V I E T N A M
Too Much Work, Too Little Recreation
by Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
HO CHI MINH CITY — Truong Thi Thu is one of the best workers at a shoe factory here, who earns 930,000 Vietnamese dong (60 U.S. dollars) a month, not bad for a migrant worker like her who left her village in central Vietnam five years ago.
She considers herself lucky, but her economic gains have come at a price.
Like most employees, she goes to work early in the morning to the Linh Trung Export Processing Zone. But unlike most employees, she does not get off work before 11 p.m. "I feel exhausted when I get home at midnight and want nothing more than to lie down and sleep," said Thu, 29.
She says that while her work has improved her standard of living, she is unhappy. She says she has to yet to find a boyfriend because her life is consumed by her job.
"As the work requires, I have to be at the factory from dawn to dusk so I rarely have a chance to meet other young people,'' Thu confides. The few men who have shown interest, she says, cannot understand her long hours.
Thu is one among young female factory workers faced with the double-edged sword of much-needed overtime work and the toll this work load takes on their personal lives.
Aside from the required eight hours, the workers must pick up an extra two to four hours per day to boost their low incomes. Vietnam's economic boom has prompted many labour-intensive enterprises, especially those in the textile, garment and shoe industries, to increase working hours.
Most workers come from other provinces and need money to supplement their daily wages, so they do not mind working more. "The problem is that we have no time left for our personal future," Thu said.
Majority of these migrant workers are young and single. Seventy-five percent are between 18 and 30 years old, and 63 percent are females, according to a recent survey. Their incomes are from 300,000 to 600,000 Vietnamese dong (19.35 to 38.71 U.S. dollars) a month, including overtime.
Many other workers like Thu say they have little life beyond work, or constantly battle loneliness, boredom or sadness while living at the slums surrounding industrial zones in this city.
Unlike Thu, 26-year-old Nguyen Ha, who works at a private firm producing jackets for export in District 12, says he has too much free time but does not know what to do with it.
As production is usually intensive in the first three quarters of the year, Ha and other migrant workers are left unoccupied for two or three months. "We have nowhere to go and nothing to do, and therefore pass most of our time at makeshift cafes or bars," Ha said.
"Drinking becomes for us a kind of entertainment; in fact the only one," Ha added. The sight of young men spending their days drinking coffee or 'bia hoi' low-quality raft beer is not unusual outside factories and enterprises in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.
When coffee and 'bia hoi' no longer help to kill the blues, many take to alcohol and drugs.
Entertainment facilities are scarce at these new industrial areas, reflecting inadequate facilities for the recreation and social activity of their workers.
A recent survey conducted by the 'Nguoi Lao Dong' ('Labourer') newspaper finds that "the spiritual life of workers at industrial zones in Thu Duc, Binh Chanh and District 12 remains very poor". Hundreds of thousands of workers at Song Than, Dong An industrial parks, Linh Trung Export Processing Zone (EPZ) have nothing to do after work.
During her five years at Alexander Theodore Company, at Thu Duc's Linh Trung export processing zone, Nguyen Thi Ha, a migrant worker from Nghe An province, never went to a cinema or a variety show.
Her entertainment consists of reading borrowed romance books. "Every Saturday the landlord allows us to turn on her TV, and we pass the evening watching some 'Cai Luong' (traditional theatre) films," Ha said.
Research conducted by Hoc Mon Labour Union finds that watching television, reading newspapers and listening to the radio constitute the main after-work activities of workers at this district on the outskirts of town.
But for many male workers, books and television are not enough. Many spend their time at some cafes listening to Vietnamese pop singers or watching pornographic videos that owners show regularly to attract idle youth. Some engage in drinking and gambling.
The area around the zones has become dangerous at night and young women who work late, like Thu, leave work in groups for fear of being robbed or attacked on their way home.
Pushed by loneliness, young women may try to find company among their male co-workers. They rent a room and live together, sharing their meagre incomes. Unfortunately, these relationships are not always stable.
"Our affair turned sour when the enterprise could not sign any production contract for the year and chose to lay off half of its labour force," said Nguyen Thi Thu Giang, 25, from the southern province of Ben Tre.
To escape her financial difficulties, Giang says she agreed to become the mistress of a rich businessman from Ho Chi Minh City. He gave her 3 million dong (193 dollars) a month and stayed with her every time he could escape from his home.
"I watch TV all day long and wait for him," Giang said sadly. She did not try to hide her boredom. "When I find a job I will say goodbye to him," she said.
Like other migrant workers, Giang dreams of a more stable job at state-run companies or foreign-owned firms. At these institutions, workers are better paid and receive much more benefits -- and have options for entertainment and recreation that make the employees value their work more.
Pou Yuen, a footwear company owned by Taiwanese investors, organises frequent excursions to Dam Sen, Suoi Tien, Saigon Water Park for workers. The company also has an entertainment centre where workers can dance, organise their own variety shows or sing karaoke.
Saigon Tobacco State-run Co holds frequent cultural and sport events for workers. A library with more than 4,500 books is also available for them.
But all of this, Giang says, she is unlikely to experience. "Migrant workers could never get a job there because they (these companies) always ask job applicants to have a Ho Chi Minh City residence license," Giang said sadly.
