I left souvenirs in my backpack at the lobby when I went back to the hotel. I had already checked out the room in the morning when I left for Cho Lon since it was my last day there. When I came out from the hotel, I met Duong again. He told me to come with him, and we sat down on the step near by hotel and chatted. While talking, a lottery seller came and he bought a few. He told me that he would come to Japan if he wins. A few minutes later, a beggar came as well, and he gave him small money.
When I came to Vietnam, actually not just Vietnam but Cambodia as well, I made my rule that I wouldn't give money to beggars. It was not because I was stingy. I didn't want to give them an impression that they could get money from people whenever they beg. However, Duong gave money. Once I saw it, a small question came up to my mind.
"Hey, is it normal for you local people to give them money?"
"It's up to you," he said.
"If you feel like it, you do. If not, you don't have to. I give them money because they have tough life. They can't get a job"
Actually, a lot of beggars I saw there had something inconvenient. For example, some of them don't have a leg and walk on crutches. You can still see the scars which were left by the war. Actually, it might not proper to say "still" because the war was not so far in the past. I saw a lot of people that seemed to be injured by the war. And the most shocking one I saw was a male beggar who was sitting and screaming beside Ben Thanh market when I went there for the fist time. Almost everywhere of his face was inflamed and he looked ugly. I had never seen such a thing before. It was an shocking experience.
The topic sifted to about homeless people later. Since he said that there must not be homeless people in Tokyo, I told him that there are. He looked surprised. He told me that he didn't expect it because Tokyo is a city for rich people. "I know that maybe we look rich from Vietnamese eyes," I said. "However, it costs a lot to live in Tokyo. And since the economy is not so good in Japan right now, there are a lot of people who have lost their job and live in the park, station, or under the bridge." He looked surprised to my words and asked me if the government doesn't help such people. I told him things as much as I knew, but felt uncomfortable because the more I talk, the more I realized that I didn't know about society so much. It was a shame.
We moved to his hotel after while, but I told him that I was going to buy some water. The water in my bottle was already gone.
Web album: A Trip to Vietnam
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