Farming as an activity or hobby has become popular in recent years, but maybe the craze for living a day as a farmer has gone a bit too far.

For example, one playground in Hà Nội’s Hà Đông District has been a farm for 12 years, a long time to pretend.

The 100-square-metre playground was built in Vạn Phúc Ward in 2006 for local children. However, the playground soon became a dumping site after a short time of use.

The reason for this, according to locals, was that there were no toys for children inside and the area was surrounded by a fence, so no one wanted to go inside the area, even street cleaners.

Some households took advantage of the playground to build chicken cages and plant vegetables. A resident said that she planted vegetable on the area for three years for a hobby and promised to move when required.

But most residents, especially those with children, are unhappy. They claimed that their children had no place to play, and the ‘playground’ was smelly and polluted.

To improve the situation, the ward’s People’s Committee has proposed the city’s authority and Hà Đông District’s authority revoke the area and build an event centre.

The idea got short shrift, as the city replied the ward had to wait for funding for the construction of the centre.

Nguyễn Văn Thuỷ, chairman of the ward’s committee said the committee has asked the district’s authority to send environmental workers to clean up the area.

If it does get cleaned up, local residents will no longer have to suffer the smell from the playground. But the bad news is that children will still have no playground, and won’t be able to p0-lant turnips for fun either. — VNS