The first one was painted by university students from Đại Học Văn Lang in 2018 as part of Mùa Hè Xanh, the Green Summer campaign. Every year the government sends thousands of college kids into neighborhoods to clean, paint, and volunteer. It’s state-organized but the participation is real. The red sign reads “Công trình khu phố xanh sạch đẹp,” Green Clean Beautiful Neighborhood Project. The mural shows a family, village houses, trees. Pleasant. Harmless. Approved.

This one is deeper. It’s in a hẻm off Cách Mạng Tháng 8 street, managed by the local veterans’ association. The blue signs tell you everything. Left sign: “An toàn, xanh, sạch, đẹp, văn minh.” Safe, Green, Clean, Beautiful, Civilized. Right sign: “Hẻm hội cựu chiến binh tự quản.” Veterans’ Self-Managed Alley. “Xanh, sạch, thân thiện môi trường.” Green, Clean, Environmentally Friendly. A traffic cop guides schoolchildren across a crosswalk while a woman in a pink áo dài shepherds them from behind. Even the dog is behaving.

And then SOMA tagged right across the top of it.

March 2026