Old ladies 'wish to stay healthy to sell newspapers for the rest of their lives'

Ms. Thu Huong (74 years old), owner of a newspaper stall that has existed for half a century through two generations in Ho Chi Minh City.

Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City used to have two famous "newspaper streets" on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street and Ly Chinh Thang Street. Ly Chinh Thang Newspaper Street was the most crowded because it had more than a dozen newspaper stands on the roadside. In the morning, customers drove in to buy newspapers in droves. The hottest leading daily newspapers could sell out within the first hour or two of being on the shelves.

The old ladies selling newspapers

Now, on Ly Chinh Thang Street, there is still a newspaper stall owned by Ms. Dinh Thi Nga, 66 years old, who has been selling newspapers for 30 years on the sidewalk, making it convenient for people to stop and buy newspapers. "My husband and I still sell newspapers to keep the joy of many years and also to serve many regular customers who like to read paper newspapers" - Ms. Nga said. Not far away is the newspaper stall at No. 2 Ky Dong Street owned by Ms. Mai Xuan Dung, 65 years old, which has also existed for more than 20 years.

"I hope to have the health to sell newspapers for the rest of my life. As long as there are buyers, I will continue to sell newspapers" - shared the story of Ms. NGUYEN THI NGOC ANH (72 years old).

On Nguyen Duy Trinh Street (Thu Duc City), there are many regular customers at the newspaper stand in front of the house of “Mrs. Tu, a three-generation newspaper seller”. The newspaper stand used to be big, but now it has been reduced to a small shelf, but every morning many people still buy newspapers and go to the coffee shop next door to read them. There are regular customers who come by on their motorbikes, take the newspaper from the shelf themselves, and give the exact amount of money to Mrs. Tu without asking the price.

At Thi Nghe market in Saigon, newspaper buyers know the 3m wide newspaper shop of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, which has existed since April 1990 at 8 Phan Van Han Street. At the age of 72, Mrs. Anh still rides her motorbike to get the newspapers at 2am every day and then returns to open the stall at 4am. She was moved to express her gratitude to the distribution departments of the newspapers for their support and sharing of discounts to maintain daily newspaper sales for many regular customers who have come to the stall every morning to buy newspapers and support them for the past 35 years.

One of the oldest newspaper stands in Ho Chi Minh City - more than 50 years old - is near the Thich Quang Duc Bodhisattva Memorial (corner of Nguyen Dinh Chieu - Cach Mang Thang Tam), a long-standing tradition from parents to children. The two long-time newspaper sellers are two biological sisters, Thu Lan (77 years old) and Thu Huong (74 years old).

The two elders always carefully put the newspapers in bags to protect them from the sun and wind before they reach the buyers. “In the past, the stall sold thousands of newspapers a day. Now, there are many fewer buyers, but we still sell them every day to our regular customers,” said Thu Huong.

Music producer Ha Thanh Phuc expressed: "Nowadays, paper newspapers are gradually becoming a memory, but they will always have a certain place in the hearts of many people who have the habit of receiving news in the traditional way." For the old ladies who sell newspapers through many sunny and rainy days, despite their meager income, some of them have degenerative spines due to many years of carrying and stacking stacks of newspapers, but they have never thought of stopping selling and leaving their long-time newspaper customers. Because their newspaper stall is not only a place to earn a living but also a place to firmly bond meaningful relationships, when newspapers are handed over every morning.

Love through printed newspaper stalls

At the end of April 2025, the newspaper stand at the beginning of an alley on Dien Bien Phu Street of Huynh Kim Nga (75 years old) that had been selling newspapers for nearly 30 years no longer existed because Ms. Nga suddenly passed away due to heart disease. Mr. Giang Ngoc Phuong, Deputy General Director of Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park Company, who has been buying newspapers at Ms. Nga's stall for the past 25 years, sadly shared: "Ms. Nga has been selling newspapers since she retired from working as a nursery school nanny in the 80s until now. The newspaper stand is not only a source of income, but also a source of joy and communication for the elderly. The newspaper stand of the old couple has helped many children grow up and start their own businesses. The newspaper stand maintains a free cold water dispenser (now that she is no longer here, the neighbors maintain it). Now when I pass by, I still have the habit of looking at the empty space at the beginning of that alley."

Ms. Ngoc Anh (72 years old) opened a newspaper stall at Thi Nghe market at 4:00 a.m. on June 19, 2025.

Many newsstands have closed down, many elderly newspaper sellers have passed away, but the fond memories of the newsstands remain. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, 60 years old, always remembers the image of his parents, Mr. Nguyen Van Ra (1927-2023) and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ut (1930-2005), who spent decades selling newspapers in Binh Thanh during their lifetime. Mr. Nam said: “My parents loved newspapers. They passed that love on to their 11 siblings. Since I was a child, I have helped my parents sell newspapers at the newsstand, and for me, newspapers are a great source of knowledge.”

Buu Tin

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202506/nhung-cu-ba-mong-khoe-de-ban-bao-suot-doi-84c0c43/