Three pieces of good news came to Giang in 2022. She was informed that she had obtained a scholarship to study tourism and hotel management in Australia, had passed the exam to the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and  had passed a competition to become a flight attendant.

Finally, she chose to be a flight attendant, and after six months of training, she was working on her first flight. The job requires discipline and teamwork, and Giang felt lucky as she could be trained in such a strict environment. In 2010, she became the youngest purser at Vietnam Airlines, the national flag air carrier.

However, Giang, who has always wanted to popularize the national traditional arts, decided to give up the job to build a miniature puppetry stage in the central area of HCM City.

I believe the job of a flight attendant brings relatively high income. Why did you decide to give up the job to pursue water puppetry? 

I began working as a flight attendant when I turned 18 years old and I resigned from the post at the age of 32. I had a very beautiful youth as I had interesting experiences and I got more knowledge and skills.

When I visited a country, I would try to learn about its cuisine and culture. I found out that foreigners like Vietnamese water puppetry art. Foreigners line up in the front of the water puppetry theatres in Hanoi and HCM City every evening to enjoy the traditional art.

But small traditional puppet troupes in villages are gradually disappearing and getting lost. I was worried about this and I wanted to preserve the traditional art for future generations. I was afraid that one day I would have to ask foreigners to explain the art of water puppetry to our future generations.

Why are Vietnamese willing to spend hundreds of thousand of dong or even several million dong on a concert, but not willing to pay tens of thousands of dong to watch water puppetry, a national traditional art which is considered a human intangible cultural heritage? 

I have always thought about this and I believed there should be another approach to spread the value of this heritage among people.

So I decided to develop a culinary space and a stage for water puppetry. I believe that for diners, watching water puppetry after enjoying delicious food will be an impressive experience.

Who gave you guidance about traditional water puppetry art?

With the introduction from my father, I met Hoang Nhuan Ky, the famous folklore researcher, and became a student of Artisan Phan Thanh Liem, the founder of the mini water puppetry stage, who is the seventh generation descendant of the Phan family, famous for water puppetry. He has performed with this mini stage in 20 countries. 

We perform water puppetry in our space or at school for free and we don’t sell tickets to the shows. I am now a member of the HCM City Theater Association, and member of Institute for Research on Preservation and Promotion of National Culture.

Has anyone told you that it is an "adventure" to show water puppetry art in a culinary space?

Bringing water puppetry into a restaurant space breaks the traditional boundaries of this art form, thereby bringing the art closer to modern life and attracting new audiences.

I believe that culture and food are inseparable. The combination of food and culture can create original and impressive cultural and amusement experiences. We have a floor reserved for water puppetry. Visitors can watch water puppetry before or after meals.

In our space, water puppetry can approach many young people, so we can help preserve the precious form of Vietnamese folk art and culture. I think that water puppetry is also an effective educational method which allows children to learn about Vietnamese culture and history in an interesting and lively way.

Have you ever felt disappointed about pursuing water puppetry?

No, I have never had such a feeling, though I knew from the very beginning that developing water puppetry was not easy. In fact, water puppetry has existed for thousands of years in Vietnamese people’s thoughts and what I needed to do is disseminating the art in a reasonable way. I feel quite happy when seeing audiences, listening to their applause, and witnessing children’s excitement.

Tinh Le