Yang Chih-chien (楊志堅) and Lin Tsung-ming (林宗明), who sponsored a toddler named Yang until the age of 18, were on Saturday reunited in Taichung at a ceremony held by the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) to thank contributors who sponsored children through the fund’s programs.
Yang’s father passed away when he was less than one year old; his mother remarried and he was brought up by his grandparents, who did not have much money.
Lin, 70, who has sponsored children through the fund for 40 years, began sponsoring Yang when he was three years old.
At the event, Yang surprised Lin on stage when he was accepting a certificate for his contributions.
Lin would often write letters of encouragement, Yang said after the ceremony.
Although they had not met in the 23 years since Yang turned 18, Lin’s letters have given him the strength to continue fighting, Yang said.
The fund also often arranged for Lin and Yang to go on trips together.
Yang, who put himself through college by working part-time, showed a photograph of the two of them taken on one of the trips and a toy car that Lin had given him when he was young.
Now 41 years old and with a family of his own, Yang had given the toy car to his daughter as a way of passing on Lin’s affection, he said, adding that like Lin, he wants to become a sponsor to help children in need.
Lin said he began sponsoring children after seeing the tough conditions that many children were living in at charity events.
He has sponsored nine children, each time taking care of only one child, he said.
Due to his age, he passed the task of meeting the children on to his son, Lin Tung-yu (林東瑜), 10 years ago, he added.
Li Tung-yu also attended the event and said that he would follow his father on visits to meet the children that his father sponsored from a young age.
He said he had always been touched by his father’s selflessness.
The fund honored nearly 10,000 sponsors at Saturday’s event.
Chen Hsiu-yan (陳秀燕), the sister of vegetable vendor and philanthropist Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), was also recognized for sponsoring children for 20 years.
She has sponsored nine children and is still sponsoring two children each year.
Chen Hsiu-yan has sponsored many children and would always be touched by the cards she received from the children, Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) said in a speech.
The government’s capacity is limited, but the public’s power is not, she said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard