A recent draft legislation aimed at improving traffic flow on Hanoi’s streets has sparked an internet debate and brought Vietnam’s huge economic divide into focus. Vietnam Hanoi street vendor by Flickr User somefool (old school). Street vendors are an integral part of Hanoi culture. Hanoi’s Old Quarter alone is estimated to have almost 2000 casual vendors. Many travel on foot carrying baskets or pushing rickety old carts, while others slowly ride their laden bicycles through Hanoi’s busy streets. They peddle everything from flowers to fruit, to hot meals and even clothing and costume jewelry. It’s true that they hamper traffic, especially during the afternoon commute when homeward bound office workers stop in the roadways to shop. They also make walking down a Hanoi sidewalk nearly impossible. This is an inconvenience that Hanoi’s legislating bodies appear to have become annoyed with. These vendors are poor. They often wake up hours before dawn to ride into the city on one-speed bicycles or to buy the slightly cheaper produce available in Hanoi’s early-hours market. Many are stick-thin from the exertion of peddling or walking their wares through Hanoi’s streets in the tropical heat. Owning a house or sending a child to university is a dream as unattainable to them as traveling to space is for the average American. The draft legislature could take away what little livelihood they have, increasing Vietnam’s already stark economic disparity. The Euromonitor states that in 2007 Vietnam’s richest two decile’s share of total income is almost 50%, while the bottom two deciles’ share is a paltry 5.5%. Street Food Vendors in Hanoi. In a news story posted on www.VNExpress.net on December 21st, the vice-chairman of the People’s Committee in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district, Lam Quoc Hung, stated that, Bởi quận có tới hơn 2.000 người bán hàng rong nên rất khó cho lực lượng chức năng kiểm soát. Song ông cũng đề xuất, trên một số tuyến đường trung tâm có khả năng kinh doanh hàng hóa, hàng ăn uống thì cần được tận dụng kinh doanh. Because the urban district has almost 2000 vendors, it’s quite difficult to regulate them. However, he [Hung] also proposed that a few central roads that are conducive to selling wares and foodstuffs should be made the most of. The city’s vice-chairman, Nguyen Van Khoi, took a harder line, nguyên tắc là đường phục vụ đi lại chứ không để kinh doanh. The purpose of roadways is for transportation, definitely not for business. The result of a conference held on December 21st to discuss vendor restrictions came to the conclusion that, loại dịch vụ hàng rong, hàng ăn uống được phép hoạt động trong ngõ, phố không tên để phục vụ nhu cầu người dân, cũng như tránh ảnh hưởng quá lớn đền bộ phận người nghèo có thu nhập chính từ kinh doanh hàng rong. Peddlers and food vendors have rights to operate in alleys and streets that do not have names in order to serve the needs of the people and also to avoid having a large influence on the poor whose main earnings come from street-peddling. The vast majority of Hanoi’s roads have names, not numbers. Only small alleyways, sometimes less than a meter wide, remain unnamed. The majority of VNExpress’ readers disagree with both of these government workers – a VNExpress survey states that 57% or readers do not support the proposed draft legislation, while 40% do. Bloggers seem to concur with this statistic. Mr. Joe, a graphic designer, posts on his Yahoo 360° Blog: Tại sao nhưng người soạn thảo dự luật không làm cho mềm dẻo hơn. Có thể làm từng bước như: quy định giờ bán , vệ sinh,…Nếu chũng ta làm mạnh tay người dân cũng sẽ chấp hành. Nhưng như vậy chúng ta đồng thời cũng tước đi nguồn tài chĩnh duy nhất của rất nhiều gia đình…… Thực sư hàng rong đã giúp người mua tiết kiệm được nhiều thời gian. Giúp người bán có thể kiếm thêm được tiền từ lao động của mình. Có khả năng giảm thiểu các tắc giao thông….. Why don’t the legislators make it more flexible. Maybe do it in steps like: regulating hours of operation and cleanliness… If we use a strong hand the people will still implement it. It we do it [like the legislators propose] then at the same time we’ll take away the main source of income for a huge number of families… Truthfully, street vendors help customers save a lot of time. It helps vendors earn money from their own labors. It has the ability to reduce traffic congestion… On the My Hanoi forum, under the topic, “Food stalls and street vendors,” contributor Lambarca defends Hanoi’s street culture by mentioning street vendors and cafes in more developed countries: Hầu hết tất cả các công chức của các công sở ở Bangkok đều ăn trưa ở các quán ăn nhỏ trên hè phố Bangkok (thường là dưới các hình thức quầy di động, thậm chí là gánh hàng rong).