The government is scheduled to build a monument this year in honor of expatriates who have devoted themselves selflessly to Taiwan, the nation’s top cultural official said.
Council of Cultural Affairs Minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) said the expatriates to be recognized have contributed to Taiwan in a variety of fields, from education to medicine.
“The council is scheduled to honor them in the nation’s centennial year in the form of a monument, as well as with videos and Web sites, in recognition of their contributions to Taiwan,” he said.
The names of those expatriates who resided in Taiwan for over three decades, or who still reside here, and who have contributed tremendously to the land and the people, will be inscribed on the monument, Sheng said.
“The monument will be in the form of a public artwork and it will be possible to expand the list of names in the future as necessary,” he said.
Sheng said the council has collected almost 3,000 names for possible inclusion, including George Mackay, who in 1882 founded the hospital that bears his name, and Doris Brougham, a US educator and Christian missionary who came to Taiwan in 1951. The English magazine Studio Classroom she founded in 1962 has taught English to hundreds of thousands of native Chinese speakers.
Other names include Sister Lena Bomans of Belgium, a Medical Dedication Award winner, who established the first foundation for premature infants in Taiwan; Father Robert Crawford, founder of the Holy Family for Special Education in Miaoli County; and Roland Brown, founder of the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualien.
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