The secret of "the beggar"

(Baonghean) -When talking about “beggars” or “beggars”, people think of disabled people, people who are not healthy and are forced to beg others to survive. But the “beggars” today are different. We followed them in Vinh city and learned many secrets about the “beggars” today…

Farmers take advantage of their free time to become "beggars"

Early in the morning, along Minh Khai Street (Vinh City), when everyone was happily chatting over a cup of coffee, two old ladies in rustic clothes, in their fifties, carrying a bag patched with a few pieces of brown cloth, walked in. They went to each table, held out their hands and… asked. Not wanting the happy conversation to be interrupted, many coffee drinkers took out their wallets and put paper money in their hands. But some people were annoyed and waved their hands to refuse. When all the tables in the shop were full, the two ladies went to another shop.

Their beggars continued to wander through other streets, not missing a single coffee shop. When they arrived at Cua Dong market, it was already noon. Three more women of the same age and similar dress from other directions joined in and went to eat at a cheap restaurant at the corner of the market. After eating, they went to Ho Goong park to find some cool shade, took out a plastic sheet from their pocket, spread it out, put their hats over their faces and slept.

As the afternoon wore on, this group of "beggars" continued to walk sadly into the drinking establishments around Goong Lake, patiently waiting for each customer to extend their hand.

At 9pm, a group of five old women were at the night food market on Dao Tan Street, also looking depressed and holding out their hands like what I had witnessed all day. I walked up to a short, stocky woman, her eyes still bright and healthy, walked up and held out her hand in front of me, took out a 10,000 VND bill and gave it to her, saying: “You come to my house to live with my mother, just cook and chat so she won’t be sad. The salary will be 2 million VND a month.” She looked at me for a while and said: “How do you think you can pay me 2 million VND?”

The old beggar woman.

The female owner witnessed the story and said, “Every night people ask for one or two hundred thousand.” I could only widen my eyes as she walked to another table and continued to… extend her hand.

At around 11pm, the five ladies left together. They headed towards the Cua Tien River and turned into a Thai-style stilt house located close to the riverbank, perhaps this was the last stop on a day of “begging”. The five ladies gently entered the house, the surroundings were still quiet as if no one had appeared.

The next morning, I went to meet Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam in Block 1, Hong Son Ward, the owner of the stilt house where the five "beggar women" were staying. Ms. Tam confirmed: "There are five women from Can Loc District (Ha Tinh) who have been living here for several years now."

When asked about the reason why beggars stay here, Ms. Tam said: “Nearly 20 years ago, there was a very old beggar who slept in front of the market for several years. I felt sorry for her, so I brought her here to sleep for free as a charity. Since then, many generations of beggars have come here to live,” Ms. Tam said.

The landlady took me to see where the “beggars” live. A large bed with blankets, pillows and mattresses was placed under the stilt house, ideal for leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. Ms. Tam affirmed: “The circumstances of these women are not difficult, but they take advantage of the off-season to beg for extra income. In this group, there are 3 women who use mobile phones.”

The next day, we followed another group of “beggars”, sitting along the path to Hong Son Temple and Can Linh Pagoda. There were 8 people, both men and women, around 60 years old. They sat there with their broken hats, facing up in front of them, waiting for alms from Buddhists. It was Buddha’s birthday, so of course, they earned more money than usual. Late at night, when there were no more people coming to the temple to burn incense, they packed up their “tools”, counted the money they had earned that day, and left.

Their home is a row of boarding houses behind Vinh market. People around them said they are from Can Loc district (Ha Tinh) and only appear here during the holidays.

Ms. Tam, after many years of witnessing the generations of “beggars” in her family, admitted: “Begging nowadays is much different from the past.” It turns out that “begging” has now become a profession.

Among the "beggars" there are also people in difficult circumstances, with no way out, forced to beg, but this number is very small. There was a beggar woman with wooden crutches, limping with difficulty, entering shops along Nguyen Sinh Sac Street, Hung Dung Market... to ask for money for medical treatment. When she stepped out of the shop a short distance away, a young man on a bicycle waited and took her away. Suspecting that there were signs of "pimps", I secretly followed her. At night, the old woman and the young man went back to their rented room in Ngu Loc Hamlet, Hung Loc Commune (Vinh City). After verification, it was known that her name was M, she had come down here from Quy Hop nearly 20 years ago and had arteritis. The young man who took her by bicycle was her son, a street shoe shiner.

Busking, begging and “herding” children

At a restaurant on Quang Trung Street, a young man of about 25 years old was standing next to a large speaker with wheels holding a microphone, singing, while another man with blond hair held a wad of money in his hand with a 20,000 VND bill on top, walking to each table to ask for money. My friend frowned: "In the morning when we went to the coffee shop, we also called out "Goi do oi...", now it's also "Oh oi do oi...".

When this group of young men arrived, I took out a banknote and gave it to him, taking the opportunity to ask him a question. He said, as if complaining: “It’s been very slow lately, not much money, all day long I can only get three to four hundred thousand.”

At the table next to me, four people were drinking beer. One of them took out his wallet but his friend stopped him, saying: “Why give it to me? I am a healthy young man, not sick or disabled.” “That is also a job,” the other replied.

At this point, the conversation was no longer just between the two of them, but all four of them joined in the discussion. Finally, the oldest person said: “This is not a profession, but a variation of begging. If it is a profession, then sing in the right place, those who need it can buy tickets to enjoy it, but is there anyone here who wants to hear this voice, or on the contrary, would they be bothered?” Perhaps the other person was right, so everyone fell silent.

After an hour and about 4 to 5 songs, when it seemed like no one was giving them any more money, the two men dragged the speaker box onto a waiting motorbike and moved away.

This type of street singing has existed for a long time in the southern provinces, but only disabled people sing to sell lottery tickets or consumer goods. Therefore, they receive sympathy from many people in society. However, according to our research, there are currently about 5 or 6 street singing groups operating in Vinh City, and these singers are all healthy young men. They are all from Thanh Hoa. Morning, afternoon, and evening, they are present at crowded coffee shops and restaurants to sing for money.

Their tools are a Nokia phone with a memory card containing songs, a wheeled box containing an amplifier, speakers and a wireless microphone, along with a voice of “village karaoke” size, and they can practice singing on the streets. Each singing group has three people, two beggars and one singer. When it is late at night, no one can stay awake to “listen to the singing”, they ride each other home on motorbikes.

The girl sells chewing gum.

I quietly followed them to their rented room in Tan Tien block, Hung Binh ward, Vinh city. Outside the hallway, there were three portable speakers lined up along the path. I peeked into a room with the door half-closed, the lights on inside. There was a group of 5-6 children, both boys and girls, aged 11 to 13, lying on a mattress in the middle of the room. Each of them had a cloth bag tied to their waist. When the singing group entered the room, the children sat up, took out a bundle of Chewing Gum Cool Air (chewing gum) and money from their bags, and handed them to a man around 40 years old. It turned out that these children were a herded army, forced to sell chewing gum on the street.

The next morning, I went to the motel and waited. At around 7am, the kids came out of the motel room and scattered in different directions with cloth bags hanging from their waists. A man drove a motorbike and took the two boys to the Le Hong Phong gas station and dropped them off there. The two boys started to split up and went to nearby cafes to sell candy. I waved at the boy with a haggard face and all his front teeth missing, and bought a pack of Cool Air chewing gum for 10,000 VND. Although I tried everything, he kept shaking his head and saying nothing.

That night, with the help of a restaurant owner named Nguyet at the night food market, I approached a boy named Dung, about 11 years old. After glancing around cautiously, he started talking more: “I am Mr. Son’s “soldier”, from the same commune in Thanh Hoa. There are four of us who directly receive candy from him (Mr. Son). We have to sell 80 packs of candy a day, and around 11 o’clock, he will come here to pick us up.” I asked him: “So if we don’t sell 80 packs, will anything happen?” Dung did not answer, looking down at the ground.

Ms. Nguyet pointed at the boy and confirmed: “One day, a Hanoi customer saw that he was too small, so he gave him 50 thousand VND but did not take the candy. A moment later, he gave me 5 packs of candy and begged me to eat them for him.” Seeing that I did not understand, she explained further: “He gave away some of the candy so that the money he brought back would correspond to the amount of candy left. He was afraid of being beaten.”

I calculated, a pack of Chewing Gum Cool Air candy originally cost 4,200 VND, but was sold for 10,000 VND. Selling 80 packs a day, each of these children earned nearly 500,000 VND a day. If they raised four children, the income of these herders would not be small.

Before continuing to sell, Dung whispered in my ear: "At Mrs. Thu's boarding house, there is also Ms. Cuc who is raising 4 more soldiers, including two girls who are constantly beaten." After saying that, he pointed to a little girl wearing a red shirt, selling candy on the other side.

I approached this girl to start a conversation, but she only said "I'm from Thanh Hoa" and refused to say anything more.

Directly meeting Mrs. Thu, the owner of the boarding house in Tan Tien block, Hung Binh ward, (Vinh city), Mrs. Thu confirmed: "In this boarding house, in addition to the street singers renting the house, there is also Mr. Son, Mrs. Thu and Ms. Cuc from Thanh Hoa who are renting a room here. These two families have raised several children to sell chewing gum, but I don't know if they are their children or if they were forced to do so." On the morning of June 1, 2013, a child holding a bundle of chewing gum in his hand, walked into a coffee shop on Dinh Cong Trang street, the child said his name was Son, 7 years old, from Quang Vinh commune, Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa. He stayed at Mrs. Thu's house, Tan Tien block, Hung Binh, Vinh city to sell chewing gum to Mr. Thanh. On his left arm and back there were many scars, Son said: "Because I didn't sell enough 80 packs of gum, I was beaten many times by Mr. Thanh with a rattan stick".

Through what I have learned about the “beggar gang” groups, street singers begging for money, and especially the children selling chewing gum on the street, I wonder: “How many times have our kindness been taken advantage of and misplaced?” Perhaps when we are moved by compassion and lend a helping hand, we are unwittingly supporting the “beggar gang” profession, and may be aiding child labor abuse! While the authorities have not yet paid attention to these cases, it is difficult to distinguish.

The Son