Tea Talk Café: A Social Enterprise in Hanoi, Vietnam

by Dr Ng Guat Tin

 

Tea Talk Café, is a social enterprise, initiated by Michael Ong, an alumni of the National University of Singapore and Washington University in St Louis, USA. He worked for a number of years as a social worker in Singapore before migrating to Hanoi to volunteer as a social work lecturer in the University of Labour and Social Affairs in 2001. When studying for his Master of Social work in America, he worked on an assignment for a social entrepreneur course and was challenged by it to develop a cozy café in Hanoi[1], where café staff and customers can express their soul, over cups of coffee.

Social enterprises that aim to provide employment for more vulnerable groups usually target older persons, people with disabilities, youth, women or the poor. Tea Talk Café is a social enterprise with a difference. It creates employment opportunities for young social workers in Hanoi, where availability of social work jobs is limited, despite the immense social needs. The vision of the Café management is that the customers and staff who pass through the doors of the Café can be transformed by their experiences and in turn, make an impact on their families, communities, future generations, and that some would use their encounters with Tea Talk to influence other cities and villages in Vietnam, and to neighbouring and faraway countries.

Read on for an interview with Michael Ong, conducted by Dr Ng Guat Tin, on 17 November 2014, at Tea Talk Café, Hanoi[2], Vietnam. The Café opened in 2012 and is managed by two Vietnamese, with Michael providing consultancy to them. As the Café focused on the food business it set up CoRE (Centre for Counseling, Research and Empowering Community) as a NGO to provide social services targeting young people, especially those with mental health, pre-marital, marital and family issues. Most of the CoRE Community activities are sponsored by and conducted at the Café[3], which becomes a hub for building up a community.