INCREDIBLE WORKERS (industrial landscapes in the North of Vietnam)
Vietnam is developing very quickly but still some of the areas seem very surrealistic and it feels like you are going back in time. Working seven days a week is very common in many industrial areas and 12 hour working days are not unheard of. The working conditions were not always very safe in the areas I visited on my moped. I had to be very careful to make sure I wouldn't end up in a pothole. Health and safety supplies, like safety helmets, for instance, were hard to find. It is often very dirty and monotonous labour for little pay. The labourers I did meet, however, were extremely friendly and I often had to decline cigarets that they wanted to share with me. They didn’t mind me taking their picture at all. The companies in Vietnam still have a very hierarchically character in comparison to our Western society. Everything has to be explained and organized from a senior level. The Vietnamese will not easily say no or that they don't understand something because they are too polite and very proud.