On the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Ministry of the Interior held a Chinese Lunar New Year multicultural event. Minister Hsu Kuo-Yong and the new immigrants from Indonesia, Myanmar, South Korea, the United States, Vietnam and Cambodia expressed New Year greetings to everyone in various languages. By painting tiger face on the traditional Indonesian masks, this event showed us the atmosphere of multicultural combination.
During the multicultural event, Minister Hsu, under the guidance of Linda Tjindiawati Arifin, a new Indonesian immigrant, carefully painted the eyes and the nose of the traditional Indonesian tiger face mask, which made the mask vivid instantly. In addition, Minister Hsu also learned to speak “Selamat Tahun Baru” (means “Happy New Year” in Indonesian) fluently, and also expressed the blessing to all the people in Taiwan by saying “Hu-Yun-Lian-Lian, Ru-Hu-Tian-Yi-Wan-Chuan-Nian” (虎運連連、如虎添翼旺全年), which means the year of tiger will be filled with good luck, and will be a prosperous new year.
Minister Hsu said that the government is striving to create a diverse and friendly environment, so that the new immigrants from different countries can live peacefully in Taiwan. With love and recognition to Taiwan, the new immigrants show the new power of multiculturalism, and also strengthen the international competitiveness of Taiwan.
Ms. Shin Ji-Hyun, a new immigrant from South Korea, is currently teaching Korean in the university. She came to Taiwan with her husband and started a new life here. She is not only a teacher and a wife, but also a student and a mother, and she makes great balance to play different roles in life. Through the Korean language teaching in Taiwan, Ms. Shin Ji-Hyun build her own career, which made her feel confident, joyful and happily.
Mr. Justin Caleb Cooper, a new immigrant from the United States, fell in love with Taiwan after coming for study in the university, and decided to stay in Taiwan since then. He is also deeply influenced by Taiwanese aboriginal culture. He loves the aboriginal culture and found “a second family” in the Amis tribe of Taitung. Though busy in his career as a performing artist, he still takes the opportunities to share experience of adapting to the Taiwan society with multicultural perspectives for the new comers by attending the activities held by the National Immigration Agency.
Ms. Liang Li-Chun, a new immigrant from Cambodia, with different roles as an interpreter, a community college multicultural lecturer, a tour guide support staff, and a museum docent, she even spends time for voluntary work in the library as a story teller. She thinks the story makes a good channel for children to begin their vision toward the world. She also shares Cambodian culture through various multicultural activities for children, to cultivate and to broaden their horizons, and to stimulate more imagination and creativity.
Once again, Minister Hsu reminds that the Chinese Lunar New Year Holiday is the peak period for buying and sending gifts online. Since it is still during the epidemic control period, Minister Hsu appeals to the public to follow the epidemic prevention regulations. In addition, not to mail meat products from overseas, and not to bring them back to Taiwan. If anyone receives meat products of unknown origin, please do not throw away as kitchen waste, and inform the authorities to deal with it, so as to protect Taiwan from African swine fever.