by Vu Kim Chung
7-10-1999
After weeks of speculation, reality finally set in as Vietnam experienced its first official two-day weekend (October 2-3, 1999).
According to the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) steering board for a 40-hour working week, approximately 800,000 State employees in sectors including administration, education, health, and the armed forces were able to take advantage of the new day off. Essential services such as water and electric power and emergency medical care as well as a variety of cultural services and entertainment were unaffected by the change in policy and continue to provide services seven days per week.
Some State enterprises were able to implement the Prime Minister’s plan on time because they had already been working on new production schedules. Their counterparts in other economic sectors were striving to catch up and would implement the 40-hour week as soon as they were able to re-arrange their own production schedules.
A look at how the new working week affected different businesses and different areas:
* In the capital city, Hanoi, many State and private business centres stayed open to serve consumers. Clothes agencies including Garment Company No. 10, Duc Giang, Thang Long and Nha Be Companies, however, reported that they were unable to lure enormous numbers of customers even though they had new clothing lines to unveil because heavy rain kept potential shoppers at home.
The entertainment facilities of Lenin Park and the Children’s Palace suffered from a lack of visitors as many primary students were still required to go to school. The city’s entertainment facilities, as expected, had an enormous number of visitors on October 9, when all schools were closed. There was one bright side to the slow-down: once-bustling streets were much quieter, with no traffic jams reported at the usual bottlenecks.
* Major hospitals in Hanoi such as Saint Paul, Bach Mai and Viet Nam-Russia Friendship were quiet, the usual long queues of patients waiting outside for their turn to see doctors were nowhere to be seen. This was attributed to the foresight of local doctors who realised more people would want to be cured on Saturdays and scheduled more services than usual accordingly. The hospitals also had groups of doctors and health care workers available to serve patients who come from the countryside and more remote areas where residents had yet to learn of the 40-hour week.
The emergency department of the Vietnam-Germany Hospital reported receiving about one hundred patients during the first two-day weekend.
* Many residents of Ho Chi Minh City saw little evidence that the new working week had taken effect. Most primary schools and kindergartens opened and operated as usual on Saturday, October 2. Customs officers worked as usual at a fully-staffed Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
However, shopping centres and supermarkets in particular did see a jump in business. Nguyen Thi Tranh, director of Cong Quynh Supermarket, said the Saturday morning turnover at her store increased 16 percent compared to the previous Saturday.
"Customers mostly bought fresh food and construction materials," she noted.
The city’s largest entertainment facilities, Dam Sen and Suoi Tien, saw only average attendance of between 12,000 and 15,000 visitors. But general director of Sai Gon Tourist Company, Do Van Hoang, did report that registrations for short journeys to such destinations as the Mui Ne, Vung Tau and Long Hai resorts were on the rise.
* Tourist services were also a focus of attention in the northern port city of Hai Phong. The Thong Nhat Transport Co-operative added one more ship to its route from the central city to Cat Ba resort, bringing the daily total to six. The city’s major streets such as Lach Tray, Cau Dat and To Hieu were more crowded than usual. Hai Phong Port had not yet implemented the 40-hour working week, so sea and road travel routes operated as usual.
Elsewhere in the city, central markets started business earlier. Delivery services distributed newspapers to readers with no cancellation, and city hospitals and health centres were asked to increase their shifts with an emphasis on emergency cases.
* Not all State employees were pleased with the new schedule. More than a few workers in the Quang Binh central province and Ha Tay Province adopted the new rules with no joy and even a few complaints. One official said they would rather keep working seven days per week and improve their earnings. Others complained that now they had to suffer two days per week of nagging from their wives rather than the usual one and would rather be working than having to endure the extra joyless day at home.