TPO - Tet is a time for family reunions and relatives; it is an occasion for everyone to wear their best clothes to go on spring outings, attend festivals, etc. However, there are still many people who accept to be away from home during Tet to earn a living. For them, Tet is simply an opportunity to earn more income.
TPO - Tet is a time for family reunions and relatives; it is an occasion for everyone to wear their best clothes to go on spring outings, attend festivals, etc. However, there are still many people who accept to be away from home during Tet to earn a living. For them, Tet is simply an opportunity to earn more income.
“Let’s take a family photo, sister! The weather is cool today, let’s take a photo to commemorate the Tet flower street. I charge a cheap price, and you can take the photo right away” – Mr. Ngo Van Ngọt (61 years old), a photographer at Nguyen Hue flower street (District 1, HCMC) diligently invites visitors to enjoy the spring.
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| A photographer takes pictures for customers at the Spring Flower Street of At Ty 2025 |
Not daring to rush or get too close to the customer, Mr. Ngọt could only stand from a distance, raising a finger to signal whether the customer wanted to take a photo. Only if the customer nodded would he dare to come closer.
Taking advantage of his break, Mr. Ngọt shared that his house is in Chau Doc district, An Giang province. Every time Tet approaches, usually around the 27th of December, he takes his camera, takes a bus to Ho Chi Minh City to take photos in amusement parks and flower streets to earn income. “Up to now, I have celebrated the New Year in Ho Chi Minh City more than 30 times. I miss Tet away from home and relatives, but I have to try because of life,” Mr. Ngọt confided.
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| Mr. Ngọt is from An Giang. Every Tet holiday, he goes to Ho Chi Minh City to work as a street photographer for nearly 30 years. |
At Nguyen Hue Flower Street this year, there were roughly 20 photographers working. They carried the tag “District 1 Mobile Photography Cooperative – Spring At Ty 2025” on their chests. Many of them were from different localities, but every Tet holiday, they packed up and went to Ho Chi Minh City to take beautiful photos for visitors to keep as Tet memories.
Mr. Hoang (from Long An) has also spent more than 10 years taking photos on Tet holiday in Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to his “fishing rod” of a digital camera, he also has a bunch of other accessories such as conical hats, umbrellas, apricot and peach blossom branches… for customers to hold and pose. He confided that every year, the flower street is very crowded with visitors, but the photographers hired have fewer customers.
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| Street photographers have few customers because now everyone has a fancy phone to take pictures of each other. |
“The reason is that now everyone has a phone that takes beautiful photos, they take photos for each other so there is no need to hire a photographer. There were days when I stood all day, offering to take photos until my mouth was tired, but all I got were hand waves and head shakes,” said Mr. Hoang.
The price for hiring a photographer is quite reasonable. If the customer only takes the file (sends the photo via phone), the price is only 20,000 VND/photo; if developing, the price is only 40,000 VND/photo.
According to many street photographers, about 10-15 years ago, they earned tens of millions of dong each Tet season, but now, on average, they only earn about 1 million dong/day. The spring flower street operates for about 7 days, the workers earn about 7 million dong, after deducting the costs of renting a room, eating and living, they have about 4-5 million dong left.
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| Many people accept celebrating Tet far from home to earn extra income. |
Although their income is not as good as before, many of these mobile photographers affirm that they will still come to Ho Chi Minh City to earn a living during Tet. Because it is not only a habit, but also a love for the job, wanting to contribute more in preserving beautiful moments of families.
Near the Notre Dame Cathedral, the City Post Office, 30/4 Park (District 1)… many people make a living by selling balloons, ice cream, grilled rice paper… diligently inviting each customer to come and buy their goods.
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A street artist contributes music to spring days |
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| They make a living by doing all kinds of jobs. Passersby can give as much as they want, depending on each person's generosity. |
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh (31 years old, from Ben Tre) sells mixed rice paper and grilled rice paper and said that she has not returned to her hometown for Tet for nearly 6 years. “Near Tet, everyone is preparing to go home to their relatives, I am also very excited. But due to the circumstances, I accept to stay in the city to do wholesale, earn money to send lucky money to my children and grandchildren in the countryside. On the first day of the new year, I made a video call to wish everyone a happy new year, seeing that everyone is healthy makes me feel at ease” - Ms. Thanh confided.
According to Ms. Thanh, although wholesale during Tet is hard, the income is 2-3 times higher than usual. Tired customers often stop by to eat and rest, so Ms. Thanh works tirelessly. Because of that, her income can reach 2 million VND a day. "I have proactively sourced raw materials early, so the price is stable. Even during Tet, I still do not increase the selling price, so customers love and support me a lot," Ms. Thanh said.
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Candy carts are just like childhood memories. Cotton candy is bought by customers to enjoy and also to pose for photos. |
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A popular pencil portrait booth. |
On normal days, she helps sell rice at Ban Co market (District 3), but every Tet holiday, Vo Thi Nhi (from Nghe An) and her husband sell balloons near the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden. “On Tet holiday, we sell about 40-50 balloons a day, priced from 20,000-25,000 VND each. In the early spring, everyone is happy and excited, so few people bargain, but they buy a lot for children to take out. After about a week of selling Tet goods, my husband and I earn 6-7 million VND, enough to pay for the rent and tuition for the new semester for our children,” Nhi confided.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/gap-nhung-nguoi-ma-tet-chi-don-gian-la-them-co-hoi-de-kiem-them-thu-nhap-post1713600.tpo
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