Ms. Thoa's income has been cut in half due to the cold and rain. This woman has to save every penny. Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City, many people have to spend hundreds of thousands of dong each day to "escape" the heat.
In recent days, the weather in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has been in a state of contrast. Hanoi has experienced a prolonged period of cold rain, with an average temperature of 11-18 degrees Celsius, while Ho Chi Minh City has been experiencing unusually hot weather over a large area, with temperatures of 35-36 degrees Celsius, with some places reaching the highest temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.
Cold or hot weather disrupts people's lives, especially those who work outdoors.
Income halved due to prolonged cold and rain
At 8am, after the morning market session, Ms. Pham Thi Hoa (53 years old) quickly cleaned up the styrofoam boxes and cardboard boxes, loaded them onto her old bicycle, and drove them back to her rented room near Long Bien market (in Phuc Xa, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi).
Ms. Hoa is from Hung Yen and has been a fish trader in Hanoi for over 20 years. Every day, she goes to the wholesale market for 2 hours to buy frozen sea fish, then brings it to the counter to sort, clean, and divide it into 2, 3, or 5kg bags to supply to restaurants.
Because her job requires her to come into contact with ice and frozen sea fish, Ms. Hoa is most haunted by the cold weather.
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Ms. Hoa works at night and early morning, so her biggest concern is cold and rainy weather (Photo: Toan Vu). |
"At night, it rains, so sometimes my hands get numb even though I wear 2-3 layers of gloves. To cope with the cold, we have to wear many layers of warm clothes, and a raincoat on the outside. At first, I was shaking when I picked up the frozen fish, but as I did it, my body warmed up," said Ms. Hoa.
Working with Mrs. Hoa is her husband, nearly 60 years old. The harsh winter weather has a significant impact on their health. However, no matter how cold it is, they still have to go to work at a time when many people are sleeping in warm blankets.
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Ms. Hoa has frostbite on her hands due to frequent contact with ice in winter (Photo: Toan Vu) |
Mrs. Hoa said: "No matter how cold or rainy it is, we dare not take a day off because the restaurant imports goods every day. If we take a day off, we will lose our regular customers. My husband and I work all night until 8-9pm, earning every penny, and after expenses, we only make 300,000 VND a day."
Making a living by selling fruit, Ms. Vu Thi Thoa is also most afraid of cold and rainy days. Ms. Thoa said: "When it's cold and rainy, people are reluctant to eat fruit, so these days my income has almost halved."
Ms. Thoa usually sells from 3pm to 11pm every day. After selling all her goods, she returns to Long Bien wholesale market to buy fruits to prepare for the next day's market. She only returns to her rented room at 2-3am every day. Therefore, this woman has felt the cold of Hanoi the most in recent days.
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Ms. Thoa (left) is washing cassava tubers to prepare for the afternoon shipment. Ms. Thanh (right) is worried that the prolonged cold and rain will affect her income (Photo: Toan Vu). |
"I can bear the cold rain, but the saddest thing is that the goods are not sold out. On sunny and warm days with favorable weather, I import nearly 1 million VND worth of goods, and if I sell them all, I make a profit of about 150,000-200,000 VND. On cold and rainy days, I only dare to import about 500,000 VND worth of goods, and if I sell them all, I make a profit of about 100,000 VND. But these days, I can't sell them all," Thoa sadly said.
In her small rented room, Nguyen Thi Thanh curls up in a cotton blanket to escape the cold. As a street vendor in the afternoon and evening, Thanh has to go out to make a living regardless of the weather.
"It's cold and rainy, so people don't go out much, so there are no customers. So my income has decreased significantly these days," said Ms. Thanh.
Due to the decrease in income, Ms. Thanh and Ms. Thoa have to spend every penny frugally. Ms. Thanh is living in a rented room of less than 10 square meters, rented for 1 million VND, with Ms. Thoa and 2 other people. They sleep together, crowded on a small bed.
In recent days, someone suggested changing their rented room, but because their income has continuously decreased due to the cold and rain, the two women continue to accept the cramped, makeshift living situation.
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Restless as the cold rain shows no sign of stopping
Selling sticky rice and breakfast, Ms. Tinh always looks forward to sunny days to make it less difficult. "I don't have a shop, I just sit on the sidewalk to sell breakfast. When it rains, I put on a raincoat to avoid the rain and cold. In winter, customers want to buy hot food to warm themselves, but sticky rice, sweet potatoes, and boiled potatoes displayed outside quickly get cold, many people are reluctant to buy them," Ms. Tinh said.
As a painter, Mr. Bang (from Ha Nam) often has to work outdoors. The prolonged cold and rain in Hanoi has had a significant impact on his work. However, to ensure the progress of the project, Mr. Bang and his team did not dare to take a single day off.
"The cold in the North is very bitter. Because I've been outside for so long, my hands are always red and swollen. We've lit a fire and we'll sit and warm our hands during breaks," said Mr. Bang.
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"Furious" because of the intense heat in Ho Chi Minh City
In contrast to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City has been unusually hot these past few days.
Since the Lunar New Year holiday, every day, Ms. Le Thi Anh Dao (25 years old, office worker in Ho Chi Minh City) has to leave home very early and travel more than 10km to get to work.
Because she has to travel from Go Vap to the city center, it seems like every day Ms. Dao has to go to work under the blazing sun.
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Hot weather in Ho Chi Minh City, many people cover up when going out (Photo: Moc Khai). |
"Every time I stop at a red light, the sun shines on my face. If someone stops in front of me, revs up the engine, and blows hot air on me, it's like torture. At that time, I feel very frustrated," Ms. Dao said about the feeling of going to work in hot weather.
According to Ms. Dao, during this time, if you go out without a mask, long pants, and sun-protective clothing, your skin will quickly get sunburned and darkened.
"Even though I'm not afraid of getting tanned, I'm afraid of skin cancer. I work in an air-conditioned environment, but every time I think about going out to eat during lunchtime, I feel tired. But what can I do, I still have to reapply sunscreen and go outside in the sweltering heat," Ms. Dao lamented.
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Ms. Phuc's work was affected by the prolonged hot sun (Photo: Provided by the character). |
Ms. Linh Phuc (26 years old, freelance photographer) said that because of the hot weather, her daily work was interrupted. Not only that, she also felt more tired when working. "Normally, I can take pictures in the afternoon from 2:30 pm, but in the past few days, I had to postpone the shooting time to 4-5 pm," she shared.
Mr. Toan (57 years old, security guard in District 3) usually starts work early in the morning and finishes late at night. He said that in the past week, the sun has become more intense. Because he works outdoors, he also wears sun-protective gloves to avoid sunburn.
"Because I have worked outdoors for many years, I am less shocked. People who come back from other places or people who are used to working in air-conditioned rooms probably won't be able to stand it if they go outside," said Mr. Toan.
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Mr. Toan wears extra sun protection gloves when working outdoors (Photo: Moc Khai). |
Not only mentally tired, many young people in Ho Chi Minh City also feel exhausted because of the hot weather.
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Anh Huy (33 years old, Binh Thanh district) - who just returned to Ho Chi Minh City from his hometown in Hue after a long Tet holiday - said that in the past few days, his health has been affected a lot due to the high temperature.
"I knew the weather in Ho Chi Minh City was hot, but I didn't expect it to be this hot. When I stepped out of the airport, I felt dizzy," said Huy.
Not only that, some office workers said that working in an air-conditioned environment all morning, by noon, even if they only traveled 200m to buy food, they still got heat stroke.
Accept to spend 300,000 VND/day to "escape" the sun
Many people in Ho Chi Minh City, unable to bear the harsh sunlight, have agreed to pay money and book technology cars to travel comfortably.
Ms. Thanh Tam (25 years old, office worker) lives more than 12km from her workplace. Every day, Ms. Tam goes to work by motorbike or by technology taxi. But in recent hot days, she "bitterly" booked a car to go to work in the morning.
"During rush hour, car fares are 3-4 times more expensive than motorbike fares, but I consider it as skipping breakfast in exchange for a comfortable spirit. Honestly, driving under the hot sun, I will not have the spirit to do anything," Ms. Tam shared.
Not only that, Ms. Tam said that because she is renting a house and does not have air conditioning, last Saturday and Sunday, when she did not go to work, she had to "hide" from the sun in a coffee shop from morning until evening before returning home. However, this choice is also costly for her.
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Construction workers in 37 degree Celsius weather (Photo: Hai Long). |
"If I want a cool space to work, I have to go to a coffee shop. If I sit all day, I have to order at least 2 drinks to avoid feeling embarrassed with the owner. Not only that, I also have to order food for lunch and dinner. The total loss per day is nearly 300,000 VND," said Ms. Tam.
Confiding to Dan Tri reporters, some shippers (delivery staff) said that with this weather, many people are afraid to go out, so orders for food and drinks delivered to their homes have increased sharply. Therefore, even though their shirts are soaked in sweat, shippers still try to "rush out onto the streets" to earn more income.
The cold spell in the North shows no signs of stopping as from the evening and night of February 29, another cold spell continues to directly affect Hanoi. Meanwhile, according to the Southern Hydrometeorological Station, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to have heat waves lasting until April. Sunlight and heat radiation will appear early and last all day, posing potential health risks and affecting people's lives.
Meteorological experts say that this year will see a continuous transition of weather patterns. Drizzle in the North will continue to appear more frequently than the average of many years during the second half of February and March 2024.
The Southern region will experience many hot days, concentrated in the second half of the month. Therefore, people need to pay attention to weather forecasts to limit negative impacts on daily life, health and work.
According to Dan Tri
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