Twenty-three children and teenagers have been recognized by the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families for their positive attitudes despite difficult circumstances.
One award recipient was 15-year-old Lo Ya-yin (羅雅尹), who has been collecting recyclables since she was four with her mother.
After her mother was paralyzed from the waist down, Lo helped massage her lower limbs to prevent them from atrophying.
“Mother always told me that if we survive the difficult times, then life would get better,” Lo said.
Lo added that she was almost adopted before reaching kindergarten age because of the family’s low income.
If it was not for her older brother, who refused to let anyone take her away, the family would not have remained together, she said.
However, she conceded that it was tough, adding that sometimes the family only had enough money to buy rice and soy sauce.
Having cooked from the age of 10, Lo said she aspires to be a chef.
Chen Kai (陳愷), another award recipient, was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was in the fourth grade.
Chen said that his strict doctor-recommended diet meant he could only watch as his classmates ate fried chicken and other treats, adding that he had to persuade himself that the smell of the food was enough to satisfy him.
Since being diagnosed, Chen has been in and out of hospital for chemotherapy, but since education is important to him, he had a tutor help him while he was hospitalized.
Chen said he understood how much his mother fears losing him, adding that all one can do with cancer is face it with humor and hope that the chemotherapy works.
Another student recognized by the foundation was junior-high school student Cho Li-wei (卓立唯), who lives with his grandmother.
Cho’s grandmother said Cho once found NT$20,000 at school, but turned the money in to police.
She said Cho was a very good person and always helped out around the house.
“There was one time when he had just come out of the shower and saw that I was about to take out the laundry to hang it and he rushed to take the laundry basket from me even though he was still only in his underwear,” Cho’s grandmother said.
Another award recipient was Lin Chien-ming (林建名), a sixth-grader who has been raised by his grandmother since his parents separated and his father was incapacitated by a stroke.
Lin said that the responsibility for the family’s finances had been assumed by his older sister after his grandmother also suffered a stroke.
Lin said he lacked self-esteem due to the family’s financial difficulties, but that he had found his confidence after joining the school band, which won a prize in a school competition.
Lin said because his sister had taken on the money-making role, he was tasked with caring for his grandmother, including helping to keep bugs away from her and getting her milk to drink every night.
Even though it takes 30 minutes to help his grandmother finish one cup of milk, it is still a job Lin said he finds happiness in doing.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS