On the night of February 12, the first of six buses arrived at Co.opmart Quy Nhơn in Gia Lai Province at 10:50 p.m., carrying 45 passengers. Five more buses followed shortly after, bringing a total of 260 people safely home to Quy Nhơn late into the night.
The “Happy Journey – Returning Home for Tet with Saigon Co.op” bus brought workers in difficult circumstances back to Quy Nhơn Ward on the evening of February 12. Photo: Hải Yến
Supermarket staff prepared light snacks, drinks and cold towels to help passengers recover from the long journey while waiting to reunite with their families.
“This is the fourth time we have welcomed the Happy Journey buses, but the emotions remain as fresh as the first time”, said Nguyễn Văn Minh, Head of Marketing at Co.opmart Quy Nhơn. “Although the journey is long and we wait late into the night, seeing the radiant faces of people returning home makes all the fatigue disappear. We feel as happy as if our own loved ones had returned safely”.
Minh said he hopes the programme will continue to receive support from customers and partners, enabling more buses to be organised in the coming years so that additional workers can return home for Tet.
For many passengers, the free journey is a rare opportunity. Nguyễn Thị Bé, 58, a fruit vendor in Ho Chi Minh City who resides in Quy Nhơn Nam Ward, said this was her second year travelling home on a Happy Journey bus.
“My circumstances are difficult, raising my child alone, so for many years I never dared to think about buying a ticket to return home for Tet”, she said. “Receiving a free bus ticket from the supermarket, along with gifts to bring home, makes me very happy”.
This year, the programme deployed 20 buses to transport 900 passengers to provinces across the Central Highlands, South Central and North Central regions. Along the way, travellers were provided with meals, drinks and Tet gifts, and were welcomed warmly upon arrival.
Speaking at the departure ceremony, Nguyễn Ngọc Thắng, Deputy General Director of Saigon Co.op, said the initiative reflects more than corporate social responsibility.
“For us, the Happy Journey is not just a social welfare activity, but a steadfast commitment to bringing happiness to the community. Tet is truly complete when every migrant worker has the opportunity to return home to their family”, he said.
The programme complements Saigon Co.op’s system-wide Tet campaign, “Come to Co.op, bring Tet home”, by not only supplying abundant goods at stable prices, but also physically bringing people home for reunion.
Supported by partners including Unilever Vietnam, Mondelez International, Suntory PepsiCo, Nestlé and Masan Group, this year’s initiative expanded both its scale and the level of passenger care.
After four years, the Happy Journey programme has helped nearly 3,200 migrant workers return home for Tet, turning each bus ride into a journey of reunion and renewed hope at the start of the Lunar New Year.
