Life

For Sanofi, environmental protection is part of business The Saigon Times Nguyen Thi Luong Phong (L), a representative of Sanofi Vietnam, donates VND1.3 billion to a representative of Vietnam Red Cross Society - PHOTO: SANOFI VIETNAM For a better life, apart from improving economic performance, Sanofi Vietnam has always attended to societal and environmental issues to create values for the community. By integrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) into the core of its operations, the drug firm has enacted numerous pro-society initiatives and environmental protection programs to change lives. “As a multinational pharmaceutical company and a drugmaker in Vietnam for over 60 years, Sanofi Vietnam is striving to fulfill its long-term commitment to social responsibility,” says Emin Turan, country director of Sanofi Vietnam and Cambodia. “On the path to generating positive impacts on the society, the drugmaker has been mobilizing its capacity, ability and human resources to minimize environmental footprint of its production and business activities,” Turan added. Reducing the environmental footprint In an effort to minimize negative impacts from raw materials and wastes on the health of people and the environment during its operations, Sanofi Vietnam is constantly redesigning and renewing its products and services to create a healthy society. Its pharmaceutical plant in Thu Duc City in HCMC is launching a series of programs to reduce its waste by recycling or reusing the plastic and paper waste in a safe and sustainable manner. Through its program to eliminate plastic waste that was kick-started years ago, the firm targets to reduce the use of plastics at the factory to zero by 2022. Last year, the company managed to cut 14 tons of plastics in its production. In addition, the factory made a reduction of 470 tons of carton paper used for packaging in 2020 while carrying out the “Carton Reduction” program, and recycled 30 tons of plastic …

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The return of the bicycle By Nguyen An Nam Bicycles have returned during the time of Covid-19 - PHOTO: THANH HOA Bicycles now suit well the diverse demand of urbanites during the time of the pandemic, speeding up changes in lifestyles and cultural practices. Needless to say, it is impossible for the bike to replace other transport means as long as life becomes normal again. However, as far as the benefits a bike can do to physical and mental health are concerned, the return of the bike is so meaningful right at this moment. Before the outbreak of Covid-19 in Vietnam, Mr. Tan’s wife gave birth to the couple’s second child. Mr. Tan then took a driving test. He had to repeat it three times to get the driver’s license. The whole family went together to car showrooms to buy a Mazda 3. But hardly had he driven the brand-new car for only a few months while still unfamiliar with the streets in Saigon being on the wheel than the city experienced social distancing, one time after another. The car therefore had to sit in the garage. Swimming pools, gyms and yoga classes were closed. Having to be confined to his house for a while, Mr. Tan began to feel restless and frustrated. His son, too, was about to face the problem of obesity and became much more nasty because of psychological distress. So, he led the kid to a bike shop to take home two bikes at reasonable prices. The pandemic-time bicycles On the first days after they had got their new bikes, the father and his son woke up early and rode their bikes around his house. The distance was about five kilometers. Afterwards, the little boy had become used to being early to rise. The two went for longer distances to new routes. Now, on the weekend, they were able to travel up to 30 kilometers. One day, they rode their bikes to Can Gio District, some 50 kilometers from downtown HCMC. Mr. Tan noticed that both the physical and mental health of him and his kid had significantly improved since the buy of …

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Privacy becomes “more expensive” than ever before By Dr. Thai Thi Tuyet Dung(*) The right to privacy in Vietnam has changed considerably. The 2013 Constitution rules that “everybody is entitled to imprescriptible right to personal life.” - PHOTO: UYEN VIEN In this era of booming information technology, infringements of privacy and personal data on social media have continuously increased in frequency. Easy access to the Internet plus the widespread popularity of cheap electronic gadgets capable of filming, photographing and recording is fertile ground for other people to monitor and interfere in others’ life without the latter’s consent. It is more difficult to define the jurisdiction of “the right to privacy” in this digital age if it is juxtaposed with other freedoms, such as freedom of the press, the right to access information and freedom of speech. Social networks have helped citizens exercise their democratic rights and express their attitude towards social issues. However, some have taken advantage of social media to blatantly violate others privacy, including revelation of personal life, revelation of bank information, defamation, intrusion of mobile phones to extract sensitive images or personal data for sale. The number of handled violations remain humble, though. Over the years, the right to privacy in Vietnam has changed considerably. The 2013 Constitution rules that “everybody is entitled to imprescriptible right to personal life;” and “nobody is entitled to illegally opening, controlling, or taking hold of and keeping other people’s correspondence, telephones, telegraphs and other forms of information exchange.” These stipulations were later stated in Article 38 of the 2015 Civil Code, which says that “personal life, personal secrets and family secrets are imprescriptible and protected by law,” and “personal life” has a wider scope than “personal secret.” Despite these conspicuous regulations, privacy in Vietnam is …

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