Interview by Maria Cheang Ut Meng & Yuki Lei
Managed by Bosco Youth Services Network, Bosco Green Store, the first local social enterprise operating in the form of selling environmentally friendly “naked products”, was officially launched in October.
Bosco Youth Services Network Chief Executive Officer Vincent Yip Weng Keong said during an interview with The Macau Post Daily at the organisation’s store in the Praça de Ponte e Horta neighbourhood early this month he hopes that through the operation mode of social enterprises, while promoting environmental protection, the shop will also assist young people with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) in entering the local job market, with their career planning directions provided by his organisation.
Bosco Youth Services Network has been supporting special educational needs (SEN) children and their parents for a decade, according to Yip, who said that as this kind of children grow up, when they need to find a job after they have graduated from school, some of them found it more difficult to get employed, so his organisation considered the possibility of whether it is possible to provide pre-employment internship opportunities for them through the mode of social enterprises.
“Working in the store is very complicated,” said Yip, who was quick to add he believed that working in the store will benefit SEN children in seeking their future employment.
‘Naked products’
In addition to selling various kinds of “naked products”, i.e., products without packaging, including cleaning goods and the store’s flagship product – bamboo paper towels, as well as potted plants grown by young people with special education needs, the green store also includes products from local cultural creators on consignment.
Bamboo paper towels are less damaging to the environment, as they generally do not require so many bleaching procedures and have fewer pollutants during their producing process, Yip said, adding: “We hope to attract customers in the simplest way, so we have various kinds of bamboo paper towels which come in different styles and prices, with some being more beautiful in appearance than others, or some looking quite common”.
The store is selling daily necessities, and its cleaning supplies and bamboo paper towels have “their own fans”, said Yip, who urged shoppers to bring their own bottles for the cleaning products.
When asked whether the store tends to break even or is losing money, Yip said: “We’ve never been in business before and we didn’t understand this marketing stuff and, therefore, we went for training in Hong Kong, where we not only were required to learn about marketing, but also about environmental protection and information about the products on sale in the store.”
The shop was “definitely” not yet breaking even, Yip said, pointing out that if the store would only rely on its retail sales, it might be difficult for it to survive. Therefore, he added, the store was currently seeking business cooperation with other groups and organisations to ensure a stable income.
Yip said: “Our current strategy is to explore more business opportunities and slowly accumulate retail customers.”
The store is managed by Luana Chan Lai Wan, with the help of two young SEN part-time staff and several Bosco students, totalling 15 shop assistants.
When asked how the store could help Bosco students enter the local job market in the future, Chan said during the interview that in terms of shop assistant training, the store develops different plans based on the strengths of each trainee. She pointed out that some of the store’s trainees, who had participated in the Labour Affairs Bureau’s (DSAL) job-matching programme for disabled people, recently entered a second round of interviews to work as florists.
Pou Tin Wai, a 19-year-old shop assistant in the store, told The Macau Post Daily she hoped to work for a big company after completing her training programme run by the organisation, adding that while working in the store, she had obtained different kinds of skills such as the bottling of hand sanitizers and the right way to greet customers.
Bosco Youth Services Network Chief Executive Officer Vincent Yip Weng Keong (left) and Bosco Green Store Manager Luana Chan Lai Wan pose after talking with The Macau Post Daily at the store in the Praça de Ponte e Horta neighbourhood early this month. – Photos: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
Shop assistant Pou Tin Wai, 19, fills up an empty bottle with the shop’s cleaning product early this month.
Some of the “naked products” on sale at the Bosco Green Store in the Praça de Ponte e Horta neighbourhood are seen in this photo taken early this month.
