The Madames Entertainment Group yesterday staged its first performance of The Marriage of the Girl from Neishan in Taipei to promote breast-cancer awareness as part of celebrations for the 11th anniversary of the Catholic Sanipax Socio-Medical Service and Education Foundation.
The Madames Entertainment Group is part of the Kang-tai Open Arms Fellowship, which seeks to teach women about the importance of detecting breast cancer early.
Before performing the play, women talked of their experiences while proud members of their families clamored to take pictures with the performers.
"When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I was very frightened. I didn't want to acknowledge my illness. But with the support of the fellowship and my family, I walked out from the shadow of fear in which I was living," said former fellowship chairwoman and dancer Lee Hui-jung (李肅容).
Many of the women said they approached their condition with a mixture of stoicism and earthy humor.
"Call me Mei Nainai [Grandma Mei, a pun which sounds like `no breasts'], because I really don't have any!" said fellowship member Fan Ling (范玲), 70, who has survived two bouts with cancer.
The group's cheeky name also seeks to demystify the condition faced by tens of thousands of Taiwanese women.
"It's called the `Madames Group' because in Chinese the words shao nainai can also mean `a breast missing,'" said Teng Shih-shung (鄧世雄), founding director of the foundation.
Foundation director Jennifer Chen (陳良娟) said that the group aims to show other cancer victims that they too could rebuild and enjoy their lives.
"After being diagnosed with cancer, many women feel that they are no longer `women,' that they are crippled. Through workshops and other activities, we hope to show these women that they are still useful and can lead meaningful lives," Chen said.
Chen said that another function of the dance group is to help send a positive image of Taiwanese medical care to people overseas.
"Through the group, we hope to show the world not only that Taiwan has excellent medical care, but also that we help these people get back on their feet," she said.
The group hopes to tour overseas, with plans to perform in Japan later this year.
According to statistics from the foundation's Web site, around 2,500 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed every year in Taiwan. Breast cancer is the second-most-common form of cancer after skin cancer among local women.
In the West, most cases of breast cancer are identified during the initial stage -- before a woman can feel the lump. In Taiwan, however, most cases are discovered during the second stage, which means that not enough is being done to make the public aware of cancer risks, Tang said.
Tang stressed that a combination of self-examination and medical checkups should be employed to facilitate early detection.
To learn more about the fellowship, see their Web site at www.kungtai.org.tw.
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:
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