As melodies of “Jingle Bell” are played in every corner of the city, Santa Clauses, in red costumes with their helmets on, ride bikes and jostle through heavy traffic, carrying a big bag of presents in Ho Chi Minh City.

A Santa Claus jostles through heavy traffic in Ho Chi Minh City, Photo: Tuoi Tre

Christmas is a high season for students to take up this special part time job: turning into Santa Claus and delivering presents to kids.

Thanh Hung from the University of Natural Science said the job is hard as it involves a lot of moving but the pay is quite good. Nguyen Thi Thao, a student at the city’s University of Banking, said she is excited to turn into snow princess and sit behind a fellow Santa Claus for the first time this Christmas. 

According to Nguyen Thanh Phu, director at the Vong Nguyen Que Company which specializes in delivery service, students are their first choice when it comes to hiring Santa Clauses to deliver presents to kids. 

“Young people are cheerful, energetic and able to work long hours,” he said.

Phu revealed that working for 4-5 days, a Santa Claus can earn VND3-5 million (US$150-250) as they also take tips from households they visit. 

Over the past two years working as Santa Claus and delivering gifts around the city, Hoang Tuan Cuong, a student at University of Technology, has many memorable experiences. Last year, he arrived at Ky Dong primary school in District 3 to deliver a present to a first grader during break time. Many kids thronged out and surrounded him, asking for presents.

Companies offering delivery service on Christmas Day often give out training to their part-timers including how to handle different situations. On December 4, Lua Viet, a delivery company, organizes charity trips for their trainee Santa Clauses to the Oncology Hospital and Peace Village so that they can practice what they learned before the big day.

Huu Phat, cofounder at the site giaoquanoel.net, an online service taking orders to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve, said this job is not only about handing presents to kids. The most important thing is to keep children’s faith in Father Christmas. Especially, when kids have questions, Santa Claus should quickly find a satisfying answer.

“When asked where his sleigh is, a Santa Claus should quickly tell that his reindeers are exhausted after many trips delivering gifts and need some rest,” he said.

Santa Clauses usually have to deliver 30-40 presents an evening and they often become worn out in the end. They then rely on children’s help, such as asking them to tell stories or sing as they ring the bell and take a few minutes break.

The most important thing of the job is to keep children’s faith in Father Christmas (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Source: Tuoi Tre