The Taipei City Labor Bureau yesterday held the awards ceremony for its migrant workers' poetry writing contest.
Chen Tsuen-chyi (鄭村棋), chief of the Labor Bureau in Taipei City, said that this was the first event in Taiwan to promote migrant workers' creative writing.
Chen said that "originally the contest was only a shot in the dark, but we were surprised to have received over 200 entries."
PHOTO: HAKU HUANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Poetry education should be promoted in Taiwan, said Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) before presenting awards to the winners.
"From the contest we can see how Indonesian and Filipino migrant workers express their feelings through poetry," Ma said.
"Our Chinese ancestors defined the poem as a tool to convey emotions through the expression of language. We should therefore promote the education of poetry."
Seventeen winning poems were selected from 213 entries. Marsiem Sumarjo from Indonesia was the winner of the contest. Her winning poem, Drama of Life, likens a migrant worker's life to that of a puppet.
Estrella da Castro from the Philippines was runner-up. Her winning poem Migrant's Cry, tells of the stress and disappointment of workers in her position.
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