Foreign migrants and students yesterday launched a program that gives free food to homeless people to thank Taiwan for its successful efforts at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
The Students Helping Initiative Program (SHIP) — about 20 Vietnamese students, as well as new immigrants and their children — and parishioners of Saint Christopher’s Church in Taipei handed out more than 100 chicken drumstick mealboxes to homeless people at Taipei Railway Station, the city’s main transport hub.
The people were happy to receive food on a Saturday — for many, it was their first meal of the day — and eagerly opened the packed lunch as soon as it was placed in their hands, or on their makeshift bed of cardboard and newspapers.
“Thank you very much,” a man in his 60s said. “I have been waiting the whole day for this meal.”
The program reflects the gratitude that migrants and international students feel toward Taiwan for its swift and successful prevention measures against the novel coronavirus, said Father Gioan Tran Van Thiet, assistant parish priest at Saint Christopher’s.
“This program shows that international students appreciate Taiwan — and that they are not only here to study, but can also assist the local community,” Thiet said.
Tam Nguyen, a 24-year-old Vietnamese research student at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, said that Taiwan’s success in controlling the virus has helped him focus on his studies.
“However, the situation in Vietnam is not so great recently and I have been worrying about my hometown,” Nguyen said.
The program is to continue, with free meals given out on the first Saturday of each month at locations in northern Taiwan.
The goal is to help people who are homeless, elderly people and children with disabilities, Thiet said, adding that food would also be available at the church for international students.
“We order cooked food from restaurants, but we are exploring ways to have the students help make the food. That way, they could feel more directly involved in helping people,” Thiet added.
Built by Americans, Saint Christopher’s Church opened in July 1958 to hold religious services for US troops and allied forces in Taiwan.
Over the past 62 years, the church has become a place of worship for people of all walks of life, and it plays an important role in the lives of immigrants and migrant workers in Taiwan.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS