An education program in Cambodia founded by a Taiwanese charity has benefited nearly 10,000 Cambodians over the past five years, which is comparable to a modern equivalent of the famed agricultural missions dispatched by the Taiwanese government to aid diplomatic allies in the 1960s.
The Cambodia-Taiwan Education Program was launched by the Taiwan Exquisite Culture and Education Association five years ago after the group, having funded a lunch program for orphanages in Cambodia with local priests, found that food relief would not lift orphans out of poverty, the program’s director, Hsu Chien-wen (許茜雯), said.
An occupational training subprogram was initiated this year to introduce 2,000 Cambodians to employment opportunities at Taiwanese businesses based in Cambodia over the next three years, Hsu said.
After emerging from the regime of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia remains the poorest and most in need among Asian countries, she said, adding that the association decided to provide aid to the country as its efforts could be maximized with minimal budget in Cambodia, while the friendliness of Cambodians toward aid workers was also a factor.
“The philosophy of the association is: ‘We do what we can.’ It is within the power of the association to support Cambodia, although there are other countries in need of assistance,” she said.
Established with a limited amount of charitable donations, the education program was selective in providing aid, starting in cities and then expanding to remote areas, she said.
The program is mainly based on English and computer courses, as English is an international language, and digital literacy gaps have led to a widening wealth gap in the 21st century, so computer education is at the heart of the program, she said.
Kenny, a Cambodian manager of the program, said that although rural areas are in general underdeveloped and poverty-stricken, everyone knows that learning English and computer skills is key to changing the future, so parents are willing to sign their children up.
The program has offered Chinese courses in some regions to help young people find jobs in the tourism industry or with Taiwanese businesses, Hsu said.
Nearly 10,000 Cambodians have taken courses with the program, and the association launched an occupational training subprogram to provide sewing training this year, with trainees having completed the training to be recommended to Taiwanese companies, she said.
The program provides Taiwanese with an opportunity to perform volunteer work, with hundreds of Taiwanese students volunteering in Cambodia and learning by helping others each year, she said, adding that the program has helped promote Taiwan through charity work.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS