SE Asian grocery in Tainan serves new migrants

With support from her Taiwanese husband and parents-in-law, a 37-year-old Vietnamese wife runs a grocery store that helps Southeast migrants finding the tastes of home – and with socializing and problem-solving.

“It is more than an Asian grocery, but the second home to the new immigrants and migrant workers,” said Thuy Vu Thi (武氏水), who opened the store in Taiwan’s Xinying District. She aims to provide Southeast Asians from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines with a feeling of home, the Liberty Times reported.

Located at 134 Tongji Street in Tainan City, the shop features primarily Vietnamese supplies of almost everything, as well as offerings from various Southeast Asian countries.

Asked why she liked to run a grocery, Thuy Vu Thi, who has been living in Taiwan for more than 13 years, recalled difficult moments she had overcome during the early years she first came to this island country as a migrant worker.

As she missed home a lot, she tried to prepare herself some comforting home dishes. Problem was, it was expensive to secure ingredients.

But, after marrying her husband, who she met at work, and resting while she was pregnant, she proposed opening a grocery store, so her compatriots and other migrants could find food and necessities that they need.

In fact, the store has also served as a place where migrants can socialize – to speak and help each other out.

Thuy Vu Thi was surprised to get almost instant support from her husband and parents-in-law.

Around a year ago, the grocery store started to offer traditional home snacks and lunch boxes prepared by unemployed migrant wives.

Thuy Vu Thi hopes to create a win-win situation where migrant families can earn more and people can get a steady supply of Vietnamese cuisine.