You are listening to the program “1001 green things” of Phuc Khang Corporation. This time, I would like to tell you a story of “THE DUST ASSASSIN”.

An woke up in an enormous construction site filled with slabs of concrete, sand and stones and no trees. An had no idea where she was. Everybody was working diligently and paying no attention to the student in a white shirt, with a simple backpack, looking in bewilderment. His cellphone suddenly vibrated. A bass voice slowly at the other end: “Welcome to my world. I am what surrounds you and this is where I exist the most.”

An hadn’t composed himself before a strong wind blew fine particles of dust everywhere. He covered his face with his hands, searching for help but nobody saw each other except for the thick cloud of dust. He hardly held his breath for a moment and then passed out.

This time, An woke up on an express way filled with vehicles such as cars, trucks, buses … As in the mentioned construction site, everyone was engaged in their work. The noise of car horns and machines created a mash-up carrying no melodies. The heat on busy streets, the smell of oil and gas, the smell of smoke emitted from exhaust pipes made up a thick black cloud of dust slowly approaching An. While he felt frozen in fear, the same voice in the phone started: “Welcome to my world. You cannot escape. I am what surrounds you. I am sneaking up in your breath and heartbeat.”

And again, he had been very short of breath due to the dust before he provoked an immediate reaction. This time, An woke up on a coach. He startled, looking around and intended to ask somebody but the girl next to him was sleeping deeply. There was one with headphones at the front, one browsing his phone at the back, one playing games and one standing at the exit to get off. He then remembered that he was on his way from a countryside to a big city to join in a practical course on environmental issues. What just happened were short dreams on the journey. The driver was listening to a broadcast of a warning about the dangers of the density of fine particles of dust on human health.

An acquainted and arrogant voice was heard from the bus speakers: “Do you think you can really escape from me? Not a chance! Every day or every hour, I can sneak into your cells, playing and living there. Your lung, heart, liver and even your blood are occupied by me myself. Don’t be wrathful or uncomfortable when dominated, disturbed and controlled. I was born by your burning garbage. I was enhanced by the smoke from vehicles and machines of all kinds. Your industries produced waste, smoke and me myself. You bore and nourished me. While you are engaged on other concerns, I have grown up to dominate your life and health. People are so pathetic that they mistake me for cloudy sky or for foggy sky. They don’t know that the sky, as a matter of fact, has no cloud or fog. It is ME – FINE DUST. Do you really think your face masks can prevent me? Common mistake. I am so super tiny that I can invade your bodies easily.

An had felt confusion sweeping over him before he heard the announcement of the next stop. An startled himself and rushed to the door. He got off the coach, feeling his feet standing on the ground, looking at some kids playing innocently, others chatting noisily in coffee stands, some old people playing chess quietly in the shade of trees … Everything seemed usual except that the student of the faculty of environment became increasingly anxious about the warning of fine dust.

An decided to do something to make a little contribution to the removal of “the dangerous dust assassin” from the beautiful life. It can be stories about green life and mindsets of sustainable development. It can be clips to warn people about threats and harms of bad habits producing fine dust and affecting life on earth. An would keep on thinking about what to do for sure. But now, An had to arrive at the practice site to have attendance checked.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

You have just listened to “THE DUST ASSASSIN”. On the occasion of UN World Environment Day – June 5th, through the story, Phuc Khang expects each and everyone of us to contribute to warnings about human influence on the living environment. Man-made fine dust is one of hidden threats against our health and lives. To reduce fine dust in the air and its negative impacts on our lives, please do the following:

• - Upon going out, remember to wear standard face masks to protect yourselves from fine dust in the air.
• - Don’t exercise or work in polluted areas. Avoid activities which require deep breath such as jogging or cycling …
• - Encourage to listen to VOV or VOH to update information about traffic status. Avoid busy streets or traffic jams when the air quality in these circumstances often gets worse due to a lot of fine dust produced from emission of vehicles.
• - Say NO to burning tires, wastes without being planned because it will pollute the environment, worsening the quality of life.
• - Simultaneously, choose to live in green space, grow many plants in the homes or on the streets to purify the air, reduce fine dust and pollution also.

In the next broadcast, you will be listening to an interesting story about the competition between the light and the Sun. Do you prefer the light to the Sun? We look forward to listening to reasons of the light about the lighting function of the Sun in the next program.