INSPIRING: A-list singer Hồng Nhung.Photo Vũ Mạnh Tuấn

Pop star Hồng Nhung is among 58 portraits of women bravely living with breast cancer, as featured in a book launched this month. There We Are - Resilient Women is a bilingual Vietnamese-English photobook published by Việt Nam Women's Museum, the Writers Association Publishing House and the Light Photography Club.

Hồng Nhung spoke with Inner Sanctum about her struggle with the disease and her latest music project.

Inner Sanctum: You were brave to talk about your personal story of breast cancer in public. It is said that you are now a member of the Ministry of Health’s Bright Future Fund and Resilient Women’s Club Network. Why did you do that?

I have been asked quite a lot about my cancer and my hardship, but up to now I have avoided talking too much about it because it’s difficult, and I never wanted to sound as if I were boasting about overcoming hardship. But my purpose is not to ask for understanding or pity.

When I made the difficult decision to tell people about breast cancer only 24 hours after my surgery, I wanted to encourage all other women in Việt Nam to get cancer checkups. The fact is there are so many women who may have it without knowing. Many women avoid checkups simply out of fear.

So as a public figure, I raised my voice hoping to inspire women to take charge of their health and become more aware. If you can fight it early, it can often be treated successfully.

Thousands of women have since sent me messages, and that alone makes it all worthwhile because some women have gone to hospital and been saved. And other women who don't have it, at least they have peace of mind.

I would like to have a second career besides my art, to contribute, however modestly, by working with the Ministry of Health and breast cancer organisations across the country to raise awareness together.

Inner Sanctum: Can you talk about the Hà Nội Là Tôi (Hà Nội Is Me) project?

Hà Nội Là Tôi is an amazing song. So much love, emotion and nostalgia. It was written by the talented Hanoian composer Lưu Hà An. He told me the melody and lyrics came to him like a stream—effortlessly, from the heart.

There's no calculation, there's no script for the song. Everything came to him that night after he read my message about my sadness after Typhoon Yagi caused so much damage last year.

Somehow he believed very strongly that as an artist, I carry the Hanoian spirit. I’m shy about it, but he said I embody the Hanoian soul in many ways. So he sat down and -- boom -- the song was there, flowing beautifully.

Then Hoài Sa decided to make the arrangement for orchestra and we had this song. It reminds me a little of Trịnh Công Sơn’s Đóa Hoa Vô Thường (Impermanent Blossom). It's not just a simple ballad but a more complex composition with several movements, like a miniature musical. I cried the first time I sang it in my home studio.

Hà Nội Là Tôi was chosen by all of us to be the final song for my one-woman concert to celebrate 70 years of Hà Nội in Hồ Gươm Theatre. Early next year my new album will be released on vinyl, on CDs and eventually digital platforms.

BRAVE AND POWERFUL: Hồng Nhung in the video for Tự Hỏi (Asking Myself), filmed a month after her surgery. Photo VietVision.

Inner Sanctum: You are admired for your chic styles, and often post about fashion, lifestyles, and travel. Do you consider yourself as a fashionista and would you become an online influencer when you retire from singing?

First of all, I believe I will never retire from singing -- I was born to sing. I'm terrible with many other things, like cooking, and I'm quite clumsy. Sometimes I think, if I couldn't sing, what could I do as a petite woman with so little energy?

Nobody can believe it because they feel a volcano of energy when I'm on stage. But they don't see me off stage, when my friends make fun of me because I'm so weak compared to them. I do yoga and I work on my voice every day because I cannot lose this one gift I was born with -- my voice, my music, and my sense of beauty and art.

So, there's no retirement for me as a singer. When I'm so old that nobody buys tickets to see me, I'll sing for free -- even on the street. I will never stop singing.

As for my fashion, it's just me. I never consider myself or wish to become an influencer because I believe that my style is absolutely unique and too personal to influence others widely.

One of the things that I like to do to relax is make clothes -- mixing my old pieces to create something new. I also enjoy arranging flowers and doing the gardening. It's life.

Some people ask me why I waste my time doing these things, saying I could hire someone and save time for music. But I tell them that if I don't live my life -- plant herbs, take care of my flowers in the garden, and sew my own clothes -- then I don't have a life. And then I can't sing the way I sing on stage. It has to come from within -- from real life.

So I like to share these things with other women, hoping they might find them useful or relaxing. I'll do it because I think it's worth it when little things that I do can uplift some women's spirit.

So I wish everyone good health and positive thinking. There's always a future ahead. Even in the most difficult time, I find strength to get through it. I never feel alone -- I feel supported by many people, so why not get over it?

I live today as if this is the best day and the youngest day of my life. But there's always tomorrow, and there's hope. So I'll keep singing and hope that what I do brings something good -- with kindness, love, and hope for a better day for everyone. VNS