To many, old age means living for oneself and enjoying free time in a leisurely way. Yet 85-year-old painter Nguyễn Trọng Nguyện uses his spare time to make his residential neighbourhood look more cheerful.

The white-haired artist's mural paintings are familiar to residents of bustling Ngõ Quỳnh in Hai Bà Trưng District of Hà Nội, beautifying the walls of many homes and the local lanes in general.

Under his brushstrokes, flowers and paintings appear on what were once drab and dirty walls, so his neighbours no longer dump rubbish there. The area has been kept clean and beautiful, with murals and bonsai.

Lively paintings of flowers, 12 zodiac animals and folk Đông Hồ paintings like the Rats' Wedding and Picking Coconuts or historical figures like Thánh Gióng, the Two Trưng sisters, Ngô Quyền, and Đinh Tiên Hoàng have given the area a creative, artistic feel.

“When I was working as a public employee, I did not care about my residential place,” he told Việt Nam News. “Since I retired, I have more time spent with my neighbours. I saw the neighbourhood was filthy. Rubbish was everywhere. The walls were full of advertisements. Locals did not dump rubbish at the regulated time. I wanted to make a contribution to keeping the neighbourhood clean,” he says.

To kick off his idea, he drew on the walls of his house. Then he drew on the walls of houses in his lane. Local people gradually found their lanes beautiful with no more variegated ads, and they no longer dumped rubbish in public places.

The project started in early 2020 with the support of local authorities and residents. After around a month, Nguyện completed 26 murals with a length of 164 metres

He has also encouraged his neighbours to repaint their walls and put lanterns along the lane to make it more beautiful at night.

The local women's union encouraged its members to place pots of bonsai in front of their houses.

PRETTY PATHWAY: Nguyện's lane is much more beautiful and cleaner. VNS Photo Nhật Hồng

According to Nguyễn Văn Chung, a local official, the elderly artist is full of boundless enthusiasm.

“Nguyện devotes his time and effort as much as he can,” Chung says. “He further expanded the painting area to neighbouring lanes. Where there were no walls left to paint on, we put up bonsai pots to decorate the pathways.”

The whole area has been more beautiful, clean and green, making locals more aware of keeping the lanes tidy and clear.

“Mr Nguyện and the people in this area have wholeheartedly decorated our beautiful lanes with paintings and bonsai,” says Lê Thủy, a resident. “This makes the neighbourhood more cheerful. The space is much greener without any more rubbish being dumped.”

Bùi Văn Đạt, another resident, says there were many interesting paintings depicting history, countryside scenes, and the folk paintings.

“This is good for children to look at the ancient cultural features,” he says. “It’s fantastic and helps the lanes look clean and beautiful. It’s good to draw similar murals in other areas.”

The artist says when he goes out, people ask: “Hey man, when will you paint on our walls?”

“This makes me happy as people know more about me, especially when I can continue using my career skills to do good things for people,” he says.

RAT'S WEDDING: The classic Đông Hồ painting is duplicated on a mural. VNS Photo Nhật Hồng

Nguyện used to work as a painter during the anti-American war, and specialised in drawing large posters to hang in public places condemning the US war crimes and calling on young people to join the army to defend the country.

Now in his twilight years, the painter still makes a valuable contribution to society in his own way, and has even trained many youngsters to take entrance exams to fine art schools.

IN FULL FLOWER: Nguyện works on a wall mural. VNS Photo Nhật Hồng

“Learning fine arts will make children understand beauty and avoid doing evil things,” he says.

Day by day, he checks his paintings and fixes any faded details as a wholehearted volunteer creating beauty in his local community. VNS