Vietnamese immigrant Hu Ching-hsien (胡清嫻) gained recognition for her contributions to the Southeast Asian community in Taiwan after she was asked by the Presidential Office late last month to serve as national immigration policy adviser to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Hu said she will begin gathering more feedback from the immigrant community after the Lunar New Year holiday, adding that she will make suggestions to the president based on the feedback.
Hu came to Taiwan 11 years ago through marriage and has since been active in encouraging fellow newcomers to interact with their adopted communities.
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
Hu said she had been looking for a change of environment and a chance for happiness when she met her husband 11 years ago and subsequently moved to Taiwan.
Hu said she and her husband have two children attending second and fourth grade at elementary school, adding that she had been a homemaker since her marriage, taking care of household work and her children.
“I supported my husband at home, studied languages and later received certificates for cooking, teaching of my mother language and for legal interpretation,” Hu said, adding that she is teaching at the Pingtung Haohao Women’s Rights Association.
Hu said that over the past several years, during which time she has been working with immigrant spouses, she has discovered several cases of domestic abuse and human trafficking, adding that she has encouraged victims to come forward about the abuses and to integrate into their communities.
Hu said she has also been active in teaching about multiculturalism in schools and within community organizations.
She said her greatest concern is government policy related to the integration of new immigrants into their communities, adding that she will join non-governmental organizations to tackle the issue.
Hu said she has worked with the association for three years on a quarterly publication aimed at supporting immigrant spouses from Southeast Asia, adding that she will share information about the publication with the president when she sends her policy suggestions.
“I hope the publication can become more influential and reach more people,” Hu said.
Hu said she hopes the government’s “new southbound policy” can view immigrant spouses as “foreign relations angels,” adding that the spouses have vast knowledge of both Taiwan and their birth nations.
Hu said she feels honored by the opportunity to be a consultant to the government, adding that the position will make her much more capable as a spokesperson for the immigrant spouse community.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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