At around 2:00 p.m. on November 20, musician To Hieu took actor Thuong Tin to visit his former colleague Aly Dung’s hospital. Share with VietNamNet, Thuong Tin read in the newspaper that Aly Dung had leukemia so he wanted to visit.
In a 6m2 rented room in District 7 rented by a former student, Aly Dung met Thuong Tin again after several decades. Thuong Tin did not recognize Aly Dung. They were surprised, silent for a long time, exclaimed “I’m all old” and then laughed.
Both of them worked together with the Cuu Long Giang Theater Troupe and then the Diamond Theater Troupe. Aly Dung is 6 years older, but Thuong Tin entered the profession first, as his senior, so they are used to calling him “Mr., I”. At the peak of his career, Aly Dung played a double lead a couple of times while Thuong Tin was a superstar, playing leading roles from stage to screen. Later, they met again in the movie Saigon Rangers.
They chatted a lot about old plays and movies in Saigon and then asked about each other’s health. Aly Dung said: “I have cancer, your illness is better.” Thuong Tin replied: “I have a stroke and could die at any time. You still have 4 stages, but I might just ‘go’, quickly.” than you”.
In their youth, Thuong Tin and Aly Dung only knew each other and were not close, but now they meet again and are emotional because they are people of the same time. “Only they can talk to each other for hours about the past,” said musician To Hieu.
Even though he didn’t have much money, Thuong Tin still sent Aly Dung 1 million VND. Because of objective conditions, they did not sit and talk for long. Thuong Tin invited Aly Dung to visit To Hieu’s house another day.
When returning, the two veteran artists held hands and wished each other good health. Currently, it is hard for Thuong Tin to find a role, so it is difficult for Aly Dung to help. He asked musician To Hieu to research and build suitable characters for his colleagues in the new film project. “We artists are like that, we don’t care whether the role is big or small, whether the time is short or long, as long as it’s fun to play,” Thuong Tin said.
Thuong Tin and Aly Dung were nervous as they left
Before, VietNamNet reported that actress Aly Dung was diagnosed with leukemia in August, with symptoms such as swollen skin and lumps spreading all over her face. Initially, he was diagnosed with a lack of red blood cells, but when examined at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, he was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer.
For the past three months, Aly Dung has been receiving treatment at Gia Dinh People’s Hospital. The cost of dialysis is more than 6 million VND/week, making him financially miserable. Every day, the veteran actor eats liquid porridge with soy sauce to save money.
Having no relatives, Aly Dung received some support from some colleagues for hospital expenses. Most recently, a group of artists Phi Phung, Phuong Dung and Thuy Muoi visited him, representing a benefactor who donated more than 10 million VND.
The artist plans to try selling lottery tickets to earn extra income when he gets better. “I still try to live even though I don’t know what my life will be like tomorrow,” he shared.
Aly Dung’s real name is Huynh Dung, born in 1950, specializing in supporting roles from theater to television. Some roles leave a mark like the soldier in Saigon Rangersfarmer Ma Dong in Old judgment, old story… For more than 40 years in the profession, Aly Dung has mostly played supporting and public roles. In recent years, due to old age and weak health, he gradually stopped accepting film invitations.
He was once married, but his wife could not bear the poverty and took their children away decades ago. The actor’s biggest asset is an old 9m2 apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, which he sold to cover the Covid-19 epidemic.
Thuong Tin plays the main role and directs the Vu Lan season MVActor Thuong Tin directed and starred in a MV for the first time with the content recreating slices of his life.
