About 100 people yesterday celebrated Norwegian Constitution Day in Taipei with a small parade organized by the Taiwan Digital Diplomacy Association (TDDA), something Norwegians at home had to do without as the annual parades are among the public events that are prohibited as part of Oslo’s COVID-19 prevention measures.
The group of mostly young people, about half foreign nationals and half Taiwanese, held Norwegian flags as they met at Exit 2 of MRT Daan Forest Park Station at about 10am.
They then set off at a slow pace on the sidewalk on one side of Xinyi Road, waving their flags, moving toward the crowded weekend Jianguo Flower Market (建國花市).
Photo: CNA
They walked through the market toward the grassland area of the Taiwan Air Force Innovation Base (空總創新基地), where a flag-raising ceremony was held.
Several Norwegians sang along to the Norwegian national anthem as it was played while the Norwegian flag was raised.
“Today is a very special day, as we can see many Norwegian and Taiwanese friends celebrating Norwegian National Day together,” TDDA founding president Kuo Chia-yo (郭家佑) said as she delivered a short speech to the crowd.
The association had come up with the idea of helping forge connections between Norwegians and Taiwanese about three months ago through events such as classes on Norwegian cooking, map drawing and language workshops, she said.
Taiwanese who have lived in Norway and Norwegians now living in Taiwan are the bridge to connect the people of the two nations, she said.
About 100 Norwegian missionaries have lived in Pingtung County over the years, helping improve healthcare in the area, and many were among the cofounders of the Pingtung Christian Hospital, she said.
About 10 to 20 Taiwanese annually go in Norway to study and about the same number of Norwegian students come to Taiwan, she added.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed many people’s daily lives, Taiwan is lucky, as people in this nation have been able to live a relatively normal life, so the association hoped that yesterday’s parade would help make people more hopeful about the future, as well as encourage the people of the two nations to become true friends, Kuo said.
Constitution Day commemorates the signing of Norway’s constitution in Eidsvoll on May 17, 1814, and is Norway’s national day.
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