Natural disasters can have devastating repercussions, as Vietnam is well aware. Every storm and flood causes untold damage to people and property. But true to the Vietnamese spirit of solidarity and compassion, people from across the country and around the world have come together to offer both material and emotional support to help those affected rebuild their lives.

But there are many who have deliberately abused the tragedy to further their own agendas, such as self-promotion on social media. We examine this unfortunate problem in today's Words on the Street, a twice-weekly feature in The Hanoi Times.

As of Sunday evening, September 15, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, through its Central Relief Committee and other organizations, has received nearly VND1.1 trillion (about US$45 million) in donations from organizations and individuals to support people affected by typhoon Yagi.

To date, it has released more than 12,000 pages of bank statements showing who is contributing how much to disaster relief efforts. The vast majority of these transactions demonstrate the deep-rooted sense of solidarity among the Vietnamese people, as donors express their hope that the people of the northern mountainous regions will be able to move past their losses and start afresh.

Hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong have been donated by various large enterprises, and millions have been donated by numerous people and organizations. Soccer player Nguyen Quang Hai, musician Hoa Minzy, vlogger Nguyen Quang Linh and his crew in Africa, and the boatmen of Trang An each donated a total of VND300-500 million ($12,220-20,370).

Most recently, Ngọc Trung, a doctor currently working in Ho Chi Minh City, sold his car for VND3 billion ($122,220) and donated the proceeds to help schools recover from flood damage.

Along with these significant donations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front has also received countless smaller but heartfelt contributions from ordinary citizens across the country. From donations of a few tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dong, each transaction is a testament to the genuine compassion and desire to help from people all over Vietnam.

This reaffirms the Vietnamese people's enduring and strong sense of solidarity and support for each other in all circumstances. As I write this, I am still deeply moved by the great loss and suffering experienced by the people of the northern mountainous areas.

It is impossible to contain our grief when we think of the children who lost half of their classmates, or the families - adults and children alike - who were buried under landslides, or the police officers and soldiers who lost their lives in the rescue efforts.

Opportunism amid tragedy

Sadly, there is a portion of the populace that takes advantage of this tragedy to enhance their social media presence, despite the unimaginable suffering and untold losses endured by the Vietnamese people.

Among the 12,000 pages of bank statements released by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, curious individuals skimmed through and found that some contributions, amounting to only tens of thousands of dong or a few US cents, were touted on some social media profiles as hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong, with transaction slips modified by image editors.

Many TikTokers, Facebook influencers, and YouTubers with sizable social media followings have been exposed for editing their transaction receipts to inflate their donations, say from VND100,000 ($4) to VND100 million ($4,000).

All of this was done to amass likes, interactions, and followers by portraying themselves as altruistic people dedicated to lending a helping hand to those in need.

Many of the people who tried to use the misery of others to further their own reputations have now apologized when the online community unmasked their behavior.

Legally, these people did not embezzle or steal from the funds donated by others, although they are lying.

Ethically, they are undeniably wrong. They exploited a moment of national pain to promote their own image. Many of these people are financially capable of donating the full amounts they falsely claimed on social media.

No one would be able to criticize them if they had been honest about their actual contributions. However, some have gone too far by inflating their donations hundreds of times in order to achieve a brief period of Internet celebrity.

Did they ever think about the day when their actions would be exposed? Perhaps they did, but they probably didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

Yet, in an attempt to avoid public scrutiny, some of these people persist in offering evasive apologies or feeble explanations even after their deception has been detected.  But their justifications are simply not convincing.

Streamer Phung Thanh Do, better known as Do Mixi, has expressed outrage at people profiting from his countrymen's suffering.

He believed that such behavior should be severely condemned by the community and called for strict accountability for those who exploit the pain of others for personal gain.

By disclosing transaction statements, the Vietnam Fatherland Front has demonstrated transparency and accountability in its fundraising efforts for victims of natural disasters. This transparency has restored public confidence and helped prevent fraud in an inherently sensitive area.

The spirit of solidarity and mutual support among the Vietnamese people remains strong and commendable. However, we must also be steadfast in denouncing and condemning dishonest behavior in order to preserve the true values of compassion and integrity that define us.

Sincere, humble acts of compassion are far more valuable than ostentatious, extravagant ones. Helping your fellow man is not only a responsibility, but also an opportunity to express genuine love and solidarity, not a tool to bolster your personal brand.

"Those who did this should be ashamed of their behavior, and the online community must hold them accountable for such moral transgressions," said a friend of mine who practices law in Hanoi.

In the end, true solidarity is about collective strength and honesty, not opportunism or vanity.