A father's love need not be restricted to his own children, according to two grandfathers who happily raised their grandchildren.
With Father's Day coming tomorrow, the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, a group that is dedicated to helping underprivileged children, has given Outstanding Father Awards to 10 fathers who raised their charges in very special circumstances.
PHOTO: TAIWAN FUND FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.
Hsiao Wen-chin (
"My son, the father of my granddaughters, has been imprisoned, and my daughter-in-law abandoned her responsibility to raise her own daughters. So I decided to take care of them myself," Hsiao said.
Five years ago, a social welfare organization learned of Hsiao's situation, paid home visits and provided financial support to his family.
Later, the organization referred the family to the fund, which helped each of Hsiao's two daughters find a sponsor to provide regular financial support.
"I also declared our household a low-income family in order to get financial assistance for my granddaughters," Hsiao said.
Hsiao said that due to his special family circumstances -- namely, that his grandchildren's parents were not available to raise the children -- the children were eligible for the financial support the government provides to families that include a single parent.
"I had to provide my son's divorce papers, as well as the document that stated that my son was serving his jail sentence and was unable to raise his children, in order to get governmental financial support," Hsiao said.
Taking care of two young children and a wife who is plagued by mental illness has never been an easy job.
"When the girls were little, I had to put up a special barrier to the entrance of their room, to prevent my wife from harming the children in the middle of the night," Hsiao said.
He insists upon a certain kind of upbringing for his grandchildren.
"We have been going to church for many years. Besides attending church service on Sundays, the girls are also involved with many other church activities," he said.
With the benefit of Hsiao's love for his grandchildren, the two girls have grown up to be very healthy and outgoing.
"I have always told my girls that when they grow up, they have to remember to give back to society and to the fund," Hsiao said.
Lai Sheng-chang (
"In 1988, when my grandchildren were still very young, my son died in a car accident, and my daughter-in-law decided to remarry and leave the boys behind," Lai said.
At the time, Lai was already 63 years old, and his grandsons were only three and five.
"When my son passed away, it was by God's grace that I was able to raise my grandchildren on my own," Lai said.
Lai was born in China's Fujian Province in a destitute family. His own father passed away when he was only nine.
Lai was never properly educated and was thus looked down upon by the people he served with in the military.
During his service, Lai lost four fingers and a toe in a bombing. In 1948, he moved to Taiwan and retired from the army. However, due to his physical disability, he changed jobs frequently.
In 1955, Lai became a Christian and began to help out in a Christian hospital in Puli.
"When my grandsons were young, I used to work in factories in order to earn money. As my grandsons were sick a lot when they were young, there were times that I had to rush the two of them to the doctor's office in the middle of the night," Lai said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese