My journey from poverty to owning homes, cars in HCMC

Hearing stories about people born into wealth, I want to share my journey to inspire you. I was born in a poor village, so poor that we did not even have enough to eat. Even in the 2000s, hunger was a regular part of our lives.

As a child, I worked hard on our family's farm. I remember cutting vegetables well into the afternoon and spending hours carrying them back home. We earned just enough for rice, and there were times when the produce did not sell and had to be disposed of.

I had to study under the dim light of an oil lamp in a leaky house. On bright moonlit nights, I would sneak into the garden to eat cucumbers to ease my hunger.

When I was around 16 years old, my father passed away from cancer and life got even harder. We sold most of our land to pay for his treatment. Nonetheless, I was lucky to be able to continue studying.

After failing the university entrance exam, I went to HCMC to take up manual jobs like guarding parking lots and waiting tables while studying for the next exam, which I passed.

I went to university in 2002 and it was tough. I studied an unpopular major and lived on just VND300,000 (US$7.9) a month from my siblings. I did not have enough money to eat at food stalls, so I cooked for myself. By my second year, I started tutoring, earning just enough to get by. I kept my workload small to focus on my education.

After graduating, I returned to my hometown to apply for teaching jobs but was rejected. I went back to HCMC but was scammed out of VND400,000 by a tutoring agency. I then tried selling cable TV subscriptions but quit after a week without pay. Eventually, I got a job installing security cameras for VND1.3 million per month, and my kind boss later raised my pay to VND1.7 million.

Determined to improve, I joined an IT company for VND3 million per month in 2008. My English skills later helped me secure jobs at foreign companies, and by 2009, my monthly salary reached $600. Over the years, I worked for several international firms, mostly based in Singapore. In 2014, eight years after graduating, I started my own company with zero capital.

Now, after 10 years of entrepreneurship, my company has achieved success. I now own several homes and cars in HCMC and enjoy a happy life with my wife and two children.

This is how I made it in life. I hope my story gives you the strength to overcome your own challenges.

*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.