Life in Vietnam


Friday, 03/04/2020 16:41

Sketches depict quarantine life vividly

Food Delivery.

HÀ NỘI - A series of sketches by overseas Vietnamese student Tăng Quang has been viewed thousands of times a few days after he shared them on his Facebook page.

"Every morning, soldiers have to bring food, water and other necessities going up five storeys to each room. One storey includes 11 rooms and one room has three to eight persons. It is easy to calculate the weight. Just looking at it feels like hard work. But everyone is always enthusiastic, thoughtful and keeps smiling," Quang wrote under the sketch entitled Phân Phối Hàng Hóa (Food Delivery). 

Two five-storey buidings after one day discharge a mountain of garbage. The soldiers in the quarantine area clean up quickly.

Quang studies MA Design Management at the University of the Arts London. He returned to Viet Nam on March 17 and was quarantined at ​​the Military School Zone 7, District 12, HCM City. He has since left quarantine.

In his spare time in the isolation area, he sketched 16 drawings depicting life in quarantine, using colour pencils, watercolour paints and two pens for sketching. 

Daily check.

"I have gone to a quarantine area like this. I also saw soldiers and health workers work quietly," said artist La Thế Đại. "On the benches or in a hidden corner under the shade of trees, there are a few people reading books. When the afternoon comes, everyone will play sports.

"These sketches remind me of those images. They are rustic but remind viewers thinking and sharing the difficult but meaningful days of isolated people."

Architect Đặng Tố Anh from Lisa May Home said she wanted to say thank Quang for the sketches.

"The strokes must be by an architect because it always has perspective," said Anh. "These sketches are moving. Thanks for sharing."

Daily timetable of a male student in the quarantine area. 

"The series is beautiful," Trần Thị Thanh Hiền, from District 2, HCM City said. "I am touched to see health workers and soldiers in scrubs. This is meaningful to the people on the frontline."

Other sketches depict lunchtime, cleaning in the early morning and daily activities.

House cleaning. 

"They are amazing drawings that I have seen. Thank you for drawing me a very nice picture," read a post by Huỳnh Dương, a soldier serving in the quarantine area. 

Portrait of soldier Huỳnh Dương.

Quang shared that before returning to Việt Nam he was afraid to be quarantined, but came away from the experience grateful.

Overseas Vietnamese female students in  the quarantine area. 

"Although the Government has popularised well about the safety and comfort of the quarantine area I still saw many negative messages," he wrote. "I feel blessed to be in the quarantine centre at the Military School Zone 7."

"When I was in London I worked until night from Monday and Friday and taught drawing at the weekend. I know the value of money so I feel grateful and respect what I have."

A typical quarantine evening. 

Student Nguyen Phan returned to Viet Nam from Spain and ended up in the same quarantine camp as Quang. She finished her 14-day quarantine on March 30. 

Thinking for a start-up. 

"If someone asked me what I am appreciated the most right now, I think it would absolutely be the fact that I am Vietnamese," she shared on Facebook on her last day in quarantine. 

A student from Germany exercises.
A humorous sketch by Quang. Photos from the Facebook of Tăng Quang

"And then silently from days to days, from the first floor to the fifth floor, from room 1 to room 512, from block A to block B, food is delivered and carried around by these soldiers. Biggest applause to these men!" Phan wrote to thank the soldiers. - VNS


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