A series of Southeast Asian-themed cultural events are to be held in Taipei from this month to August to provide Taiwanese with a better understanding of the nation’s migrant workers, an official from the city’s Foreign and Disabled Labor Office said.
“The purpose of the events is to allow Taiwanese to understand the culture of migrant workers, because they are an integral part of our lives,” office section chief Huang Shu-yuan (黃淑媛) said.
The events would start with “Listen to Me, Taipei” culture and literature forums, which are to be held from Saturday next week to June 22 at Eslite Spectrum Nanxi bookstore in Zhongshan District (中山), to showcase Southeast Asian migrant worker literature, Huang said.
“Many migrant workers are very talented. They not only work for local employers, some are also writers,” she said.
The literature forums also seek to express the feelings and emotions of migrant workers through their writings, so that Taiwanese can understand them and their culture, she added.
Hopefully the forums will show migrant workers as not just “employees,” but “colleagues” because of their talents, Huang said.
“If you have a migrant caregiver in your home, it is best to treat them as a colleague who is helping you look after your home and not just as an employee,” Huang said.
For Taiwanese wishing to understand more about Philippine culture, a guided tour through the area near St Christopher’s Church in Taipei on Section 3 of the city’s Zhongshan N Road is to be held on July 28.
The tour is to feature Philippine stores, beauty parlors, restaurants and businesses in the area.
A Vietnamese culinary class is to be held on Aug. 25 at a kitchen classroom to teach people how to make Vietnamese dishes, she said.
As of the end of April, there were 270,890 migrant workers from Indonesia in Taiwan, 153,742 from the Philippines and 221,479 from Vietnam, Ministry of Labor statistics showed.
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