https://www.scmp.com/rss/516353/feed Lam Nguyen is a freelance journalist based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She has covered labour and environment issues. Her stories have appeared on Mongabay, Rest Of World and The Guardian. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Riots by far-right mobs whipped up by misinformation and festering anger at immigration are sweeping across the United Kingdom, bringing fresh jeopardy to the Vietnamese and other Asian migrants trying to reach the country in their thousands each year. Between 2018 and 2023, more than 3,500 Vietnamese people arrived undocumented on “small boats” across the channel separating France from southern England, according to UK Home Office data, putting Vietnam in the top 10 countries of illegal... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3273229/uk-anti-immigrant-riots-ramp-risks-undocumented-vietnamese-seeking-better-pay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3273229/uk-anti-immigrant-riots-ramp-risks-undocumented-vietnamese-seeking-better-pay?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2024 07:30:29 +0000 A member of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Expert Group in Hong Kong who is wanted by the Vietnamese government has denied his involvement in the country’s biggest financial fraud after real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death for plundering more than US$12.5 billion from a bank using ­hundreds of ghost companies. The fraud also involved embezzlement, bribery and banking regulation violations, according to the court. A state-run newspaper said the public security ministry had... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3258866/adviser-hong-kong-chief-executive-denies-involvement-vietnams-biggest-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3258866/adviser-hong-kong-chief-executive-denies-involvement-vietnams-biggest-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Apr 2024 13:14:03 +0000 Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death on Thursday after a court found her guilty of embezzlement, bribery and banking regulation violations in a fraud trial which saw her accused of plundering over US$12.5 billion from a bank using hundreds of ghost companies. Details of the verdict have been widely shared on state media, offering a rare window into the rationale behind a court decision in a secretive country where the justice system is normally opaque. Late on... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3258672/vietnamese-property-tycoon-truong-my-lan-sentenced-death-us125-billion-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3258672/vietnamese-property-tycoon-truong-my-lan-sentenced-death-us125-billion-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Apr 2024 10:15:24 +0000 Vietnam may have one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies, but distiller Daniel Hoai Nguyen opted for a slower route to success. Hunting for the perfect rose myrtle berries, he immersed himself in the horticultural and foraging traditions of the hill-tribe communities of the country’s Northern Highlands. The result was Vietnam’s first craft gin, Song Cai, aimed in part at an increasingly experimental and affluent domestic market. Home-grown produce and talent, as well as a thriving... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3257267/vietnams-backers-say-skys-limit-even-start-ups-shiver-through-winter-funding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3257267/vietnams-backers-say-skys-limit-even-start-ups-shiver-through-winter-funding?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Mar 2024 01:30:17 +0000 The dizzying rise of Truong My Lan, from selling cosmetics in her teens to allegedly masterminding a US$12 billion banking fraud, was as extraordinary as her downfall, which could see her executed if convicted of Vietnam’s biggest ever financial crime. Born in 1956 to a modest family, Lan was only able to finish high school before joining her mother, a Chinese businesswoman, selling cosmetics at Ben Thanh Market, the oldest market in Ho Chi Minh City. Her mother steadily accumulated assets,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3257129/who-truong-my-lan-market-stall-vietnams-biggest-fraud-case-rise-and-fall-alleged-scam-mastermind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3257129/who-truong-my-lan-market-stall-vietnams-biggest-fraud-case-rise-and-fall-alleged-scam-mastermind?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2024 05:30:10 +0000 Vietnamese student Khanh Le says the joy of vaping means the looming threat of regulation is unlikely to stop stressed, overworked young people from puffing away on the ubiquitous disposable pens. “My cousin introduced it to me and I thought it was cool,” said the 23-year-old in Ho Chi Minh City. “Vaping is a mental coping mechanism. I need nicotine to relieve my stress, and it is more enjoyable and less harmful than cigarettes.” Vape mania has gripped Southeast Asia, especially among Gen Z, who... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3248267/southeast-asia-gets-grips-vaping-gen-z-piles-puff-i-thought-it-was-cool?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3248267/southeast-asia-gets-grips-vaping-gen-z-piles-puff-i-thought-it-was-cool?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jan 2024 01:30:20 +0000 A popular Facebook page where young Vietnamese workers share screen grabs of pitiful pay cheques and grumble about bosses, customers and colleagues is revealing the growing angst being felt among Vietnam’s youth, who are nevertheless fuelling an economic surge. With a large, young and cheap labour pool, Vietnam is Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing major economy, tagged by global firms like Dell, Apple and Microsoft as the next big thing in the region – and a safe space to shift parts of their... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3241051/vietnams-youth-join-chinese-trend-lying-flat-pay-stagnates-amid-booming-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3241051/vietnams-youth-join-chinese-trend-lying-flat-pay-stagnates-amid-booming-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Nov 2023 01:30:21 +0000 With low pay, high risks of accidents and an algorithm for an employer, zipping around the rain-slicked streets of Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City quickly lost its lustre for 35-year-old Linh Nguyen – part of the armada of overworked delivery riders connecting Southeast Asia’s gig economy. There have been good days, she says, when the jobs regularly pinged through her phone and kind customers lifted her spirits. But on the bad days, her body ached from the incessant rattle of 10 hours of driving, and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3236308/vietnam-indonesia-and-singapore-delivery-riders-struggle-supply-and-demand-not-matching?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3236308/vietnam-indonesia-and-singapore-delivery-riders-struggle-supply-and-demand-not-matching?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Oct 2023 01:30:16 +0000 Young, driven and “flexing”, the high achievers riding the upside of Vietnam’s economy are soaring, winning places at the world’s best universities and establishing business empires at home, as their ambition comfortably finds its footing in Southeast Asia’s second-fastest growing economy, behind Malaysia. Flexing – slang for bragging or khoe khoang in Vietnamese – even has its own Facebook page. Flex to the Last Breath, with 1.4 million followers, offers a window into the successes of young... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3230030/vietnam-flexers-tout-us-degrees-status-wealth-economy-soars-others-barely-sleep?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3230030/vietnam-flexers-tout-us-degrees-status-wealth-economy-soars-others-barely-sleep?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Aug 2023 01:30:11 +0000