VietNamNet Bridge – He was a novice in his father’s workshop since he was ten, but the old man had other plans for him.

Shoemaker Thai Van Anh Hung says his father had foreseen that the traditional trade of making wooden clogs, which had lasted for more than 100 years in Binh Duong Province’s Binh Nham village, was doomed to extinction, and had been proven right in the eighties.

More than half the workshop owners in Binh Nham had to give up their work, and Hung’s father Thai Van Siem was one of them.

Siem wanted his son to enter the medical university and have a better future, but the trade ran too deep in the family.

"Ba Than workshop bore all the expectations of my family and the art of making clogs was transfused into my blood", says Hung.

"I was determined to resuscitate the business."

To revitalise a village trade and continue the business he inherited from his father, Hung took over his family’s workshop in 1995.

The 46-year-old entrepreneur has since expanded the workshop and become an exporter, but the path was not easy.

The business in the past was not an effective model, especially for trading, and it ultimately collapsed, he says.

Undaunted by his father’s failure, Hung decided to survey the markets to gather consumers’ opinions and information on new models and styles favoured by them.

Hung used the new models and expended his creativity in designing new clogs, and did not compromise on quality, choosing only the right kind of wood, like that of pine and jackfruit, to create durable products. He consolidated the product by protecting the wood from fungi.

The diverse models, high quality and, most importantly, reasonable prices, saw Hung’s products become very popular in the market.

Hung’s workshop began receiving many orders from choice markets, including international ones.

"I was more than happy to sign the first contract of 2,000 pairs with a Japanese partner", says Hung.

"The success of the first order made me more confident and determined to introduce my products to more overseas markets."

Wooden clogs

In 2002, the Hung Thai Company was established to export wooden clogs to foreign partners.

Hung and his workers have designed and manufactured devices to mechanise the wooden clog-making process.

The key to his company’s success has been regular innovation in design, like having the clogs’ straps made of various kinds of cloth or attached with glass – beads.

Hung says his company makes from 2,000 to 3,000 pairs of clogs of all kinds everyday.

About 500,000 pairs of wooden clogs have since been exported to both Asian and European countries, including Japan, Germany, Netherlands and France.

More than 200 skilled workers are now employed by his company.

Tran Hong Trinh, a painter at Hung Thai Company, says Hung is always thoughtful about his workers and this ensures their loyalty, as well as a stable income for them.

(Source: Viet Nam News)