Online

Photo: Suc Khoe Doi Song Citizens should be able to pay their traffic fines on Vietnam’s national public services portal, Ngo Hai Phan, Head of the Administrative Procedure Control Agency (APCA) under the Government Office, said at a Monday meeting in Hanoi. Currently, paying traffic fines is a cumbersome offline process. Citizens have to contact the concerned government entity at least three times and wait for 10 to 72 days in order to retrieve their confiscated documents or vehicles after paying their fines. Phan said this procedure was not only time-consuming and strenuous, but it also allowed corruption and negative experiences to take place. It is not uncommon that traffic police receive bribes from citizens after the latter are caught violating traffic law. The bribe is either initiated by the violator who wants to avoid paying a bigger fine or have their documents or vehicles confiscated, or by the police officers who are willing to let violator off for a price. In … [Read more...] about Vietnamese citizens to pay traffic fines online: officials

One in three young people said they have been a victim of online bullying, with one in five reporting having skipped school due to cyber-bullying and violence, in a new poll released today by UNICEF and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Violence against Children. The poll was conducted in June 2019 and answered by more than 170,000 respondents in 30 countries. According to this report, 21 per cent of the respondents in Vietnam said they have been a victim of online bullying and most (75 per cent) are not aware of a helpline or service that they can turn to if they are being a victim of cyber-bullying or violence online. Speaking out anonymously through the youth engagement tool U-Report, almost three-quarters of young people also said social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, are the most common place for online bullying. “Connected classrooms mean school no longer ends once a student leaves class, and, … [Read more...] about UNICEF poll discloses many young people being a victim of online bullying

In recent weeks, the so-called ‘Momo challenge’ has triggered hysteria among Vietnamese netizens. Youtube Kids which require a parent’s information to open is recommended for children viewers. Images of a disturbing bug-eyed lady face on a chicken body have sowed seeds of panic to worrying parents as the hoax has been claime by some on social networks to entice children to commit suicide. Fuelled by media reports and fears about children’s online activities, the hysteria has bubbled into the mainstream and become a hot topic on parents’ forums. Last Thursday, YouTube said that there was no evidence of videos promoting Momo challenges on its platform. The UK’s The Guardian newspaper on the same day quoted the Samaritans and the UK-based National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children stating that although there was no evidence the challenge could impose any harm to children, vulnerable people were put at risk by posts … [Read more...] about Momo challenge triggers online hysteria

A petrol station owner in Hà Nội turned to the online community to look for a driver who owed him VNĐ300,000 (US$13) after buying petrol and leaving his registration licence which was about to expire as collateral. The incident happened a month ago, but the driver seems to have vanished. The story was posted on a car forum in the hope the online community would help him find the driver. The information was complete: registration number BKS 30E-26 …, and gas station Phủ Lỗ, Sóc Sơn, Hà Nội. Posted on the forum was also a picture of the salesman and the licence with an expiry date of May 14, 2019. Netizens have offered their sympathies for the salesman, but some have also laughed at the situation. “Maybe the driver was too busy and forgot to pay his bill, but a whole month is too long,” a Facebook user commented. “Hurry up and pay your … [Read more...] about Petrol station con explodes online

Hanoi targets 100% of administrative procedures to be processed online at stage 3 and 4 out of a 4-level scale by the end of this year, in which at least 30% of public services are at stage 4.    Illustrative photo. The objective was included in the announcement No.325 of the Hanoi People’s Committee, providing the conclusion of Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung at the meeting of the city's Steering Committee on building the municipal e-government in September.  According to the announcement, Chung considered IT application in operation of government agencies a key instrument for Hanoi to reform administrative procedures towards greater efficiency.  The establishment of e-government, smart city, and digital economy is an inevitable trend among cities in the world, including Hanoi, Chung said, adding the move would help increase productivity and enhance state governance capabilities.  To fulfill the target of processing 100% administrative procedures … [Read more...] about Hanoi targets all online public services to reach advanced stages by year-end