Artist Mong Tuyen, 78 years old, young, beautiful, rich but food expenses are less than 50 thousand/day

Go to the market for 2 hours, food costs less than 50 thousand/day

- How are you?

I'm still fine. There's a show in Rach Gia - Kien Giang.(now An Giang - PV)I went singing from 1pm and immediately returned to HCMC at 4am the next morning, tired but happy.

I still have regular health check-ups every 6 months whether in France or Vietnam. Up to this moment, I have not discovered any diseases, including old age diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressure, bones and joints... After examining me, a doctor exclaimed: "You are 78 years old, how can you be so healthy? Your young children are already exhausted."

- How do you live?

I usually wake up at 4:30 - 5:00, and on days when I come home late from a performance, it's around 5:30 - 6:00. I spend an hour reading the Bible, exercising, and then going to Vuon Chuoi market.

Every day I go to the market to play with the vendors, sometimes help them sell, and help out when I see someone in need. So, every day I go to the market and it takes me 2 hours to come back!

The market is small so I know almost everyone. Many people who go to the market recognize Mong Tuyen and stop by to buy things, talk and become friends. Everyone is like that, strangers at first but then get to know each other. When they are late, they call me to "rescue their lover".

For over 40 years, I have only eaten one meal a day at noon, which my children take turns cooking and bringing to me. Once I get used to it, I won't feel hungry anymore, and I can eat some fruit in the morning. I don't expect it to be delicious, I just want it to be good.

Whenever I go with a group, I eat whatever everyone else eats. When living in a group, I have to get along well; if I act special, people will lose sympathy.

I do aerobics twice a day, each session is about 1 hour and 10 minutes with strong movements, not the gentle type; if I'm busy performing, then I don't.

In the evening, I go online to read the news, skim through what's interesting to learn, and skip over unnecessary content.

- Sounds simple enough for someone with an income of nearly 100 million/month, right?

That was when I rented out my house to people at a high price plus bank interest to get that amount.

After the economic difficulties and the Covid-19 pandemic, I thought I had to let people live, so I gradually reduced the salary. Now I only charge 30 million VND/month. I also pay for the employees here to eat, even though I have no relationship with them.

But it is true that I live simply, from clothing to living, there is nothing expensive. Food costs less than 50 thousand VND/day, clothes and bags are all cheap.(laugh)

If I spend any money, it is on going out. I have friends who love me, and sometimes I travel or find a place with scenery to eat, drink, and sing. If anyone doesn't have money, I will pay for them so they can go out and have fun.

When I made a lot of money, I gave a lot away. Now that my income has decreased, I share less. I don't eat it all anyway.

The biggest regret in life

- You won the Thanh Tam Award for your reformed opera singing and the Golden Lotus Award for your acting in movies. Such a beautiful and talented person, according to today's showbiz, must be an A-list star. Have you ever thought about where your career would have gone if you hadn't chosen to leave Vietnam that year?

To be clear, that year I left for no other reason than to find my lost sibling. As parents love their children, so do I love my siblings. That is why I gave up my career and went to France, asking the United Nations to help me find them.(cry)

After struggling for 3 years, we still couldn't find her and my life was ruined. That's what I always regret. At the peak of my career, loved by the audience, I left everything behind. If I could turn back time, I wouldn't dare change it.

- What countries have you lived in?

In 1984, I moved to France to settle down and opened a souvenir shop. During those 30 years, I often traveled to Australia and the US to visit my siblings and returned to Vietnam 68 times. There was never a year that I did not return, at least once, at most six times.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, I almost stayed in Vietnam. Currently, I only hold French and Vietnamese citizenship, and have given up my Australian permanent residency.

- When will you return to the stage?

When I first returned to Vietnam, many people said I left the country and only returned when things got too hard, competing for a living with contemporary artists. I respected myself so I chose to disappear for a while.

One day, I realized that the audience was still happy to see me and deep down they still wanted to sing. So I sang again but never showed my face again, singing in the "darkness" for decades.

I sing with the mindset of repaying the audience, so I don't take any fees. I sing from temples, shrines, charity shows to funerals and weddings; no matter how far, as long as I can serve the audience.

Modern music or reformed opera, I sing whatever people ask me to, but I only regret not having the chance to perform. Artists must sing and perform to be happy.

Live frugally but do charity without hesitation

- No longer having a career in Vietnam, how could you buy the current 10.1 billion VND house?

I have never been rich, but I have never been poor either. When I was at my peak, I am sorry to say I was the richest, with a big house and plenty of money.

When I went to France, I opened a big souvenir shop right in a tourist area, so I had a steady flow of customers. I lived very frugally, and even when I was thirsty, I didn’t dare spend a penny to buy a bottle of water.

Besides, I also work for my younger siblings. They pay others the same salary as my sister, while I work as much as 3 people combined.

I had to work hard and save every penny like that for decades to have the money to retire like I have now.

- You must have witnessed a lot of departures.

What I regret most is that in the last 7 years of her life, Ms. Tham Thuy Hang refused to meet me in person, only talking on the phone.

I place great importance on how we treat each other while we are alive. As for when we will pass away, we can still go early, let alone Ms. Hang who will be over 80 by then.

If I leave tomorrow, you don't need to see me off. What's important is that while we're alive, we love and care for each other.

Every day, I pray to God to let me go in my sleep. I live without bothering anyone, so I am very afraid of illness, making others take care of me.

- Do you often look at pictures of your youth?

Sometimes, I look at myself in the mirror and say jokingly: "Tuyền, your parents gave birth to you beautiful, but now you're so ugly?" and laugh to myself.

Some people say I'm lucky to be "lookin' good" at nearly 80.

- At 78 years old, single, family must be very important to you?

My family has 9 siblings. When I was young, I became famous early, earning a lot of money to support my parents, siblings and 10 grandchildren. Now my siblings and grandchildren are all grown up, and all are richer than me.(laugh)

They are mostly overseas but still often contact me to ask about me and buy things for me. The relationship is so warm.

- Let's say you have a happy old age, what have you learned?

In ancient times, Mr. Nguyen Du said: "In the past, human determination often overcame Heaven." I don't want everything to be determined by Heaven. Do good things and Heaven will help you.

People say people have fate, but I don't believe it. Shoes and clothes have fate, but how do I know what my fate is? So for decades, I've lived my life to the fullest and not sat around listening to fate.