Wearing Vietnamese conical hat, riding cyclo or driving a motorbike are familiar images of foreign celebrities when they are in Vietnam.
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| Field of gold: Chang A Ky, the village chief, works on his family’s corn field. The new crop could help him raise his annual income tenfold. — VNS Photo Nguyen Duy |
A Mong ethnic man Chang A Ky has helped his villagers in applying technology to boost production and thus helping them escape hunger and poverty.
Ky, 42, has been the head of Chin Chu Chai Hamlet of the northern province of Lai Chau’s Nung Nang Village of Tam Duong District, for more than 16 years now.
Ky said he has been reading newspapers and books as well as seeking information from the Internet (at his village people’s committee office) to collect knowledge and understand others’ experiences to enhance production in his hamlet by using technology.
He borrowed money from his relatives and friends to buy a ploughing machine because he knew that deep ploughing and careful raking will lead to a bumper crop.
He also learned ways to care for the crops by studying the experience of outstanding farmers from the lowland provinces of Hung Yen and Hai Duong who cultivated cardamom, wet rice and maize.
As a result, he could earn more than VND100 million per year from these crops, compared to VND10-12 million that he used to make earlier.
“Such a difference in income is very big for a Mong household like ours. Apart from investing in enhancing production, I used the money for my children to study in Lai Chau City and equip my home with a TV set, a refrigerator and other facilities,” said Ky, adding that his 80-year-old parents are very happy because they could now enjoy improved living standards compared to what life was before.
All the residents of Chin Chu Chai Hamlet are Mong ethnics.
Several years ago, the villagers faced a real threat of hunger and poverty. Some of the households used to experience hunger for three to four months a year.
Despite this, their thinking and habits were still very regressive.
“Asking them to effect a change in their daily routine, or apply new technique to enhance production was very difficult,” Ky said.
“But, as the head of the hamlet, I considered it my responsibility to help them make that change to boost production and thus escape hunger and poverty,” he said.
Although he had to climb the hill every day and trudge down, he was very keen to go to each household to talk to his fellow people, convincing them to change their way of planting rice and maize, to increase their yield.
“I had to go to each of the villagers’ homes many a time to guide them on how to use fertiliser, how to grow rice and maize in the right way so that it could give stable yield. I also guided them about how to harvest their farm produce in an appropriate manner,” Ky said.
He also invited villagers to visit his own field as a fact-finding tour.
Since then, many households decided to follow him and worked as per his advice, opting to apply technology in production.
As a result, they have not only managed to escape hunger and poverty but also have enough money to buy a motorbike or household utensils and equipment.
As of now, the hamlet has only 41 families which are still poor, compared to the situation in the past when it had 100 per cent households listed as poor.
Apart from helping his villagers change their thinking and teach them new farming ways, Ky often raises awareness about laws such as regulations governing road traffic, dealing with the menace of drugs and prostitution and ways to prevent HIV/AIDS as well as laws to protect the forests and change backward habits.
“My efforts are aimed at helping my villagers understand the laws and then implement them well in their daily life. I wish to build a civilised and orderly hamlet in such a high mountainous region,” Ky said.
Similarly, Tran Dinh Thi of Coc Tum Hamlet of the northwestern province of Lao Cai’s Phong Nien Village of Bao Thang District has tried to bring economically viable fruit trees such as custard apple, pomelo and longan from Hung Yen and Nam Dinh to grow in his hamlet on a trial basis.
Fortunately, his trees developed very well because these were suitable to the mountain climate and yielded a profit of more than VND120 million for his family every year.
Following Thi, many other families in the hamlet also planted these trees which earned them a stable income.
Having understood that these trees had become a strong point of the locality, the Bao Thang People’s Committee has carried out a project to improve and develop them as economically viable for the 2013-15 period in the two villages of Phong Nien and Xuan Quang.
Hoang A Ly in Phong Nien Village was one of volunteers to make that change in his garden. Since 2010, he planted nearly 700 custard apple trees. After three years, they yielded a bumper crop.
Last year alone, he earned more than VND100 million from the fruit.
“I’ve planted more than 1,300 custard apple trees this year. I hope we could earn twice as much than what we earn currently,” said Ly.
An additional 480 families have joined the project, planting nearly 10,000 longan and 75,000 custard apple trees, increasing the acreage under these trees in the two villages to nearly 1,000ha or 220ha more than was initially planned.
Do Hong Quan, deputy head of the Bao Thang People’s Committee’s Economics Office, said the project was the first to have applied graft technique on the trees.
“The rate of trees’ survival following the grafting is much higher than was thought of earlier. It would help us open a specialised zone for custard apple and longan trees in our district in the future,” Quan said. — VNS
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| Mountain lives: The clan house in Por’ning Village (Lang Commune). — VNA/VNS Photos Vu Cong Dien |
The Co Tu ethnic minority’s clan homes are seeing the dark side of modernisation: the destruction of tradition. But the district is working to change that. Nguyen Thanh-Trung Hieu reports.
In the mountainous Tay Giang District in the central province of Quang Nam, the clan houses of the Co Tu are gradually being restored as part of the efforts to preserve the traditional culture of the mountainous ethnic residents.
The Co Tu people have been living along the majestic Truong Son Mountains for many generations, and they preserve their unique culture which is as mysterious as their wild life in the mountains.
Since ancient times, their clan houses represent a unique culture and the good tradition of the Co Tu.
As the modern society witnessed development, many of the ancient cultural values have been diminishing, and clan houses had also been gradually disappearing.
To ensure that the ethnic cultural space comes alive with its original residents, Tay Giang District has over the past few years restored and replicated the model of the traditional Co Tu clan houses.
Until now, many villages and clans have restored their traditional houses.
Por’ning Village in Lang Commune is located at an isolated place in the middle of the jungle.
Here, a beautiful range of clan houses have been built by villagers who contributed both in terms of labour and assets.
In keeping with the requirements of the 10 large clans in the village, local people restored 10 traditional clan houses.
These houses have roofs made of thatch, and in the middle of each house, they have hung buffalo heads – the Co Tu’s spiritual symbol.
These heads are surrounded by carved motifs that meticulously describe scenes of hunting, gathering, and festivals of the Co Tu.
Items such as bow and arrow, knives and earthern jars that their predecessors had used for generations are placed at the most prominent place to remind children of their ancestors.
In addition, the clan houses are a place for the descendants to discuss the major issues in the village.
The Clau is a large clan in Por’ning Village, and hence their clan house is also the biggest and the most beautiful.
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| Age-old craft: Ms. Xiec, the master craftswoman of Bho Hoong Hamlet, makes ornate patterns. Her products make their way as far as Hoi An, Ha Noi and HCM City. |
Village chief Clau Nhap these days often discusses with his descendants how to donate land to build a new road.
Nhap says all his descendants are happy as they have built their house again.
“The clan house, in addition to its spiritual value, also represents unity, authority, and growth of each clan in the region. Looking at their house, the Co Tu admire their clan and remember the past ancestors,” he says.
He added that in the past, all Co Tu villages had clan houses which were built on stilts or in the form of a traditional long house.
Depending on the conditions in each region, he says the clan houses can be divided into two types: the house on stilts where the Co Tu live in low areas, and the long house of the Co Tu who live in the highlands.
Both types of houses had a very unique architectural value, demonstrating the spirit of the community and cohesion among members of the clan.
Arat Blui, vice chairman of Tay Giang District, says the traditional culture of the Co Tu is the “village community culture”.
“Preservation of cultural identity is the common responsibility of the whole community, and of each clan,” he says.
The restoration and development of the traditional clan house is very important in the spiritual life of Co Tu people, as it encourages a new cultural life, and a new rural lifestyle, he says.
“The clan houses have contributed to the beauty of the mountainous villages. Not only has the traditional culture been preserved, these houses will be ideal location for tourists on their way to discover life style of the mountain residents,” he says.
Palang Bung, deputy head of Culture and Information Office of Tay Giang District, says architecture of these clan houses is one of the unique cultural features, also the link to connect people in each village.
“The restoration and conservation of the clan house culture is a way to retain the good values of the Co Tu people,” he says. — VNS
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| Making friends: Tran Ngoc Anh (Catherine Tran) pets a baby rhino that has been raised in captivity, as its mother was killed for its horn. — Photo Wilderness Foundation |
Vietnamese high school students who won a writing contest flew to South Africa to see rhinos in their natural habitat. They returned home with a message: stop buying rhino horn. Phan Thuy Dung reports.
A group of high school students visited South Africa as winners of a writing competion to call on wealthy people to stop using rhino horn as a medical remedy.
The alarming decline rate of the rhino population has sent an outrage wave across the world as poachers from Viet Nam used to be caught killing the African creatures for their horns.
These youths had seen with their own eyes the natural habitat of the rhinos, the young cubs being raised in captivity as their mothers were killed. The trip is supposed to nurture awareness, insight, empathy and understanding among these youths, hopeful to become public opinion trend-setters when they are back in the country.
“Don’t let the rhino’ calves become orphans; don’t let the rangers’ children become orphans” was the message created by 22 senior students in HCM City.
The students were the winners of the Wild Rhino Competition held earlier this year; their prize was a 5-day trip to South Africa.
“After returning home, we distributed leaflets with our message at a musical event held at Hoa Binh Theatre, with the participation of parents and other adults,” Nguyen Minh Tam from Saigon South International School, one of the Vietnamese winners, said.
The 18-year-old girl spent her time immersed in the beauty and harsh reality of the African bush on the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose of the trip was to promote awareness and understanding of conservation and rhino protection efforts.
“The trip to South Africa, a completely new land, gave me a new experience of life,” she said. “When I was there, I could touch the rhinos, hear them roar at night and see the rocks they rub against to sharpen their horns. We let ourselves indulge in Nature’s sense of calmness and in the beauty of the wild animals.”
Packing their backpacks with only the bare essentials, the students spent their days without phones or an Internet connection.
“There were no easy hikes, especially when we needed to walk uphill, downhill, across the thorns or on sand dunes, which left us covered in dirt and scars. It was hard to believe that we could ‘survive’ without any technological devices. We had a great time talking to each other, helping to dig wells, making fires and cutting up food for meals.”
Besides walking on the wilderness trail, the students spent time with rhino calves that had been orphaned as a result of poaching. They had the chance to witness the dedication of conservationists in taking care of those rhinos in Africa.
“Baby rhinos were distributed to different reserves to stave off extinction. While the South African government, wildlife organisations and citizens there strive to protect not only the rhinos but also other endangered animals, it is a shame that Viet Nam is trying to ‘steal away’ resources that don’t even belong to us,” Tam said.
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| New frontier: Nguyen Minh Tam on her 5-day journey to South Africa. — VNS Photos |
On the last day of their trip, the Vietnamese students joined workshops facilitated by the Wilderness Foundation Africa, where they were taught about the reality of the rhino poaching crisis. They got the chance to hear from wildlife veterinarian Dr William Fowlds, who works as a vet for rhinos and who taught them about the processes involved in treating the animals that had been wounded by poachers.
“But most importantly,” Tam added, “we watched the film on HOPE, a rhino, which revealed how she was found and the pain she has suffered during her recovery. It was so touching that the whole team was completely silent, and some of us had tears in our eyes.”
Now that she is back home, Tam plans to use her personal blog as a tool to spread the news of her experience and her thoughts on the conservation of wild animals. Together with her friends, she is trying to create huge posters to exhibit at their schools during major events such as the Charity Bazaar, Family Fun Day and music concerts, so that the message can reach the appropriate target audience of parents and other adults.
“I have also been added to several Facebook groups where African and international participants provide updates on rhinos and other endangered wild animals every single day, showing their care and effort in managing this crisis while some Vietnamese people remain nonchalant about the fact that rhino horns have no medical properties.”
Tam was certain she would make use of her experience after the competition.
The Wild Rhino Competition, presented by the Wilderness Foundation, aims to restrict the demand for rhino horns in primary user countries such as Viet Nam. Accompanying the 22 senior students who submitted the most comprehensive ideas on preserving the trail was Vietnamese popstar Thanh Bui, who has also played an integral part in the competition since its inception in 2014. — VNS
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| Due diligence: Farmers harvest ginseng in a garden in Nam Tra My District’s Tra Linh Commune. |
Up in the mountains of Quang Nam Province the ginseng plant’s roots have become a treasured natural remedy. Those who cultivate the plants can earn themselves a hefty living and preserve wild plants at the same time. Hoai Nam reports.
Noc Mang Lung Village in Tra Linh Commune, located on a mountain slope and blessed with cool weather all year round, has become prosperous with Ngoc Linh ginseng farming in recent years.
Nguyen Van Luong, of the Xo Dang ethnic community, has grown 4,000 ginseng (Panax vietnamensis or Vietnamese ginseng) plants, of which 3,000 have a six-year growth period, and has earned VND800 million (US$38,000) from selling 25kg of the latest ginseng crop.
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| Grabbing hold: A seedling takes five years to grow roots with the highest level of nutrients. |
The villages in Tra Nam and Tra Cang communes in Nam Tra My District in the central province of Quang Nam also have three major ginseng farms, spreading over 70ha.
“Our lives have changed so much compared with previous decades, when we lived in poverty with shortage of food and poor houses. Rice farming on the slopes provided food that lasted just a few months after harvest,” Luong said.
“I had to walk through jungles to dig up ginseng for sale, but it soon became exhausted with excessive exploitation by the local people. I changed my mind and started growing the plant in my garden,” he said.
He said his garden now brought in a revenue of at least VND30 billion (US$1.4 million), with each kilogram of ginseng selling for VND50 million ($2,300) in the market.
Most of the local people in the seven communes of the district now grow ginseng in their gardens, rather than searching the wild roots in jungles, as they did earlier.
However, 63 per cent of the 26,000- strong population is still destitute because of poor planning and poor post-harvest technology and knowhow for long-term ginseng development.
“I have known about ginseng for 35 years, but I improved my life after cultivating it in my garden. It’s actually a precious plant that can bring good income for the poorest district,” Ho Van Du, a farmer in Tra Linh commune, said.
“Most of the villagers in the area now understand the role and benefits of ginseng cultivation on the mountain slopes. But it’s still a short-term vision as we need a strategy for updated technology, marketing and developing sapling nurseries and gene conservation,” Du said.
He said some villagers sold young ginseng plants as they needed money for food and leisure in harvest periods.
He said an early harvest would only produce poor-quality ginseng that would be sold cheap.
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| Green thumb: Ho Van Du cares for his ginseng garden. |
Building a brand
The district’s people’s committee has planned ginseng development over 15,000ha in seven mountainous communes, and a national ginseng brand promotion as well as eco-tourism services in the 2016-25 period.
“We have proposed an investment of VND9 trillion (US$429 million) in seven projects and different phases of ginseng development. It includes development of infrastructure, pharmaceutical industry, essential oils and cosmetics, as well as tonic drinks and capsules from ginseng,” Chairman of the district’s people’s committee Ho Quang Buu said.
“The plan would develop the poorest district as major centres of Vietnamese ginseng and draw investment to farm processing zones and tourism services,” Buu said.
He said a 90km-long road network would connect ginseng gardens in the district, processing zones and tourism sites in the district and in the neighbouring Kon Tum Province.
Buu, who is the mastermind of the ginseng strategy, said its development would help push rapid afforestation in areas 1,500m above the sea level.
“Ginseng grows well in primary forests under the shade of different layers of large trees, humus, a cool temperature and long rainfall periods. The plant could grow well on a mass level, provided that 70 per cent of the terrain is covered by forests,” he said, adding that the district has 42,000ha of well-preserved primary forests.
The chairman said the plan encouraged the local people to speed up afforestation as a condition for ginseng productivity and quality.
“We will also designate three communes – Tra Linh, Tra Nam and Tra Cang – as major centres of gene conservation, seedling centres and processing zones on a total area of 12,000ha,” he said.
“Our plan hopes to bring multiple benefits for the local people from forest protection, in accordance with ginseng development. It means that the environment will be naturally protected thanks to ginseng cultivation,” he said.
The chairman said poor road connectivity limited the development of the district and other provinces. The district is connected to the provincial capital Tam Ky City via 100km of bad roads.
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| The hills are alive: A section of primary forest in Nam Tra My District. The district aims to become a major producer of Vietnamese ginseng. — VNS Photos Cong Thanh |
Mass investment needed
Truong Cong Thang, a researcher of Ngoc Linh ginseng, said it was a valuable brand name for Viet Nam.
“Ginseng was found in the Ngoc Linh Mountain area, bordering Quang Nam and the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum in 1968, and was named after the mountain,” Thang said.
“However, there is yet to be investment in mass production and industrial processing of ginseng, as in Korea, China, Canada and the United States,” he said.
“I make sure that the Ngoc Linh ginseng has tonic ingredients as good as the Korean ginseng. But Viet Nam needs mass investment in Ngoc Linh ginseng production,” he said, adding that the ginseng root could help a chronic patient to recover.
He said ginseng needed a five-year or longer period of cultivation before being harvested.
“Ginseng needs a very large area, huge investment and long period of cultivation for providing enough raw materials for the processing industry,” Thang said.
He said the local people sometimes sold seed (VND25 million or $1,200 for 1,000 seed) rather than wait for the harvest over a five-year period.
The district’s Chairman Ho Quang Buu said ginseng farms in the area were yet to supply enough material for the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics, functional food and energy drinks, besides tea.
“That’s the reason we have decided to prepare a long-term plan to develop the district as a major source of ginseng. We plan a 100ha sapling centre in the district to provide enough original plants to the local people,” he said.
“We are also planning to supply ginseng seed to mountainous provinces nationwide for a mass production.”
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| Knot just a root: The roots do not resemble the human body like Korean ginseng, but Korean experts agree Vietnamese ginseng contains a high percentage of nutrients. |
Key facts The province’s Nam Tra My District and Hamyang County in the South Gyeongsang Province of South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism, agriculture, conservation and the development of Ngoc Linh ginseng. The production of ginseng cosmetics could bring greater value than by growing local ginseng. Vietnamese ginseng has been preserved as a precious and endangered flora gene in the province, along with the poor man’s ginseng or condonopsis, pepper, cinnamon and large rattan, as well as maize. — VNS |
Vice-Chairman of Quang Nam People’s Committee Le Van Thanh said the Ngoc Linh ginseng development project has been included in the province’s planning process.
“The project will help conserve the gene of the original Ngoc Linh ginseng, while helping farmers and businesses to develop Vietnamese ginseng,” Quang said.
“We hope to promote Ngoc Linh ginseng as a national brand and to promote it worldwide.”
Vice-Director of the Ngoc Linh ginseng centre Trinh Minh Quy said ginseng cultivation would safeguard a precious gene of the country.
“The original gene source will produce the best quality of ginseng products, while providing stable income to the local people in poor mountainous areas,” he said.
As scheduled, the ginseng plan will also involve two communes of Tu Mo Rong in Kon Tum on the other side of Ngoc Linh Mountain.
“It aims to grow ginseng on 30,000ha in seven communes of Nam Tra My District, and eight communes in Kon Tum from 2015 to 2025,” Buu said.
“The plant will raise the hopes of more than 25,000 ethnic people of the Xo Dang, Ca Dong and Mo Nong communities and the region, with better incomes and living conditions,” Ho Van Du, the ginseng farmer, said.
“It’s the most profitable plant along with cinnamon and various medicinal herbs. We hope to grow ginseng seeds in mountainous areas nationwide, while protecting forests,” Buu said. — VNS
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Mercury can reach 45 degree Celsius at noon during the hot summer days in Ha Noi, but that is not enough to keep a good number of women from leaving their offices to attend a special class? The “XXX” class.
“I guess the participants will be trained in some sex related skills,” a man, who read about the class on the trainer’s Facebook page, says. Misconceptions like these abound.
Phan Ý Y Ly, a contemporary theater artist and one who is the trainer for this class, says she anticipated such a response from many readers when she put up an introduction for the class.
“The very name, XXX, makes people think of sex and things sexual in nature, but they should know that my class is not just about sex.”
To avoid unnecessary and often negative arguments on Facebook, Ly merely reveals the name of the class and suggests anyone curious to know more to send her a private message.
Pham Nhu Quynh is one of the first trainees to have attended the XXX class. She is already divorced and is now a single mom of a three-year-old boy.
“Ly is famous for being an open-minded woman who has a special love experience. She has had some fabulous and admirable relationships. I came here believing that Ly shall pass on some of her experiences that I could not possibly find anywhere else,” Quynh says.
How the XXX class came to be is a rather peculiar tale. Ly has a lot of female friends, some of them teenagers, and others even middle-aged. Many of them know about Ly’s joyful personal life and used to come to her for advice on how to deal with misunderstandings in relationships, emotional expression, and healing. It was one of her friends who recommended to Ly that she should run a class on pursuing sound relationships between both the sexes, based on her actual experiences.
In contrast to people’s thinking, the first lesson that participants learn in the XXX class is about expressing oneself in deeper layers. The participants are guided and trained in expressing their thoughts, feelings and emotions verbally and non-verbally. It can be conducted through exercises on free movement and dancing, and private sharing.
“It seems easy. I used to think that I actually did all that but I found that I was doing it all wrong. Women often go beating around the bush rather than come straight to the point. So, it is easy for misunderstandings to happen between them and their male friends,” Quynh says.
According to Ly, women in modern society are greatly influenced by ideas of women empowerment, something that has long been a popular social trend in the world. Ly does not agree with feminism when it comes to throwing up women leaders, fighting to earn money or being competitive with men.
“In my opinion, the first and foremost principle to build a sound relationship is that a woman should be relaxed and learn how to act as the yin element,” Ly says.
“Many participants complain that their husbands and boyfriends are not manly, are lazy and unreliable, not mentioning that they do not respect or care for them. I try to give them a different viewpoint and approach, one of developing the yin element in them and encouraging the yang element in their partners. I find it more effective than judging, criticizing or directing men to meet women’s needs.”
In the XXX class, Ly saw many participants crying after realising that they had been so tense, un-feminist. They also feel so sorry for their male partners because ineffective communication separates men and women without them even knowing it.
“Men are simple and to the point. Women just need to be honest and faithful in communication,” Ly says.
Sex and sex skills are not the central theme of the class; in fact, these do not even account for a large chunk of the class’ time. Basically, sex becomes wonderful not just because of the sex skills that the two partners have, but because of the presence, the well-being and the spirit of the man and the woman.
“Sex skills come afterwards. If the woman accepts to be exposed to the man with full quality of the yin element, her presence, her well-being and her passion will be the driving force for wonderful love making,” Ly says.
Nguyen Quynh P., a middle-aged participant, says: “My sex life with my husband has become much better after I changed my attitude. It is really amazing and worthwhile.”
“I have been very passionately involved with community-based projects in applying arts to personal development. I had no idea that the XXX class isn’t beyond that very spirit. Women need to learn how to be present now and here. A woman’s yin quality is enough to make her happy, no matter what she wants,” Ly says. — VNS
Starting August 1, more than 2,200 types of cosmetic products that contain paraben, a widely used preservative in makeup and pharmaceutical products, must be recalled as they may have bad health effects on consumers, the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) has requested.
The large-scale recall campaign affects 2,100 imported and 143 domestically produced products, according to the drug administration.
One the most commonly used preservatives in cosmetic products, parabens are chemically compounds of what is known as p-hydroxybenzoic acid.
Cosmetic products whose contents include five types of parabens, namely isopropylparaben, isobutylparaben, phenylparaben, benzylparaben and pentylparaben, are now banned from circulation on the market, according to the DAV.
Different parabens are usually used in combination to increase their effectiveness.
Businesses are given 15 days to pull all of such products from the market.
“Any businesses found to still trade these products after August 15 will receive hefty penalties,” the DAV said.
An expert from the DAV said the recall may negatively affect the operations of businesses, especially small cosmetic importers.
“But this will be a lesson to learn when it comes to doing business with health-related products,” he said.
Parabens have been added to the list of drugs and substances with limit usage, but most businesses have ignored the list, the expert added.
In fact, there has yet to be any warning against the undesirable effects of products that contain the said five parabens from scientific and health organizations, DAV deputy head Nguyen Tat Dat told reporters on Friday.
“The EU and Association for South East Asian Nations have not received any reports about the health effects of these products,” he admitted.
“However, the EU and ASEAN have decided that these products must be replaced by better substances, after considering the health risks the parabens may pose.”
With many famous cosmetic brands having paraben-containing products, Vietnamese make-up lovers are concerned about the recall.
“There are well-known brands such as Kose, Laniege, Lancom, L’Oreal, and Vichy, as well as domestic ones including Thorakao, Victory, V-day, and Topcare in the list of manufacturers whose products must be recalled,” N.T.H., a consumer, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.
“These firms produce all kinds of products, from skincare to shaving cream, which I think are used in every household.”
A shop attendant of the Laneige booth at Parkson shopping center in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, told Tuoi Tre on Friday the company’s products subject to the recall are no longer in stock.
Representatives from supermarkets in the city also said there are not so many products that must be recalled on sale in their chains.
Supermarkets have been notified about the recall in May, and have since asked cosmetic suppliers to stop sending new products included in the recall list, according to representatives from Co.op Mart, Big C and Lotte Mart.
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