Many apartment tenants in Vietnam’s big cities seem reluctant to leave village lifestyles

Vietnam’s rapid urbanization has led more and more of its citizens to opt for apartment living in lieu of single-family houses.

As these families choose modern apartment complexes, many of them seem intent on bringing along habits more suited for rural life than big-city living.

Public corridors filled with tenants’ property, constant littering, and allowing children to ‘play’ with elevator buttons constitute an omnipresent annoyance in nearly all of Vietnam’s condo projects, including those in more ‘modern’ municipalities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

‘I’ll pay if it’s broken’

In Block B of Ngo Gia Tu Apartments, a complex built in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City to house people relocated for a local construction project, a woman and her small child had barely made it through the elevator doors when the child, following his mother’s instructions to “press the button,” hit nearly all the buttons within reach. 

Though others in the elevator were angry at having to stop at nearly every floor, Tran Quang, a member of Block B’s resident-elected management board, says situations like this are common in the building.

“People are reluctant to show their disapproval out of fear of losing neighborly relations or being scolded,” Quang said.

Quang said he once commented on a child’s misbehavior, only to have the mother respond, “So what? If the lift stops working, I’ll take responsibility.” 

After the back-and-forth, she promptly instructed her child to “keep pressing the buttons, dear.”

Elevators are not the only bone of contention at Ngo Gia Tu Apartments. 

Using public corridors to store private property or as spaces for drinking parties causes constant disputes in the complex.

“Just stand by any stairwell and you will surely see someone throw down a garbage bag,” one resident said.

“There are times when people drop coconuts from high floors without caring that it could kill someone.

“There is no shortage of trash cans here and I just can’t wrap my mind around the reasons why they are so in love with littering.”

“We can remind tenants to follow the rules but in reality we are helpless,” Nguyen Tuan Kiet, another member of the Block B management board at Ngo Gia Tu, admitted.

“We don’t have any enforceable punishments for violators.”

No penalties

Many apartment owners hold a belief that living in a condo means relative seclusion from neighbors, as everyone has their own private living space. This is not the case in some condos.

Nguyen Van Danh, a five-year resident of an apartment in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City, said many tenants fear opening a dustbin, instead putting their garbage bags on top of the trash can to keep from dirtying their hands.

Danh said he has taken photos of these violators and sent them to the management board, but no actions have ever been taken.

D., an apartment resident in Go Vap District, said many parents who take their children to the playground allow their kids to urinate in the open air, even though a public restroom is only a few steps away.

Those who oppose the act are faced with an onslaught of verbal abuse, D. said.

“In the end, people are too scared to speak up again,” she added.

Some families even let their pets urinate inside the elevators and do nothing to clean the mess.

At the Tan My apartment building in District 7, residents keep the fire escape doors open at all times in order to use the stairs at will.

The doors are meant to stay closed in order to prevent smoke from traveling to upper floors in case of fire.