May-05-2008
VietNamNet

The price storm has been putting big difficulties on all Vietnamese families, sparing no one. However, students who live away from home are suffering most

M. Truc, a student at Agriculture and Forestry University, said that he has to pay VND300,000 a month for water and electricity, VND300,000 for accommodation leasing and VND500,000 for meals, which means that he needs VND1.1mil at least to pay for basic needs. Truc said that his parents in the countryside, who are farmers and earn their living in rice fields, give him VND1mil a month only.

“How can you live on such a small sum of money, then?” – “I have to have extra work after lessons,” Truc said.

Students who live away from home are suffering the most from the price storm. Many of them have to live on the money given to them by their parents every month. However, the sums of money have become smaller these days in the context of the galloping price increases.

Hoang Hai, a student at the HCM City University of Natural Sciences, also complained that his family gives VND1mil a month, which is just enough for room leasing, electricity and meals, while he has no money for books and other things to help him study.

Hoang Nga, a student at Van Lang University, said that the petroleum price has increased by 100%, food 50% and room rate 30%, which has made it difficult for her to arrange enough money for life.

Bang Tam, the owner of a boarding house in Tan Binh district, said that she has decided to raise the room leasing fee by 10%, while other landlords have raised theirs by 50%. Previously, students had to pay VND600,000 a month for a 16 sq m room, while they now have to pay VND800.000 or VND1mil.

Tam complained that students should have paid room leasing fees on April 5, but none of them have paid yet because they do not have money.

The lunch of a group of 4 students from Dak Lak, who live in a hired room in Binh Thanh district, consists of tomato soup and fish sauce. Ngoc Vuong, a student at Van Hien University, said that vegetables are their permanent main dish; however, even vegetables have become expensive.

Though the hired room is located near Ba Chieu market, Vuong and her friends have not purchased anything from the market for the last several months. They go far to Bang Ky Bridge to purchase vegetables, because vegetables there seem to be cheaper.

Vuong and her friends are considered happier than many other students, who do not have rice and vegetables for meals, but have only a small instant noodle for lunch and dinner in a day, while they go to university in the morning on an empty stomach.

The hunger has prompted students to look for extra work to get more money for their lives. “Do extra work or you will die,” Hai at the HCM City University of Natural Sciences said.

D., a 4th year foreign language student, always has to sleep right in the lecture halls because he always has to stay up late at night to earn money. A friend of D. said that D spends all his time doing extra work and has no time for studying.

Tam, the owner of the boarding house, said that she has never seen students working as hard as nowadays. However, they still have to live, study and work, hoping for a brighter future.