Viet Nam News
by Le Huong
When asked why he decided to settle in Viet Nam, Saleem Hammad said it was fate, or ‘duyen’ in Vietnamese.
For the past seven years, images of Saleem, a well-built handsome young man, have become familiar to Hanoians.
He has appeared on TV shows, entertainment programmes and catwalks as an actor, MC, model, interpreter and tour guide. He has also impressed the local community with his fluent Vietnamese.
He said he loves the word “duyen” in both meaning and sound.
“I feel lucky to have the chance to come to your heroic country,” he said. “If Palestine is the place where I was born, Viet Nam is the place I belong to.”
Born into a poor family in Palestine, Hammad passed the entrance exam to the Al-Istiqlal Universtiy (Palestinian Academy for Security Science) in 2011. He achieved excellent results and gained a scholarship to study at Ha Noi University.
“Viet Nam welcomed me with a cool autumn,” he recalled his first memory of Ha Noi in November 2011. “From Noi Bai Airport to Ha Noi’s centre, I saw many green trees and lakes.”
After his first months, Hammad became one of the best foreign students at the Vietnamese Studies Faculty and acted as class monitor for two years.
He liked wandering the streets and enjoying coffee on the pavement, but never went to boozy parties with friends.
“I had some difficulties eating here as I do not eat pork while pork is popular in Viet Nam,” he told Viet Nam News.
Now he has found food he can eat like noodles with beef, spring rolls, vegetables and grilled meat.
“I’ve adapted Vietnamese recipes like banh chung (sticky rice square cake) by swapping pork with mutton,” he said.
It’s a recipe he is proud of. He also intends to make sticky rice cakes using camel meat.
After graduating in July 2016, Hammad returned home to work at the international department at his old university.
“Returning home, I missed Viet Nam after a week,” he said. “But I did not immediately book a ticket back to Viet Nam.”
Nine months later, he returned to Ha Noi.
“The reason was simply because I missed Viet Nam,” he said. “I believed that Viet Nam would offer me lots of opportunities.
“I love the peace in this country, which my Palestine desires for. Vietnamese women are the other reason.”
Hammad said he loved Xuan Dieu’s poem Yeu (Love).
“That’s an impressive poem to me as Xuan Dieu was among the rare poets who dared to compose romantic verses in a fierce war while other poets wrote about revolution and the war,” he said.
He also said he loved Ho Chi Minh’s poems.
Now he works as a communications specialist and interpreter at the Qatar Embassy.
Good son
His main source of encouragement during his studies in Viet Nam has been his mother.
“My mum is the youngest in a family of ten children,” he said.
“She cared a lot about my grandfather, who took her on business trips with him.
She had to stay at home to care for her parents after she finished grade nine. This led to her dreaming of having a child who had the opportunity to study, which inspired me.”
At 14, Hammad worked as a builder, then a waiter, and then a cook. He earned enough money to quit school, but his mother said she did not need his money, only his degree.
“When I phoned her from Ha Noi, she never cried or said that she missed me,” he said.
“But in 2015, I called and told her I was the best foreign student at the faculty, and she cried,” Hammad said.
“I’ve experienced meaningful moments in Viet Nam,” he said. “I will save all those experiences in video clips to show my children.”
Hammad said he plans to launch a new Youtube channel soon to focus on both the Arabic and Vietnamese languages.
“Youth passes quickly like a shower,” he told students at the recent Culture Exchange Festival hosted by the Vietnamese Studies Faculty. You should not waste your youth. Do not spare any passion or enthusiasm for this beautiful time.” — VNS