Portraits of successful Vietnamese women

On March 8 every year, the world celebrates International Women’s Day and so it is significant to take a look at some of Vietnam’s most illustrious, most successful businesswomen who have played an important role in the economic growth of the country, besides having done the country proud.

Truong My Lan, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group Holding

Van Thinh Phat Group Holding, founded in 1991, has expanded its investments from operating restaurants and hotels to building and trading in real estate at the moment. Among its many successful projects are high-end restaurants, hotels, office buildings, and apartment buildings such as the   Windsor Plaza Hotel Saigon and the luxurious service apartment building- Sherwood Residence, both in Ho Chi Minh City.

Truong My Lan, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group Holding (Photo: SGGP)

With many ongoing projects like residential buildings, resorts, tourist areas in Ho Chi Minh City and the neighborhood, the company has affirmed its position and prestige in the Vietnam real estate market.

Bearing in mind the wish to turn the city into a better place for living, Truong My Lan, Chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group Holding, has prioritised modern construction projects in the downtown area. On national holidays such as Tet, her company participates in decorating the city’s main streets with artistic lighting systems in order to attract more tourists as well as give a state-of-the-art ornamental touch to the city.

Moreover, Van Thinh Phat Group Holding always uses its own resources to support social activities like caring for poor citizens, social welfare groups, and those with distinguished service to the country.

Despite the present economic turndown, the company has many advantages since they have restructured the whole company and planned collaborations with multinationals in advance, and are quite confident about executing many feasible projects this year.

Lan is content that their projects have significantly contributed to the beauty of Ho Chi Minh City. As a woman, she feels happy to see families enjoying themselves in restaurants or department stores belonging to the Van Thinh Phat Group.

Working nearly 18 hours a day, Lan appreciates the time spent with her family. Despite the success of the company, the moments spent with her loved ones are the most treasured and memorable.

Nguyen Thi Thu Suong, Head of Saigon Commercial Bank

The successful merger of Saigon Commercial Bank with a registered capital of over VND10 billion (US$480,300) marks this a very special year. Thanks to a strong management team and a focus on the bank’s motto ‘towards sustainable development’, Nguyen Thi Thu Suong, Head of Saigon Commercial Bank feels well grounded in her position.

The bank merger received unanimous support from local authorities, related agencies as well as stockholders. After the merger, the bank received several proposals from various international partners.

The main priority now is to modify and institutionalise action strategies, update the information system, rearrange management methods, build a company culture, and improve human resources.

This year, the bank faces many immediate challenges, but is determined to ensure the best benefits for all customers, partners and stockholders.

Being a mother, Suong also has family responsibilities having to take care of her husband and children as well, like a good Vietnamese women. But she claims to be fortunate to have such an understanding husband who always supports her and encourages her to face and overcome all challenges.

Huynh Que Ha, Vice Chairwoman of Sacombank

Despite being given equal opportunities as men in every aspect of life from developing to affirming oneself, women should always fulfill their role in their family first. Thanks to feline instincts of caring and sensitivity, we have more advantages in analysing and evaluating situations in detail. Our biggest disadvantage, however, is the balance between work and family time.

Huynh Que Ha, Vice Chairwoman of Sacombank (Photo: SGGP)

Understanding both pros and cons, Huynh Que Ha, Vice Chairwoman of Sacombank, defined a specific time for business and family right at the beginning. After a five day week, she whole-heartedly devotes the weekend to her family.

Since its founding days, Sacombank has established a competitive edge in the market. The 21st century witnessed many women success stories throughout the world, clearly affirming their position in society.

Sacombank is always concerned about the welfare of women nationwide realising their important place in the community. To assist women in managing their finances at home more effectively,

Sacombank opened a branch called ‘March the Eighth’ in Ho Chi Minh City in 2005, with many useful options. Two years later, a similar branch was opened in Hanoi. At the moment, the bank is planning for some more identical branches in major provinces throughout the country.

Nguyen Thi Hoa Le – Member of Presidium of the Central Vietnam Women’s Union, President of Peace Tour Company

A woman director must know how to keep her traditional role at home as well as at work, take full responsibility of her job, and be in harmony with staff members. She should still strive to become a good example for her juniors, no matter what difficulties she may encounter.

Being a single woman living with her mother, Nguyen Thi Hoa Le, President of Peace Tour Company, always tries her best to take care of her, both physically and emotionally. As a student in Gia Long High School, she also did certain tasks in her own ward and district and later worked for the Vietnam Women’s Union. Despite having no time for personal life, she felt a deep sense of happiness in helping other people.

Bearing in mind that credibility is the most valuable characteristic of a successful business, she worked almost non-stop to attend to matters in Ho Chi Minh City and on weekends to monitor employees’ activities at tourism resorts. Her best achievements have been to create an excellent staff team with high credibility at the Peace Tour Company, one greatly appreciated by customers.

Thanks to these factors, the company has had a steady development for years and a definite advantage in raising capital, attracting investors such as Nam A Bank or Hoa Binh Construction & Real Estate Corporation. With experience in managing staff, monitoring capital, supervising domestic and foreign business, the Peace Tour Company is now able to expand to other areas like real estate, construction and financial investments.

‘Queen of Egg’ Ba Huan

Purchasing and selling more than a million eggs per day seems very hard work, but it provides jobs for thousands of people in the southwest and southeast areas, which is quite rewarding, despite certain difficulties along the way.

Queen of Egg Ba Huan ( Photo: SGGP)

When importing an egg assembly line in 2005, Ba Huan bumped into trouble right away as small traders spread rumors of her wish to become a monopoly and boycotted her products. Thanks to the assistance of the media, people gradually understood her way of thinking and greeted her with open arms subsequently. That is to say, honesty does attract support from others.

During the time of spread of bird flu worldwide, realising that the European market could still do business in eggs, she borrowed money from friends as well as sold certain assets to import a similar egg assembly line as that in Europe.

After six of operation, she received approval from the city’s governor and took part in the price subsidised programme, increasing sales even more. From just about two hundred thousand eggs per day, she now sells an average of one million eggs per day at a price that is 10 per cent lower than the market.

Not far from 60 years, she is now aiming at long-term goals such as providing the community with safe and clean produce rather than living a comfortable and luxurious life.

She believes that being a woman, no matter what we do; our most important responsibility still lies with our family. Therefore, it is harder for us to do business, as we need to be a good wife and mother as well as a businesswoman at the same time.
After working nearly 16 hours a day in her factories, she goes back home to care for her children. Yet before sleeping at night, she still needs to plan the next day’s schedule. Up until now, she can manage a stressful life since she believes that doing everything whole-heartedly and dedicatedly can lead to a   rewarding success.

Do Thi Kim Lien, President and Chairwoman of AAA Assurance Corporation,

Do Thi Kim Lien graduated from the Hanoi Pedagogy University No.2 in 1989, and spent the next three years teaching.

She later moved to the South, but without a proper training or knowledge of business or money, she suffered many setbacks and faced innumerable hardships, before reaching her present position of President and Chairwoman of AAA Assurance Corporation and an honorary Consular of the Republic of South Africa.

Do Thi Kim Lien, president and chairwoman of AAA Assurance Corporation (Photo: SGGP)

After seven years since it began operations, AAA has finally broken even, under a clever restructuring plan prepared by Lien 3 years ago, which kept overall costs down. Applying several other comprehensive measures last year, she was able to reduce overheads to 18 per cent while increasing sales by 22 per cent.

Cooperation with the Republic of South Africa was also an obvious advantage. In 2009, Vietnam exports to South Africa touched US$218 million and imports were at US$78 million. During the first 5 months of 2010, import and export revenues reached US$241million. This year, AAA is giving high priority to providing free consultation to Vietnamese businesswomen wishing to expand their business to South Africa.

It is a fact, that today Vietnamese women are more successful, more capable, and more confident than ever before. Yet they still have to bear so much gender prejudice, be it as a politician, a businesswoman, a singer, or an actress. The god given gift of being a wife and a mother has given them an inherent pride and strength to tackle hardships at all times.

Today’s women want better recognition and appreciation in their work, clearly walking in step with their male counterparts, and quite of being a beacon of light for all!

Source: SGGP

Extravagant weddings, a way to emphasize social gap?

An extravagant wedding that recently took place in my hometown in Huong Son district, in the central province of Ha Tinh, has raised public concerns for several reasons.

On a positive note, locals in a poor area like Huong Son suddenly could participate in a festive event. Had it not been for this wedding, they would have never seen in person celebrity singers like Dam Vinh Hung, Phi Nhung or Manh Quynh, whose names they had only heard on the radio or TV. Had it not been for this wedding, they would have never seen cars worth more than their 10,000 buffalos. This was a chance to bring civilization to the countryside.

Anyway, the wedding was organized at someone’s personal expense, without using government funds as some officials have done, so why bother worrying? Besides, tens of billions of dong spent on the market can boost today’s gloomy economic situation.

Another extravagant wedding, this time in the central province of Quang Binh, helped a small trader sell 300 kilos of unrefined salt, which was later used to make fried tortoise with pepper and salt. It is better the rich in these areas spend money in their hometown, instead of keeping it under their bed or depositing it in a Swiss bank.

Nevertheless, the sad thing is that having celebrities and posh cars at the wedding was to emphasize one thing: “Dear everyone, I am rich!” I bet locals in Ha Tinh have known this fact for a long time, and probably even know how these magnates got rich.

Are those rich people trying to show that they despise poor people? Although it was not on purpose, the way they flashed their wealth was due to their insensitivity and short thinking. In some way, they indirectly affirm the widening gap between the rich and poor in Vietnam.

We know that in America there are more luxurious and costly weddings. But America is a rich country and it is a part of their culture. Spending extravagantly among thousands of poor people in Huong Son is a ridiculous way to prove one thing: “I have more money than you.”

Nguyen Quang Than

Source: Tuoi Tre

Viet brides’ nightmares in the land of kimchi

A Kien Giang native girl said she would never forget the fleeting two hours she had to play with her four-year child at the divorce court in South Korea, not knowing when she could have such a moment again.

Dang Thi Hong Loan is holding her passport that was torn into pieces by her South Korean husband during a quarrel. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Unable to put up with repeated verbal offenses from her mother-in-law and the cold treatment of her husband, Dang Thi Hong Loan, a native of the Mekong Delta in her 20s, filed for divorce after being driven out of home.

Months before the trial, she could not bear missing her child and went back home but her mother-in-law just closed the door in her face, refusing to let her see her child, Loan told a Tuoi Tre reporter at a refuge center for Viet brides in the western Incheon City.

Most Vietnamese brides are left with two choices after running away from their husbands: hiding away at the center while waiting for the legal migration procedures or accepting to go back to Vietnam and leave children behind.

Reality check for Viet brides 

Ms. Par Too Wup, director of a Refuge Center for Viet brides in Chang Won in the south of South Korea said the women taking shelter at her center, mostly from Vietnam, China, Philippines and Cambodia, are badly treated by their husbands and their families.

For their safety, she refused to give the women’s names or their addresses.

“We have been harassed and threatened by the Korean husbands and their families many times, who arrived here demanding to take back their wives.

As Hong Loan summed up her five years of marriage in South Korea, “Our life after marriage is a big disillusion since we have nothing in common.

“Most Korean men seeking Vietnamese wives are past their marriageable age, divorced, low-income earners, or suffer physical or mental disabilities that render them ineligible to local girls,” Loan said.

“We Vietnamese girls are nothing but baby-making machines for them. It’s merely a business transaction -- there is no love between us. To our Korean mothers-in-law, their sons and grandchildren are always the number one, we are just nothing in their eyes.

“I don’t blame anyone for my plight as I chose to come here to look for happiness and to help my family,” Loan said.

 

Illegal services in Ho Chi Minh City introduce Vietnamese girls in queue for Korean men to select to marry (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

 

When the Tuoi Tre reporter visited the center, six Vietnamese women were staying there, including 21-year-old Vo Thi Lan from Ba Ria Vung Tau who was carrying a baby.

Lan said she married a Korean man twice her age in July last year via a marriage agency.

“I agreed to marry him to have VND30 million (US$1,500) to pay for the debt of my parents.

“At the time, he seemed normal. But after coming here, I realized there was something wrong about him. He didn’t say anything all day and just obeyed what his mother told him, like a child,” Lan recalled her first days living with her husband’s family.

Rubbing her hand on the abdomen, Lan cried, “I was insulted every time I didn’t understand them. His mother once forced me to kneel on the floor all night as a punishment. She even tore off my clothes I was wearing and drove me out.

“Being completely naked under cold weather, I had to walk to a neighbor’s house and asked for some clothes. She then explained to the neighbor that the porblem occurred because I refused to sleep with my husband.”

Lan decided to flee from her husband’s family after living with them for four months.

“I am staying here till I give birth and find a job to have enough money to return home to take care of my child. I don’t know what to do here,” Lan burst out sobbing.

During his stay in South Korea, the Tuoi Tre journalist talked with many Vietnamese brides who are victims of abuse, some were beaten up and hospitalized with broken ribs. Miserable and hurt, they endure the pain and hide it from their parents for fear of making them worried.

Some were even forced to have sex with their husbands in the presence of their mothers- and sisters-in-law so they could check their ability as a wife.

Source: Tuoi Tre