Ahead of Mother’s Day, the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families honored 24 persevering mothers for what it called their exceptional dedication to and love for their families amid physical, economic and social hardship.
“I would like to express my gratitude to these mothers here today, whose perseverance is what keeps their families going without losing love or hope,” foundation executive director Betty Ho (何素秋) said at an event in Taipei on Sunday.
Most of the honorees were single parents, or parents of children with physical or mental disabilities, while there were also foreign spouses and grandparents raising grandchildren, the foundation said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Honoree Liang Chih-mei (梁枝梅) said she single-handedly raised her eight grandchildren after all of her three sons — raised by her alone after she divorced her husband in 1985 — contracted cancer and passed away.
Doubly beset by the deaths of her sons and the departure of her daughters-in-law, who were driven away by the family’s poverty, Liang said she had no time for tears and had to pull herself together to feed the struggling household.
With debts increasing and money running short, the family could have collapsed had it not been for the perseverance of Liang, who had to wake up at 4am every day to sell breakfasts before working another two shifts at a restaurant while delivering chili sauce in between shifts, she said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“The tragedies happened anyway. We should face the music and live well, because there is no point crying over spilled milk. We have to stay strong and work hard,” she said, adding that she has taught her grandchildren to humble themselves and make peace with life.
Some of her grandchildren are old enough to be able to study away from home, but they have never failed to call her every day to express their love, she said.
They are also working part-time jobs to ease Liang’s burden, which gratifies her, she said.
Single father Tung Hsin-yung (董新勇) from Kaohsiung was the only male honoree, and he accepted the honor wearing traditional Rukai clothing.
He said that he was devastated when his wife abandoned him and their two children, adding that he drowned his sorrows in alcohol until social workers from the city’s Social Affairs Bureau relocated his young daughter.
Then he realized that he had to change, he said.
He enrolled in the bureau’s alcohol abuse treatment and vocational training programs for Aborigines and worked hard to start a new career, he said.
Thriving under Tung’s care, his son is a promising young athlete and his daughter is “a sweet girl who helps her father with farmwork,” Tung said, adding that the family enjoys a harmonious relationship.
Paralyzed from the waist down in an accident years ago, Hung Su-chuan (洪素娟) said she took on the task of raising the three children of her brother, who has a mild intellectual disability and was unable to take care of the children by himself after his wife left.
“I do whatever I can do to the best [of my abilities],” she said.
Hung is like a mother to her nephew and niece, and they would write her cards to express their gratitude from time to time, she said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS