On a normal Friday evening outside Taipei Railway Station, an unusual banquet unfolded for people living in the area with no home to return to before the Lunar New Year.
Carrying two polystyrene boxes filled to the brim with home-cooked meals, Han-yun (瀚云) arrived with her two daughters at a counter near the west gate of the station, ready to give out the nutritious and festive delicacies her family had been hard at work preparing since early morning.
“I find this event quite meaningful, so we wanted to continue donating food this year,” the 40-year-old mother said.
Photo: CNA
Organized by the nonprofit group Do You A Flavor, this annual year-end banquet has taken place on the streets of Taipei for the past five years and has expanded into a three-day event, not just featuring food, but also free haircuts, donations of clothes and the chance to play fun games with volunteers.
The aroma of the food and the army of volunteers quickly drew the attention of homeless people in the area. Among them was Tung An-ling (董安齡), who has been homeless since returning to Taiwan from the US almost four years ago.
“I like to eat a variety of food; I can eat lots of different food,” the 53-year-old said, adding she has been out of touch with her family for more than 10 years and feels lonely during the holidays.
Having worked as a janitor, Tung offered to help the volunteers repackage the food. “I really appreciate the kindness of those people... you know the kindhearted who help the homeless here,” she said after finishing a portion of salad and drunken chicken — one of 400 dishes donated on the first day of the event.
Having lived on the streets for more than 20 years, Chang Yun-hsiang (張雲翔) said he loved having the chance to interact with people at the event. He said the public has mixed impressions of the homeless, with some showing concern, and others looking down on them. “I used to sleep by the sidewalk, and someone once asked me, ‘Why don’t you just find a job since you are physically capable?’” the 37-year-old said, who has serious heart problems.
Meanwhile, the event was just as rewarding for those who gave as well as those who received. Robert Lin (林鈺祥), an occupational therapist and a first-time volunteer, was responsible for distributing food around the station, which he said he found rewarding.
“When we interact with the homeless, they get to know a new person or make a new friend, and they know there are people in society who care about them,” the 31-year-old said.
Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed that there were a total of 3,002 registered homeless in Taiwan in 2022, with the figure remaining steady since 2019. One-third of homeless people reside in Taipei and New Taipei City.
Ader Wu (巫彥德), co-founder of Do You a Flavor, said the number of homeless people would increase if society continues to ignore their plight.
The event aims to provide homeless people with a sense of hope and to help them not feel left out during Lunar New Year celebrations, the 34-year-old said.
“It also gives society a tangible way to offer help, as people sometimes feel a sense of anguish when they see homeless people on the streets during the cold weather but feel they cannot do anything to help them,” he added.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
NUMBERs IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
RSS