Altar at MTV
One company, specialising in electronics, MTV, closed their headquarters in Hanoi for a ceremony on the fifteenth of the new lunar year, with food, fruits and paper votive offerings for their altar. They also hired 'sorcerer' for the rituals, which involved hours of kneeling and prayers. All of the company's management and staff attended.
They prayed for better business and higher profits this year.
The company's accountant, Nguyen Thi Oanh, said, “My company recorded very modest revenues last year but still had to deal with high costs and mounting debt. Payment for the staff was deferred and we had to struggle to ensure their regular salaries, even without a Tet bonus."
Fortune-tellers advised them to conduct a ceremony to pray for the entire business. Despite their financial difficulties and the high cost of the ceremony, over VND20 million (USD956.50), they felt compelled to go ahead with it to reassure their staff.
“In past years my family would return to my hometown in Thai Nguyen Province for Tet. However this year we decided to stay in Hanoi to hold hold this ceremony, upon the advice of a fortune-teller," said Nguyen Manh Hung, director of Hung Anh Limited Company.
The company’s chief accountant and head of the marketing also had to leave their families during Tet to attend.
According to Hung, many other business people went to dozens of temples before the holiday to pray for better business, and he plans to follow suit. As a result, the offices will remain closed for much of the first month of the lunar year.
Investing in good luck
Hung Anh Limited is an established steel company that has also fallen on hard times, losing billions of VND last year, forcing them to cut their staff by nearly half.
Still, the company's director, Nguyen Manh Hung, is preparing to join some partners for trips to the central region to prayer rituals. He intends to spend around VND150 million (USD7,173) for the ceremonies in total.
Offerings at Oanh’s stall
Smaller players in the business community seem to be on the same trend. Nguyen Thi An, who owns a medium sized stall in Hanoi's Truong Dinh Market, has also decided to hold a large prayer ceremony in hopes it will bring better fortune in the coming year.
“Sales were really slow last year, even during Tet. I've decided to reopen my stall on the sixth of the lunar year and hire a sorcerer. I intend to spend VND10 million (USD478.20). My family relies on this business and I am paying for two children at university," An stated.
She said that many other traders in this market have been doing the same.
