At 12 noon, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chi (67 years old, from Ben Tre) returned to a shack in Vinh Loc B commune (Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City). Due to the complicated epidemic situation, her business of selling lottery tickets has been severely affected. Going all morning, she has not sold more than half of the lottery tickets received from last night. “Selling too slow, I’m worried this month I won’t be able to pay for the room. Fortunately, the landlord has announced that he will cut my rent by half,” said Ms. Chi, adding that she would tighten spending. To save money, every day, she eats only white rice and dried fish that was given to her by a neighbor. Living in a difficult situation, she was very happy when she heard that her rent was reduced. This joy also comes to more than 300 people who are renting at Residence No. 1 (Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City). Mr. Pham Trung Hieu, the owner of the accommodation, said that during the recent Covid-19 epidemics, the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Worker Support Center and the accommodation have implemented many programs to support tenants. Currently, many motel owners have exempted or reduced rent for employees. During this epidemic, he also reduced the rent for more than 300 people staying here. “We give gifts to workers who are renting and reduce the room rate by 50%. The accommodation is supported by a sponsor of the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Worker Support Center. We will organize people to come and receive free rice next Saturday,” he said. Meanwhile, in a row of more than 20 rooms for rent on Nguyen Cong Hoan Street (Ward 7, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City), Mr. Ho De is free of charge for some tenants here. This is the fourth time that Mr. De has exempted or reduced the rent. He said: “Three previous epidemics, I also exempted and reduced rent. Poor families rent here for many years, I reduce the money. For students, students with difficulties, I always free rent.” Ms. Only received a reduction in the rent of the room from the lessor. To save money, she only eats white rice with the dried fish given to her. Local people said that Mr. De’s exemption and reduction of rent is not uncommon. Because more than 40 years ago, he had taken care of, even for people with difficult circumstances, poor students to stay in free accommodation. Leave a house of tens of billions, treat tenants like family In particular, recently, he completed a will with the content of leaving 2 houses worth tens of billions of dong for the lonely elderly and poor students – free of charge. Ho Thi Nhu Quynh, a student at the University of Industry 4, who is renting here, said: “Every epidemic, Mr. De also visits and asks for the innkeepers”. “He put up a notice to give everyone a 50% discount on rent. However, when he knew which families were too difficult, he reduced them from 60-70% of the rent. Some people are completely exempted from rent by him,” Nhu Quynh said. Similar to Mr. De, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (owner of a motel room in Tan Quy Ward, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City) also reduced the rent and space for the poor from last May. This is the fourth time that Mr. Ho De has exempted or reduced the rent. However, until this June, the epidemic situation in Ho Chi Minh City was still complicated, so she continued to reduce the rent. She even actively reduced the rent of her already very low business premises. Mr. Nguyen Van Tai, the tenant of Ms. Thuy’s premises, said that he and his wife rented the business front in front of Ms. Thuy’s inn to sell soft drinks. Although located in a large street frontage, crowded with people, convenient for business, Ms. Thuy rented it to him at a very cheap price. “In this epidemic, Ho Chi Minh City was separated for a long time, so I sold very little. One day, we barely sold anything, it was very difficult. Fortunately, Ms. Thuy actively reduced the rent. This has helped our family a lot during this tight time,” said Mr. Tai. Thuy shared, most of the tenants here have been with her for many years. According to each person’s circumstances, Ms. Thuy will reduce the rent differently. She said: “In the epidemic, people who work are unemployed, business people are sluggish… Therefore, their income has also decreased a lot. How can I collect enough rent? I try to reduce the rent, rent the premises so that they can help some or that part. Right now, I just want to help workers overcome the pandemic so that they can stabilize their lives and send money back to their hometowns.” Like Mrs. Thuy, Mr. Hieu said, he always considers the people who are renting with him as “family members”. When his “family” was severely affected by the epidemic, he could not sit still. Therefore, even though he knew that he would lose a large amount of income when reducing the rent by 50% for more than 300 people, he still tried to do it.

The small apartment uses cold colors but still exudes sophistication and elegance. Tuan is a Graphic Designer and loves black and white colors. On his 23rd birthday, he decided to make his dream come true, saving his salary for many months to redesign the apartment. The main styles are Scandinavian (Northern Europe) and Bauhaus (living space to optimize use). Minimalist Nordic style, optimizing functionality. The apartment is painted white, the interior is preferred black or a mixture of three colors: black, gray, white. The lights, carpets and decorations were purchased by him through e-commerce sites. Sopha, TV bought at the store. The TV has a versatile shelf that can be moved anywhere in the house and turns into a decorative picture frame when not in use. The TV can be moved easily, because the back of the plugs is covered with a very neat cover. If not used, the screen can be fitted with pictures to match the house. Whenever feeling bored or free, Tuan rearranges the interior according to many different ideas. The tea table is compact, with a Japanese style, above the green plant pots to create vitality. After completion, the house is as beautiful and sophisticated as the room of a 5-star hotel, bringing creative inspiration to Tuan, helping him to relax and full of energy for new projects. Every detail, even the smallest, is paid attention to by Mr. Tuan, arranged to suit the space. Kitchen equipment and utensils are all black and white. Wooden and plastic multi-tier shelves, which he ordered online and assembled himself. Kitchen cabinet material is made of picomat material, which is water-resistant, non-termite. Whenever he has free time, Tuan spends time rearranging his house as a way to relieve stress and nurture inspiration for work.