The NGO Eden Social Welfare Foundation yesterday called on the public to respect and learn about the cultures of foreigners married to Taiwanese nationals.
National Taiwan Normal University College of International studies assistant professor Edwin Yang (楊聰榮) said Taiwan was a rather closed-minded community in that it "often asks immigrants to `localize' and assimilate, but fails to reciprocate and appreciate their native culture."
"Instead of saying Vietnamese immigrants are `mothers of Taiwanese kids,' we should see them from their standpoint and respect their cultures," he said, addressing the audience at a Vietnamese movie screening hosted by the foundation to promote interest in foreign cultures.
Chief of the foundation's support section for new immigrants Chu Li-ying (朱莉英) told the audience that Taiwan had approximately 400,000 "new" immigrants.
"I urge Taiwanese to get to know them, because embracing their cultures will enrich the Taiwanese community," she said.
Hoang Oanh, who is married to a Taiwanese man, said: "We may dress like local women in Taiwan, but we are still Vietnamese at heart."
Hoang Oanh said she met and fell in love with her Taiwanese husband while he was working in Ho Chi Minh City.
Hoang Oanh said she liked Taiwan, but added that she experienced discrimination even after 11 years here, which at times made her despair.
"Don't judge a book by its cover," she said. "I had stereotypes of Taiwanese people before I came, but they have changed since I got to know the culture."
Hoang Oanh said she believed the fight against prejudice must start in school, where children should learn to appreciate cultural diversity.
"Not only can they learn about different cultures from their teachers, they can also learn different languages, which will become assets for them in today's global village," she said. Hoang Oanh teaches Vietnamese to businessmen targeting Vietnam for exports.
"Before you judge us and think that we are only here for money, give us a chance and get to know us," she said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching