Ms. Thoa's income has been halved due to the cold and rainy weather. This woman has to scrimp and save every penny. Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City, many people are spending hundreds of thousands of dong each day to escape the heat.
Over the past few days, the weather in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has been in stark contrast. Hanoi has experienced a prolonged period of cold rain, with average temperatures ranging from 11-18 degrees Celsius, while Ho Chi Minh City has endured unusually hot weather across a wide area, with temperatures reaching 35-36 degrees Celsius, and in some places even 37 degrees Celsius.
Both freezing cold and scorching hot weather disrupt people's lives, especially those who work outdoors.
Income halved due to prolonged cold and rainy weather.
At 8 a.m., after the morning market closed, Mrs. Pham Thi Hoa (53 years old) quickly packed up the styrofoam boxes and cardboard boxes onto her rickety bicycle and rode back to her rented room near Long Bien market (in Phuc Xa, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi).
Ms. Hoa, originally from Hung Yen province, has been working as a fish trader in Hanoi for over 20 years. Every day at 2 PM, she goes to the wholesale market to buy frozen seafood, then brings it back to her stall to sort, clean, and divide it into bags of 2, 3, or 5 kg to supply to restaurants.
Because her job involves working with ice for preservation and frozen seafood, Mrs. Hoa's biggest fear is the cold weather.
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Ms. Hoa works at night and early in the morning, so her biggest worry is the cold, rainy weather (Photo: Toan Vu). |
"At night, it often rains, so my hands sometimes go numb even though I'm wearing two or three layers of gloves. To cope with the cold, we have to wear many layers of warm clothes, with raincoats on top. At first, handling frozen fish made me shiver, but as I worked on it, my body warmed up," Mrs. Hoa said.
Working alongside Mrs. Hoa is her husband, who is nearly 60 years old. The harsh winter weather significantly affects their health. However, no matter how cold it gets, they still have to go to work during the hours when many people are comfortably nestled in their warm beds.
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Ms. Hoa suffered from chilblains on her hands due to frequent contact with ice in the winter (Photo: Toan Vu) |
Ms. Hoa recounted: "No matter how cold or rainy it was, we didn't dare take a break because the rice vendors always received orders every day. If we took a break, we would lose our regular customers. My husband and I worked through the night until 8 or 9 pm, earning every penny we could. After deducting expenses, we only made about 300,000 dong a day."
Earning a living selling fruit, Ms. Vu Thi Thoa fears the cold, rainy days the most. Ms. Thoa recounts: "People are reluctant to eat fruit when it's cold and rainy, so my income is almost halved on those days."
Ms. Thoa usually sells goods from 3 PM to 11 PM every day. After selling everything, she returns to the Long Bien wholesale market to buy fruits for the next day's market, only returning to her rented room around 2-3 AM each day. Therefore, this woman feels the cold of Hanoi most acutely these past few days.
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Ms. Thoa (left) is washing water chestnuts in preparation for her afternoon shipment. Ms. Thanh (right) is worried that the prolonged cold and rainy weather will affect her income (Photo: Toan Vu). |
"I can tolerate the cold rain, but the saddest thing is that the goods just won't sell. On warm, sunny 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, 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 lately, I haven't been able to sell anything," Ms. Thoa sadly recounted.
In her small rented room, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh curled up in a thick blanket to escape the cold. As a street vendor during the afternoon and night hours, Ms. Thanh has to go out to make a living regardless of the weather.
"Because of the cold and rainy weather, fewer people go out, so there are no customers. Therefore, my income has decreased significantly these days," said Ms. Thanh.
With their incomes dwindling, Thanh and Thoa have to be extremely frugal with their spending. Thanh lives in a small rented room of less than 10 square meters, costing 1 million dong, with Thoa and two others. They sleep together, crammed onto a small bed.
Recently, someone suggested they change rooms, but because their income has been continuously decreasing due to the cold and rainy weather, the two women continue to accept their cramped, temporary living situation.
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Restless and anxious as the cold rain shows no sign of stopping.
As a vendor selling sticky rice and breakfast food, Ms. Tinh always hopes for sunny days to ease her hardship. "I don't have a shop; I just sit on the sidewalk to sell breakfast. When it rains, I wear a raincoat to protect myself from the rain and cold. In winter, customers want to buy hot food to warm themselves, but sticky rice and potatoes, even boiled ones, quickly cool down when displayed outside, so many people are hesitant to buy them," Ms. Tinh said.
As a painter, Mr. Bang (from Ha Nam province) often has to work outdoors. The prolonged cold and rainy weather in Hanoi significantly affects his work. However, to ensure the project's progress, Mr. Bang and his team of workers dare not take a single day off.
"The cold in the North is very biting. Because I spend so much time outdoors, my hands are always red and swollen. We light a bonfire and take advantage of breaks to sit and warm our hands," Bang said.
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People are furious because of the intense heat in Ho Chi Minh City.
In contrast to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City has experienced unusually hot weather in recent days.
Since the Lunar New Year holiday, every day, Le Thi Anh Dao (25 years old, an office worker in Ho Chi Minh City) has to leave home very early, traveling more than 10km to get to work.
Because she has to commute from Go Vap towards the city center, it seems that every day Ms. Dao has to go to work under the scorching sun.
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Ho Chi Minh City is experiencing hot weather, with many people covering themselves up when going out (Photo: Moc Khai). |
"Every time I stop at a red light, the sun is scorching my face. If someone stops their car in front of me and revs their engine, blowing hot air onto me, it's nothing short of torture. At that moment, I feel very irritated," Ms. Dao recounted about her experience commuting to work in the hot weather.
According to Ms. Dao, during this time, if you go out without a face mask, long pants, or sun-protective clothing, your skin will quickly get sunburned and darken.
"Even though I'm not afraid of getting tanned, I'm afraid of skin cancer. I work in an air-conditioned environment, but just thinking about lunchtime and having to go out to eat makes me feel tired. But what can I do? I still have to quickly reapply sunscreen before stepping outside into the sweltering heat," Ms. Dao lamented.
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Ms. Phuc's work has been affected by the prolonged intense heat (Photo: Provided by the subject). |
Linh Phuc (26 years old, freelance photographer) said that due to the hot weather, her daily work has been disrupted. Not only that, she also feels more tired while working. "Normally, I can start taking photos in the afternoon from 2:30 PM, but these past few days, I've had to postpone my shooting time to 4-5 PM," she shared.
Mr. Toan (57 years old, a security guard in District 3) usually starts work early in the morning and finishes late at night. He said that for about a week now, the sun has become more intense. Because he works outdoors, he also equips himself with sun protection gloves to avoid sunburn.
"Because I've worked outdoors for many years, I'm less affected by the shock. But people who come from other places or are used to working in air-conditioned environments probably wouldn't be able to handle going outside," Mr. Toan said.
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Mr. Toan equips himself with sun-protective gloves when working outdoors (Photo: Moc Khai). |
Not only are they mentally exhausted, many young people in Ho Chi Minh City also feel drained by the hot weather.
Speaking to a reporter from Dan Tri newspaper , Anh Huy (33 years old, Binh Thanh district) - who had just returned to Ho Chi Minh City from his hometown in Hue after a long Tet holiday - said that his health had been significantly affected by the extremely high temperatures in recent days.
"I knew the weather in Ho Chi Minh City was hot and humid, but I didn't expect it to be this hot. As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I felt dizzy," Huy said.
Furthermore, some office workers reported that after working in air-conditioned environments all morning, they experienced heat shock even when only traveling 200 meters to buy food at lunchtime.
Willing to spend 300,000 VND/day to "escape" the sun.
Many people in Ho Chi Minh City, unable to tolerate the intense heat, have opted to spend money on ride-hailing services for more comfortable transportation.
Ms. Thanh Tam (25 years old, office worker) lives more than 12km from her workplace. Every day, she commutes to work by motorbike or ride-hailing service. But recently, due to the hot weather, she reluctantly booked a car to go to work in the morning.
"During rush hour, the cost of driving a car is 3-4 times more expensive than driving a motorbike, but I consider it like skipping breakfast in exchange for a relaxed state of mind. Honestly, driving in the scorching sun would leave me with no energy to do anything," Ms. Tam shared.
Furthermore, Ms. Tam said that because she lives in a rented house without air conditioning, last Saturday and Sunday, when she wasn't working, she had to "escape" the heat at a coffee shop from morning until evening before returning home. However, this choice was also costly for her.
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Construction workers work in 37°C weather (Photo: Hai Long). |
"If I want a cool place to work, I have to accept going out to a cafe. If I sit there all day, I'll have to order at least two drinks to avoid feeling awkward with the owner. Not only that, I also have to order food for lunch and dinner. The total cost for a day is nearly 300,000 VND," Ms. Tam said.
Speaking to a reporter from Dan Tri newspaper, several delivery drivers (shippers) said that with this weather, many people are reluctant to go out, so orders for food and drinks delivered to customers' homes have increased sharply. Therefore, even if their shirts are soaked with sweat, the shippers try their best to "rush out" to earn extra income.
The cold spell in the North shows no sign of stopping, as another cold front arrived on the evening and night of February 29th, directly affecting Hanoi. Meanwhile, according to the Southern Regional Hydrometeorological Station, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to experience prolonged heatwaves until April. Sunshine and heat radiation will appear early and last all day, posing potential health risks and impacting people's lives.
Meteorological experts say that this year will see a continuous shift in weather patterns. Drizzle in Northern Vietnam will continue to occur more frequently than the multi-year average during the latter half of February and March 2024.
The Southern region of Vietnam will experience many hot and sunny days, concentrated in the latter half of the month. Therefore, people need to pay close attention to weather forecasts to minimize negative impacts on their daily lives, health, and work.
According to Dan Tri
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