Sex and trivia, Vietnam's phone service answers all
HANOI - In most countries, if you want to find a shop, settle a
trivia question or ask a delicate question about sex, you to turn to the Internet or
ask a friend.
In Vietnam, you dial 1080.
In one of Asia's poorest countries where the Internet is carefully controlled, the
1080 information service and its upmarket cousin 1088 have become the nation's
problem solvers.
There are few topics that communist Vietnam's national dial-a-question service
doesn't tackle outside of the universally sensitive realms of politics and religion.
On the surface, that seems surprising given the Southeast Asian nation's
reputation for non-transparency. But with tight controls on information and scarce
public libraries the service is essential.
Set up in 1992, the 1080 service is a lifeline for millions of Vietnamese and even
with growing Internet use, users are proving reluctant to change, preferring to
speak to a soothing operator's voice rather than surf the net.
And if the subject is more demanding, Vietnamese can also dial 1088, a premium
consultant-run phone information service.
For example, questions about a problem in the bedroom are dealt with
professionally and sympathetically by a woman consultant who provides detailed
suggestions in clinical terminology.
The calls to the specialist service cost 8 or 9 U.S. cents a minute, while the 1080
directory inquiries are 4 to 6 U.S. cents a minute depending on which city the call
originates.
It's not a great sum even for a poor country like Vietnam, where the average per
capita income each year is about $400, considering the lack of private sector
specialists in the legal, medical and educational fields.
Lovely irony
Outsiders are often surprised and intrigued when they hear about the phone services.
"It's a lovely irony," remarked a British citizen who works in Hanoi, referring to the otherwise tight-lipped
culture in Vietnam. He recalls being told "in seconds" the population of Mexico while trying to settle a bet
in a pub with friends.
Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corp, the state-run telecommunications firm that originated 1080
and 1088, views them as a public service.
"Many customers consider 1080 and 1088 as the encyclopedia that gives the quickest information," said
Bui Quoc Viet, the director of VNPT's Information Center for Posts and Telecom.
The services can be accessed by Vietnam's 80 million people in all 61 provinces, as well as by overseas
callers.
Ho Chi Minh City, with 8 million residents, employs 1,000 operators for the twin services and receives
about 35,000 queries a day.
The services operate round-the-clock in a country where there is an average of 4.6 phones for every 100
people and a total of 5.57 million fixed line and mobile phone users.
Grasshopper ears
"We are sometimes asked interesting questions like 'Does a grasshopper have ears?' and 'What's the
longevity of a mosquito'," Viet said.
Such questions and many more can be asked thanks to the head operator at Ho Chi Minh City's trunk call
telephone station, Hoang Thi Hue.
In 1990, long-distance calls had to be placed by telephone operators because no direct dial was
available.
"We recognized that customers wanted not just to be put through, but they also wanted to have
information," Hue recalls.
She proposed the telephone company start offering an information service. Her bosses agreed and the
first version of 1080 was launched on July 14, 1992.
Hue is now director of the customer service center at Ho Chi Minh City's VNPT branch.
A more recent feature of the service are taped readings and singing of children's stories and songs since
1996.
In the early days, operators would actually read stories or sing songs to children at bed time.
The 1088 service covers 10 fields including computers, law, health and family life. VNPT contracts out that
service, which uses experts to field the queries.
Hue is awed by the growth of the service over the years. And she is aware of the encroaching competition
of cyberspace, where search engines can speedily provide answers to tricky questions.
But the Vietnam phone service retains certain advantages, she believes. "Most of the information seekers
still like talking with the operator since they prefer to hear her lovely voice," she said.
By Christina Toh-Pantin - Reuters - March 04, 2003.
Vietnam launches crime hotline
Vietnam has set up a 24-hour telephone hotline in an effort to combat
rampant smuggling, tax evasion and sales of contraband goods.
Seven fixed-line and six mobile-telephone numbers have been published in
the official press so citizens can ring in their complaints.
Vietnam's trade ministry says the hotline will aid the fight against smuggling
and trade fraud, which it describes as being "out of control."
Long borders with Cambodia, China and Laos, together with poorly-paid state
officials, have made Vietnam a smugglers' haven.
The government is keen to dispense with that reputation and has instructed
courts to hand down stiff punishments to those found guilty of such crimes.
ABC/Radio Australia - March 04, 2003.
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