Gen Z student repairing dorm motorbikes for free

Trần Thiện Tín fixing an old bike in his campus. — Photo baomoi.com

HCM CITY — 21-year-old Trần Thiện Tín is the name on VNU HCMC Campus that students always count on, whenever their bikes broke down.

Born in Tây Ninh, Tín moved to Hồ Chí Minh City to learn Law at HUTECH. He was gifted an old 67 motorbike by his grandfather, and the young student started tinkering with the bike since 9th grade.

After the pandemic situation started to recede, students started to return to university. Tín’s dormitory, the VNU HCMC Campus had no repair shops nearby since shop owners need to recover from the pandemic.

“Having seen fellow students walking with their bikes all around campus to find a repair shop, I feel bad for them.”, said Trí, “I talked with my friends to start a bike repair group, and to repair bikes in the campus for free.”

The group started with only 3 people: Tín and two older friends: Vinh and Huân, but has since recruited more helpers. Tín and his group operates from 6-11pm daily, answering help calls whenever needed.

“Stalled out bikes are easy and quick to fix, and more complicated cases are dealt with by Mr. Vinh because he has tools and experiences. Replacement parts are bought by Huân, and the costs of repairs are just the cost of those parts,” said Tín.

Operating from February 2022, Tín’s group have now repaired 500 bikes for students in campus. Tín himself have fixed 300 bikes.

Although HCMC has started to reopen after the pandemic, and repair shops are returning, Tín’s group are still popular amongst student in VNU HCMC Campus.

As a final year student, Tín is busy with internship and study for graduation, however the 21-year-old still finds time to repair bikes with his group.

“In the future, I would still want to follow my dream of becoming a lawyer.”, said Tín. “In the same time, I still want to fulfil all my personal plans I had set out long ago.” — VNS