“To save up enough money to help our mother buy a new house” was the Mother’s Day wish of three sisters surnamed Lin (林), whose filial piety was recognized at an award ceremony on Sunday in Kaohsiung.
Lin Kuei-feng (林桂鳳), 11, is a fifth-grader at the Kaohsiung Municipal Chu-Hu Elementary School. She has two sisters, aged 8 and 15.
She said that her family once worked as farmers in Pingtung County, but when her father died three years ago, they moved to Kaohsiung with their mother, who now runs a business renting and setting up tables, chairs and crockery for catering events.
The Lin sisters do as much to help their mother as possible, traveling with her wherever the catering business takes them on weekends and on holidays, they said.
They just completed a catering event on Saturday evening where they had to wash about 5,000 dishes, Lin said at the award ceremony, adding that they would be ready to go to work again after the award ceremony.
The hardship has forged a strong bond between the sisters, who strive to relieve some of the burden carried by their mother.
Lin said that she once washed more than 10,000 dishes in a row over 14 hours. Her hands were raw from washing dishes from morning until night, she said.
“Back then, our hands were too small and wearing gloves would have slowed our pace,” she said.
“Often, the four of us would form an assembly line, washing dishes into the early morning,” Lin said.
“My younger sister and I would be most prone to falling asleep, so we would often take turns waking each other up,” she added.
The story of the Lin sisters was first made public by Kao Chien-hung (高建鴻), Lin Kuei-feng’s homeroom teacher, who was moved by her dedication and entered her into the Filial Piety Awards.
Kao said that despite the family’s situation, Lin Chia-feng maintains a stellar academic performance and was even elected class leader.
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