With no official training in the fields of history or culture, Phan Khắc Huy (originally from My Tho, Tien Giang) decided to cut short his education in Health care after his graduation at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Health to pursue his passions for history. In 2013, with the hope of sharing his love for history with others, Phan initiated the project ‘Lớp học một tô’ (‘Noodle bowl class’) in which the fee for each class is 20,000VND – the same amount of money it would cost to buy a bowl of noodle at the time. After that, he founded ‘Thư Quán Cội Việt’ (‘Cội Việt Reading Room’), an archive of more than 3,000 books freely accessible to the public. In addition, Thư Quán Cội Việt organizes talks and workshops on topics of culture, music, and history.