Dragon Years are a busy time for young families. Every parent hopes to have a child, especially a son, born in the year of the dominant animal in the oriental pantheon.
In Eastern Oriental thought, people, especially males, born in this year will be more intelligent and have bright and successful futures.
Long, as the dragon is known in Vietnamese, represents the ruling forces of the universe including the water cycle - the movement of water from streams, lakes and seas to mist, clouds, rain and eventually down mountain streams back to the beginning. This is why the dragon is so often depicted in the clouds, rising out of the sea or whispered to be slumbering beneath long mountain ranges.
But while 2012 may be a good year for families with a dragon child, it is not so good for the increasing sex imbalance developing between male and female babies.
Nor is it a good year for the overloaded education system, which will have to start thinking about providing more classes for children born in this dream year for fortunate families.
Nguyen Thanh Van, living in Hanoi's Dong Da District, expects her baby this April. Many of her friends and colleagues also plan to have babies this year.
"The pre-natal check-up room where I have my health check every month is much more crowded than two years ago when I had my first baby," Van said.
Moreover, most women coming to the maternity ward ask doctors for an ovum ultra-sound to choose a good day for producing a boy.
"All of my friends and colleagues have had prenatal ultra-sounds confirming that they will have sons," said Van.
Worrying that the hospital may be overcrowded this year because of the influence of the dragon, Van booked a good room even before the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).
Indeed, many doctors and health experts are afraid that hospitals will be stretched to the limit this year.
Vu Thi Lua, head nurse of the Hanoi Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said that in the past fortnight, more than 300 babies were born in the hospital, a 30 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
"This Tet holiday, we are busier than in recent years as a great number of women are having their babies," she said.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the first six days of the lunar Year of the Dragon, from January 22 to 28, a total of 13,450 babies were born across the country.
And not surprisingly, Nguyen Van Tan, deputy director of the ministry's General Office for Population and Family Planning, predicted there will be more boys than girls.
In an average year, the nation's population growth rate hovers around 1.2 percent. However, in 2000, also a dragon year, the rate was 1.4 percent.
"The 12-year cycle can lead to sex imbalances in the
marriage market and the workforce. Schools and universities can also tend to
become overloaded," he said.
At present, the sex ratio in Vietnam is 111.2 boys to 100 girls. In Hanoi, the rate is even higher, at 116 boys to 100 girls, according statistics.
It is forecast that by 2050, the sex ratio throughout the nation will be 113 boys to 100 girls - leaving 12 percent of men without marriage partners.
"So," said Tan, "It is necessary to have a policy encouraging parents to have daughters to make up the difference."
School leaders are also concerned about the overload on primary schools in six years' time.
Le Thi Kim Oanh, principal of To Vinh Dien Primary School in Hanoi's Dong Da District, said six years ago when children born in the 2000 Year of the Dragon came of school age, she had to open three additional classes for them.
On average only 40 students are in a class in the capital city, but in that year, classes swelled to 50.
Teachers found it hard to keep discipline in classrooms and the quality of study noticeably declined, she said.
"Parents should pay more attention to educating their children and making sure they have a good chance to get married, rather than choosing a good year to bear children," she added.
(VNA/VOV)
