Four elderly foreigners who have made significant contributions to Taiwan over the past few decades received their permanent residency status yesterday from Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲).
To signify Taiwan's high regard for their long-time devotion and good deeds toward the nation, Yu visited Bjarne Gislefoss and his wife Alfhild Gislefoss in Nantou County, Joyce Millan in Changhua County and Doris Brougham in Taipei City -- presenting them with Alien Permanent Resident Certificates.
Yu will today also travel to Ilan to present the same certificates to Ted Skiles and his wife, Beverly Skiles, while the ministry's Political Vice Minister Hsu Yin-shen (許應深) will travel to Penghu on behalf of Yu to present the certificate to Marjorie Bly.
PHOTO: TUNG CHENG-KUO, TAIPEI TIMES
Yesterday's recipients were the first beneficiaries of the relaxation of related legislation.
The Legislative Yuan on May 14 ratified amendments to the Immigration Law that approved a proposal to grant permanent residency to foreigners who have made commendable contributions to the nation. The amendments took effect on May 29.
The revisions to the immigration law also significantly eased the requirements for foreigners and alien family members of Taiwanese nationals seeking permanent residency in Taiwan.
"This [permanent residency] is the most valuable gift that both me and my wife have received in Taiwan," Bjarne Gislefoss was quoted as saying upon receiving the certificate from Yu.
The Gislefosses established the Puli Christian Hospital in Nantou County and have devoted nearly 50 years of their time and their medical expertise to the locals and Aboriginal populations.
"Many of our respected foreign friends have not been able to obtain their permanent residency under the previous rules that required applicants to live in the country for at least 270 days a year for seven consecutive years," said Yu at the presentation to Doris Brougham.
Yu was referring to the phenomenon that, due to frequent trips overseas -- and despite having lived in Taiwan for decades -- foreign missionaries and residents remained non-eligible for permanent residency under the previous immigration law.
"I am gratified that revisions to the immigration law in regard to that [previous situation] have been passed, thus allowing foreign residents whom have made great contributions to Taiwan to get permanent residency here," Yu said.
"I am thankful for all those who helped push through the process that enabled me to get my permanent residency," said Doris Brougham.
"By obtaining it [the permanent residency], I think it really serves as an encouragement to other foreigners who now can say to themselves that they also have the opportunity to obtain theirs."
Brougham, a Christian missionary from Seattle, has dedicated herself to advancing the Tai-wanese public's English proficiency since 1962 with her Studio Classroom magazine and radio and TV programs.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching