VietNamNet Bridge – Some people are earning a living by crying or singing and dancing at funerals.

Transgenders sing at a funeral in HCM City.

When I approached Mr. Huu, 41, a mourner at funerals with almost 10 years experience, to learn about his special job, he said: "I have nothing to say about my job in your newspaper. I don’t want to be sneered at by others."

Then, a few days later, my phone rang and it was Huu. "I think I should tell people about my job. Yesterday, I just cried at a funeral but then I was beaten by a local group of mourners. This profession is both shameful and miserable!" Huu said.

Huu was tired when he met me. He said he had undergone a lot of bitterness and humiliation. He came to Saigon as a construction worker. After a motorcycle accident, his leg was injured and he could not do difficult jobs so he became a mourner.

Huu said all members in his group were ill because their everyday work is with the dead. When asked why he doesn’t look for another job, he said: “This profession has gradually become deep into my flesh and blood. It’s very hard to give it up.”

According to Huu, it was easy for mourners to scream and say touching words to make others cry but it was very difficult to cry themselves. “That is a hard training process,” he said.

Another mourner said to do the job they have to build up relations with coffin shops. Whenever there is a funeral, the coffin shops will call them and they always ask for 30% - 40% of the service charges.

The mourners earn VND200,000/person/funeral but they have to pay VND80,000 each to the coffin shop. Their net income for a funeral is only VND60,000/person, enough to buy two bowls of pho.

During our meeting, Hu received a text message about a funeral in Pham Van Hai Commune, Binh Chanh District. The coffin would be moved in four hours, the message sender wrote, and asked him to come immediately. He stopped our meeting and left.

Funeral singers and dancers

I met a transgendered person named Thuy, 22 years old, born in Khanh Hoa province. Thuy said that she sings and dances at funerals. "Entreating the favor of the dead to earn a living is shameful but this is only job for transgendered people like me because we do not have personal papers to get a real job."

Thuy said her group of transgendered persons came to Saigon several years ago to seek a job. They hired a room in District 4 to stay during the day and went to the street to perform medicine shows at night, but earnings from this job were not enough to buy food. Therefore they now perform at funerals to earn a higher income.

Initially, Thuy was shocked and scared when performing at funerals, where drunken men touched her bust and buttocks. Some people believe that touching funeral dancers will given them good luck so they try to touch transgendered dancers like Thuy. Thuy said it was now very familiar to her because she can get tips.

Thuy said funeral dancers have to wear scanty clothes to satisfy funeral attendants to have tips. She said her group wanted to perform serious plays about the separation but no funeral would hire them to do that.

Thuy earns about VND200,000-VND600,000/funeral, enough for cost of living and purchase of medicines. Thuy and transgendered people have to accept disdain of others, but they still do it because they can wear the clothes of women and are still proud that they earn money by their labor.

Thuy said in Saigon there are about 10 funeral show organizers who work closely with coffin shops. Most of the money runs to these organizers and the performers receive very little. Transgendered people don’t dare find shows by themselves because they would be attacked, they said.