Despite holding a degree from a U.K. university, I returned to Vietnam to a starting salary of just VND11 million (US$430) a month, a reality far removed from the expectations my family and I once had.
It took me nearly three years after returning home from studying abroad to find a stable job, and my salary was even lower than that of some classmates who had studied in Vietnam.
People often talk about time, discipline, and motivation when it comes to exercise. But in Vietnam, I have noticed something more basic: Playing sports seriously is not cheap.
I recently approved the renewal of my team's AI tokens to support coding and product design. For a small company like ours, AI has become hard to do without.
Ho Chi Minh City recently rewarded VND3 to 5 million (US$114 to $190) to women who have two children before age 35. I mentioned it to my daughter-in-law, hoping it might encourage her. She replied, "That money is symbolic. It is not enough for us to have another child."
A friend of mine has a child in the first year of university studying English linguistics and literature. The student wants to take courses in data and AI out of fear of falling behind in the job market, and my friend's wife wonders if her child should study another subject.
One of the things I find most fascinating since moving to live and work in Hanoi is that many things here are often measured against a rather famous dish: pho
At 18, I failed my university entrance exams. By 20, I was working as a car washer in Vung Tau, asking myself a question that would shape the years ahead: “Will I live my whole life like this?”
More than 10 years ago I moved to the U.S. for work and settled in a small town of around 30,000 people in the northwest. What surprised me most was not the shopping center or the entertainment options, but the prominent building near the town center: the public library.
After winning a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, figure skating star Alysa Liu shared that she was upset to learn her father Arthur Liu was happy about her return to competition.
Four months after leaving my corporate job in pursuit of a less stressful life, I find myself unexpectedly struggling with a sense of emptiness and uncertainty.
My family recently took a trip through central Vietnam, visiting major cities. We took along a list of famous eateries suggested by friends, and most of their reviews included the comment: "This place is dirty but delicious."
When a TikTok video about "Dali slope" went viral in early 2025, thousands of people flocked to Vietnamese cities Quy Nhon, Vung Tau and Da Lat looking for similar spots.
Cold cuts, sausage, pâté, raw vegetables, pickles, and sauces are all ingredients that should ideally be stored separately. Yet in many banh mi street stalls, they are layered together and kept at room temperature for hours.
Many young candidates walk into interview rooms looking so timid, hunching their shoulders and lowering their voices, especially when asking about pay.
Many people spend time reading glowing reviews like "amazing", "very satisfied" or "highly recommended". They then choose products with 5-star ratings only to end up disappointed.
In the late 19th century the label "Made in Germany" was a warning to British consumers about imported goods that were widely seen as cheap and shoddy.
There are moments when I laugh so hard my jaw hurts, the kind of laughter you use as a shield, trying to keep exhaustion from leaking out. And those moments happen most often right before Tet, when people start chanting, "One hundred percent! Chug that dang beer down!"
As Lunar New Year approaches, ride-hailing drivers say they are working longer hours for small earnings, as low commissions, rising demand and mounting pressure from app-based platforms leave many questioning whether the job is worth the cost to their health and safety.
While many countries are debating a four-day work week, or even shorter working hours, the question of a standard 40-hour work week remains unresolved in Vietnam.
In 2016, while working in Singapore, I wrote an article about cycling culture for Channel NewsAsia, sharing my perspective as both an urban researcher and a daily cyclist.
For years, I was told that children should start learning English as early as possible. If they did not begin at the age of three, many warned, they would miss the so-called "golden period" for language acquisition.
When I realized I had spent VND168 million (US$6,477) just to raise my child's IELTS score from 4.0 to 6.5 to gain more university admission points, I began to question whether foreign language certification in Vietnam has become more expensive than university itself.
Minh, the son of an acquaintance of mine, graduated with a solid business administration degree from a university in Ho Chi Minh City. After that he sent out lots of applications for jobs but failed to land one he considered worthwhile.
Many universities in Vietnam now allow IELTS scores to be converted into admission points, a policy that has helped fuel the test’s growing popularity, raising the question of whether it truly promotes effective learning or simply pushes students into an expensive race for marginal advantages.
When I learned that many of my child's classmates already held IELTS scores of 6.5 to 7.0 while still in Grade 8, I realized that my child had entered the race later than most.
On the morning of Jan. 26, my phone was flooded with messages from friends and colleagues. All of them revolved around the same news: five confirmed cases of Nipah virus infection in West Bengal, India.
I recently found myself unsettled by a decision made by my four-grade child's parent association: contributing funds to hire someone to clean their classroom.
In Singapore, there is a nonprofit restaurant called Soul Food. What impressed me most was not a fancy menu but the people who run it. They are young workers on the autism spectrum, or ASD, and their philosophy is blunt and fair: "We want you to come for the good service, not out of pity."
I made a decision that many people consider risky: I did not let my child spend all their time buried in books, even though they were capable of studying more to maintain strong academic results.
Vietnam's prevailing 48-hour work week - often extended further by overtime - is pushing many workers into chronic exhaustion, making them reluctant to spend on shopping, travel, or even healthcare.
At a late-year breakfast in Bristol, an elderly professor set down his teacup and spoke slowly. “Universities now pour most of their resources into checking whether students actually learn,” he said. “They no longer focus on improving teaching itself.”
I have long been familiar with the reality of public noise, from loud conversations and casual video calls to people watching TikTok or YouTube on their phone speakers.
The ongoing debate over the value of English-language certificates raises a fundamental question: What is the purpose of learning English, and how much proficiency is truly necessary?
On Saturday evening, after the CEO of Ha Long Canned Food Company had been arrested, I met my neighbor who was throwing several cans of the company's pâté into the trash.
Some visitors to Phu Quoc say their holiday came with an unexpected frustration: finding the beach meant passing through restaurants or hotels, with no clear public access.
I have adopted a strategy after working for 20 years, moving from "finishing tasks" to "creating value," and no longer measuring my worth by hours worked.
Last weekend, on a domestic flight, I found myself in an awkward and frustrating situation. It was something many others have probably experienced too.
In a recent viral video the founder and CEO of EngineAI stood in front of a T800 humanoid robot in protective gear and … took a full-on kick to the stomach.
