Peace of mind to start a career in a foreign land
Leaving Can Tho to Ho Chi Minh City to start a business in 2007, Mr. Nguyen Van Tru and his wife lived in alley 1041, Tan Hung ward for more than 5 years. His wife worked as a garment worker, and he managed and parked more than 80 rooms for the rented area. Total income of 11-12 million VND/month, enough to cover rent and raise children to 3rd grade.
Although working as a freelancer, Mr. Tru is still assured to live thanks to the security assurance boarding house. He established a Zalo group to connect rooms, disseminate regulations and coordinate with local authorities to propagate drug prevention and control, fire prevention and fighting, and maintain order.
In Binh Thanh ward, Mr. Dang Van Minh, the owner of a row of 9 rooms, regularly reminds tenants to comply with the law and maintain security and order. He maintains a rent of about 1.5 million VND/room for many years, helping many people stay for a long time, some people have stayed for more than 20 years.
Transformating the area with technology and self-management models
According to Mr. Nguyen Nhu That, Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell, Head of Quarter 8 (Tan Hung Ward), alley 1041 (the rented area where Mr. and Mrs. Tru are living) used to be a complex area in terms of security and order and drugs. However, thanks to the coordination between the Ward Police and the neighborhood Party Committee, this area has been successfully transformed. Up to now, drug and robbery evils have no longer appeared here.
This result is thanks to more than 10 smart AI cameras installed along the alley, transmitting data to the surveillance screen at the ward police station and directly connecting to the phone of the neighborhood head, Head of the Fatherland Front Work Committee.
In addition, every 3 months, the neighborhood and the Police organize meetings with landlords to grasp the situation, remind tenants to register for temporary residence and strictly comply with regulations.
Not only in Tan Hung ward, the self-management model combined with technology is also effectively implemented in Tan Tao ward.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Hong, owner of Worker Accommodation Area No. 48 (Tran Thanh Mai street), currently manages 39 rooms with 65 tenants (including workers, 15 freelancers, 3 students and 1 nanny). Ms. Hong said that in the past, motorbike thefts often occurred in the nearby area during the rainy season and black credit was rampant. There have been cases where it was necessary to ask for intervention from the local police to help tenants escape the debt trap.
Wishing to create a place for exchange and support for tenants, Ms. Hong joined the Self-managed Workers' Group and established a Zalo group for the boarding area. She regularly updates information from Zalo groups managed by the Women's Union and the Regional Police about new fraud tricks, fire prevention and fighting, drug prevention and control, human trafficking or information about wanted subjects to propagate to workers.
Ms. Hong shared: "The most important factor for a boarding house to truly become a safe haven is to build awareness of identification, crime prevention and fire prevention and fighting for tenants.
Accompanying workers from factories to boarding houses
In parallel with the self-management model in residential areas, the work of ensuring security for workers in export processing zones and industrial parks (EPZs-IPs) in Ho Chi Minh City is also being promoted. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Son - Head of the Working Group for Trade Union Management of EPZs-IPs in Ho Chi Minh City - said that propaganda on drug prevention and control is a key content to build a safe living and working environment for union members.
To date, trade union levels in EPZs-IPs have organized 1,968 propaganda sessions, attracting 611,825 participants, along with 286 news and articles published.
In particular, on August 9, 2026, Ho Chi Minh City Police coordinated with the City Labor Federation to organize "Workers' Day with Law and Security, Order 2026", attracting more than 500 workers from grassroots trade unions of EPZs-IPs to participate.
In the coming time, the Trade Union of Export Processing Zones and Industrial Parks of Ho Chi Minh City will continue to coordinate with the Police force, local authorities and businesses to promote propaganda on digital platforms, Zalo workers' groups, trade union meetings and replicate the self-managed worker group model, contributing to building a safe and drug-free environment.
