| Next Week: The Ha Noi’s Transport Department has been piloting a project, where loudspeakers have been installed at five key intersections around the capital, to disseminate the traffic laws to road users since the middle of June this year. The installation of loudspeakers at 11 other key intersections is hoped to be finished this month. The move is to raise the public’s awareness of traffic safety, reduce the number of traffic offences, minimise traffic congestion and cut down accidents in the capital. The loudspeakers, with their short and clear messages about the traffic rules, are only turned on at rush hour or when the traffic lights are on red. The cost to install and run the loudspeakers has been estimated at billions of dong. What do you think of this move? Will it bring help to control traffic and deal with the problems as expected? Have you got a suggestion that might improve the traffic chaos in Ha Noi? Please reply by email to: opinion@vnsmail.com, or by fax to (84-4) 3 933 2311. Letters can be sent to The Editor, Viet Nam News, Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Ha Noi. Replies to next week’s questions must be received by Thursday morning, August 15, 2013. |
Last week, Viet Nam News asked readers about the women’s role in their societies.
Arti Samakari, Indian, Sydney
Men having their confidence in women or not depends on each culture and society’s perceptions about women and their role.
How can women’s voices be heard in the country where the woman must bring a cup of hot tea for her man returning from work or when the woman returns home after her husband, she still has to head straight to the kitchen to cook dinner and do housework because all this is her task?
How can women’s suggestions be considered in the country where many women are not allowed to go out of the four walls of their house and have no chance to go to school?
These still happen in my country and are the reasons why women in my country rarely participate in making important decisions of their families.
Although Indian society has been changing in terms of acceptance of roles of women as bread-earners in families and independent thinking individuals, women should be facilitated to improve their intellectual standards and prove their capacity, not at home but in work places.
Only when women have a specific knowledge, ability and status, can their suggestions be counted in men’s decisions.
If not, they will be forever seen as the ones who know the only thing: doing housework.
Moreover, men should change their prejudice about women and their traditional tasks. One of my male friends said: “No one has forced the women to step into the man’s role and no one should force the men to step into a woman’s role.”
Until such thoughts still make up a majority in society, women’s voice will never be heard.
Trung Phan, French, Paris
There is no reason to say that women’s suggestions are not being taken into account in men’s decisions. Especially when a man and a woman are a legal couple, they share the same rights and interests in which they must discuss with each other to reach final decisions. Men’s and women’s opinions are equal in issues related to their common assets, children, family issues or relationships.
Sometimes women get more priorities and voice than men in the society. Women have so many safety nets that men do not have. Far more money is spent on women’s health care even in situations where just as many men suffer.
A woman will use her inferior physical strength as an excuse to have a man open the door and carry her bags but then can take a man to court for not employing her because she is not strong enough to do manual labour all day.
Some countries like Norway have enforced a gender quota requirement for corporate board membership in all public limited liability companies. For most of these companies, the quota requires 40 per cent female board membership. This means you HAVE to have at least 40 per cent of your upper business leaders as female. So, better male employees will probably not be chosen because they need a certain number of females.
Women have real rights and status and are heard at all times.
Thanh An, Vietnamese, Ha Noi
My first inferior feeling for being a girl originated from my grandmother who insisted on having a grandson and forced my parents to have a third baby. She said that girls did nothing for the family and then would get married and live in another place.
I more clearly acknowledged that girls have no voice in our society when my mother must have meals after my father and girls in my village were forbidden to enter temples.
Luckily, things have changed since my family moved to a big city. All of my family members have meals at the same time and share the housework, although my father still says housework is not his task and just wants to help his wife.
My father also takes up discussing with my mother about important family issues. I go to the university and go abroad for higher studying. I also take part in fair competitions with my male colleagues.
I realised that people put their belief in me because of my knowledge and ability. In this current world, it is not important that you are men or women. The thing you should remember is what you have to do to ask for respect from others.
Haley Hyun, Korean, Brisbane
I have to affirm that women are as good as men. Anything men can do, so can women. Women can be courageous soldiers, talented football players and skillful pilots or motor racers.
If women have equal chances with men, men are not sure to be better than or as good as women.
It’s a pity to see women, who have great talent, leave the workplace to give birth and focus on raising their children. For working mums, many have a hard time trying to find a place to nurse their children or they try in vain to ask the grandparents to look after them.
Give women opportunities to express themselves and men can get worthy recommendations or lessons from them.
Having a female president is a really big opportunity to enhance the status of women in my country. This will not create immediate changes but help in the long-term. — VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News
