Tuổi trẻ: Documenting Youth in Hanoi

On late afternoons in Hanoi, students begin to drift out of schools and universities and gather around the banks of the city’s many lakes. On one of these afternoons I am sitting with my friend Em, a student at Hanoi Law University. “I’ve only lived in the city for two years but I see it change every day,” She tells me. “The infrastructure, even people’s minds. People in Hanoi are more creative, more open minded, and of course their English is better.”

In a country with one of the fastest growing economies in the world and where over half of the population is under 25, it’s an exciting time to be young and living in the capital. Hanoi itself is in the middle of a unique moment. The city has tripled in size in the last ten years, consuming the suburbs, and bringing new opportunities.

And yet symbols of Vietnam’s complex history are visible everywhere and act as a backdrop for familiar scenes of youth. Teenagers skate around a monument to Vladamir Lenin, and meet in the trendy communist chic chain of Cong coffee shops. As the sun sets young couples line the edges of Long Bien Bridge, a beautiful mutant of original French architecture and sections that have been heavily repaired following repeated bombings in the American War.

I spent several weeks photographing and talking to young people here. Their stories reveal a shared narrative of optimism and hope, tinged with the inevitable tensions between tradition and progress.

Em, 20

I have four older sisters and one younger brother. My father had to have a son, and if they didn’t have a son I think they had to divorce, because of the pressure from my father’s family. If you don’t have a son it’s not good. My uncle told me that when I was born I was a disappointment to my whole family because I was a girl. When I was young that made me feel bad but not now because I had the chance to have a good education. I’m a good student so my parents are proud of me. They always tell my brother, “look at your sister.”

I feel scared of getting older even when I am just only 20. But after all, It is not really the fear of getting older but getting older without being the best I can be.

I don’t think too much about capitalism or communism. It’s just the way things are. But the function of government, any government, is to help society. My sisters never had the chance to study because of poor finance but now you see everything has changed. Everything is improving.

About one years ago the government started to crack down on corruption. Every single day you read in the newspaper about another politician who has to go to jail because they are corrupt. So it’s improving. In Vietnam the government has figured out their problem and dared to fix it, so they have a bright future.

Everything is flawed and everything is imperfect, but our generation is optimistic about the future of Vietnam and about our own future.

Lâm, 21

When I was a kid I lived in the centre of Hanoi. It was only Ba Dinh district and Hoan Kim District. The tallest buildings were only about 20 floors. But now i’m 22 and it has changed very much. Areas that were farms are now part of the city. It’s only been 10 years but it’s changed so much. Everyone wants to be in Hanoi because everyone wants to change their life.

Vietnam is going the right way. The destination is good, but the way is sometimes bad.

I’m a Hanoi boy so it’s very easy for me to get girls. I’m not too bad looking and my skin is white. You can easily tell who comes from Hanoi and who comes from a village by the colour of their skin, their clothes, the way they speak, just the way they look.

You know, for Vietnamese people it’s very easy to have fun. Iced tea is only 3000 Dong and we can sit here and talk and have a lot of fun. We don’t need much. Sometimes traffic police will stop you for some mistake, and by law maybe you can lose your driver’s licence, but you can just give them 200,000 vnd and everything is okay.

Hoài, 21

My dad spoils me, but he still encourages me to be the things that women should be. In Vietnam the women shouldn’t shout like me. They should be gentle, kind, respectful. You always can’t give your opinion. But I’ll say whatever I want. They tell us women should be this, women should be that, but i’ll do whatever I want and what I think is good. Sometimes afterwards i’ll feel that I did something wrong and i’ll say sorry but they always want me to do things right the first time. I’m not allowed to make mistakes because i’m a girl.

During my first year of university I really hated Hanoi men. Even though people from Hanoi are known for being really nice and polite. But I didn’t want to become a couple with them because I thought because I come from a village, the man’s family, or even the man in his mind, he will think i’m lower than him. It made me feel a bit insecure. But now I think i’ll get married with whoever I love and whoever is suitable with me. I don’t care about where they’re from or their culture.

To me the biggest problem in Vietnam is politics. They control everything. The thing i’m scared of the most is that my country will never change. We’ve lived in this system for a long time. When I see the other countries I feel really jealous, and not confident. I’m scared that even in my generation and my children’s generation it will still be like this.

I hope I can become a person who influences other people, that can make a change in my country. I know it’s hard, but I have hope and I think I can do it.

Oanh, 18

When my parents were my age they had to live up to requirements. Even with marriage, they had to marry someone their parents wanted but they don’t love him or her. Now we can do what we want and love whoever we want. Or about fashion for example, my parents couldn’t wear jeans or short dresses, but now we can wear anything we want. I can choose this tomboy style that suits me. I feel comfortable and it gives me confidence. 

Our generation is influenced a lot by other cultures. I watch Chinese and American films, I listen to Korean music. In my opinion you need to choose for yourself what you take from other cultures. There are some young people who follow the new movements although they do not understand it deeply. It is these people who lose their traditional values.

Đạt (Hades), 16

When most foreigners say my name it sounds like they’re saying ‘dead’, so you can call me Hades. I love skating. If I could choose what I really want to do, I want to skate. I skate, skate, skate, all the time. 

Honestly the education in Vietnam generally, there’s only one word for it, bad. I’m always thinking about playing truant, or quitting school and getting a job. But I love learning English. I want to study abroad, but the IELTS exam is really tough man. For example, one part of the reading exam was about animals, it talked about ‘mole’ and ‘chameleon’, man I didn’t know what they are. Honestly it’s bullshit. I really want to change things for my family. I want them to be rich. And I also want to change my own journey and my future . I really want to study abroad but IELTS man, it stops me.

I don’t like too much in Vietnam. I don’t like the culture here. Have you tried crossing the street in Hanoi? Green light? Red light? Yellow light? It doesn’t matter, they always go. One time I almost died when I was stopped at a red light and some guys tried to cut in my line. I don’t know how to describe it but they almost crushed me. 

I know this is my country, and the place I was born but honestly I hate it. I love my family but pollution, traffic, culture, these are all problems in Vietnam.