For Imelda Constantino, practicing typing for hours on end in a cramped computer lab is her idea of a perfect Sunday.
With her eyes fixed on a computer monitor, the Filipina caregiver tried hard not to look down at her fingers as they danced across the keyboard while typing words as fast and accurately as she possibly could.
? am here because I know learning more about computers will help me in the future,?she said shyly, whipping her body around to get back to her typing.
Constantino is one of the 50 of overseas Filipino workers enrolled in E-PC, a data processing and computer literacy center established in 2003 by Roy and Heidi Villaluna, who said that knowing their compatriots are benefitting from the class is all the reward they need for the painstaking efforts of maintaining the center.
Roy is a project manager at the notebook division of one of Taiwan? best-known computer companies who speaks with a soft yet determined voice, especially when talking about the center.
?y wife and I just want to help our compatriots. This is something we can do to help them. These people are like family to us,?said the computer engineer.
Nestled in the heart of Little Manila off Zhongshan N Road in Taipei, the 30-plus ping (100m? second-floor center is located a block away from St Christopher? Church, a home away from home for many Filipinos.
The center is divided into three sections. In the back is a small makeshift mini mart full of Philippine treats and items. Next to it is a lecture area where Roy can often be seen standing in front of a white board scribbling down computer jargon.
Then the most popular hangout: the computer area, lined with 20 computers all assembled by Roy, bustling with eager students who can? wait to get on the Web cam to chat with their friends and families.
The center is open on Sundays from 8:30am to 6:30pm and offers an array of courses ranging from computer fundamentals to Windows to troubleshooting all for NT$1,800. The fee includes a lifetime EPC membership and unconditional hospitality from the Villalunas.
For those who can? pay, Roy smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, ?hat? okay, what we really ask for is their dedication and sincerity. If they want to learn, then I will teach. They can pay whenever they can. If they can? pay, then never mind.?br />
?e really see them as our families. I always cook enough so anyone who doesn? have lunch or dinner is welcome to eat with us. Many of them also tell me about their troubles at work and I give them advice and encourage them not to give up,?said Heidi who holds a bachelor of science in information technology
Caregiver Norma Benevista, who has been coming to the center for two years and is learning about spreadsheets, said her dream was to open her own business when she gets home.
? know what I learn here will be very useful for me in the future to help me and my family,?she said.
Heidi said that a former student who has since returned to the Philippines had opened an Internet caf?in her home town. Several others, thanks to their computer knowledge, had found better jobs in Taiwan, Canada and Hong Kong, she said.
The next step for the Villalunas, she said, was to follow the suggestion of Representative Antonio Basilio of the Manila Economic and Culture Office to organize a volunteer group with the skills to teach computer literacy to Filipinos who cannot travel to Taipei.
In addition to tutorials, the center also offers computer services at a low price such as Windows OS and software installation, personal computer upgrading and assembly, network layout and laptop and PC repair.
For more information on the center call (02) 2592-5926 or e-mail epcdpc2003@yahoo.com
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
TECH CORRIDOR: Technology centers and science parks in the south would be linked, bolstering the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung. The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting. The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said. The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration
RSS