An exhibition chronicling the journeys of Philippine workers opened on Thursday in Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
The exhibition, titled “Turning Point: Taiwan,” features about 300 photographs depicting the hometowns and working environments of migrant workers, as well as pieces of clothing.
One of the highlights is a collection of about 30 photographs taken by Joan Pabona, a prize-winning photographer and former domestic helper.
Born in the Philippines’ La Union province, Pabona in 2008 went to Singapore to work as a domestic helper, before moving to Hong Kong in 2013.
In 2017, she won second place in the National Geographic Wheelock Properties Youth Photo Competition for her photograph titled Sacrifice.
The black-and-white image, which Pabona took while cleaning windows, shows an aerial view of a worker in a hard hat among safety nets used in scaffolding.
“I felt a connection to the scene, because that person was working so hard to give a greener pasture to his or her family,” she said at the exhibition on Sunday.
Pabona was in Taipei to talk about her work and give a photography workshop.
However, it was one of her prior photos, titled Solitude, shot in 2016 in Hong Kong, depicting a woman sitting alone in the dark next to a beam of light, that inspired her to pursue photography, Pabona said.
“During that period, I asked myself what my purpose in life was, because as a domestic worker busy with work, I realized that I was so lonely,” she said. “So through photography, I wanted to show the emotions and feelings of a migrant worker.”
Pabona eventually quit her job a domestic helper and is now a full-time photographer based in La Union.
Another highlight of the exhibition is Philippines-inspired clothing made by Philippine factory worker Mark Lester Reyes, who lives in Taoyuan.
Reyes said he sustained chemical burns to his face and body in a work accident in March 2014, and started using makeup to conceal his scars.
After a while, people started to ask him for advice on makeup for fashion shows and events, which led him to discover his talent for sewing, he said.
“I asked my friends who were competing in [fashion] contests that if I could also make their costumes, which they agreed to,” Reyes said, adding that he took a vocational course in visual arts in high school.
His creations, which use recycled materials discarded by factories, quickly became famous in the Filipino community, Reyes said.
His gowns were showcased at celebrations for the 120th anniversary of the Philippines’ independence last year in New Taipei City, he said.
“I want to showcase and represent Filipinos in Taiwan,” he said.
The exhibition was organized by the non-governmental organization One-Forty, which was established in 2015 to focus on vocational training for migrant workers in Taiwan to give them skills they need in their home countries after they finish working in Taiwan.
A total of 6,279 people have visited the exhibition since its opening, One-Forty said.
The exhibition is to run through tomorrow and admission is free, it said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods