Story Flavours of Vietnam (+recipe)

Chef Tony Tan is a man of the world. Literally. Of Chinese descent, born in Malaysia, he moved to Australia 30 years ago as a student, and never left. Except to travel the world.
Now running his cook school, Tan is a respected expert in Asian cuisine, including Chinese, Nonya, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian and Malaysian. [...]

5,000 workers go on strike at shoe factory in northern Vietnam for higher wages

HANOI, Vietnam: More than 5,000 workers have walked off the job at a privately owned footwear company in northern Vietnam and demanded a pay increase to cushion the impact of rising inflation, a company official said Tuesday.
The company recently increased its workers’ salaries 100,000 Vietnamese dong (US$6.30) to an average monthly pay of 800,000 dong (US$50). [...]

South Vietnam officials jailed for smuggling money across border

Two officials in the southern Binh Duong Province have been sentenced to prison while another received a suspended sentence for illegally transferring money through the Vietnam – Cambodia border.

Thu Dau Mot Town’s Tax Department officials Phung Hoang Bach, 49, and Bui Gia Hung, 38, were sentenced to four years and two years jail respectively.
Tran The [...]

Vietnam may limit future rice exports

HANOI — Vietnam may permanently reduce rice exports by 2010 and beyond to ensure food security for its growing population, state media reports and government officials said on Monday.
Outward shipments from the world’s second largest rice exporter could be capped at 4.3 million tons a year by 2015 and 3.8 million tons by 2020, according [...]

Vietnam banks raise rates, stocks fall

HANOI, May 19 (Reuters) – Vietnamese banks boosted interest rates on Monday after the central bank abolished a 12 percent ceiling rate on dong deposits and raised three interest rates over the weekend to fight a surge in inflation.
Annual inflation is galloping at more than 20 percent and the central bank has carried out a [...]

Vietnam deports American democracy activist

Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, May 19, 2008
(05-18 ) 20:16 PDT Elk Grove — When Northern California activist Quan Quoc Nguyen sneaked into his native Vietnam last Nov. 15, crossing the Cambodian border on the back of a bicycle, he figured he had a 50 percent chance of being arrested.
Two days later, he was picked [...]