HANOI, June 16  -- A big company in Vietnam recently issued a memorandum prohibiting its employees from taking a nap while inside the company premises.

The memorandum has since triggered a lively discussion across the country on whether taking a nap while inside the workplace should be banned or not.

Dan Tri (Knowledge for People) online newspaper on June 10 reported that Pham Minh Tuan, general director of local Financing Promoting Technology (FPT) Information System (FPT-IS), recently issued an office order prohibiting all staff from sleeping or taking a nap inside company premises.

FPT-IS is a leading information technology firm in Vietnam with branches in 18 countries and regions. FPT-IS affiliate companies are operating in software outsourcing, telecommunications, property, education and financial services.

Tuan quoted feedbacks by his United States and the Netherlands customers as saying that they were shocked to see Vietnamese staff taking short naps in office, which was quite strange to them.

Tuan said that in the globalization process on information and communications technology, Vietnam is facing fierce competition from India and China, in both technical and cultural terms. In order to win contracts from foreign partners, Vietnamese staff should give up the habit of taking nap at noon, an official of FPT- IS said.

Echoing Tuan, Nguyen The Khoa, CEO of Green Standard Company, was quoted by Bao Moi newspaper as saying on Monday that he personally supports the FPT-IS decision. "Sleeping in office is not good for the company's image," he said.

Vietnamese netizens have expressed varied reaction to the ban on taking a nap in companies.

"I support to ban taking a nap at work. Those who want to have short nap at noon can go home or check into a hotel or go to the park," one netizen said.

On the other hand, some FPT-IS workers said allowing short naps, especially at noontime, can result in more productivity since the workers can feel recharged after taking a 10-15 minutes nap.

Pham Anh Minh, 24, a reporter in capital Hanoi, told Xinhua that "taking a short nap is good for the health because this can help in improving one's performance."

Pham Thi Trang, 24, an accountant in a consulting company in Hanoi, said that because of its tropical climate, Vietnamese love to take a short nap unlike in temperate countries where this practice is not common.

Trang herself said that she feels refreshed and ready to work more after taking a short nap.