On July 9, the Director of the Immigration Department, Qiu Fengguang, the Director of the Legal Affairs Division of the Mainland Affairs Council, Cai Zhiru, and the Deputy Director of the Legal Department of the SEF, Liu Huiling, took the Service Station Car to the City Government in Annan District, in Tainan City to visit the Vietnamese new residents Tong Shirong and Li Xue’e and the "Rong E Southern Store" opened by them. In addition to thanking them for their contribution building a cultural bridge between Taiwan and Vietnam. The delegation also painted the national flags and national flowers of the two countries in the traditional Vietnamese conical hats, symbolizing the friendship, harmony and cooperation between the both populations. 。 The "Rong E Southern Store" is different from other Southeast Asian groceries, which mainly sell daily necessities and food. Tong Shirong and Li Xue’e who want to deepen the understanding of the Taiwanese people about the culture of their home country, instead of just staying in foods such as pho and spring rolls. Their focus on cultural goods such as art pieces, pictures and costumes has gradually become an important base for the promotion of cultural exchanges with the south. The owner, Tong Shirong, has received resources from the "New Peasants and Their Children's Overseas Penetration Project" and the "New Residents and Children's Training and Scholarships" of the immigration department.
She says happily: "I thank the government for helping our Vietnames brothers and sisters to becam strong and sturdy. Myself, I was an ordinary housewife and now I am a multicultural lecturer. Taiwan has given to the new residents the courage and the place to pursue their dreams. We will strive to make grow the hopeful seeds of this cultural exchange."
Qiu Fengguang says: “Rong E Southern Store is the result of familiar love and their dream. The mental and physical efforts of Tong Shirong and Li Xue’e to achieve their dreams are very moving.
At present, more than 540,000 new residents live in Taiwan, if we count the second generation we are near the one million people. The Immigration Department has implemented a number of training programs such as the "New People and Their Children's Dream Project" in recent years. The aim is to help more new residents and their children, to develop language and multicultural resources, to use wisdom and creativity to promote social and economic trading, touristic exchanges, and to make Taiwan strengthen its role in the international scene.
