Jasmine Hsu (
After asking her grandfather and other relatives about her family history, Hsu found that her great grandfather came from Spain, her grandfather on her father's side was from the Philippines, while her grandfather on her mother's side was a descendant of the Uyghur.
"It feels like my great grandparents and grandparents were destined to marry each other and form our family because thousands of kilometers separated them, but they still found each other," Hsu said during an exhibition at the Taipei Cultural Center on Sunday.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The discovery of her roots inspired Hsu to use maps to represent the ethnic diversity of her family members and the detailed illustration of her family tree won her an award in the "Seeking Roots Creative Family Trees" competition held by the Taipei City Archives.
Wu Chao-ming (吳昭明), a section chief at the Taipei City Archives, said the competition aimed to encourage students to join their parents in learning the history of their own family and making a family tree in a creative way.
"Learning the heritage and stories of their ancestors will help students bond with their family members. Hopefully, making a family tree together will bring families closer and make them appreciate each other more," Wu said.
Making the family tree not only gave Hsu an opportunity to learn about her family history, but her mother, Sun Li (
"When I asked my father about his father and other ancestors, he scolded me for not having been curious about our family history earlier. Then he couldn't stop sharing stories with me," Sun said.
James Brady, a fifth grader at Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Elementary School, was also inspired by the competition to dig deeper into his family tree with his parents.
While doing research, James learned about the differences between his father and mother's families and came upon some interesting anecdotes about his ancestors, such as the fact that his father's uncle was the shortest soldier to have fought in World War I.
Brady's father's family was originally from Ireland and his grandfather was a college professor, while Brady's mother came from a traditional farmer's family in Taiwan.
"It's a very diverse family tree ... We hope he will pick up the good things from the two families," his father, Peter Brady, said.
Making a family tree even gave Lin Yi-chen (林奕忱), another second grader at Chingshin School, a chance to see what her grandparents looked like, as they passed away before she was born.
Lin said she was happy to see her grandparents in the picture her parents found so she could put it in the family tree, adding that she would create a more vivid family tree next year by putting pictures of her family members on bamboo to illustrate her family's background as bamboo farmers in Nantou County.
Ninety-four family trees created by elementary school students will be on exhibition at the Taipei Cultural Center until Nov. 29.
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
RSS