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Foreign poetry competition winners rewarded at event

"How many mothers leave home, for the sake of the family's happiness?/How many babies grow up without their mothers to hold them?"

poem titled A Prison Without Bars by Felisa Castro

"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 (陳克華) said that compared with the poetry submitted two years ago, this year's works focused less on the horrors of mistreatment and more on feelings of homesickness and missing loved ones.

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 (蘇盈貴) said the goal of the poetry contest is to showcase the diversity among the immigrant labor population and allow them to share their thoughts with Taipei residents.

"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.
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