E newspaper – Talk Vietnam

For a month now Nguyen Thai Hoang, 27, a hairdresser in Hanoi’s Long Bien District, has had his business disrupted, and he has begun to visit his customers instead. He told VnExpress International : "Since the city ordered salons to close we have no choice but to provide services at our customers’ homes. It’s the only way we earn a living amid the pandemic." His monthly income of around VND10 million ($435) has fallen by 90 percent after the fourth wave of Covid hit Vietnam two months ago. On a Facebook group with 1,400 members in Hanoi, there are around 20 posts every day by barbers offering to visit customers’ houses for VND50,000-100,000 plus transportation. "We’ll bring mirrors, masks, protective shields, and rubber gloves to ensure your safety," one post by a salon in Thanh Xuan District with 20 barbers said. "Our job is the same but we have to travel a lot more so it is more challenging," a barber in Hanoi’s Ha Dong District who asked not be identified said. "We still have to pay rents so this is the best we can do while we wait for everything to reopen." Many people have not had a proper haircut since the end of April when everything closed. "No salon near my building is open, so I get a barber to come and trim my hair in the hallway of my apartment," Le Manh Hung, who lives in Hoang Mai District, said. "It was uncomfortable to have neighbors walk by and stare, but I got what I needed." On social media there are also many offers for nail, spa and skincare services. In HCMC’s Tan Binh District, last month Mai had to shut her hair and nail salon, which is the main source of income for her family. "I had to ask for time to pay rent," the 40-year-old woman said. She has been providing customers hairdressing and nail services at home to earn some money. However, authorities have expressed concern about this. Nguyen Hong Tam, deputy director of the HCMC Center for Disease Control, said people cannot maintain a minimum distance of two …

From Terry Hartney From Ton Anh Thu From Nguyen Khanh Duong From Phuong Ngo From Vu Ngan Binh By Paul Kennedy Good journalists love good stories. They get excited by them. When it comes to news, size really does matter. The bigger, the better. In a career that started for me in the May of 1990, I have been fortunate enough to have reported on some of the biggest stories in the world. But most are tinged with sadness. Like the tragic story of James Bulger, a toddler murdered by two 10-year-old boys in Liverpool in 1993. A story I covered extensively both at the time of the senseless killing and in the years that followed. Or the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings when in the summer of 2005 I spent a week in Leeds, England, researching the terrorists responsible for the atrocities for the biggest national newspaper in Britain. I’ve also written countless stories about the Hillsborough football tragedy and was on the scene in Warrington, England, within an hour of two IRA bombings that killed two children. From a journalistic perspective these were good stories to cover, yet at the same time particularly harrowing. Professionally speaking, it is not a reporters’ job to get upset, their job is to accurately report what is happening, but it’s tough not to be affected. While working for Việt Nam News back in February 2019, I was proud to be part of the team covering what was at the time, the biggest story in the world. Thankfully there was no death or destruction. For me the excitement began months before when rumours surfaced that the summit between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States of America might be held in Việt Nam. I wanted to be part of it. After confirmation it would not only be held in Việt Nam, but in Hà Nội, I was buzzing. I felt like I did all those years ago when my name first appeared in a newspaper alongside a story I had written. The thrill …

Hairdressers, manicurists make house calls to survive Covid

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