Graffiti dogs Ho Chi Minh City
Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 21:11 GMT+7
Ho Chi Minh City grapples with the lingering problem of widespread graffiti, sullying the facades of schools, hospitals, and government buildings, with a definitive solution remaining elusive despite ongoing efforts.
Findings from Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper showed that a large number of traffic infrastructure facilities, the walls of schools, hospitals, and headquarters of state management agencies in the city were vandalized with spray paint and graffiti in various shapes on Wednesday.
Traveling along several city streets, people may easily notice rampant graffiti at spaces under bridges, bus stations, and locations that have large walls.
The vandalism has not only defaced downtown areas but also suburban sites, bothering people in the areas. Graffiti was also found to have covered some locations for years.
In a recent directive, Le Hong Nam, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security, instructed law enforcement agencies in Thu Duc City – an administrative district under Ho Chi Minh City – and across the city's 21 districts to intensify patrols to identify and address instances of vandalism that target infrastructure facilities in their respective areas.
The agencies were required to report the results of their tasks to the department by Tuesday.
Earlier, railcars of Ho Chi Minh City’s metro line No. 1 were vandalized on April 30 at Long Binh Depot in Thu Duc.
Police identified Ilyevsky Sergey, a 30-year-old Belarusian man, and another foreigner whose identity remains unrevealed as suspects vandalizing the railcars on the metro line.
Sergey is a graffiti artist and entered Vietnam three times, on November 29, 2022, March 7, 2023, and April 27, 2023.
He left Vietnam for Singapore on May 3.
The municipal police have yet to find the foreigner accompanying Ilyevsky Sergey.
Two railcars on this metro line had been defaced by graffiti in June 2022, but authorities have not handled the vandal(s).
Below are photos of graffiti defacing buildings across Ho Chi Minh City:
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| A lower part and a pedestrian stairway of the Ba Son Bridge, also known as the Thu Thiem 2 Bridge, in District 1 are seen being covered with both old and new graffiti. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| An electricity transformer box on Ton Duc Thang Street in District 1 is full of graffiti. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| A restaurant along Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Street in District 1 is a victim of vandalism. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| Vandals spray paint and smear a pier of metro line No. 1 with graffiti. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| Some walls of Children’s Hospital No. 2 in District 1 were also disfigured. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| The walls of Tran Dai Nghia High School in District 1 are covered with graffiti. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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| Lots of graffiti have almost cover a wall at a tunnel in Binh Thanh District for years. Photo: Minh Hoa / Tuoi Tre |
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