VietNamNet Bridge – Dao Xuan Tan has been a barber for 30 years and he has had the honor of serving Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for 13 years.

One day thirteen years ago, Tan was invited to give a high-ranking official a haircut. “I was very nervous because I didn’t know who my customer would be. It turned out Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. I was very surprised and honored to serve him,” Tan recalled.

With nearly 20 years of experience, Tan kept calm to observe the face of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Prime Minister) and made definitive cuts. When the last cut finished, the Deputy PM nodded his head to show his satisfaction with the new hair.

Tan said the traditional style is suitable for the PM and he has been satisfied with this style for the past 13 years. “I’m very happy because he is not an ordinary client. Being trusted and appreciated by the PM, I always try my best,” Tan said.

He said that to give nice haircuts, the barber must properly evaluate the face, hair properties of customers and have a good imagination. “Hairstyles must be suitable for the occupations of customers. The hair of the Prime Minister must be nice and smart,” the barber said.

Tan said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung often has his hair cut at the end of a working day or two days before his business trips. In the 30 minutes sitting still to get his hair cut, the PM often talks with the barber about his job, his business, his daily life and his aspirations.

“The Prime Minister is very simple and close,” Tan said.

Not very long ago, after returning home from the G20 Summit, the PM immediately invited Tan to his home to give him a haircut even though he had just arrived home at midnight.

Sometimes the PM invites the barber to stay for a while to have a cup of tea. The barber thought that since he is the younger of the two he should make the tea but the PM said that he was a guest and he would make tea for the guest.

Once Tan gave a haircut to PM Dung before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the PM cut two pomelos from his garden and gave them to the barber as full moon gifts for his children.

Many foreign diplomats in Hanoi and high-ranking officials have also been Tan’s clients for years, including late Politburo member Tran Dinh Hoan, former Hanoi Party Chief and former Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Hanoi Party Secretary Pham Quang Nghi.

“A client of mine, a diplomat at the Malaysian Embassy, sometimes invites me to his home for dinner. Whenever he returns home, he buys gifts for me,” Tan said.

Besides VIP customers, ordinary clients praise Tan’s techniques and many of them have been his clients for a dozen years, from when Tan was young guy until now.

A Vietnamese American who has been Tan’s client for year returned to Tan’s hairdressing salon after one year and asked Tan “why aren’t you fed up with this job?” A British man came to Tan’s salon for a haircut and wrote an article about him. “This is not a noble job but I’m happy to be honored by my customers,” Tan said.

He said hairdressing has been handed down in his family for four generations, from his grandfather to his son. Tan’s father was a famous barber, who served many high-ranking officials and late PM Pham Van Dong.

With 30 years of experience, Tan, 50, always gives himself to the job and to his trusting, familiar clients at the hairdressing salon at No. 6 Trang Thi, Hanoi.

PV