Saigon landlord organizes early Tet for workers

Many landlords spend money on parties, inviting singers, buying household goods as lucky draw gifts... to celebrate Tet early for workers.

Before mid-December, the 70-room boarding house of Mr. Dang Van Huong in Tan Thuan Dong Ward, District 7, was already bustling with the Tet atmosphere because the year-end party was held earlier than every year. A week before, the landlord and his wife went to each room to invite about 150 guests, including children, make a list of dishes and order Tet gifts.

On the morning of January 21 (December 11), many workers woke up early to join Mr. Huong and his wife in preparing the party. Everyone took turns cleaning, picking vegetables, cooking, washing dishes... This year's menu included lotus root salad with shrimp and meat, seafood spring rolls, steamed shrimp with beer, beef stew, chicken hotpot with basil leaves and jelly dessert. At exactly 4:30 p.m., the work was completed. Before the party started, Mr. Huong and his wife wished the workers a happy new year and sent each room a Tet gift including cakes, jams, cooking oil, fish sauce...

Mr. Muoi Huong checked the dishes at the year-end party on January 21. Photo: An Phuong

The Muoi Huong boarding house was built 20 years ago. In the early years, every time Tet came, the couple only gave gifts to the tenants. However, about 10 years ago, a group of young tenants got together to contribute money to organize a year-end party. Many people supported it, but some were hesitant about the cost and refused to participate. Knowing the story, Mr. Huong and his wife decided to cover all the year-end expenses. "Since then it has become a tradition, I do it every year to make everyone happy," said the boarding house owner.

This year, many factories have reduced orders, workers have lost their jobs and have switched to driving motorbike taxis, so they do not receive Tet bonuses or attend year-end parties like when they worked for the company. Some freelancers have also arranged to return home early. Therefore, Mr. Huong and his wife planned to hold the year-end party earlier than usual, choosing a Sunday so that everyone could attend.

According to Mr. Huong, there are workers who have been with the boarding house since its construction, so they are "as familiar as family". In addition to spending about 40 million VND to organize the year-end party, for many years he and his wife have kept the room rent stable, at 1.6 million VND per month. During difficult times and epidemics, he and his wife have also proactively reduced the room rent by half to support tenants.

Instead of organizing a year-end party like the owner of Muoi Huong, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Hong, 37 years old, the owner of a 37-room boarding house in Binh Tan district, invited singers and offered a lottery to win household goods when organizing a Tet reunion for workers on December 24. "Two singers from tea rooms have accepted and a woman with a good voice who has released her own CD has also booked the show," she said.

Ms. Hong's boarding house organized a coconut jam making ceremony to give to workers. Photo: An Phuong

Not only did Ms. Hong invite singers to perform, she also bought 10 household products such as electric grills, hot pots, kettles, etc. as lucky gifts. Each room was assigned a number, and the host would call a lottery to find the winner. She also ordered many Tet gifts for the rented rooms, and mobilized her team to make coconut jam as gifts for the workers.

Ms. Hong's boarding house was built more than 20 years ago, and the tenants are mainly workers at Pouyuen Vietnam Co., Ltd. For many years, she has not increased the room price, keeping it stable at around a million VND per month. During the Covid-19 outbreak, she reduced the rent by 30-50%.

Last year, the factory reduced orders, more than 9,000 workers were cut, so many people returned home. To help workers who lost their jobs, she coordinated with functional departments and unions in Binh Tan district to introduce and connect jobs. Currently, many workers have returned to the city and continue to choose her boarding house to live. Organizing the Spring Festival and Tet program for the first time, Ms. Hong said it was not only to thank her colleagues for their commitment, but "above all, to hope everyone has joy after a year of many difficulties".

Workers attend the year-end party at Mr. Muoi Huong's boarding house in District 7 on the afternoon of January 21. Photo: An Phuong

According to the assessment of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation, this year due to the impact of the economic recession, many factories have lost orders and workers' income has decreased. Therefore, many people will choose to stay in the city during Tet to save costs, and quickly look for new job opportunities after Tet.

Ms. Huynh Thi Ngoc Lien, Head of the Women's Union, Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation, said that in addition to the care programs of the trade union organization such as giving gifts, spring gatherings, year-end parties at boarding houses have brought Tet early to workers far from home.

According to records, more than 70 landlords in the area have organized early Tet in many forms such as parties, gift giving, art festivals, lucky draws. Many landlords spent hundreds of millions of dong to organize parties such as Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam in District 12, Ms. Bui Thi Ben in Thu Duc City wrapped more than a hundred banh tet cakes to give to workers...

According to Ms. Lien, the city and district unions also have a program to celebrate Tet with workers staying at the dormitory. Accordingly, some dormitories with many workers staying will receive support from the union to cover the cost of the year-end party. In addition, on Tet holidays, the labor cultural house will also organize many cultural and spring programs for workers to have fun.

Le Tuyet

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