Toh Jin Xuan and His Journey to Journalism
Toh Jin Xuan is the editor of the Southeast Asian desk at the News Lens. He witnessed the Sunflower Movement while he was in Taiwan pursuing graduate studies, which sparked his interest in the social and political issues on the island. Later, he published a book on the victims of the White Terror, a 40-year period of political repression in 20th-century Taiwan. Since the implementation of the New Southbound Policy, he has been reporting more on Southeast Asia. The journalist has also noticed that Taiwanese society has become more aware of developments in Southeast Asian countries. Toh hopes that more Southeast Asian media will cover news in Taiwan so that communication can go both ways. Speaking of staying in Taiwan for his career, Toh thinks that he has benefited from the new, more flexible Scoring Criteria, which considers more than just income, but also comprehensively assesses the abilities of applicants. Looking forward, Toh Jin Xuan suggests that the government offer more scholarships to Southeast Asian students in order to nurture more talent in communications. Taiwan's freedom of speech can be a competitive edge that allows international students to understand issues from different perspectives.
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.