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5. Corporate and Social Responsibilities (Hereinafter Referred to as CSR)
5.1. CSR of Human Resource Aspect
Basing on the latest figures on Wikipedia, there are around 80,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Taiwan. In details, 60,000 people are domestic helpers while 16,000 people working factories and 2,000 working in marine-based industries, the rest is involved in other business lines. Additionally, there are roughly 118,000 Vietnamese females coming to Taiwan by marriage. It is not a news that many Vietnamese females here in Taiwan are stereotyped as gold diggers, who just get married to Taiwanese males for money purposes or for a chance to stay and work in Taiwan for financial issues. Actually, which such a large community in Taiwan, they indeed contribute to the economic growth of Taiwan in general and also helps the country to resolve the shortage of labor force but, sadly, they have to face an invisible discrimination from the locals or the people coming from other developed countries, who reside in Taiwan. Except from that, the Vietnamese women who marry to locals, also deal with the obstacles from their new families, including language barriers, cultural differences, or even domestic violence and, there are quite a lot of Vietnamese housewives had no chance to go out to communicate with society because they have to bury themselves for housework, taking care of babies and elderlies in the family; this situation make them become more miserable and more dependent on their husbands and, as the results, they have no voice in families.
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Despite being a small scaled restaurant, Viet Village would like to make a humble
contribution to relieve the depression and stressful situation for Vietnamese brides in Taiwan by recruiting them as our employees. This is the win-win situation for themselves and Viet Village because they will have a true job and work in a very “Vietnamese” environment while
the restaurant can take advantage of their knowledge about Vietnam and Taiwan culture for a better service. Besides, as the recruited employees will be housewives who have to balance the family time and work time, the shift-working model (waiters) of Viet Village are much appropriate for them.
Besides, Viet Village not only clarifies the job descriptions of each position for a transparent remuneration mechanism but also encouraging the employees to share their opinions and ideas for the further development of the restaurant. All discussion between the restaurant owner and employees are carried out in an amicable manner and consideration, thereby creating a nice work environment and friendly atmosphere not only for customers but also the staff. Last but not least, Viet Village will apply a “Employee of the Month” reward for the best staff based on the evaluation criteria, including (1) punctuation, (2) positive working attitude, (3) qualified appearance and manner, (4) smooth communication with customer and, every reward is of NTD 5,000 of worth, which is recorded in the “Miscellaneous Expenses”
of the monthly income statement.
5.2. CSR of Water and Power Management
For water and power management, Viet Village prioritizes the installation and use of low flow spray valves as well as choose the right water pipes to prevent any possible leakage. The
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uses of low flow spray valves not only enable Viet Village to control the water consumption in an economical manner but also ensure the quality of cleaning processing of the ingredients and other kitchen utensils. Meanwhile, the power is saved by using LED bulbs, which are believed to be way more energy efficient than incandescent or fluorescent lights and more durable, despite the initial high costs.
The uses of “smart” equipment and tools for water and power management will help Viet Village to cut the monthly bills for these sub-accounts and, that’s why the restaurant will lay
out a strict policy that requires the last staff leaving restaurant is responsible to have overall check the status of water, power and, gas before leaving the restaurant, and, surely, that staff is allowed to come to work 20 minutes later on the next working day as a remuneration for this important task, however, he/she will bear a penalty in case of failure to do so. This act is not only for the water and power management purpose but also to ensure the work safety.
CSR of Waste Management
In order to well control the wastes, Viet Village starts the process from the tracking of inventory right after the ingredients/ inputs are put in stock. An inventory management program is used to record the purchase date, quantity, expiration date and, inventory age; this step is to ensure that all of the input ingredients must be used in the most optimal way to avoid any waste of food. Besides, the kitchen staffs are highly recommended to use the spices and condiment in a considerate way to avoid any misuse.
Food wastes (or, left over) should be categorized into green wastes (e.g. veggies, egg shells) and trash wastes. Then, the green wastes will be blended to be fertilizers for the plants and
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herb garden of the restaurant while the trash wastes are all gathered and thrown away in compliance with local practices.
CSR of Charity Work
Every three months, Viet Village will appropriate an amount of money for Animal Care Trust42 in Taiwan. This amount is not fixed because it depends on the miscellaneous spending of a specific month, the remaining of NTD 30,000 will be fully donated for animals. This donation is a humble contribution to the organization to take care of the animals being suffering from diseases or abandoned by their owners to have a better life.
Besides, the revenue from the cooking workshop will not be recorded into accounting book because it will be fully donated for Bright Side43 organization to provide meals for indigenous children in two regions of Taiwan, who lack access to cooked meals. And, this donation will be made once every three months.
CSR of Vietnamese Community Consideration
Vietnam is a beautiful country that rich in cultural values and bountiful cuisines that can attract many people around the world. However, it is known that Vietnam is currently a developing country, many of citizens decide to find jobs in other countries to earn money and take care of families’ life. No one wants to give up their families, careers or country where everyone and everything they love are there, but, for a greater good, they choose to leave and accept challenges in a new country, where they are completely strangers and face a lot of difficulties such as language barriers, cultural clash, homesick, loneliness. Especially,
42 Animal Care Trust is a registered UK charity transforming the lives of suffering animals in northern Taiwan.
43 Bright Side is a charity organization creating a support system dedicated to long-term improvement in the lives of children and families through creative education, plant-based foods and eco-friendly content rich activities.
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sometimes the poor knowledge of host country’s legal framework and culture might lead them straightly to troubles which have been reported so many times multimedia of Taiwan. Hence, the establishment of Viet Village is not only about setting up a place to do the business but to be a “home” for any Vietnamese people to come, take a rest in their familiar community and, sooth their homesick with like-mom-cooking food. Besides, the operations of Viet Village are always performed on the basis of the beauty of Vietnam thanks to the food offerings, the services and, the well-manner of people working here with the desire of letting all of our customers feel our proud values.
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