The Journey of Asih from a Migrant Worker to A Migrant Worker's Friend in Need
On the side of a busy road in Zhongli District in Taoyuan City, a four-story apartment houses the Serve the People Association (SPA). Approaching its doors, big and small worn posters come into sight. A strip of spring couplet stood out from the collage, depicting only four Chinese characters: “身土不二”, which means human beings and the environment are always intertwined. SPA, established in 2008, upholds the principle that “everyone deserves dignity and fair treatment”. It strives to improve the working conditions of grassroots workers and safeguard the rights of the underprivileged. Our interviewee Asih, who came from Indonesia, has served in SPA for years and is responsible for immigrant rescue and placement care. On top of her mother tongue, Asih is also fluent in Mandarin Chinese. She devotes herself to easing communication difficulties between employers, employees, and impartial third parties by providing translation and interpreting services.
About the Project
In late 2022, the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation initiated the New Southbound Policy (NSP) Resilient Talent Project. The series goes into various fields and industries in Taiwan, uncovering the stories of NSP policy workers, new immigrants, their children, and NSP forces working in Taiwan. Through their sharing, we hope to better understand, from their groundwork experience, how the NSP has opened up Taiwan's Southward exchange and the associated opportunities and challenges.
In response to the rise of megatrends, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in geopolitics and climate change, the project also discusses with experts and scholars how regional cooperation keeps the doors open for exchanges between NSP talents, as well as how it helps build social resilience through talent development.