"You ask me, how long will it take to reach the bus stop called happiness?/I say, I don't know/Leave it to the bus of love to take us there," Yunika Sari, of Indonesia, recited on Sunday as she read her winning piece, titled Terminal Bahagia at the 7th Foreign Poetry and Essay Contest.
Many of the entries dealt with the issue of separation from loved ones.
Felisa Castro of the Philippines won second prize with her poem A Prison Without Bars.
"How many mothers leave home, for the sake of the family's happiness?/How many babies grow up without their mothers to hold them?" Castro read from her work at the award ceremony held at the 228 Memorial Park.
Poet Chen Ke-hua (
The Taipei City Government Department of Labor said 2,000 foreign laborers submitted material to this year's competition.
The 20 winning entries were selected by a panel of local poets, academics and authors.
The third-place piece, titled Two Loving Mothers by Pham Thi Tuong of Vietnam, compared her employer to her mother.
"[These works] are a sign that migrant workers' relationships with their employers have improved," Chen said.
Department of Labor Director Su Ying-kuei (
"There are over 36,000 foreign workers in Taipei from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. Most of you work as domestic helpers and caretakers," he said. "Your significant contributions directly enhances the quality of life of Taipei residents."
The works will be collected and published in a book titled Taipei Listen to Me.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
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