JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Visiting Lai Thieu in southern Vietnam to see yellow kitty banks for Year of Cat

Thursday, December 29, 2022, 11:13 GMT+7
Visiting Lai Thieu in southern Vietnam to see yellow kitty banks for Year of Cat
Nguyen Phuong is in charge of drawing the eyes and whiskers of the animals. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

These days, in Lai Thieu Ward, Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam, people are up to their ears in yellow kitty bank production to welcome the Year of the Cat, which is around the corner.

With just less than one month left until the 2023 Lunar New Year, locals in the piggy bank village in Lai Thieu Ward, Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province have started entering the yellow kitty bank season.

The workshops in the village, which is one of the oldest villages in Vietnam, have ramped up hiring to meet customer demand during the Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet.

Nguyen Thanh Tam’s workshop has 10,000 plaster kitty banks now. Photo: Ngoc Phuong/ Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Thanh Tam’s workshop has 10,000 plaster kitty banks now. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

In addition to purchasing clay piggy banks for processing and coloring, Nguyen Thanh Tam’s piggy bank production facility in Lai Thieu Ward also produces plaster piggy banks.

“Enlarging the workshop this year, I have employed more workers, taking the total number of laborers to over 15 people," he said.

"Currently, three workers produce 300 plaster piggy banks per day, while nearly 2,000 clay ones are bought a week. 

“To meet consumers' demand and give a stable job to the workers before Tet, I decided to produce plaster piggy banks.”

Plaster kitty banks have just been taken out of moulds by Luong Van Hien. Photo: Ngoc Phuong/ Tuoi Tre

Plaster kitty banks have just been taken out of moulds by Luong Van Hien. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

This year’s kitty banks are diversified in terms of designs and sizes.

The big ones have the scrolls with the words Van su nhu y, meaning ‘May myriad things go according to your will,' while the small ones have the words Tai loc, meaning ‘Fortune,' on them.

“The short ones have cute appearances. Yet the products are slow-moving. Despite a few orders, the workshop is still producing cat piggy banks. Now, my workshop has some 10,000 kitty banks,” Tam added.

Quoc Lam is coating lucky money bags with yellow. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Quoc Lam is pictured coating lucky money bags with yellow. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Apart from traditional piggy banks and trendy yellow kitty banks, Tam’s workshop also produces feng shui money bags for both displaying on Tet holiday and keeping money inside. Feng shui money bags symbolize luck and fortune.

Big-sized kitty banks are priced at VND100,000-150,000 (US$4.2-6.3) each, while the price of a small-sized kitty bank is VND50,000-70,000 ($2.1-3).

Kieu Oanh is coloring a kitty bank yellow. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Kieu Oanh is shown coloring a kitty bank yellow. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Big-sized kitty banks are priced at VND100,000-150,000 (US$4.2-$6.3) each, while the price of a small-sized kitty bank is VND50,000-70,000 ($2.1-$3). Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Big-sized kitty banks are priced at VND100,000-150,000 (US$4.2-6.3) each, while the price of a small-sized kitty bank is VND50,000-70,000 ($2.1-3). Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Phan Thanh Ngoc, who resides in Dong Nai Province, purchases the products at the workshop for selling. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Phan Thanh Ngoc, who resides in Dong Nai Province, purchases the products at the workshop for selling. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Tieu Bac - Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre News

Read more

Photo

Video

This 90-year-old Vietnamese man built his own home from discarded materials

Huynh Ho’s house is situated on a prime piece of real estate in the center of Nam Phuoc Town, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam.

One of the last mat-weaving villages in Vietnam

Long Dinh Mat Village is situated in Long Dinh Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City embroiderer creates lifelike artwork

Thach Ngoc Phuc Yen is an entirely self-taught embroiderer who makes stunning lifelike works of art out of his home in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City.