes you relax cause you be friendly with everybody around.
In some first days, you will be tired and can't move your body because it is so hurt.But after that,you will have a great feeling.
I think this physical education will be more popular ...If i have time ,i will do it again ...wonderful exercise!!!

Sonic Barrier Burglar Alarm

If you have a big company or a big house, it is difficult to protect your house with the criminals.It is very wonderful ,if we have a security product cover all of your house your company.You will reduce money to hide security guides .You can sleep well at night.This product will help you with your problem:
It is unlike a conventional burglar.It will make the criminals feel chest pains,vertigo and nausea by generating frequencies at around 125 dB...
It is a good product.We will have a lot of customers ...But the bad thing here is when we don't have electricity, it won't work ...We must control this critical point...We also have a factory to produce them or sigh the contract with their owners.We also partner to help us show our product widely....

LED Light Incapacitator

Security is important for all of companies nowadays.This product is one of equipments to protect them with criminals.The criminals will feel disoriented and nauseous and no permanent side effects result from this defensive device...It is really good to reduce the criminals.
The market for this product is also large.The customer maybe is companies,office apartments , banks or government...Starting a business is a difficult thing because we need a big fund and a large location to put our product and need show room to sell it .We can sigh a contract with another partner to reduce funds and we 'll reduce risks when we have problem...

Charity vending machines

Everywhere in the world, every people are thinking about charity.We can see on the street some people are helping charity or in the supermarkets, restaurants,shops,... we can see the box for putting money to help charity...
This product is very good and necessary.But i think this product only helpful for charities, pressure groups.I think this is not a business idea...but I am very interested by this product...

Heinz bean bars

Drinking beer with heinz bean is a crazy idea. I don't know how about Europe but in Asian no one do like that.I think Heinz bean just use for dinner or lunch.They don't use that for drinking.I think if i can ,i won't start a business with this product.It really wastes money and no one will buy them.....Bad idea...

BAby clothes rentals

Babies grow very fast so their parents spend so much money to buy their clothes.A round the world every day, we don't know how many money waste in that.Why don't we open a shop for rent clothes?It will be a new business and i think it'll have a lots of customer.I think to open that shop we only need a few funds.We need money to buy children clothes and washing machine to wash clothes they refund clothes rental.
Children clothes are not expensive so we can produce them or buy from a factory.I think we buy a big numbers cause the price will be cheaper or we can sigh the contract.
Every one who want to rent our clothes, they must pay deposit for clothes.This is good for protecting our products.Anyways, This is a good business idea...

Sun Screen Vending MAchine

Beach trip is a wonderful time to feel fresh air and relax.Sometimes you feel so hot and want to have cold water to reduce hot. It is great if there is a machine near you.This one of them:


The price for 1 time to use it is not expensive (1 $).We also can put it anywhere on the beach.But the thing here is difficult to have many consumers because there are a lots competitors.E.g public toilet,maybe it is free when use it in there.Anyways, i think this product also have customers and we can start a business with that.We must be serious about the money in the machine because this is a machine so someone can steal money.Security is very important thing for this product....

90 second dual pizza oven

Every night when we are studying ,we feel hungry.It will be wonderful if we have a hot pizza.The difficult here is we must wait a long time to cook pizza.Now it won't happen if we have this machine:
This 1440-watt high -speed oven certainly fits that criterion.One of the mantras of successful small business initiatives is to 'do it faster' than another competitors.It make us easier to start a business. The problem here is it uses 1440-watt high-speed :it is faster but it also waste more electricity.It also expensive about: $249.95 for 1 machine.I think just the restaurant or food shop and school's kitchen will buy it....

recycling vending machine

Everyday,a billion billion trash are though out into environment.That the reason causes the environment is worse .We need technological to design a lots machines help to reduce it.This is one of them :

This product helps recycle easier and quickly,it also help classify trash to reduce the price for recycling trash.People will improve their knowledge about protect environment.But i think start a business with this machine is more difficult than anther product.The customers for this product only companies or apartment offices.No family will buy this.This also only use in public place where government want to improve environment.Therefore ,the customers for this product are government and companies...Anyways, it is a good product....

Ice cream Vending machine

Ice cream is a favorite of many people around the world...It will be great if in summer day you can try a ice cream...It will be upset if you can't find the ice cream shop or waiting a long time because have a lot of people buy it.This product will answer for all of those problems.The good thing about this product is it has up to 12 flavours and 6 mix-ins at one machine...We can put this machine anywhere we want, but the dangerous thing is someone will steal ice cream cause this is a machine.Security is a biggest problem we must thing.
Anyways,this is a very great machine...I like it...It will be welcome by a lots people ,especial children....And the small thing about their website is so nice, it makes consumer want to have ice cream now.It is so beautiful and colorful...

In-Store surfing Simulator

This product is great for people who love activity in water.We also use it on cruise and in the water theme parks.The flowrider uses pressurized water to create an indoor surfing simulation experience with wakeboards.
The good thing about this product is we can sign the contract and fix or change it easily .Anyway, i think if they down the price cheaper ,they will have more consumer.With their price,100$ for 1 month;324$ for 6 months;673.20$for 12 months and 20$ for 1 session, it is still expensive for people who have normal income.I think they can find the cheap material from cheap country or sign contract with factory has cheap price ...
Finally, this product is very interesting for action people ,especial young people...

oh ef's wifi

It is so slow and i can use it in my room.If i want to use ,i must go to Lex's room or somewhere in my residence(e.g toilet,bathroom or sit on the floor).It is so crazy...haizzzz.I can't do anything without internet now...Let be better ef's wifi...pleaseeeeeee.....

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Accounting and finance AS level ̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣(1)

Break-even chart:a line graph showing total revenue and costs at all possible levels of output or demand, i.e. at every point from an output of zero through to maximum capacity. This enable the reader to see at a glance the profit at any output level that interests them( ̣by looking at the vertical difference between revenue and costs).
The chart comprises three lines:fixed costs, total costs and total revenue.They are plotted with pounds on the vertical axis and output on the horizontal axis.
Fixed costs: form a horizontal straight line
Total costs:line starts at fixed costs and rises as a diagonal straight line
Total revenue: line start at đ and rises as a diagonal straight line
To construct the chart, first set out a grid with the following headings:
Quantity
Revenue
Variable costs
Fixed costs
Total costs
In the quantity column should be no more than three figures:

1. 0 units
2. Maximum output ̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣̣(which might have to be assumed)
   
3. A convenient point between them( probably halfway)

Break -event point:the intersection of total revenue and total cost on a break-even chart.It can be calculated without drawing the chart as shown below:
Formula:
Break-even output=fixed costs: contribution per unit
selling price-variable cost

Marketing AS level-top 30 revision terms(6)

Quantitative research:means research using pre-set questions among a large enough sample size to provide statistically valid date. In practical terms that means using a questionnaire to poll at least 200 consumers within each segment of a market. It is a way of discovering date such as:

• a product' s consumer profile
• the way a market can be segmented
• probable sales at a given price level
• estimated sales of a new product
• the results of a blind product test

Large firms tend to use group discussions (see qualitative research) to help understand customer views and then write a questionnaire based upon them.Interviewers can then be employed to conduct the survey upon a representative sample of the population. The three main ways of drawing a sample are: random,quota and stratified.
Sample:a group of respondents to a market research exercise selected to be representative of the views of the target market as a whole. There are four main methods of sampling:random , quota, stratified and cluster. In consumer research, the quota sample is the one used most commonly.
Secondary date:is information collected from second-hand sources such as reference books, government statistics or market intelligence reports.Such date can provide information on market size and market trends for most product categories. It may be accessible publicly and therefore free, but is in any case not as expensive to gather as primary date.See the entries for: Annual Abstract of Statistics, Business Monitors, Economic Trends, Economist Intelligence Unit, employers' association, Mintel.
Significance testing:checking the statistical validity of a sample result, usually in relation to an objective of 95% certainty. An example would be checking whether a 54% preference for product A is statistically significant compared with the 46% choice for product B. If the sample size is very small, this difference is of no significance since it can be explained by purely random factors.
Unique selling point (USP):the feature of a product that can be focused on in order to differentiate it from all competition. The USP should be based on a real product characteristic, such as the advertising slogan used by Mars for one of their chocolate bars:'topic - a hazelnut in every bite'. Stronger still are USPs based on a patented technical advantage.Many firms, however , attempt to create USPs that are based purely on advertising imagery.This can be effective (better to be the sexiest chocolate bar than the hazelnutties) but usually at the cost of extensive TV advertising support.(See product differentiation).

Marketing AS level-top 30 revision terms(5)

Primary research:is the gathering of first- hand date that is tailor-made to a firm' s own products, customers or markets.This is carried out by fieldwork, whereas secondary (second-hand) date is gathered by desk research.
Product differentiation:is the extent to which consumers perceive one product as being different from its rivals.A highly differentiated product is one which people think pf as so distinctive that it has no acceptable substitutes.With low differentiation, a product would be one among many,with many direct, acceptable competitors.As a result, products with weak differentiation need to charge relatively low price in order to hold their market share.
There are two main sources of product differentiation:

• Actual product advantages, such as better design, better manufacture and higher quality standards
• Psychological factors such as branding and advertising.

Product life cycle:the theory that all products follow a similar life course of conception, birth,growth, maturity and decline, although products pass through these stages at different speeds.The modern cigarette was born in 1872 and sales peaked in 1973 (implying a product life cycle of around 200 years), whereas the entire sales life span of Pokemon cards was three years.
Factor affecting the length of a product's life cycle:

• Durability:if the item need be bought only once (such as a sandwich toaster) then market saturation can hit demand, as all those who want the item, have it
  
• Fashion: if the item's sales grew because of fashion , it is likely that they will die quite quickly, for the same reason
• Technological charge can be very significant in turning the customer away from a product that now seems obsolete.

An important implication of the theory is that as every product will eventually decline and die, it is necessary for firms to carry out continuous new product development programmes.Ideally, new products should be financed from the cash flows generated by mature brands and should be launched before maturity turns to decline. The product life cycle relates to company cash flow in the following way (see also diagram on below):

• During the development phase there is substantial negative cash flow from the money spent on research and development (R&D ), market research, product design, and setting up a production line

• If birth turns to growth, more cash must be ploughed into expanding factory capacity

• Once sales have stabilised, the firm can reap the cash rewards from their success
• In the decline phase, brands with a high market share can provide the cash for development of replacement products.(See cash cow.)

Product portfolio:the range of products or brands held by a company that provide it with diversified sources of income.Ideally this portfolio should range over different markets and different stages in the product life cycles.A well -known and very useful way of analysing a firm's product portfolio is through the Boston Matrix.
Qualitative research:is in-depth research into the motivation behind consumer behaviour or attitudes. It is usually conducted by psychologists among small groups people within the target market for the product (these are called group discussions of focus groups). The other main technique used by qualitative research is the depth interview.
The idea behind qualitative research is that when people are asked direct question (as in a questionnaire) they may give answers that make them sound sensible or rational.Yet many purchasing decisions are based on emotion, not logic.Consumers' real thought processes during a relaxed discussion that has no pre-set questions. It can therefore lead wherever the psychologist feels the truth lies.
Pros:

• can reveal the motivations behind consumer decisions
• as discussion can range freely, it can discover the unexpected (whereas questionnaires can only consist of questions that were known beforehand to be significant)
• group discussion can provide ideas about how to solve a marketing problem from the most important people of all: the customers

Cons:

• each interview or discussion is expensive, therefore few firms can afford to conduct many; this leads to possible concerns about whether the sample is representative
• the unstructured nature of the responses means that the data cannot be quantified
  

Marketing AS Level-top 30 revison terms(4)

Predatory pricing:setting a price low enough to drive competitor out of the market,or out of business.This anti-competitive practice is hard to prove, though the pest control firm Rentokil has been warned by the Office of Fair Trading to stop doing it.Their tactic had been to target small but successful local competitor;whilst keeping their national prices high (thereby remaining profitable) they cut their local prices in a predatory manner.Once the competitor had withdrawn from the market, Rentokil 's prices were pushed back up.Carried out on a rolling basis around the country, this enable the firm to keep overall prices high, yet maintain their high market share.
Price discrimination:means charging different prices to different people for what is essen-tially the same product. This is done in order to maximise revenue by charging move to those that can afford, and are willing to pay, more. Price discrimination is a response to the recognition by a firm that different types of people may have different price elasticities of demand for a product.For example, under-16s get half-price entrance to most cinemas and football grounds because the owners know that higher prices will cut demand substantially.In this case, as in all considerations of price discrimination, it is essential that there should be the minimum of crossover between market segmants.In other words, if many adults could get in for half-price, the point of the discrimination would be lost.
Price elasticity:is a measure of the way the demand for a good responds to a change in its price. In order to avoid the problems with absolute numbers, it is always measured in pro-portionate or percentage terms, thus:
Formula:
Percentage change in quantity demanded
_____________________________
Percentage change in price

So if the price of the good rises by 10%, and its demand falls by 20% as a result, the value of price elasticity is:
20% : 10% = 2
A value greater than one is called price elastic, whilst a value of between zero and one is called price inelastic.In purely mathermatical terms, the value of price elasticity should be negative, since an increase in price will cut demand, and a fall in price will increase demand.Since this is always true, it is conventional to ignore the minus sign.
Pricing strategy:is the medium to long term plan of the price level that a firm wishes to set for a product. For a new product there are two fundamental strategies: market penetration (pricing low to maximise sales) or skimming the market (pricing high to maximise profit margins). A further possibillity for an existing product is price leadership.This is only feasible if the product in question has the dominant image within the mass market (examples would include Hellman's mayonnaise and L'Oreal hair products). There are many other ways in which a firm might determine the price of product:see pricing metheods.
Pricing tactics:ways of using price to take advantage of a short-term opportunity or threat.e.g.loss leaders,psychological pricing or predatory pricing.

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Marketing AS level-top 30 revision terms(3)

Market segmentation: analysing a market to identify the different types of consumer.By matching the consumer categories to the types of product on offer, unfilled market niches may emerge. The potential profitability of filling these gaps can then be assessed.The main ways in which a market can be segmented are:

• Demographically, e.g.by age, social class or sex
• Psychographically (by attitudes and tastes) e.g trendy versus staid, or home-loving versus adventurous
• Geographically, by region.

Market share:the percentage of all the sales within a market that are held by one brand or company.This can be measured by volume (units sold) or by value (the revenue generated).
Analysing trends in market share is important for a firm because it shows its position in relation to the market as a whole.It may not at 10 per cent, as market share is being lost.The 5 per cent sales increase may boost profits this year, but if the market becomes highly price competive as it reaches maturity, the firm's products may not be strong enough to survive.

Market size:the total sales of all the producers within a market-place, measured either by volume (units sold) or by value (the revenue generated). This information is needed to:

• Assess whether the market is big enough to be worth entering
• Calculate the market share held by your own products and brands
• Identify whether the market is expanding or contracting.

Mass marketing: targets the firm 's advertising and promotional spending at the whole market, not at a particular segment. This might be be sause the whole audience has to be addressed, e.g. with government road safety advertising.Most firms prefer niche marketing.

Niche marketing: a corporate strategy based on identifying and filling relatively small market segments. This can enable small firms to operate profitably in the marketsdominated by large corporations.It can also be strategy pursued by a large firm that prefeers to have five brands selling 50000 units in each of five niches, rather than one brand selling 250000 in the mass market

Marketing AS Level-top 30 revision terms(2)

Income elasticity: measures the way in which demand changes when consumers' real income change.

FORMULA:
Percentage change in demand
_____________________________ =income elasticity
Percentage change in real incomes

There are two main elements in a product's income elasticity:

1. Is the income elasticity a positive or negative figure? Most goods have positive income elasticity, meaning that people buy more of them when they are better off. The term 'normal goods' is given to these. Products with negative income elasticity include sausages and supermarket own label goods. When consumers feel better off they switch from these cheaper foods to more luxurious ones. For example, if the demand of sausages fell by 2 % in a year when real incomes rose 5 %, the income elasticity of sausages would be -2%/+5%=-0.4. Products with negative income elasticity are known as 'inferior goods'.
2. What is the degree of elasticity? As with price elasticity, a value of more than 1 indicates an elastic demand, while less than 1 means inelastic demand. Luxury items will tend to be highly income elastic: in other words quite a small drop in the living standards of consumers can lead to a substantial fall in demand for expensive sports cars, perfumes or whiskies. Necessities such as toothpaste and detergents are income elasticity.

Worked example: Market research reveals that following an increase in disposable income of 10%, the demand for aftershave rises by 22 %. What is the income elasticity of demand for aftershave?
Formula:
Income elasticity of demand
_________________________ = percentage change in demand
percentage change in income
so in this example:
22%
_____ =+2.2
10%
Marketing mix:the main variables through which a firm carries out its marketing strategy, often known as the four Ps:

• Product (including range of pack sizes and/ or flavours or colours)
• Price (long-term pricing strategy and pricing method)
• Promotion (branding, advertising, packaging and sales promotion)
• place (choosing distribution channels and seeking shop distribution).

Textbooks tend to treat each of the elements of the mix as of equal importance. Few marketing companies would agree. The most important element of the mix is the product, which needs to be designed to meet the requirements of those within the target market.If this process has been achieved successfully (probably through extensive market research) the order three elements of the mix become clear. The price must be suited to the pockets of the target market and to the image of the product. The promotion will be through the media that they watch or read, while the place should be the shops visited by those types of people.
The only one of these elements that is outside the company's control is place, for obtaining shop distribution is a very difficult task in crowded modern market- places. No retailers have spare shelving, so in order for your product to gain distribution,another product will probably have to be removed from the shelves. Needless to say, every manufacturer is fighting hard to keep its distribution as high as possible, so it is never easy to gain or to keep hold of high distribution levels.
Marketing objectives:are the goals the marketing department must achieve in order to help the company achieve its overall objectives. Marketing objectives may include:

• Halting a decline in market share
• Making a brand's image younger
• Boosting the awareness of a brand that has faded from consumers' memories.

Marketing strategy:a medium- to long-term plan for meeting objectives.The word 'strategy' suggests a carefully through-out, integrated plan. It should set out the balance of marketing activity between new and existing products - with carefully costed budgets. The strategy is likely to be fully researched and then implemented through the marketing mix - the four Ps of product, price, place and promotion. A successful marketing strategy is one that achieves the objectives without going over budget. See also marketing plann.
Market research:the process of gathering primary and secondary date on the buying habits, lifestyle,usage and attitudes of actual and potential customers.The intention is to gather evidence that can enable marketing and productin decisions to be made firms in a more scientific waythan would otherwise be possible. Most large consumer goods firms would agree with Sherlock Holmes (in scandal in Bohemia), 'It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has date.'
Market research can be subdivided as follows:

Desk research

/ \

Quantitative Qualitative

| |

Retail audits; expect opinion

market intelligence (Delphi technique)

reports

Field research

/ \

Quantitative Qualitative

| |

Usage and attitude Group discussion;

studies; depth interviews

product testing

Market research process

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marketing AS level-top 30 revision terms(1)

Adding value: The process by which firms add to the price consumers are prepared to pay for a product. This may take a very simple form: for example cleaning your car or motorbike before you sell it makes it seem worth more in the eyes of the purchaser. Therefore you have added value. Note that this has no effect on the actual performance of the car or motorbike, so the notion of 'value' is very subjective.

Boston Matrix: a method of analysing the current position of the products within a firm's portfolio, in terms of their market share and growth within their market-place. Devised in America by the Boston Consulting Group, this system of product portfolio analysis is far more sophisticated than the product life cycle.The Boston Matrix points out not only the importance of market share, but also that firms want products that can support each other's development. Product life cycle theory implies that declining brands have no future other than to die, whereas the Boston Matrix shows that an ageing bran can be a cash cow to be milked for the benefit of a rising star or to finance the changes needed to a problem child.

Design mix: how the firm combines three key design elements in order to fit the market gap that has been identified. The three are:

• Aesthetic appeal (appeal to the senses )

• Function (how well the product works and lasts)
  

• Economic manufacture.

Distribution channels: the stages of ownership that take place as a product moves from the manufacturer to the consumer (see diagram on facing page)

Extension strategy: a medium - to long term plan for lengthening the life cycle of a product or brand . Extensive strategies can be divided into two categories, defensive and offensive.

• Defensive: a plan designed to postpone the obsolescence of a product by a year or two, perhaps to keep sales going until a replacement can be launched. Examples include car manufactures 'special editions', which usually offer different paintwork, slightly different equipment and a bouncy name.
• Offensive: a plan to revitalise or reposition a product to give it a wholly new, long- term market. Horlicks becoming Instant Horlicks achieved this, as it shifted a bedtime drink to an anytime drink. Even more noteworthy was Johnson and Jonhson's repositioning of its baby powder and baby oil to appeal to women instead of just the babycare market.

Types of extension strategy:

• Redesigning or reformulating the product ('New improved!')
• Adding an extra feature (Now with...!')
• Repositioning its price and image (uasually downmarket)
• Changing the packaging and advertising imagery to appeal to a new or additional market sector.

Note that sales promotions or advertising spending alone would not be regarded as extension strategies. They are ways of boosting sales that could work equally well at any stage of the life cycles.

pictures about blood in hanoi capital-vn

Flood and torrential rain take 64 lives

Sixty-four people in northern and central Vietnam have been killed or left missing in flood triggered by torrential rains over the last several days, the National Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control reported on Nov. 3.

The victims included 18 in the capital city of Hanoi, which had suffered severe flooding believed to be the worst in more than two decades. The death toll in central Ha Tinh Province also hit 17.

Flood and torrential rain swept away 99 houses and damaged more than 100,000 others in addition to inundating more than 241,000 ha of paddy fields and cash crops and over 25,400 ha of fish farms.

As many as 168 km of rural roads have been damaged, stranding inter-communal and inter-district communication, the steering committee said.

While initial figures on flood fatality and economic loss are being updated, the Central Hydro-meteorology Forecast Centre said more rain is expected in the northern and central provinces as a new wave of cool air is approaching the areas.

On the day, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai made an inspection tour of flood-hit Ninh Binh Province where he examined Hoang Long dyke and Lac Khoai dam which are the most vulnerable to flood attack.

In the meantime, delegations from the Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Control have been in Hanoi and Hung Yen, Ninh Binh, Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc provinces to instruct and inspect aid efforts.

The Vietnam Red Cross Central Committee decided to provide initial relief aid worth 1 billion VND in cash and commodities to nine cities and provinces ravaged by floods and torrential rains in recent days.

The recipients included Ninh Binh, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Hanoi, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc.

Bulgarian Deputy PM votes for Ha Long Bay

Impressed by the imposing scene of Ha Long Bay during his tour of Quang Ninh Province on Nov. 1, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yvailo Kafin clicked onto the website on new world wonders to vote for the bay.

Ha Long Bay.

Quang Ninh was the first leg in the Deputy PM’s official visit to Vietnam from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Gia Khiem.

Ha Long Bay now stands second after the Philippines’ Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the list of 77 candidates in the online voting for seven new world natural wonders launched by the NewOpenWorld.

Thanks to the local authorities’ efforts to promote its images, the bay is a magnet for tourists to Quang Ninh province.

In the past ten months, the province welcomed 3.8 million tourists, a record number so far, with most of them coming from China, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Italia, France, and Spain.

Vietnamese baby suffers new affliction

Zona (photo: SK&DS)

Zona and Hepatitis B, which have never reportedly attacked a baby at the same time, were both discovered in a 6-month-old baby in the southern province of Kien Giang by doctors of the HCM City Medicine University last weekend.

Doctor Hoang Van Minh, Chief of the Dermatology and Venereology Examination Ward of the HCM City Medicine University, said it is very rare to see newborn babies with zona. It is even rarer to see babies with both zona and hepatitis B at the same time – in fact, this is the first recorded case.

The American Academy of Dermatology (ADD) has also confirmed that this is the first baby in the world with both zona and hepatitis B at the same time.

According to Minh, the baby was hospitalised with many vesicles on its hands and body. After taking special medicines for seven days, the zona was cured. However, the baby is now being treated for hepatitis B, which is said to take a long time.

Doctor Minh said the baby was infected with zona in the 3^rd month of gestation when its mother caught chicken-box. Normally, zona only breaks out tens of years after the patient is exposed to the virus.

Dollar rises against major currencies

The dollar rose against most major currencies on Friday as investors seek safety at the end of a volatile month in financial markets.

High-yielding currencies such as the euro and the pound rose in previous sessions as risk appetite grew in foreign exchange trading. They fell back on Friday as new signals of a global recession boosted risk aversion activities.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported consumer spending dropped a sharp 0.3 percent in September after two months in which spending was essentially flat.

A survey released Friday by the University of Michigan and Reuters showed U.S. consumer confidence in October plunged to 57.6from 70.3 in September, the largest one-month drop ever.

Consumer confidence in Britain fell close its lowest record in October, according to a survey released on Friday. The Bank of England is widely expected to cut its key rate by 50 to 100 basis points next week to stimulate the economy hurt by financial crisis.

The Bank of Japan cut the un-collateralized overnight call rate from 0.50 percent to 0.30 percent on Friday. It was the first ratecut from the Japanese central bank in seven years. The bank also slashed its domestic economic growth forecast.

The euro bought 1.2759 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.2967 dollars it bought late Thursday. The pound fell to 1.6143 dollars from 1.6444 dollars.

The dollar rose to 1.1552 Swiss francs from 1.1376 Swiss francs, and rose to 98.70 Japanese yen from 98.48 Japanese yen. It fell to 1.2026 Canadian dollars from 1.2133 Canadian dollars.

Classic Vietnamese drama takes a bow

People in Da Nang will have a fresh opportunity to learn more about the art of tuong (traditional Vietnamese classical drama) at the Nguyen Hien Dinh Theatre this December.

Night at the opera: Artists from Nguyen Hien Dinh Theatre perform an excerpt from My Chau.

A photo and sculpture workshop titled "Exploring the Art of Tuong" will be held and photos and sculptures made depicting the characteristics of the art.

From December 1 to 15, tuong artists will perform at the theatre and explain the beauty and meaning behind the costume and stage sets.

Four local photographers and six sculpture artists will take photos, make sculptures and design souvenirs.

Their work will then be displayed at an exhibition held between December 17 and 26, during which tuong artists will exchange ideas with other artists, researchers and students.

The photographs and sculptures will then be auctioned off to support local tuong artists.

Noted musicological professor Tran Van Khe will chair a talk on the art of tuong, which will be broadcast live on local television.

Tourists can also join a tuong mask painting class scheduled for between December 17 and 26 at Bach Dang Road, Da Nang city.

Around 1,000 white masks will be sold to tourists, who will be instructed in how to paint them in the tuong style.

The ten most beautiful masks will be selected and auctioned to raise money for underprivileged local children. The money raised from the masks (sold for US$1 each) will also be given to the children.

"We choose December to implement the programme as this is high season for tourism in Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang," said Nguyen Hung, who initiated the programme. "We hope the event can help attract more tourists to Da Nang and help create a 24-hour tourism programme."

He said that after the initial programme he would organise regular tuong programmes for tourists. A festival of traditional Asian dramas will be held in the city sometime next year.

According to Tran Dinh Sanh, director of the Nguyen Hien Dinh theatre, the theatre would invite both professional and amateur artists from other localities to perform during the programme.

Funding for the programme is estimated to be around VND1.2 billion ($71,428).

The art of tuong

Tuong also known as hat boi or traditional theatre, can be classified into tuong chinh - a more academic style, and tuong do - a more comic style often criticising corrupt officialdom. Couplets are sung in rhyme following an ancient storytelling technique, known as noi loi (linking words). The instrumental ensemble is dominated by the two-stringed fiddle and percussion.

The rise and fall of tuong

As an embryonic form of classical Vietnamese theatre, tuong singing was introduced in Viet Nam by Ly Nguyen Cat - a Chinese refugee who resettled permanently in Viet Nam under the reign of King Tran Du Tong (1341-69). After a period of development under the patronage of King Tran, tuong was banished from the court of Dai Viet during the reign of King Le Thanh Tong (1460-97).

This policy remained during the Trinh period (16th and 17th centuries), and as such a talented member of a northern tuong family known as Dao Duy Tu (1572-1634) moved south to Phu Xuan (Hue) with the purpose of introducing this art to the enthusiastic Nguyen court.

The art underwent significant development under the Nguyen kings. Its development was significantly reinforced during the reign of Minh Mang (1820-41) who set up a special agency to deal with artistic matters.

During this period, several high-ranking mandarins and members of the royal family set up their own tuong troupes.

Tuong reached its peak under King Tu Duc (1847-83), who generously patron-ised performers and decided to construct two dedicated royal theatres.

The creative development of tuong during this period mainly came from poets, playwrights, stage directors and especially, theorist Dao Tan (1845-1907) who is considered the "founding father" of this art, penning more than 40 plays.

During the French colonial period in the face of growing competition from cai luong (reformed opera) as well as the impact from Westernised trends, tuong singing was performed less and began to wane.

With the establishment of the National Tuong Theatre in 1959, tuong was promoted by the government as important intangible heritage and taught at the Ha Noi College of Theatre and Cinema as part of the institution’s traditional theatre programme.

Since the 1950s, many of the older texts and performance techniques have been modified in order to correspond more closely with socialist ideology and a large number of new plays have been written, mainly focusing on the struggle for national independence and reunification.

Businesses urged to have effective strategies for retail market

Domestic businesses need to rapidly improve their competitiveness and formulate suitable and effective business strategies as the deadline for Vietnam to open its retail market under WTO commitments looms, according to a senior government official.

Cong Quynh Co-op Supermarket in HCM City

Speaking at discussions regarding the opening of the distribution market, which took place in Hanoi on October 31, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu predicted that the opening of the retail market from January 1, 2009 will create favourable conditions for many foreign distributors who possess greater financial muscle and modern distribution methods to penetrate deeper into the Vietnamese market, thus having the knock-on effect of helping to develop domestic distribution systems.

However, domestic businesses will also face an increasing number of difficulties and challenges as foreign groups will be permitted to establish wholly foreign-invested companies, increase their investments and open new branches and outlets in Vietnam.

With this in mind, Vietnam’s ministries, localities and enterprises have spent a lot of time discussing a range of measures to improve the competitiveness of domestic businesses and to prepare legal foundations for the licensing of retail and wholesale establishments as well as strategies to develop local distribution systems.

According to the MoIT, Vietnam’s retail market has developed rapidly over recent years with total revenue reaching 44 billion USD in 2007, a 25 percent increase against the previous year. In the first ten months of this year, this figure stood at 782 trillion VND (46 billion USD), up 30.7 percent compared with the same period last year.

Vietnam now has around 400 supermarkets, 60 trade centres and close to 2,000 convenience stores. By 2010, the country expects to see the number of supermarkets to increase by 62.5 percent and trade centres to increase by 150 percent.

Photo galery: Fishing on Hanoi streets

In October 30th and 31st, Hanoi suffered the heaviest rain in 35 years. Streets turned into rivers. Power shut down in several districts. Schools and market were closed. The heavy rain is going on until Saturday November 1st... The following scenes are hard to believe, but they happend

Fishing on a parking lot. This fishing net looks brand new.

This fishing tool is also brand new. A couple of fishes can make break even for the investment.

It looks like a lake, but with a street name plate and a car, it is still recognized as a treet.

Fishing next to a Mercedes-Benz. The owner of this car later may find a fish in the car as a compensation for the damage.

Professional fishing.

Children play in shallow water.

Is there a racing between a bus and a boat?

Should the boat is allowed to enter an one way street?

All go to one side, as the other side turns into a river.

Tragedy happend. Two men found dead in this car. Probably they were suffocated while sleeping.

People found the tragedy and report to the police.

Biking is the safest mean of transportation.

Despite of the flood, going to market is still needed.

Some childen did not know that school has been closed.

Even the university is closed while students get locked in the dorm.

Fishing on the treet of Vinh Yen city which is 35km away from Hanoi.

For many, nothing can do but waiting.

A teacher returns from school.

Buying a lot of instant noodles, getting ready for days.

A man is struggling with the motobike.

A duck is comfortably enjoying the living room

The duck even tries the luxury leather couch.