My Life as…

….a railway crossing guard

MY name is Ky and I’m a railroad worker on the Ha-Hai line (Hanoi – Hai Phong). I’m 50 now and I’ve been working this job for 20 years. I was originally an army man, but then I retired and worked building railroads before changing to my current job. My main duties are to close the barriers at the crossing when the train comes, or to alert the train to stop in case there’s a traffic jam or an accident at the crossing. My group, which has responsibility for the crossings from Bach Mai Hospital to Linh Dam Lake, has more than 100 workers. My team at this crossing has seven members in total. A normal shift, which lasts 12 hours, requires two of us to be working at once.

2

In general, when we’re at the crossing, we’re responsible for everything. If there’s an accident, we’re partially liable. Fortunately, there aren’t that many accidents. The government tried replacing us once with an automatic barrier-closing system but it failed because people would always try to cross the tracks while the barriers were closing, and then there’d be traffic jams. Speaking of traffic jams, it’s much easier to work in the city where all we have to do when there’s a traffic jam is to call the train conductor on the phone. When you’re out in the countryside, you’ve got to go ‘catch’ the train using lights and flags to get the conductor’s attention… it can be quite dangerous. Sometimes the conductors stop at the wrong place which results in arguments then we have to write up a report and submit it to our superiors.

The most tiring thing about this job is the way the trains don’t come on schedule. We’ve only got about 10 minutes’ notice before the train gets here, so we’ve got to stay at the crossing for the whole shift. The day shifts are a bit better because at night 12 hours without any sleep can be long and exhausting, not to mention it’s more dangerous at night.

3

No one appreciates our work. We’re just trying to keep people safe, but even so, people always complain when we close the barriers. We get insulted on a daily basis and sometimes fights even break out, but there’s really nothing you can do about it. To do this kind of work, you’ve got to be gentle and know how to sweet talk. If you’ve got a bad temper, even if you’re right, it will take a very long time for the police to come and solve your problems. I once had an incident with some people but some locals intervened pretty quickly and nothing really happened. That was a long time ago.

5

Honestly, I don’t find anything interesting about my job, but since I’ve been here for decades, I’m just trying to hang on and finish out my final years [laughs]. The railway industry’s still State-owned so us workers are considered “State people” but we’re so poor. The highest our salaries can get is a little over VND2 million. My family has a house here and both my kids are grown and in college now; we mainly live on the money my wife earns with her little shop at the market. What about people who have to rent a place to live? How are they supposed to live? Me and my co-workers have also started selling prepaid mobile phone cards to earn a little extra cash. But if you’re working outside the city, that’s not an option. That’s why the industry lacks workers… we don’t even want our children to work here. I’ve got about five years left before retirement and I haven’t thought of anything to do after. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t continue working here no matter how high a salary they offered me. It could kill you at any moment! [Laughs]

Interviewed by Colleen Thuy Tien Ngo, Josh Mayhew, Mai Lan and Mai Quang Huy

Images by Neil Featherstone

Additional editing by Gerard Sasges Excerpted from It’s a Living: Work and Life in Vietnam Today, available in paperback on Amazon or as an e-book on iTunes. 

Share this story, choose your platform!

About the author:

Leave a Comment

My life as… a cashier

The highs and lows of working as a cashier How long have you been a cashier at this supermarket? I’ve been working as a cashier for about three years now. I am good at my job and love the work that I do. Describe the things you do on a typical day? A typical day

Read More »

My life as… a bus driver

From dodging erratic motorcyclists to transporting live animals, the life of a bus driver is never boring The job of a bus driver in Saigon has long been one of the most stressful and hazardous gigs in town. If staying on schedule or fighting through traffic or remaining in a seated position for hours doesn’t get

Read More »

My life as… a mobile blade sharpening man

Meet the mobile blade sharpening man “He’s one of the few left in Saigon; there’s no use for them anymore,” says 67-year-old Thuy pointing to the old man sharpening her kitchen cleaver. “I’ve been using him since I was young. Today’s society is wasteful. The young people now use something once or twice and then

Read More »

My life as… a street cleaner

Collecting waste and sweeping the roads for a better Saigon Mr. Quang spends most of his working life in the gutter. Another part involves delving into plastic bags and buckets left along sidewalks or leaned against trees, looking for recyclables to separate and sell at a later time. The rest of the time he’s pounding the

Read More »

My life as … a fruit seller

Offering daily vitamin doses fresh off the street At 3am when most of the city is in deep slumber, 25-year-old Tri heads for the sidewalk on Hai Ba Trung in District 3 where he rests his sack full of guava. It’s a 10-minute walk from his rented room. The earlier he gets there the better

Read More »

My life as… a xe ba gac driver

“I’ve been driving a xe ba gac since reunification,” says 59-year-old Ut. “I used to work for a company contracted by the government; I made saw blades that were used to cut down trees. The pay was good, but I had to move around a lot, living wherever there was work, and I didn’t like

Read More »