"This is not only just a Southeast Asian store but also a home for new residents and a migrant workers". A Vietnamese immigrant - Wu Shishui (37 years old) - married to Taiwan for 10 years. With the support from her husband and parents-in-law, she has opened a Southeast Asian grocery store in Xinying District, Tainan City. She has decided to make it become a Taiwanese version of "Stress-relief store”
Foreigners in Taiwan, whether it is daily communication, need someone to help comfort their homesickness, consult about life matters, or look for more employment opportunities, and it is considered the best choice for them coming to Ms Wu’s store to get more advice.
Connect and exchange with the new residents and migrant workers are Ms Wu’s original intention of opening the grocery store. She hopes that people from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines can use her store as a safe place to overcome life obstacles. In response to the customers’ requests, more than a year ago, she began to sell traditional snacks and lunch box carrying taste of hometown, bringing new business opportunities to the store. She now has set a new goal and strives to make A-shui store a Southeast Asian department store and a food distribution center, helping more new residents to increase employment opportunities and enhance self-confidence.
Through education and training, Ms Wu teaches unemployed female new residents to make meals. She requires that the tastes must be consistent as well as meet the health and food safety standards. She acts as an agent who takes orders and cooperates with the partners to help improve the family economy, creating a win-win situation.
Huang Weili, Director of the Second Service Station of Tainan City (the Immigration Department of the Ministry of the Interior), said that in addition to processing documents and making home visits, the Immigration Department’s mobile trains have learned many touching stories along the way. She hopes to encourage more new resident friends, like Ms Wu, to stand independently on their feet and become a new, capable, and helpful force for the society.
