An entrepreneur in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has invented a new initiative to help people out of work amid an ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. he turned to ATMs!
A 24/7 automatic dispensing machine was set up to provide free a 1.5kg bagful of rice from a small silo to waiting workers, many of whom are street sellers or people who earned a living from cash-in-hand jobs like housekeeping or selling lottery tickets.
According to media reports, Hoang Tuan Anh, the businessman behind the idea, had initially donated a batch of smart doorbells to hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City before turning his technological expertise to food distribution.
Similar 'rice ATMs' have been set up in other big cities like Hanoi, Hue and Danang, according to state media.
Employees monitoring the rice ATM declined to comment, but Anh stated: "I wanted people to feel they still had access to food and resources, despite the current economic difficulties they found themselves in."
"I refer to this machine as a 'rice ATM' because people can withdraw rice from it, assured that there are still good people out there who want to give them a second chance," he said.
Vietnam has reported 262 COVID-19 cases, and no deaths so far, but as a result of a 15-day social distancing program that began on Mar 31, many small businesses have been shuttered and thousands of people temporarily laid off from work.
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