Last week’s historic rainfall – the most that Saigon has experienced in 40 years – gave rise to some epic flooding in the southern hub and greatly inconvenienced Saigoneers from all walks of life. But besides giving birth to scores of delightful memes, the notorious stormageddon was also an opportunity for kind-hearted locals to exercise their altruism.
According to Zing, three heroes – Pham Nhu Thang, Nguyen Tai and Nguyen Manh Cuong – are a trio of friends who rent a room together neer Tan Tru Market. After this Monday's downpour, Phan Huy Ich, a road connecting Tan Binh and Go Vap Districts, became a veritable river with flood waters paralyzing many passing motorbikes.
The three friends, or “brothers”, as they prefer to be called, couldn’t sit still and decided to break out their bag of tools, using their knowledge of motorbike engines to help downtrodden motorists’ disabled vehicles.
Thus, during the rains of October 3, the makeshift wooden board that read “free repairs and rescue of flooded motorcycles for everyone” became a welcome sight for commuters on Phan Huy Ich.
Thang, 25, told Zing that Dung, 28, and himself sell clothes for a living, while 25-year-old Cuong works in a garage. They got home at 4pm that day but quickly set up an impromptu motorbike “rescue” station after seeing so many broken-down vehicles on the street. Another good samaritan living in the area let the brothers use their spacious front yard as the repair site.
“We worked as mechanics before so the tools are readily available, while the spare ignitors were also leftovers from our time in the garage,” Thang shared with the news source. “We only provided the labor, nothing costly.”
Dung himself was also a victim of Saigon’s infamous flooding hotspots a few days ago but was able to remedy the temporary breakdown due to his knowledge of engine parts.
“I used to repair bikes but couldn’t stick with the trade for many reasons. Despite having a different career now, I still love the craft a lot,” Dung reminisced to Zing. “Seeing so many people being stopped in the street, the passion for the trade flared up so I wanted to help them.”
Because the trio insisted on fixing vehicles for free, after having their bikes revived, many commuters rushed to purchase beverages and refreshments for them as a token of appreciation. On a typical night, the owner of the yard where all the bike-fixing magic happened usually leaves for home by 5pm, but he also decided to stay until all of the broken bikes were fixed.
Left: Dung working his magic on a broken bike. Right: the trio fixing their own bikes before leaving for home. Photos by Le Trai via Zing.
By 7:30pm, with the water gradually receding and happy customers heading home, the trio started to pack up their tools only to realize that their own rides were broken as well.
“Before, I used my bike to test the ignition for others so now it’s drenched as well. Some of the bolts are also missing,” Cuong shared with Zing. “We live near here, so if it rains tomorrow we’ll be back.”
[Top photo by Le Trai via Zing]
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