The lobby of Taipei City Hall was full of songs, music, laughter and tears yesterday, as more than 100 visitors attended the opening ceremony of its newest tenant, the Enjoy Taipei Cafe.
The coffee shop is reportedly the first enterprise in Taiwan to be run by a mentally disabled group in a government building on a permanent basis.
The one-hour ceremony, accompanied by melodies performed by the New Formosa Blind Orchestra (新寶島視障樂團), was attended by Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Director of the Bureau of Labor Affairs, Cheng Tsun-chi (鄭村棋), City Councilor Li Hsin (李新), as well as city council deputy speaker Fei Hung-tai (費鴻泰).
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The city government's goal is to create more job opportunities for the physically and mentally disabled, and our target goal in the upcoming year is to assist more than 1,000 of them to find employment in enterprises and institutions," Ma said.
The Children Are Us Foundation (CAUF,
"We are very pleased that the city government is willing to offer the space to us," foundation chairman Hsiao Shu-jen (
"Profits gained from charity bazaars are far from sufficient to cover the expenses of the foundation. We need to create a more active channel. That is why we came up with the idea [of running our own bakeries and cafes]," Hsiao said.
Renowned for quality food and amiable service by the mentally disabled staff, CAUF has opened six bakeries and three coffee shops since its establishment in 1995.
The foundation provides vocational training and assists students in job-hunting upon completing their programs.
According to the statistics released by the foundation, it has successfully developed work skills for hundreds of mentally disabled people, and helped find work for dozens of students at various companies.
"I can't describe how I feel at this moment. [My son] Wu Shih-cheng (吳世正) was born as a premature baby and was very difficult to raise as a child. I am very grateful for all the foundation has done for him. To see how he has changed since working here is unbelievable," said a tearful Mrs Wu.
Wu, now 35 years old, suffered severe brain damage while still in his mother's womb.
"What the foundation is doing is extremely helpful to my son, but I think the government should help these `children' more by extending its subsidy program to two years from its current one year," said Kung Chiao-lan (
"One year is not long enough for these `children' to become proficient in what they are learning," Kung added.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique