Like every year, when Tet approaches, students from all the universities and colleges throughout Hanoi prepare to make the trip home.
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| Pawnshops near an university in Hanoi. |
For many, this trip can be hundreds of kilometres away from the capital city. Their main concern at this time is to find a place where they can store all of their personal items and furniture since most live on campus or in some sort of rented accommodation. One method of storing these items that is becoming increasingly popular is to keep them at a pawnshop.
In previous years, students often left their belongings at their owner’s house or had them stored at a friend’s until they returned, but having them secured at pawnshops seems to be the new way. Students say it is an efficient way of storing important items during their absence.
Tuan Anh, from the Transport and Communications University, currently renting in Quan Hoa, Cau Giay District, shared, “In recent Tet holiday seasons, I always brought my stuff to the pawnshop, trading them to keep some cash, despite the fact that I don’t really need the money. It’s great because I know that they’ll be there when I come back, and it never hurts to have a bit of cash when you travel, and to buy some gifts for my family and friends. Of course, I only take a small amount of cash to avoid high interest for when I want to pay for my loan and reclaim my things.”
During my interview with Tuan Anh, I was told that many of his friends are doing the same thing. One pawned his desktop computer, television, electric fan, rice cooker and bicycle, but only took VND 500,000. Another pawned his motorbike, which was worth about VND 30 million, but he also took very little cash to bring to his home which is too far to travel to by motorbike.
Nguyen Thi Hoa, from the Vietnam Trade Union University, was in need of some cash and pawned a few of her valuable items. Hoa said, “All my friends have done the same thing. It is really difficult to find a place where we can store our things around here, and our house owners often don’t live nearby. I personally think this is a great option, even though we will have to pay interest on the items later.”
With Tet, the need for people to store things is even higher than usual. Many pawnshops are overloaded with students' goods and belongings. Mr Tan, a pawnshop owner on Luong The Vinh Road, Thanh Xuan District said, “There is absolutely no space still available in my shop, so I had to close it and refuse to accept any more stuff. Those other shops next to mine are still open, but they only take in goods that hold high value, things such as, motorcycles, computers, mobile phones, watches, etc...not miscellaneous things like electric fans and bicycles.
Ms Thu, another pawnshop owner in Phung Khoang Village, Trung Van, Tu Liem shared, “My house contains three large compartments however, there’s not enough space to store all the goods that students have been sending to my pawnshop! They are mostly my acquaintances as well as customers from a small restaurant I run. One student pawned heaps of his goods, but only asked for VND200,000. I won't earn much interest from it. Another brought in her pans and saucepans, and said to me that she was fine with whatever interest I was going to calculate for her. What can you say to that??!”
For those students who live on campus or at a shared house with an owner, it is not as big a deal as it is for those who live in rental places that are separate from the owner’s house. The only option many of them really have is to bring their belongings to a pawnshop. It may not be the perfect solution but it is definitely more secure than leaving them behind unguarded.
Le Viet Hong, from Water Resources University, complained that once he left his belongings at his shared house to go home for Tet, but when he came back, everything was stolen. Ever since then he has always kept them at the pawnshop. Hong said, “Some of my friends had their motorbikes or computers pawned, but when reclaimed, some of the parts had been replaced without them even knowing until much later and there was nothing they could do about it. However, this kind of thing doesn’t happen when you pawn your things at pawnshops that you know and trust.”
Pawning is a way for the students to have their personal items stored and kept in their absence during Tet holiday. It might not be the ideal way, but the chance of still having your things in possession is much higher.