In their efforts to spread kindness and positivity on social media platforms in a bid to encourage others to take action, Mai Quang Khanh has focused on creating engaging content named ‘Taking strangers out for a meal’ while Truong Dinh Quang has made videos to introduce ​​Da Nang’s culture and its people.

The videos on the Fanpage named ‘Da Nang – Wonderful things to say’ about the life, culture and people of Da Nang that were created by Truong Dinh Quang have spread positivity on social media platforms.

Bringing a smile to strangers

With the desire to spread positivity to others, Mai Quang Khanh, a resident of Da Nang, decided to quit his job to start a food blog in order to introduce local cuisine and best places to visit in Da Nang through the tiktok platform. Over the past two years, the 28 years-old man's channel on tiktok has created hundreds of videos and attracted 110,000 viewers who have left positive and encouraging comment acting as positive feedback.

Khanh said that in mid-2022, he suddenly came up with the idea of ​​creating a content ‘Taking strangers out for a meal’ when he saw lottery ticket vendors and street vendors while he was strolling on the street in the late afternoon. Khanh confided that when this idea flashed into his mind, he was quite excited as no one had created this content on the internet yet. However, he initially found it very hard to approach these vendors and talk with them in order to take them out for a meal. He failed many times in approaching them as most of them were cautious and wary of strangers.

“If you want to take these vendors out for a meal to talk with them in a bid to encourage them to share their stories with you, you have to show your sincerity instead of using flowery language. Gradually, they will be more open to you, and then confided their circumstances, difficulties as well as their families and children to you. After two years of creating the content ‘Taking strangers out for a meal’, I realized that sometimes they don't need to receive money from you but inviting them for a meal with sincerity is what they want. This helps motivate them to renew their lives ", Khanh remarked.

The footage of ‘Taking strangers out for a meal’ that features the characters who have met with Mr. Khanh brought positive and humane energy to viewers. Eighty- three years old Nguyen Thi Lan is a typical example as she still works as a lottery ticket vendor to feed her grandchildren despite her age. She has had her lottery tickets snatched many times by bad people, leading to injuries in her, but she has overcome difficulties in life to make a living.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha is another example. The 37 year- old woman has kidney disease, and she has been on dialysis since her childhood. She went out to eat with Khanh, and wore a wedding dress to take photos with him. Their photos left a deep impression on virtual community.

Khanh added: "Ms. Ha has been on dialysis for more than ten years, and her family is living in poverty. During my meeting with her while taking her out for her favorite rice paper sandwich, I realized that she wanted to wear a wedding dress and wanted to be a bride, so I decided to take her to try on wedding dresses and take wedding photos with her. She was deeply touched by my meaningful action as it gives her extra strength to fight her disease and overcome difficulties in life."

Khanh said that in the future, he will continue to make more engaging videos to convey meaningful messages to young people in an attempt to spread love, kindness and positivity to others through social media.

"Da Nang – Wonderful things to say"

Mr. Truong Dinh Quang is the founder and lecturer at the Soulvoice Academy Center that offers a voice and communication training program for oral presentations. He was born in Quang Binh Province, but he decided to settle into Da Nang due to his love for the city.

In his efforts to promote Da Nang’s values, and introduce the city’s culture and its people, he has created the Fanpage named ‘Da Nang - Wonderful Things to say’ which introduces inspirational figures, exemplary examples or interesting experiences in traditional craft villages, tourist attractions, and spiritual tourism to young people. In particular, he also uses a part of his center’s revenue to fund charitable activities.

Mr. Quang shared that his page has operated for nearly 6 months with such engaging videos as 'Vietnamese Heroic Mothers acting as Memory Keepers', 'the journey to conquering yourself', and 'Banh Chung or Vietnamese Square Sticky Rice Cake - The taste of love in family relationships'.

“I have 14 years of experience in broadcast journalism, so I find it easy to approach characters to make videos. I sometimes faced barriers in approaching the characters as they were still reluctant to share their stories with me. However, I added and accepted collaborators to my ‘Da Nang – Wonderful Things to say" Facebook page. These collaborators are young people living, studying and working in Da Nang, with a passion for exploration. Each of them has a part to play in creating the most beautiful and impressive footage for viewers," Mr. Quang said excitedly.

For Mr. Quang, using engaging stories to create effective videos helps bring memorable experience to viewers. The creative content on Quang’s Facebook page is also quite random. For example, he accidentally enters into a place where something or someone catch his eye, inspiring him to approach these things or these people to make videos.

"I and my colleagues sometimes found it difficult to approach the characters who were reluctant to talk with us so we have to wait for them outside in the sun or rain for several hours. However, those situations do not discourage me, but motivate me to continue my work to spread the world about beautiful things in Da Nang, along with its culture and people," remarked Quang.

Reporting by HUYNH VU – Translating by H.L