Her biggest concerns are the high cost of living relative to wages, lack of government services (especially health care), and graft - what she called black money. She revealed that the official monthly salary for all government workers and government funded private companies started at $200 USD per month, with increases over time based on seniority. But she said it is often hard to find these jobs and black money plays its role. She said everyone knows about black money but nobody is supposed to talk about it.
She told a story of her friend who did well at university and earned a teacher's degree. Afterward she thought she had secured an entry level teacher's position at a high school, which would have started with a $200 monthly salary. She was offered two options - either work as an unofficial teacher indefinitely for $100 per month, or secure an official government recognised teacher's position starting at $200 per month. The problem was to secure the official position, she needed to make a one-time black money payment of $10,000. She said the money would be parcelled out to the senior teachers already there, with the most senior people receiving the most. I didn't ask what her friend ended up doing.
Most people must pay for all health care expenses themselves, plus additional black money to nurses, doctors and anyone else involved to ensure reasonable health care services. Government workers or companies supported by government funding would normally receive some health care benefits to pay 20 to 30 percent of these costs.
She recounted another story about her niece who recently lost her hearing and will remain deaf if she doesn't have an operation costing $25,000 per ear. I asked why the operation was so expensive and she said there is no expertise to do the operation in Vietnam, so experts would need to come from another country. Doctors trained in Vietnam often leave the country for higher paying positions elsewhere, which exasperates the health care situation in Vietnam. They often leave because of low salaries, and some leave to avoid the endemic black money system. Bella said they are now planning to pay to have the operation for one of her niece's ears, but they will need to borrow heavily to do so.
She had fairness issues with landlords, who rent out their properties to businesses and those who live above the shops. Land values have risen so much in recent years with the booming economy that the rents are high for businesses in particular. Many of the landlords of expensive properties were able to avoid paying rental income tax in perpetuity with one-time black money payments to officials, something unavailable to the average worker who must pay income tax on their small income. For example, the landlord who owns the hotel property rents it to the hotel business owner for €10,000 per month, and pays no tax. I don't know what the landlord had to pay to avoid taxes, but I'm sure it was worth the official's while.
On another note, she said the property next door to the hotel is filled with around 50 renters living in crowded and squalid conditions, all sharing one toilet. The government wants to move them all to better subsidized housing on the outskirts of the city but most don't want to leave. These are people at the bottom of the economic ladder who beg, sell donuts on the street, or who have other low paying pursuits. While the government would pay them some money to relocate, most don't want to leave because they don't believe they could earn anything on the outskirts.
While we were speaking an old lady came into the hotel lobby asking Bella for money. Bella told her no, and explained to me that she would give some money to someone who was disabled and obviously couldn't work, but not this elderly person who could still work. Her view was if she gave money to this person she would need to give money to a vast number of other people in a similar situation.
Bella completed a degree in tourism some time ago and currently earns a salary of $200 per month. She pays some income tax and then pays $100 per month in rent, which doesn't leave her a lot for everything else. She told me that it would be impossible for her to afford the purchase of an apartment within commuting distance of work. She hopes a sky train will be built soon which would allow her to live with her parents in her ancestral village, which is 70 kilometers and two hours away from work by bus. A sky train would cut the commute down to 20 minutes.
She is happy to be working at her job in the city, especially in comparison with the pay and conditions of factory workers in the outlying areas. She has done some travel to Italy, Germany, Singapore and Thailand, and has a visa to travel to Australia soon. She said it is very hard for Vietnamese people to travel abroad, not just because it is expensive for them but because many countries are concerned they will stay for better opportunities, which many do. She is considering moving to Singapore to join a friend working in the hotel or tourist industry for first world wages, but is torn because she would be leaving her family behind.
Here's John at a lake where we searched for a geocache. The pillars are part of an unfinished sky train planned to pass through the city. It's unknown when work will be completed after some Japanese funding dried up last year.
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