At midday, a customer's call prompts Tran The Hung - born in 1964 in Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City - to slowly push himself upright from his wooden bed.

He’s just returned from the hospital, where he was treated for severe joint pain. Moving is a struggle. But outside, propped against the wall, sits his old bicycle - fitted with a wooden box holding a few mini gas canisters and a handful of used lighters.

The customer leaves after quickly handing over a gasless lighter to be refilled.

In his neighborhood, Hung is regarded as one of the last people still practicing the now nearly extinct trade of gas refilling for lighters - a once-thriving business during the golden days of refillable gas lighters in Vietnam.

“I’ve been doing this for over 30 years,” he says.

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Tran The Hung, one of the last gas lighter refillers in Ho Chi Minh City, continues the job despite his age and illness. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Back in his youth, Hung worked patching bicycle tires. But payments were often delayed or bartered, and he struggled to afford daily essentials. On a friend’s advice, he switched to lighter gas refilling, a job that paid cash on the spot.

“In those days, refillable gas lighters were everywhere. All I had to do was sit at a café with my tools and customers would come on their own,” he recalls. “I charged 500 VND per refill.”

Eventually, he began offering other services - replacing flints, fixing faulty ignitions. But the rise of cheap, disposable lighters changed everything.

To survive the competition, he built a small wooden cabinet to hold his tools and strapped it to the back of his bicycle. Each day, he would ride through Cu Chi’s streets, hoping to find someone who still needed a refill.

He built a wooden toolbox attached to the back of his bike, carrying all the tools for lighter repairs. Photo: Ha Nguyen

“When customers dwindled in the commune, I started cycling further out - into the old Cu Chi town, Binh Duong, Phu My Hung,” he says.

“People were surprised I could travel so far by bike. I always told myself there would be a customer just a bit further down the road. That thought kept me going.”

These days, his health won’t allow long rides. And even if he did venture out, customers are scarce. Now charging 5,000 VND per refill, Hung says he rarely sees more than 10 customers a day. On lucky days, he earns about 50,000 VND - barely $2.

But he refuses to give it up.

“No one does this anymore. Most people just buy cheap lighters and throw them away,” he says. “Only a few collectors or people with expensive lighters come by - and that too is rare.”

“Others who used to do this have long quit. They had youth, health. They could switch to other jobs. I have neither.”

Aside from refilling gas, he also replaces flints and fixes ignition systems on request. Photo: Ha Nguyen

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Every day, he hopes to earn enough for a single kilo of rice - a modest dream powered by pride and perseverance. Photo: Ha Nguyen

Hung and his wife live in a dilapidated house they built years ago on a small piece of land they were able to buy. It’s the one blessing that’s kept them from renting, he says.

His wife, also in poor health, spends her days at home hoping someone might come by for a bicycle repair - just enough for a few extra coins.

They have one son, now married and living in Long An. But he, too, faces financial hardship and is unable to support them.

“We’ve been classified as a near-poor household since 2021. That status helps us with some of the medical costs,” Hung shares.

“These days, if I earn enough to buy a kilo of rice, I’m content. I just hope we don’t fall sicker.”

Ha Nguyen