More than 3,000 Vietnamese celebrated the upcoming New Year holiday on Sunday with traditional Vietnamese song and dance, flamingo dancing and lucky draws in one of the largest Vietnamese gatherings to take place in Taiwan.
The "Vui Don Xuan Moi 2006," held at the Armed Forces Cultural Center in downtown Taipei provided Vietnamese who work in northern Taiwan with a taste of the New Year's atmosphere back home. Vietnamese traditionally share the same Lunar New Year tradition as Taiwanese.
"It gives me sadness and nostalgia that I can't be home with my family for the new year, " said a 26-year-old girl who only identified herself as Dao.
"We can't even make our way into the hall, but it feels good to be able to see all my compatriots and chat a little bit. It's good enough for me," she added.
The Vietnamese have almost the same New Year traditions and rituals as the Chinese, Dao said.
"The whole family has dinner on New Year's Eve and worships their ancestors. It's almost the same as [the Chinese]," she said.
More than 1,000 people jammed into the hall, which has a capacity of just 810, to enjoy a series of traditional Vietnamese songs and dances performed by a group of volunteers.
Some of them won prizes provided by sponsors, including digital cameras and pre-paid telephone cards, in a quiz on foreign labor regulations and a lucky draw.
For those who couldn't get in, chatting on the sidewalk with friends was just as good.
"Usually we don't have a chance like this to meet so many Vietnamese and talk," said Nguyen The Ahn, who, like Dao, comes from Hao Binh, a two-hour drive south of Hanoi, and works at an electronics company in Taipei County.
About 70 percent of the Vietnamese in the crowd were female, with many wearing traditional Vietnamese dresses called Ao Dai.
Trihn Ngoc Hoa, who has been working in Taiwan for four years as a housekeeper, was all smiles when she accepted a trophy on stage.
"It was a call-in Mandarin-speech competition. Fortunately I won," she said.
"We expected 1,000 people to show up -- 2,000 at most. But the feedback has been both tremendous and surprising," said a worker from Western Union, one of the sponsors of the event.
The crowd went crazy when the organizers started distributing Vietnamese calendars outside the hall.
"It's a wonderful afternoon. Being able to take a break from work, talk to friends and meet all these people from Vietnam really relaxes us," Nguyen, 27, said.
The event was organized by the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, the Council of Labor Affairs (COA) and Taipei City Government. It was hosted by Taiwan Radio.
Currently there are 85,528 Vietnamese workers in Taiwan, according to statistics released by the COA, with 42 percent of them working in Taipei City, Taipei County or Taoyuan County.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
One of two tropical depressions that formed offshore this morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. It is expected to move in a northwesterly direction as it continues building momentum, possibly intensifying into Typhoon Mitag this weekend, she added. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is expected to approach southeast of Taiwan on Monday and pass through the Bashi Channel between Tuesday and Wednesday,
Tigerair Taiwan and China Airlines (CAL) today announced that several international flights were canceled or rescheduled due to Typhoon Ragasa. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has maintained sea and land warnings for the typhoon. Its storm circle reached the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) on Taiwan's southern tip at 11am today. Tigerair Taiwan said it canceled Monday's IT551/IT552 Taoyuan-Da Nang, IT606/IT607 Taoyuan-Busan and IT602 Taoyuan-Seoul Incheon flights. Tomorrow, cancelations include IT603 Seoul Incheon-Taoyuan, as well as flights between Taoyuan and Sapporo, Osaka, Tokyo Narita, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Saga, Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, Asahikawa and Jeju. On Wednesday, the IT321/IT322 Kaohsiung-Macau round-trip would also be canceled. CAL announced that today's
RSS