VietNamNet Bridge - In Hanoi, it is very common to see groups of well- dressed young people sitting quietly in a coffee shop or on the sidewalk. They can sit on red and blue plastic chairs to eat noodles or put their legs on a rattan-made chair while their hands surf Facebook on smartphones. But their faces are often sad...

We don’t see them do exercise, but only sit quietly to think or even better, they pose for photographs. Is that the portrait of young townspeople today?

Idle in the mind

Photo for illustration.

These young townsfolk are easily to make the list of coffee shops or restaurants, where they can seat but it is hard for them to name the places for physical movement where they can release energy. Even the middle-aged people do not know what to do. After parties at the office of with friends, they only go to a karaoke bar.

Perhaps the remaining joy of youth, a constant source, is gathering in groups. Unlike many cities with the aged population in developed countries, in Hanoi, one can easily see young people. The need to share, gather is inevitable so the spaces to satisfy their needs thrive.

They create spaces for themselves around the outstanding architectural works like the Cathedral, the Hanoi Opera House, Thang Long Royal Citadel, the path along the West Lake, large commercial centers or simply coffee shops along the streets of Trieu Viet Vuong, Nguyen Huu Huan and Hang Non. These spaces give them a sense of companionship: the sitting position.

Most of them come from more than 800,000 students at universities and colleges in Hanoi and also young people who do private business.

Set off to show off

At present, townspeople account for about one third of the population and the number of townsfolk of under 40 years old is about 20 million people. This number is significant when considering the impact of these people on the common consumer lifestyles and culture.

The young townspeople get more incentives in the Vietnamese society. They enjoy all the social achievements the earliest and most rapid. They have the chance to travel to many more lands. They launched the movement called "phuot” (backpack traveling). Every corner in the country has had their footprints. They even go abroad for discovery and adventure, not to earn their living.

So they not only sit. It seems they travel a lot. At first, the story of a young girl named Huyen Chip who went to 25 countries with only a backpack and $700 inspired the urban youth. Huyen Chip’s book became the best-selling work and the author earned a reputation.

However, this source of inspiration was not created clearly so it made the public mistrust its motives and whether the book was published with the support of a project--because the book probably has too much loopholes and wrong information about the immigration procedures as well as how the girl earned money on her way.

The crowd who initially responded passionately when the book was published made a backlash and then quickly forgotten the book after several months.

Looking back on the whole process, is it true that the crowd of young people opposed this adventure? Here we see a selection of values of the youth. In their protest, which seemed to be extreme, the young urban population wants the perfect move like in reality TV shows. The story of Huyen Chip cannot satisfy the requirements of the young townspeople, who are always skeptic.

Life is always reacting immediately

Young urban people always appear as energy-consuming machines. They catch the infectious disease of excessive consumption, sometimes making them as aggressive and violent when their demand cannot be satisfied.

They are willing to express their opinions on social networking sites, online forums and even in parallel with ongoing events. They seem not to be patient enough to have enough time for thinking. For them, life is reaction. Life is an instantaneous state, is " What are you thinking right now? on Facebook, is showing everyone that thing immediately.

To accomplish this, 15 million Facebook users - the largest social network in Vietnam, must depend on the Internet, which is associated with urban areas rather than rural or remote areas. And where are the places for surfing Internet? At home, offices, coffee shops and Internet shops.

And at this point, we again see the familiar image of young townsfolk that was mentioned in the first paragraph: the sitting urban young people.

In Saigon, “sit on the ground” coffee shops used to be a fashion. Customers were young people sitting on the pavement to drink coffee cups offered by vendors. In Hanoi, the “take-away” coffee has become a fashion for two years but nobody takes the coffee box away but still sits at coffee shops, on red or green plastic chairs to see the life running on the street, knowing that the passers-by will see them. They sit to exhibit their youth.

Nguoi Lao Dong