It is 4pm. The sun spreads yellow at the intersection of Vo Thi Sau and Hai Ba Trung streets in district 1, HCM City. It is the time when Nguyen Van Nghia, 69, begins his working day.

He is seen meticulously displaying his original toy booth, which consists of lively and funny toy animals – green grasshoppers, goldfish, parrots, peacocks, rabbits, horses and deer at a corner of the sidewalk.

All the products are made manually from nipa leaves, and each product, no matter if it has simple or complicated structure, is sold for VND20,000.

In HCM City, Nghia’s hand-made products are rare and precious. Local people call him ‘the man that sells tickets to childhood’, because the animals he creates from nipa leaves remind people of their happy childhood.

The man became familiar with the leaf-shaping art accidentally. He was once a painter and ran a gallery in HCM City.

 “I have had a talent and passion for painting since I was a child. My parents sent me to an art school. I began painting in oils at the age of 15.”

However, he could not earn a living and pursue his passion only by painting. To feed his family, he had to put off painting and undertake hard jobs which could bring money.

Only after many years, when his children grew up, did he have more free time and decided to begin painting again. He opened a gallery and composed famous artistic works.

However, seven years ago, his eyesight suddenly worsened. He underwent surgery, but his eyesight did not improve significantly to allow him to pursue painting.

In his free time, Nghia sat idle at his home and recalled the days of his childhood when he went to school in his hometown. He remembers that there was a man standing in front of his school who sold green grasshoppers, made of nipa leaves. They were all very beautiful and attractive to the small student.

“I liked the green grasshoppers very much. I asked him to allow me to follow him to help him sell products. So, I went to school in the morning and went selling green grasshoppers in the evening,” he recalled.

“I was taught by the man how to make animal toys with nipa leaves. However, the knowledge and skills I learned were used for nothing,” he said. “Just seven years ago, I recollected the years of my childhood."

At first, the man just wanted to show his grandchildren how to make animal toys with nipa leaves. But later, as people said they liked the lovely toys, he began thinking of making the animals for sale. Not only simple animals, Nghia now can make many other animals as well.

The soul of the countryside

Every day, Nghia gets up very early to knit, tie and make animals with nipa leaves. It takes more time to create more complicated animals such as deer and horses. Besides basic techniques, he also has to use some accessories, colored pens and skills

In general, he needs 5-20 minutes to make an animal. He makes 20-40 products in advance to sell and he continues making products while he is selling on the street.

Nghia’s clients are diverse, both old people and small children. He also sells the products to foreigners who want to learn more about Vietnamese traditional culture. Every day, he sells 20-40 products to clients of different ages.

“Old people buy my products because they want to remind themselves about their childhood. Meanwhile, young people find the toys different from the ones they see in the 4.0 industrial era. Foreigners buy in bulk as gifts for their friends,” he said.

Nghia is happy with his job because he can meet and communicate with people every day. With the toy animals, his life is never boring.

Ha Nguyen