Endless drinking during Tet harms families

Every night during the Lunar New Year holidays, 27-year-old Huyen had to bring her drunken husband home from a relative’s house in the village.

“He didn’t even recover from the last drinking party before going to the next one. My husband is drunk and I’m exhausted.” Tet With my husband’s family in Than Liem District, Ha Nam Province.

Huyen’s husband, Long, doesn’t enjoy drinking. It’s just that many of her relatives wanted to drink and celebrate on her first year of marriage.

When Huyen saw people forcing Mr. Long to drink, he tried to stop them but was unable to do so. Most of these people were relatives, and if Long didn’t drink, it meant he didn’t respect them. . At that time, Long was too drunk to walk straight.

Same thing happened the next day, the only difference being the location. Long was forced to drink every day until he was drunk. When he got home, he could hardly move, was vomiting constantly, and could not get up until the next morning.

A typical gathering of family and relatives during Tet, with food and drink provided.Photo courtesy Huyen

for the first 5 days TetNhu Quynh’s husband, who lives in Nghe An province, went out drinking early in the morning and did not return home until evening, completely drunk.

every day Tet, a 34-year-old man leaves his wife and children to go out drinking with relatives, neighbors, and friends from high school, middle school, and even elementary school. When they got married, Quinn also prepared all kinds of snacks and drinks that her husband liked, but he never wanted to stay home. Often, it was only when I got home late that I smelled an unpleasant alcoholic smell. Even his children didn’t want to get near him.

Quinn got angry when he continued to drink, but he calmly replied: Tet It’s been a tradition in my family for generations. ”

According to Nguyen Hung Vi, a cultural researcher and former lecturer at the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, alcohol is an essential part of life. Tet holiday.

“Tet It’s an era where many people are forced to drink to judge who is stronger,” Vi said, but when they say it’s for drinking, they say it’s in traditional culture. I said I justify something.

For Vi, culture is what brings benefits, happiness, and ideals of truth and beauty to communities and people. When it comes to drinking, it is a waste of money, time, energy and uncultural.

Writer Hoang Anh Tu agrees. He said that the drinking culture in Vietnam meant that people had to drink whenever they were at the table, otherwise they would appear condescending to others. and tormenting men.

Tu said the most obvious thing about alcohol abuse is a range of health problems and negative behavioral changes. According to General Statistics Office data for 2019, the medical cost to treat his six common types of cancer related to alcohol use in Vietnam is about VND26 trillion ($1.1 billion). The cost of handling traffic accidents related to alcohol abuse is about VND 50 trillion.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, alcohol and beer consumption in Vietnam ranks second in Southeast Asia, 10th in Asia and 29th in the world. It is estimated that the country spends about $3.4 billion on alcohol each year.in the meantime Tetalcohol use has skyrocketed.

The beer and alcohol market posted strong growth in the last month of the year. The latest four-year report for his two largest domestic alcohol producers, Sabeco and Habeco, sees higher-than-usual net revenue growth in the fourth quarter of each year due to increased consumption of alcoholic beverages. showed.

Ho Chi Minh City alone Tet According to Ministry of Industry and Trade data, people consume an average of 44-45 million liters of beer each year, a 30% increase compared to a typical month.

Huyen knows better than anyone the negative effects of drinking too much. Ten years ago, his father got drunk and died in a traffic accident. Tet She doesn’t want her husband to be the next victim. Although she hates drinking, she has to accompany and watch her husband because she fears Long will get drunk and have an accident.

After four days of drinking, Long suffered severe stomach pains. In the emergency room, his doctor said he had acute pancreatitis because he drank too much alcohol in a short period of time.

“When Long woke up, he told me regret and sorry,” said Huen. Tet The time I spent with my husband’s family was unforgettable. ”

According to researcher Vi, people like Long often feel guilty and express sadness to their loved ones after waking up from a night of drinking. Therefore, once you have a habit of drinking, you can change it even if it is difficult.

“No one can force you to drink alcohol if you don’t want to,” said Vi.

According to author Anh Tu, most husbands are aware of the negative effects and consequences of constant drinking, but few are able to stop the habit. TetPart of the reason is that the wife does not have enough determination to make her husband understand what he will lose if he continues to live irresponsibly.

Before going to my hometown to celebrate this year Tet With her husband’s family, Huen told Long that whenever she went to a relative’s house, she had to sit next to her. That way, not only can she control the amount of alcohol he drinks, but she can also keep him from drinking on an empty stomach.

“You have to find a way to abstain from drinking as much as possible, or just take a sip no matter how much others encourage you,” Huwen told Long. Yes, and no one but you is responsible.”

Since last year, Quynh has been recording videos of her husband getting drunk and vomiting and showing them to him. This method worked very well this year when her husband promised to take her and her children on her trip.

“If it’s an empty promise, I’m not going to get drunk every day waiting for my husband to come home. I’m going to find my own joy.” TetSo that you can understand the loneliness when my husband comes home to an empty house Tet You can, it was just for her.