In her early sixties, Vietnam-born Hanh first entered the world of second-hand shopping when she arrived in Australia over thirty years ago.
Hanh volunteers two days a week at Vinnies in Brisbane’s West End.
“When we first came here, we all poor, so certain budget. You have to find a way to get through so I’ve started learning and then friends say, ‘why don’t you visit op shop or second-hand shop? You might find things you know it’s good too.’”
Decades on, her situation has vastly improved but Hanh is still a strong supporter of sustainable shopping.
She says it’s about reusing and recycling goods rather than seeing them go to waste.
“The fashion I found, it will be repeated like a lot of clothes I bought 30 years ago and now the fashion come(s) back. The thing is I can reuse it and I still become (a) fashion now. Just one thing that you have to keep your body shape still the same!”
Listen to the feature in Bangla in the audio player above.
