Patrons of the Sau Banh beef hotpot venue toast each other noisily.

Suddenly, the festivities quiet down at the calls of several young boys age 5-14 dressed in funny costumes who have just entered the scene.

These children comprise one set of several “circus troupes” that earn a living by performing on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City nightly.

Hard occupation

Hieu, the oldest boy of the group, whips two iron rods out from behind his back whose ends are affixed with pieces of sponge, lights the material on fire and waves the rods in different directions before licking the fire.

He then bends down to take a sip of kerosene and blows a spectacular burst of flame.

Vo, the youngest boy, pulls out a green snake and hands it to Hieu.

The boy inserts the snake into his mouth and pushes its head deep into his throat until only the tip of its wiggling tail remains visible.

Lastly, Cuong chews a piece of red-hot coal and performs juggling tricks with a leather ball.

After their acts, the three boys approach different tables to beg for money.

The men who initially applauded now wave their hands in a dismissive fashion and the performers move along.

Leaving Sau Banh restaurant, the trio stop by Restaurant 111 to repeat the routine.

Some patrons invite the boys to smoke cigarettes and drink beers and give them some boiled peanuts to chew on.

Photographs of Vo and Cuong, who have stylish hairdos, are taken by drunk men.

At about 9 p.m., the performers are taken to a chain of cafes and pubs along the Saigon River and put to work performing their circus acts.

It takes the group nearly two hours to give dozens of performances.

Two motorbikes transport the three boys the entire night.

By midnight, only a few crowded places on Pasteur, Hung Vuong and Nguyen Thuong Hien streets remain open so different troupes often run into each other while completing their routes.

At about 3 a.m., the boys appear exhausted and sleepy as they return home.

Stolen childhood

Eight performers live in rented houses with their parents in a slum area on Lane 380 of Le Van Luong Street in District 7.

Most of them have experience working in street troupes ranging from a few months to two years.

They perform worse than previous generations of troupes due to insufficient practice and are only able to feature already familiar acts of swallowing snakes, chewing coal and blowing fire.

Out of costume at home, the children look thin and small for their ages.

Chung, one of the two remaining members of a dissolved child circus group, said his lip and mouth used to swell after performing with fire.

Another child said that his teeth and tongue turned black because he chewed hot coals every night.

The children do not attend school even though a charity class in Tan

Hung Ward’s Hamlet 1 offers free lessons and is located only 150 meters from the area.

When asked about their schooling, their parents, who mostly come from rural areas, said the children like to work and do not want to go to school.

Hoa, a teacher at the charity class, said instructors have tried many times to invite the children to classes and persuade their parents to enroll them but efforts were futile.

“I want to become a circus artist,” Chung said.

The most-skilled performer of a group living in the area has reached 16 years of age but cannot write his name correctly.

Like Chung, other younger boys are virtually illiterate.

Every night, more than 10 child circus troupes operate in HCMC.

The size of the groups range from one to three members and the youth are driven around the city by adults who are either their parents or employers.

Tu, the father of Chung, said the boy previously worked until 2-3 a.m.

nightly but was given only a few thousand dong per night by his employer.

He took out a loan to purchase a motorbike and nowadays takes his son around the streets to work until midnight to earn a daily income of around VND200,000 (US$12.5).

According to a group manager, a troupe with two to three children can earn from VND300,000-500,000 ($19-31) a night.

Source: Tuoi Tre