Saigon landlord organizes early Tet celebration for workers.

Many landlords spend money on parties, inviting singers, buying household goods as prizes for raffles… to celebrate Tet early for workers.

Before the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Mr. Dang Van Huong's boarding house with over 70 rooms in Tan Thuan Dong ward, District 7, was already bustling with the Tet holiday atmosphere thanks to a year-end party held earlier than usual. A week prior, the landlord and his wife went to each room to invite about 150 guests, including children, to make a list of dishes and order Tet gifts.

On the morning of January 21st (the 11th day of the 12th lunar month), many workers woke up early to help Mr. and Mrs. Huong prepare the feast. Everyone pitched in to clean, pick vegetables, cook, and wash dishes. This year's menu included lotus root salad fit for royalty with shrimp and pork, seafood spring rolls, steamed shrimp with beer, beef stew, chicken hot pot with cinnamon leaves, and jelly for dessert. By 4:30 PM, everything was ready. Before the feast began, Mr. and Mrs. Huong wished the workers a Happy New Year and gave each room a New Year's gift package containing cakes, candies, cooking oil, fish sauce, etc.

Mr. Mười Hương checks the dishes at the year-end party on January 21st. Photo: An Phương

The Mười Hương boarding house was built 20 years ago. In the early years, every Tet holiday, Mr. and Mrs. Hương only gave gifts to their tenants. However, about 10 years ago, a group of young tenants pooled their money to organize a year-end party. Many supported the idea, but some were hesitant due to financial constraints and declined to participate. Knowing this, Mr. and Mrs. Hương decided to cover all the expenses for the year-end party. "Since then, it has become a tradition; I do it every year so that everyone can have fun," said the owner of the boarding house.

This year, many factories reduced orders, and workers lost their jobs, so they switched to working as ride-hailing drivers, meaning they didn't receive Tet bonuses or attend year-end parties like they did when they worked for companies. Some freelancers also arranged to return home early. Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Huong planned to hold their year-end party earlier than usual, choosing a Sunday so everyone could participate.

According to Mr. Huong, some workers have been attached to the lodging area since it was first built, so they are "as familiar as family." Besides spending about 40 million VND on a year-end party, for many years, he and his wife have kept the rent stable at 1.6 million VND per month. During difficult times and epidemics, they also proactively reduced the rent by half to support their tenants.

Unlike landlord Mười Hương, who organizes year-end parties, Nguyễn Thị Kim Hồng, 37, owner of a 37-room boarding house in Bình Tân district, is inviting singers and holding a lottery with prizes of household goods when she organizes a Tet reunion for her workers on the 24th day of the 12th lunar month. "Two tea house singers have accepted, and a woman with a beautiful voice who has released her own album has also confirmed her booking," she said.

At Ms. Hong's boarding house, they organized a coconut jam-making workshop to give to the workers. Photo: An Phuong

Besides inviting singers to perform, Ms. Hong also bought 10 household items such as electric grills, hot pot cookers, electric kettles, etc., as lucky gifts. Each room was given a number, and the host would call out lottery numbers to find the winners. She also ordered many Tet gift packages for the rented rooms and mobilized people to make coconut jam as gifts for the workers.

Ms. Hong's boarding house was built over 20 years ago, and the tenants are mainly workers at Pouyuen Vietnam Co., Ltd. For many years, she hasn't increased the rent, keeping it stable at around one million dong per month. During the Covid-19 outbreak, she reduced the rent by 30-50%.

Last year, the factory reduced orders, resulting in the layoff of over 9,000 workers, leading many to return home. To help the laid-off workers, she coordinated with relevant authorities and organizations in Binh Tan district to introduce and connect them with jobs. Currently, many workers have returned to the city and continue to choose her accommodation as their place of residence. Regarding organizing the first Spring Festival celebration, Ms. Hong said it was not only to thank her colleagues for their loyalty but, "most importantly, to bring joy to everyone after a difficult year."

Workers attend a year-end party at Mr. Mười Hương's boarding house in District 7 on the afternoon of January 21st. Photo: An Phương

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labor, this year, due to the impact of the economic downturn, many factories have experienced a shortage of orders, leading to reduced worker incomes. Therefore, many people will choose to stay in the city during Tet to save costs and quickly seek new job opportunities after the holiday.

Ms. Huynh Thi Ngoc Lien, Head of the Women's Affairs Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Federation of Labor, said that in addition to the welfare programs of the labor union such as gift giving, New Year's gatherings, and year-end parties at rented accommodations, Tet (Lunar New Year) has come early to migrant workers.

According to reports, more than 70 landlords in the area organized early Tet celebrations in various forms such as parties, gift-giving, cultural performances, and raffles. Many landlords spent hundreds of millions of dong on these celebrations, such as Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam in District 12 and Ms. Bui Thi Ben in Thu Duc City, who prepared over a hundred sticky rice cakes to give to their workers...

According to Ms. Lien, the city and district trade unions also have a program called "Celebrating Tet with Workers Living in Rented Accommodation." Accordingly, some rented accommodations with a large number of workers will receive support from the trade union to cover the cost of year-end parties. In addition, during Tet, the workers' cultural center will organize many cultural and entertainment programs to provide workers with places to have fun.

Le Tuyet

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/chu-tro-sai-gon-to-chuc-tet-som-cho-cong-nhan-4706493.html