The language barrier is the biggest problem faced by some 300,000 foreign brides, the Eden Social Welfare Foundation said yesterday.
The foundation said that because foreign brides often encounter language problems and strained relations with their mothers-in-law, it will offer free Chinese-language classes to foreign brides and provide counselling to help them adjust to life in this country.
Foundation officials said that the language barrier is at the root of many problems for foreign brides.
It has not only affected relations between husbands and wives, but has also caused conflict between the brides and their mothers-in-law and adversely impacted their childrens' eduction, they added.
The foundation staged skits yesterday to show the different customs in Taiwan and Vietnam for taking care of new mothers.
Medical professionals were on hand to demonstrate how to take care of new mothers during the first month after giving birth.
The foundation also announ-ced a strategic partnership with another social group, the Around Taiwan Health Care Alliance.
The latter will be donating NT$200,000 (US$5,900) to the foundation for a fund that will assist to foreign spouses of Taiwanese.
Alliance officials said they currently have 13 member hospitals, including such prestigious hospitals as Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi Christian Hospital, and Yuan's General Hospital in Kaohsiung.
In addition to meeting foreign brides' urgent need for medical care, the alliance will complement the activities of the foundation, making up for its deficiency in medical resources, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the government will appropriate NT$3 billion (US$88.2 million) over the next 10 years to finance assistance for foreign spouses of Taiwan residents, Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced yesterday.
Speaking on a visit to families of foreign brides in Fengshan, Kaohsiung County, Yu said that the number of foreign spouses of Taiwan residents has increased to 300,000, making them the fifth largest "ethnic group" in the country.
The government should pay more attention to the lives of these foreign spouses as well as the education of their children, who are a new generation of Taiwanese, Yu said.
The government is therefore prepared to set up a foundation which will spend NT$3 billion over the next 10 years to help foreign spouses of Taiwan residents and their children, he said.
Yu also suggested that foreign spouses form organizations inform authorities of any problems or difficulties they encounter.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
RSS