Inside a small rented room in Binh Tan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, 71-year-old Doan Dat Long pulls out a worn box from under his metal-frame bed. Holding up a pointed tool wrapped in rubber, he chuckles and calls it his “fishing rod”  -  the instrument that has helped him earn a living for nearly five decades.

He calls it a carving pen, a tool he has used throughout the years to engrave names on rulers, pens, and keychains outside school gates.

Born in Quang Ngai Province with a natural talent for painting, Long once studied art. But everything changed the day he encountered a lettering artisan from Hanoi. Enthralled, he decided to follow the path of hand engraving.
"These handmade carving pens have been with me for decades." Photo: Ha Nguyen

“In the late 1970s, carving names on school supplies was all the rage,” he recalls. “I learned by watching others. In 1978, I sharpened an iron nib, got a small blackboard, some wax crayons, packed everything into a box, and biked to school gates to wait for students. I earned a decent income then.”

He charged between 0.5 to 1 dong per engraving session  -  enough to raise a family and send his children to school. Later in life, he developed a leg infection that required partial amputation.

"Since losing my leg, daily routines became much harder, especially moving between schools to find customers," he said. After his wife passed away, he moved to Ho Chi Minh City in 2015 to live near his daughter for support and access to more nearby schools.

Handmade tools and fading strength

W-nghe-khac-chu-2.JPG.jpg
"After carving, I add wax color to highlight the engraving." Photo: Ha Nguyen
For nearly 50 years, Mr. Long has only used engraving pens that he designed and made himself.
After engraving, he adds a layer of wax color to highlight the details.

W-nghe-khac-chu-5.JPG.jpg
"My work is loved by many because it brings back childhood memories." Photo: Ha Nguyen

Over nearly five decades, Long has only used handmade tools. His "pen" is essentially a sharp nib mounted onto a layered paper shaft, wrapped in rubber for grip and comfort.
Because there’s no motor, every stroke must be carved with pressure, dragging the tip across surfaces to etch each letter or pattern. In the early days, his hand would tremble, the strokes uneven. His fingers ached constantly.

But after years of practice, he mastered the force and movement. His strokes became more fluid, elegant, and professional.

Due to the simplicity of his tool, Long can’t engrave on harder materials like stainless steel, sapphire, or glass.

Still, he remains a fixture outside local schools in Binh Tan District. While few pursue this fading art, his customers range from schoolchildren to nostalgic adults who remember the charm of hand-engraved names.

Each engraving now earns him between 5,000 and 10,000 VND (roughly $0.20 to $0.40). “The trade is dying out. On a good day, I might carve 20 to 25 items and make 200,000 to 250,000 VND (about $8 to $10).”

Yet he persists - not for the money, but for the joy his work brings. One of his most unforgettable customers was an 8th-grade girl named Uyen Phuong.

“For days, she came to me each morning before school, asking me to engrave her name on keychains. I counted - she had me engrave her name 80 times!”

Curious, he asked her why.

“She said she liked how beautifully I wrote her name and wanted to keep them as mementos,” he smiled. “It touched me. And since then, many others have done the same - engraving just their own names over and over again.”

He adds, “It makes me happy to know that my old craft still resonates with young people. That joy is what keeps me going.”

Parents and older customers also visit him for nostalgic reasons. “When we were kids,” he says, “everyone used to have their names carved on their rulers or pens, along with little drawings of flowers, dragons, or phoenixes. So when people see me still at it, they come over to support.”

Ha Nguyen