A formerly famous billboard artist who became homeless is working with the New Taipei City shelter that took him in to help homeless people acquire skills and reenter the workforce.
The artist, who wishes to be known by the nickname A-fu Shih (阿福師), rose to prominence in the 1970s when he was responsible for painting one-third of all movie billboards in the nation. At his height, he was earning between NT$50,000 and NT$60,000 per day.
Later when the industry for hand-painted billboards fell into decline, he found himself without work. The situation was further exacerbated by a vehicle accident that left him injured and unable to seek other employment.
Photo: Tsai Kuan-yu, Taipei Times
When he lost his home A-fu Shih was directed to a homeless shelter in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), where he said he found friendship and renewed confidence.
A-fu Shih has recently rediscovered his passion for painting, turning the walls of the shelter into a large mural.
He also helps the shelter by teaching baking classes, part of its efforts to train homeless people with new skills so that they could gain independence and find work.
New Taipei City has various services for homeless people, depending on their individual needs, such as Linkou Shelter, the Wanli Rehabilitation Center and the New Taipei City Outreach Center, Social Welfare Department Commissioner Chang Chin-li (張錦麗) said.
There are about 2,500 homeless people across the nation, whose reasons for losing their home include job loss and family problems, Ministry of Health and Welfare official Lee Mei-chen (李美珍) said.
“I hope Linkou Shelter can share its experience in teaching homeless people new skills with shelters nationwide,” Lee said.
Lee lauded the shelter’s baking class and tour guide training program, which use resources provided by Hsing Wu University.
One of the shelter’s residents, a former engineer nicknamed A-chung (阿中), said he has been taking the baking classes for three months and can now make a variety of breads and pastries.
“I hope I could work as a baker in the future, ” A-chung said.
One should remain tenacious in the face of challenges, A-fu Shih said.
“If you want to paint, then paint your best. You cannot be halfhearted,” he said.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS