The recent mechanisation of sedge-mat production brought wealth to someMekong Delta villagers. But those who can't afford the pricey machinesare being left out of the economic windfall, opting instead forindustrial jobs or less lucrative subcontracting work in the work.
Sedge materials and mats are scattered along the road and the sound ofweaving machines echoed from every house in the Long Dinh craftvillage. Even though it is Sunday, it seems nearly every resident inTien Giang province's Long Dinh village was weaving, drying, dying ortransporting sedge mats or raw materials. Evidence of this newprosperity can clearly be seen in the newly built houses lining Road 867in Chau Thanh district.
"My family was the firstto use machines," said Pham Thi Ngoc Yen, whose family began weavingmats on handmade looms in 1954 and has been weaving mats onsemi-automatic looms for 10 years. They now have 15 machines.
Yen's and other weaving families had migrated from the northernprovince of Ninh Binh. "Then other families began to buy them and theliving conditions of workers improved."
Today, withmechanisation, production is substantial enough to export mats toChina’s Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Europe.
Local residents say they have become well-off from exporting sedgemats. More than 1,000 households in the village operate sedge-matweaving workshops that employ thousands of local residents. Nguyen MinhDung, who has a workshop a few steps from Yen's house, is alsowell-known in Long Dinh village for his business acumen and wealth thatcame after he mechanised production.
While Dungand Hoc were pioneers in using the new technique, Ho Thi Thanh Dao,owner of a mat workshop in neighbouring province Long An, was an earlyadopter. Dao works in Long Dinh craft village, which shares the samename as its counterpart in Tien Giang.
In the past,Dao recalled, it took her an entire day to finish two or three mats. "Iwas scared of this job when I became a member of the family because itwas very hard. Everything had to be done manually," she said.
Then in 2001, the family bought mechanical looms and began producingmore than 50 pieces a day. "Because of the demand from clients,including military agencies and supermarket chains, I was forced toupgrade our production system," Dao said.
A fewyears later, after buying power looms that have higher yields, herworkshop now employs 30 people. Each person can make 100 mats day,earning about 5 to 6 million VND (300 USD) a month. "Three decadesago, the family's income was barely enough to survive. With traditionalproduction methods, we could only make enough for local markets," shesaid.
While Dao and her family have prospered,other weaving families in her commune have had to quit or facebankruptcy. As the machines became popular, more households beganbuying them and supply became abundant, creating a more competitivemarket.
Some households could not afford thecapital to fully mechanise their work, and others were unable to find astable market for their goods, according to Dao. Although some familieshave succeeded, many others in the 100-year-old sedge-mat village inLong An have shifted to other jobs.
Dao said theabundance of work in Long An's industrial parks was a factor in thatshift, while in Tien Giang, the craft village there has thrived becauseof plentiful sources of raw materials, lack of factory jobs and goodmanagement.
Dao said many households had beenmaking a small profit and could not pay interest on their bank loans. Inaddition, another province in the Mekong Delta, Dong Thap, has beenconquering the market with much cheaper prices for its sedge mats madewith machines, she said. As industrial parks and new residences havetaken up land for cultivating sedge, weavers in Long An lack sufficientraw materials to make mats.
Nguyen Thi Khanh Trang,59, owner of a mat workshop in Long An's Long Dinh Commune, said thatshe had experienced difficulty finding workers. "They love to work forthe companies in industrial parks where they can get better salaries,"she said. Only five of seven machines are operating at her workshopbecause of the staff shortage.
"Business was verygood in the past before the industrial parks were built in the region,"Trang said, adding she was envious of Dong Thap which has abundantmaterial resources and few factories. "I want to sell all of mymachines and quit, but I can't find buyers, and my husband won't allowme to do this because weaving was our parents' career," she said.
Another local weaver, Pham Do, 60, who has made mats for 38 years,said the lack of sedge was a disadvantage in Long An. In order to haveenough raw materials, Do must travel to a neighbouring district to rent0.5 hectare of land to cultivate sedge, as industrialisation in hisnative Can Duoc District has taken land away from cultivation. Do nowmakes three mats a day. "The income is barely enough for me to feed myfamily," he said.
Because he has no money to investin power looms, which cost at least 30 million VND, Do has chosen tocollaborate with others by sub-contracting work. Besides making mats, hesells the sedge that he cultivates to mat workshops.
Nguyen Thi Ngan, 35, also of Long An, who has made mats since she was11, has chosen a similar strategy. Besides working on a machine at aworkshop, she takes home decorating and finishing work, earning a totalof 2 million VND.
In Tien Giang, where work is evenmore plentiful, many weavers unable to invest in power looms havesurvived by subcontracting work.
Nguyen TuyetLan said she takes home completed mats to finish, earning 50,000 VND aday. Five years ago, when the village had no mechanical looms, she alsomade sedge mats by hand. "Without money to buy a machine, I cannotcompete with them if I had continued to produce the traditional way, socollaboration with other households is the better way," Lan said.-VNA
Sedge materials and mats are scattered along the road and the sound ofweaving machines echoed from every house in the Long Dinh craftvillage. Even though it is Sunday, it seems nearly every resident inTien Giang province's Long Dinh village was weaving, drying, dying ortransporting sedge mats or raw materials. Evidence of this newprosperity can clearly be seen in the newly built houses lining Road 867in Chau Thanh district.
"My family was the firstto use machines," said Pham Thi Ngoc Yen, whose family began weavingmats on handmade looms in 1954 and has been weaving mats onsemi-automatic looms for 10 years. They now have 15 machines.
Yen's and other weaving families had migrated from the northernprovince of Ninh Binh. "Then other families began to buy them and theliving conditions of workers improved."
Today, withmechanisation, production is substantial enough to export mats toChina’s Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Europe.
Local residents say they have become well-off from exporting sedgemats. More than 1,000 households in the village operate sedge-matweaving workshops that employ thousands of local residents. Nguyen MinhDung, who has a workshop a few steps from Yen's house, is alsowell-known in Long Dinh village for his business acumen and wealth thatcame after he mechanised production.
While Dungand Hoc were pioneers in using the new technique, Ho Thi Thanh Dao,owner of a mat workshop in neighbouring province Long An, was an earlyadopter. Dao works in Long Dinh craft village, which shares the samename as its counterpart in Tien Giang.
In the past,Dao recalled, it took her an entire day to finish two or three mats. "Iwas scared of this job when I became a member of the family because itwas very hard. Everything had to be done manually," she said.
Then in 2001, the family bought mechanical looms and began producingmore than 50 pieces a day. "Because of the demand from clients,including military agencies and supermarket chains, I was forced toupgrade our production system," Dao said.
A fewyears later, after buying power looms that have higher yields, herworkshop now employs 30 people. Each person can make 100 mats day,earning about 5 to 6 million VND (300 USD) a month. "Three decadesago, the family's income was barely enough to survive. With traditionalproduction methods, we could only make enough for local markets," shesaid.
While Dao and her family have prospered,other weaving families in her commune have had to quit or facebankruptcy. As the machines became popular, more households beganbuying them and supply became abundant, creating a more competitivemarket.
Some households could not afford thecapital to fully mechanise their work, and others were unable to find astable market for their goods, according to Dao. Although some familieshave succeeded, many others in the 100-year-old sedge-mat village inLong An have shifted to other jobs.
Dao said theabundance of work in Long An's industrial parks was a factor in thatshift, while in Tien Giang, the craft village there has thrived becauseof plentiful sources of raw materials, lack of factory jobs and goodmanagement.
Dao said many households had beenmaking a small profit and could not pay interest on their bank loans. Inaddition, another province in the Mekong Delta, Dong Thap, has beenconquering the market with much cheaper prices for its sedge mats madewith machines, she said. As industrial parks and new residences havetaken up land for cultivating sedge, weavers in Long An lack sufficientraw materials to make mats.
Nguyen Thi Khanh Trang,59, owner of a mat workshop in Long An's Long Dinh Commune, said thatshe had experienced difficulty finding workers. "They love to work forthe companies in industrial parks where they can get better salaries,"she said. Only five of seven machines are operating at her workshopbecause of the staff shortage.
"Business was verygood in the past before the industrial parks were built in the region,"Trang said, adding she was envious of Dong Thap which has abundantmaterial resources and few factories. "I want to sell all of mymachines and quit, but I can't find buyers, and my husband won't allowme to do this because weaving was our parents' career," she said.
Another local weaver, Pham Do, 60, who has made mats for 38 years,said the lack of sedge was a disadvantage in Long An. In order to haveenough raw materials, Do must travel to a neighbouring district to rent0.5 hectare of land to cultivate sedge, as industrialisation in hisnative Can Duoc District has taken land away from cultivation. Do nowmakes three mats a day. "The income is barely enough for me to feed myfamily," he said.
Because he has no money to investin power looms, which cost at least 30 million VND, Do has chosen tocollaborate with others by sub-contracting work. Besides making mats, hesells the sedge that he cultivates to mat workshops.
Nguyen Thi Ngan, 35, also of Long An, who has made mats since she was11, has chosen a similar strategy. Besides working on a machine at aworkshop, she takes home decorating and finishing work, earning a totalof 2 million VND.
In Tien Giang, where work is evenmore plentiful, many weavers unable to invest in power looms havesurvived by subcontracting work.
Nguyen TuyetLan said she takes home completed mats to finish, earning 50,000 VND aday. Five years ago, when the village had no mechanical looms, she alsomade sedge mats by hand. "Without money to buy a machine, I cannotcompete with them if I had continued to produce the traditional way, socollaboration with other households is the better way," Lan said.-VNA
