In order to present a collection of great stories of new immigrants to Taiwan, the [Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network] collaborates with National Immigration Agency, Ministry of the Interior's podcast series [Culture Chat Room]. [Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network] has also compiled this episode into 5 languages including Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian. Li Ru-bao(李如寶), a second-generation Vietnamese immigrant, is invited to this episode. The creator of Foodeast (赴憶文化), Li Ru-bao, is dedicated to advancing the training program for second-generation immigrants.
Li Ru-bao hopes that more second-generation immigrants can understand the native culture of their parents.Photo reproduced from Foodeast 赴憶文化 Facebook
Li Ru-bao’s mother is Vietnamese, while her father is a businessman from Taiwan. She was born and raised in Vietnam and did not move back until she graduated from college. Long-term blending of two different cultures always leads to conflicts, both external and internal. As a result, when Li Ru-bao was younger, she frequently questioned her own identity.
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Li Ru-bao hopes that more second-generation immigrants can understand the native culture of their parents.Photo reproduced from Foodeast 赴憶文化 Facebook
Li attended an entrepreneurship course during her senior year, which inadvertently set her on the path to becoming an entrepreneur. She is highly interested in issues relating to migrant workers, new immigrants, and the second-generation immigrants, and she aims to utilize her entrepreneurial skills to improve some aspects of the present situation in the future.
Li Ru-bao conducted several interviews with new immigrants and second-generation immigrants due to the demands of the course. She discovered that many of the second-generation immigrants do not have many opportunities to learn about their parents' culture. It also prompted Li the notion to educate more young people about the culture of their parents, the new immigrants.
Being an entrepreneur wasn't easy in the beginning. Li Ru-bao's team suffered when the pandemic erupted in 2021, forcing them to postpone three events in a month. Li made the decision to persist out of a sense of duty, taking part in various projects or contests and utilizing the bonuses she gained to add recruit team members and keep the team's essential functions running.
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Board games and picture books developed by Li Ru-bao's team.Photo reproduced from Foodeast 赴憶文化 Facebook
Foodeast, which founded by Li Ru-bao, is aggressively creating goods like board games and picture books to broaden its appeal. With the use of board games and picture books with the themes of food and Vietnamese stories, it is hoped that not only the younger generation, but also other people will be able to comprehend Southeast Asian culture. Li also wishes for the new generation, whether they are new immigrants or second-generation immigrants, to make a positive contribution to society of Taiwan.
Listen to [Culture Chat Room] of National Immigration Agency on the following platforms.
