Top 10 Outstanding Young Individuals in Vietnam Under 30

Nguyễn Thị Oanh, born on August 15, 1995, is a Vietnamese track and field athlete. She typically competes in running events such as 1,500m, 5,000m, and 3,000m steeplechase. Over the past 10 years (2013-2023), she has been one of Vietnam's prominent track and field athletes, winning 1 Asiad silver medal, 1 gold and 1 bronze at the Asian Beach Games, and 12 individual golds at the SEA Games. In 2019, after her remarkable performance at SEA Games 30, she accumulated 846 votes to become the National Outstanding Athlete. In 2023, at SEA Games 32, she made history as the first Vietnamese athlete to win 4 individual gold medals in track and field in a single SEA Games, including achieving 2 golds within a 20-minute span.

Nguyễn Thị Oanh started her track and field career at the age of 15. Due to her petite stature, she earned the nickname 'Oanh Ỉn' (Tiny Oanh). Her specialties include the 1,500m, 5,000m, and 3,000m steeplechase. Oanh has been a prominent figure in Vietnamese track and field, achieving significant milestones: 1 Asiad silver medal, 1 gold and 1 bronze at the Asian Beach Games, and 5 individual golds at SEA Games. During 2014-2015, she had to take a break due to a diagnosis of acute nephritis.

According to Nguyễn Thị Oanh, when she first started professional sports training, her modest physique weighing only 40kg almost led to her exclusion from the national team. However, her serious attitude and dedication won the trust of the coaching staff, and she was subsequently selected for the national team. In SEA Games 29, due to the unexpected cancellation of the 3,000m steeplechase, she had to switch to compete in the 1,500m and 5,000m, where she brilliantly won two golds. In the next SEA Games 30, she successfully defended these two golds and added another gold in the 3,000m steeplechase.

At the 18th Asiad (Indonesia) in 2018, Oanh won the historic silver medal for Vietnamese track and field in the 3,000m steeplechase. In 2021, Oanh ranked second in the vote for the outstanding athlete of Vietnamese sports by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and the Vietnam Olympic Committee.

Recently, Forbes Vietnam voted goalkeeper Hồ Văn Ý into the list of successful under-30 faces in Vietnam for 2022. Earlier, Hồ Văn Ý was also the national outstanding athlete of Vietnam in 2021. Currently, this player is a candidate for the 2021 National Outstanding Youth Award by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. Hồ Văn Ý is a national futsal player who stood out at the Futsal World Cup held in Lithuania in September 2021. In his debut at the Futsal World Cup, he amazed Vietnamese fans with outstanding saves, helping Vietnam finish third in Group D and secure a spot in the next qualifying round. In the Round of 16, he and his teammates narrowly lost to Russia with a score of 2-3, with Ý contributing a direct counterattack goal for the 1-2 equalizer.

Văn Ý born on January 1, 1997, in Quang Nam, joined the Thái Sơn Nam club in 2018, winning three consecutive championships in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and the runner-up in the Asian club futsal championship in 2018. Joining the Vietnam futsal team in 2018, Văn Ý has also affirmed his position at the national team level, being selected in the top 10 outstanding goalkeepers in the world at the UMBRO Futsal Awards - an award equivalent to FIFA The Best in football. He won the Silver Ball Futsal Vietnam in 2018 and 2020. In early 2022, Văn Ý was nominated in the top 10 list of 'Best Goalkeeper of 2021' by Futsal Planet.

Known as GDucky, Đặng Mai Việt Hoàng, born on 18/09/1998 in Hanoi, is a young Vietnamese rapper. Emerging as the runner-up in Rap Việt 2020, GDucky marked his presence in the underground music scene. Throughout the competition, he captivated the audience with catchy rap verses and the ability to energize the stage. His track 'Tiền nhiều để làm gì' quickly gained popularity, reaching the second position on Apple Music's most-listened chart and featured in Spotify's Vietnam Top 50 playlist within a week of release.

GDucky's musical style is deeply influenced by academic philosophy, delivering profound rap verses that provoke thought. Post Rap Việt, GDucky stands out as an artist collaborating with diverse musical personalities, including a partnership with singer Tùng Dương in the album 'Human' and a mash-up with Mỹ Anh featuring 'Cô gái Trung Hoa' and 'Công chúa bong bóng.' His latest collaboration is a fresh take on 'Nàng thơ,' a song that contributed to the fame of Hoàng Dũng, the runner-up of The Voice 2015. GDucky's goal for this year is to release a debut single, affirming his artistic identity through each composition.

Nguyễn Phương Linh, known as Flinh, is a prominent performer among the youngest contemporary visual artists in Vietnam. She has showcased her talent at various events, including the 20+ House Anniversary (2018, Hanoi); NIPAF International Performance Festival 2018 (Japan); Asia Live Performance! Vietnam 2018 (Poland, Germany); the exhibition 'Polyphony:Southeast Asia' 2019 (China); Performance Plus 2019 - MoTplus (Ho Chi Minh City); Festival 'Nổ Cái Bùm' (2020, Hue); Blue Project – Month of Art Practice, MAP Heritage Space (2020, Hanoi); Wuwei Performance Series 2020 (Singapore). Artistic director Trần Lương praised Flinh's work for portraying the femininity of East Asia and the confidence in dialogue, exploration, and asserting the role of women in the globalized society and strong democratic process. Flinh studied fine arts at the Vietnam University of Fine Arts. She became interested in contemporary art beyond academic boundaries, first encountering performing arts at the IN:ACT Workshop by artist Seiji Shimoda and Nhà Sàn Collective. The impactful event motivated her to pursue this creative form. Flinh expressed her love for performing due to its spontaneity, genuine human essence, and the lack of artifice or the poetic nature of art.

During the COVID pandemic in Vietnam, Flinh and other artists continued experimenting with performances in studios, living spaces, interacting with videos, and social media platforms. Flinh is currently collaborating with artist Lem TragNguyen on the project 'Hay là,' establishing a platform focused on Vietnamese performing arts. The project includes artist conversations, sharing and archiving performance works, collaborative research, and professional discussions with various stakeholders. Through these activities, 'Hay là' aims to bring performing arts closer to the younger audience, inspire, and connect artists with art enthusiasts. Flinh stated, “I always feel lost between past and future generations, between the cultural currents of the past and the present. The feeling of anxiety and detachment is a constant haunting. I used to think that art is a sanctuary, a place to create a separate world, to escape reality. However, when exposed to contemporary art, especially performance, that perception is completely shattered. Performance practice creates a state for me similar to meditation, a psychological therapy, pushing me beyond self-limitations, facing and confronting everyday life issues.”

Born in the land of Đăk Nông, Dr. Huỳnh Lê Thái Bão, born in 1994, specialized in general medicine, graduated with honors from Tay Nguyen University, and joined Duy Tan University in 2018. Currently, Bão is the head of the Medical Forum and the project leader of the online Medical Ecosystem (www.ykhoa.org), also serving as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Endocrinology and Diabetes of Vietnam (VADE). Huỳnh Lê Thái Bão is a doctor, teaching at the Faculty of Medicine and is the head of the hospital practice department at the Faculty of Medicine at Duy Tan University (Da Nang). Bão received a full scholarship for a Ph.D. in internal medicine at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2022, awarded by the VinIF Innovation Foundation, becoming one of the youngest doctors to be specially trained in the medical field. He founded and is the head of the Medical Forum and the project leader of the online Medical Ecosystem, also serving as the editor-in-chief of the Journal and website of the Society of Endocrinology and Diabetes of Vietnam (VADE).

Huỳnh Lê Thái Bão actively participated in community programs from the first year at Tay Nguyen University of Medicine (2012). The Blood Bank, founded by Bão in 2015, and later co-founded the One Health Club at Tay Nguyen University. These activities form the basis for the medical ecosystem that combines all 4 areas of education - health - technology and community activities. In 2018, the Medical Volunteer Club was established, operating in the Central and Tay Nguyen regions with the first 300 members. The next step is the online medical ecosystem (ykhoa.org) with six components, on the app, website, YouTube channel, Facebook, online exchanges, and real-world activities, now with over 26,000 members. Real-world programs such as Accompanying children with cancer, Love Moon, supporting exam seasons, supporting COVID-19 prevention; voluntary blood donation, etc.

Ngô Thùy Anh, one of the outstanding 8 girls in the Under 30 list of 2022 voted by Forbes Vietnam. At twenty-three, holding an MBA with honors, Thùy Anh made a bold decision by turning down a job offer from a major financial company on Wall Street (New York) to return to Vietnam to start her own business. Just after 2 years, the former international student has succeeded as the CEO and Founder of 5 startup companies. Even more proud, she is one of 17 global ambassadors for Samsung with the UNDP United Nations Development Program promoting Sustainable Development Goals. In March 2020, Thùy Anh founded HASU, a mental and physical care application for people over 50. Thùy Anh aims to steer this business model towards supporting the elderly in overcoming fears: fear of being forgotten, fear of becoming a burden to descendants, fear of not being healthy, to live joyfully and happily.

In the current market, there are still few services and products for mental and physical care for the elderly like HASU. Born during the outbreak of COVID-19, HASU continuously adjusts its model: from organizing in-person classes for initial customers to designing an online application connecting users, combining direct activities when the pandemic eases. As of December 2021, about 12 thousand people over 50 have used HASU for exercise, entertainment, and connection. Thùy Anh and her team are aiming for a more convenient, feature-rich application for the elderly to experience and for their children to monitor their parents and grandparents through the application. Before founding HASU in 2017, while studying for a Master of Business Administration in the United States, Ngô Thùy Anh co-founded Aligo Kids - a platform for teaching skills and preventing child sexual abuse through interactive cartoons. After returning to Vietnam in 2018, Thùy Anh founded AligoMedia - a company with activities such as producing animated films on gender-based violence for ethnic minority women, educating waste disposal behavior, electronic textbooks, and family connectivity technology for businesses and organizations.

Phạm Mỹ Linh was born in 1995. In 2016, she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Birmingham, UK. Linh returned to Vietnam and joined OnOnPay as the Head of Business Analysis. Here, she played a crucial role in developing service systems and successfully attracted $2.3 million in international funds into OnOnPay. In November 2018, Mỹ Linh co-founded Telio, a B2B e-commerce platform, and served as the Strategic Director, overseeing significant projects using big data. She played a key role in successfully building a business data management system, operating the company in real-time based on large datasets, enabling Telio to efficiently manage operations through timely decision-making.

In November 2021, Telio successfully raised $22.5 million in a Pre-Series B round led by VNG, GGV Capital, and Tiger Global. With this funding round, Telio accumulated over $51 million, helping the platform achieve its ambitious goal of becoming a major B2B player in Vietnam. Telio utilizes technology and big data to optimize the value chain for manufacturers and retailers. By the end of 2020, Telio connected with over 45,000 retail agents, focusing on three fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), healthcare, and lifestyle sectors. Telio's revenue in December 2021 reached $23.5 million. The BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) service will be Telio's focus this year to provide working capital for business owners and increase revenue for Telio.

Nguyễn Huyền My initially studied Economics. In the first twenty years of her life, she had no concept of programming, website development, or applications. The young woman had diverse experiences before falling in love with technology. Venturing into this field, Huyền My acknowledges its difficulty, requiring creativity and logical thinking. While some scientific studies suggest that males may have an advantage in brain development, Huyền My firmly believes that logical thinking can be cultivated. Therefore, the decision to pursue Information Technology depends on individual interests and capabilities, not gender or age. In fact, many successful individuals, holding pivotal roles in technology companies, are women. Huyền My emphasizes that Information Technology encompasses not only programming and computation but also various positions to create products, explore markets, and scale models. The job market is open with numerous work opportunities, and competency is what matters, not gender.

From a programming competition for women organized by a group of students, Nguyễn Huyền My co-founded and leads SheCodes Vietnam since 2019, promoting activities to empower women to confidently engage in the technology field. Over three years, SheCodes has attracted over 10,000 female members participating in programming classes, hackathons, orientation events, knowledge sharing, skills development, and networking for women. The program inspires and motivates women to persevere in technology-driven careers, bridging the gender gap through technology. SheCodes Vietnam has initiated various activities, with the startup SSSMarket emerging from the SheCodes Hackathon 2020, ranking in the Top 10 of Startup Wheel 2021. The Techlofi education platform imparts technological knowledge, supporting underprivileged groups and women, winning first prize in the Future Solutions competition at Techfest 2021. The Pioneering Gender Equality Award - Youth Creators 2021, presented by the Embassy of Ireland, the Center for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS), and the United Nations entity for gender equality and women's empowerment (UN Women).

Nguyễn Thị Thu Nhi, also known as the Black Angel, born on October 22, 1996, is a professional Vietnamese-Khmer female boxer specializing in Mini-Flyweight. She is the current reigning WBO Mini-Flyweight World Champion, making her the first Vietnamese boxer to achieve a professional world title. In her amateur career, she won the Gold Medal in Vietnamese Boxing, and the National Club Cup in Boxing. Currently, she holds the WBO Mini-Flyweight World title.

In October 2021, Thu Nhi became the first Vietnamese boxer to claim a professional world title by defeating the formidable Tada Etsuko in South Korea. In a 10-round final match, the fighters were evenly matched, exchanging blows. Despite sustaining an eye injury in the eighth round, Thu Nhi continued to attack vigorously and secured victory with a score of 96-94, winning the WBO belt. Hailing from An Giang, Thu Nhi began her martial arts journey in 2009, starting with traditional martial arts and later transitioning to boxing. She was recruited into the Ho Chi Minh City boxing team and won the national championship in the Mini-Flyweight category in 2015. Thu Nhi continued her success, winning gold in national boxing championships from 2017 to 2019 and consecutive national club cups from 2015 to 2019. In 2019, she turned professional after joining Cocky Buffalo, a martial arts and boxing club in Vietnam with investment from South Korea.

Possessing an impressive record, often dubbed as the 'golden IT boy' of Vietnam by the media, Lê Yên Thanh admits, 'I participated in so many competitions that I can't accurately remember how many awards I have won.' Yen Thanh developed an interest in computer science during middle school, winning the first prize in the national computer science excellent student competition and directly entering university. In 2015, he secured the second prize in the Vietnamese Talent competition and was honored as an Outstanding Young Face of Vietnam at the age of 21. As the founder and CEO of Phenikaa Mass - a company providing smart transportation solutions, Lê Yên Thanh has recently been listed in Forbes Asia's Top 30 under 30. Formerly known as BusMap, Thanh's startup changed to Phenikaa Mass after receiving a $1.5 million investment from Phenikaa, a conglomerate founded by entrepreneur Hồ Xuân Năng. Yên Thanh was renowned as the 'golden boy' in IT, accumulating over 100 national and international IT awards and medals.

Lê Yên Thanh founded and leads BusMap - the largest bus map project in Vietnam. Thanh initiated BusMap while still a university student, later evolving it into a COVID-19 epidemiological map project for several provinces and developing it into Phenikaa Mass, specializing in intelligent transportation solutions. The company received a $1.5 million USD investment from the Phenikaa group in mid-2021. BusMap - the online bus map idea emerged when Thanh was living in Saigon, experiencing challenges in finding bus routes. After two months of exploration, Thanh created the BusMap software. Users can access bus routes with any connected device. The software provides optimal directions, suggesting which station to go to, which route to take, displaying details such as bus waiting times, ticket prices, distance, and soon, a feature for announcements that can be used by the public and visually impaired individuals. Currently, this epidemic prevention map has been integrated with a vaccination map by Da Nang province, aiding people in locating vaccination sites. Following Da Nang, Thanh has also provided free epidemiological maps for nine other provinces and cities affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, Gia Lai, Bac Giang, Phu Yen.