On the morning of 11/2 (the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month), Nguyen Van Hoan, 42 years old, from Do Luong commune, discovered his wallet containing 15 million dong had vanished. This was all his salary and bonus after a year of working as a factory worker in Binh Tan, Ho Chi Minh City, money he had saved to bring home to his wife and children for Tet (Lunar New Year).
Upon hearing the news, driver and bus owner Khai Hoan immediately pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. He and the assistant driver reviewed camera footage and asked the 40 passengers to use their lights to search under the beds and on the floor of the bus. However, after 15 minutes of thorough searching, no one found the wallet.
Seeing the man with his head bowed, eyes red-rimmed, desperately searching his sleeping spot repeatedly, driver Hoan took the microphone and announced, "Everyone, this passenger has worked far from home all year, and now he has lost all his money, which means he will lose his Tet celebrations. Our bus company will initiate by refunding his entire ticket fare of 1,6 million dong. We hope everyone can contribute what they can, big or small, to help our fellow countryman."
True to his word, the driver promptly withdrew the ticket money collected that morning and handed it directly to Hoan. This act created a ripple effect. In the cramped space of the year-end bus trip, a cloth hat was passed along the rows of beds.
From the upper bunk, a passenger leaned down and put in 200,000 dong. Other passengers, ranging from students and small business owners to fellow factory workers who were also carefully saving every dong to return home, took out their wallets one by one. Banknotes of 50,000, 100,000, and even 500,000 dong denominations were dropped into the hat.
Thao, 33 years old, a passenger on the bus, stated, "As someone who also works far from home, I understand his pain, so I wanted to contribute a small amount to help him still have Tet with his family."
The total amount collected was over 5 million dong, including the refunded ticket fare. Holding the stack of money, Hoan walked along the aisle, bowing his head and thanking each person through tears.
"When I realized my wallet was gone, my mind went blank. 15 million dong was my family's hope, money for Tet shopping and home repairs," Hoan recounted. His initial panic gave way to profound emotion. "For me, this money is not just material; it represents immense human kindness and solidarity among countrymen," the 42-year-old man expressed.
Khai Hoan, the driver, shared that he has been driving for over ten years and has witnessed many unfortunate losses, but he had never seen everyone come together so quickly. "Although the stop to collect donations delayed the journey by more than 30 minutes, not a single passenger complained; everyone was happy to do a good deed just before the new year," the driver recalled.
Nga Thanh
