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Foreign spouses plan detailed support group

"We are willing and can all learn to adapt to Taiwanese society, although it will be a bit slowly at first."

Linda Lai, chairwoman of the Transnational Sisters' Association preparatory office

A group of female foreign spouses from Southeast Asia and their Taiwanese supporters unveiled a plan to form a supporters' group yesterday, hoping to promote ethnic equality and help others to adapt to life in Taiwan.

The Transnational Sisters' Association, consisting of about 100 members from Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan, said it hoped to establish a resource and supporting network for female foreign spouses. This network would help them earn the legal rights and due respect they are entitled to, learn Taiwanese languages and about different indigenous cultures, host various women and parent-education programs, and promote Southeast Asian cultures in Taiwan

"With the establishment of the association, we hope to gain support from Taiwanese, and we also hope Taiwanese will not put so much pressure on us and discriminate against us, so that we can have an easier life here," said Yadrung Chiou (邱雅青), the association's Thai founder.

Chiou said that when she first came to Taiwan she could not speak any Mandarin. She was afraid to communicate with her husband's family and would lock herself in her room all day.

But with the support of her husband and his family, she registered in the adult education program last year, and she now can communicate without difficulty.

"We are willing and can all learn to adapt to Taiwanese society, although it will be a bit slow at first. We still hope Taiwanese can give us more support," said Linda Lai (黎雪玲), the Indonesian chairwoman of the association's preparatory office.

Chiou, Lai, Sok Kolyan (淑科雅) from Cambodia and Nguyen Thi Dien Hong (阮氏延紅) from Vietnam are the four founders of the association, and they all met their husbands either via friends or by chance and have enjoyed happy marriages based on equality.

Nguyen said that her husband respected her very much and would often notify her of his schedule to get her consent before he goes anywhere.

These women's participation in the association was also a result of the support from their husbands and their in-laws. Chiou's mother-in-law even made a traditional Thai costume for Chiou to wear to the press conference yesterday, and volunteered to take care of Chiou's children, who were running a fever, to allow her to be present at the press conference.

The association also had strong support from Taiwanese professionals, with three famous local women acting as the association's councilors: Professor Hsia Hsiao-chuan (夏曉鵑), a sociologist specializing in female foreign spouse issues at Shih Hsin University (世新大學), Lucy Cheng (成露茜), a women's study professor at the same university, and Lawyer Jennifer Wang (王如玄), who specializes in women's issues.

Hsia said that to ensure that the foreign spouses kept control of the association, regulations state that at least two thirds of the association's board members, including the chairwoman, had to be of Southeast Asian origin.

The association is slated to hold its opening ceremony in Meinung in Kaohsiung County on Dec. 7.

Meinung is where the first adult education program for female foreign spouses was implemented.
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