India, with the world’s second-largest population and seventh-largest land area, is a place of opportunity. In this month’s cover story we visit this diverse, complex, and exotic nation, where several Taiwanese long-term residents tell us their impressions of its life and people, and Taiwanese firms share their experiences of doing business there.
We also interview Tien Chung Kwang, Taiwan’s representative in India. The two main axes along which he promotes Taiwan‡India relations are “creating a need for Taiwan” and “making India a base for sustainable operations.” He gives us his analysis of India’s unique cultural background, and enumerates Taiwan’s potential advantages in pursuing commercial opportunities in India.
There are many ways to a deeper understanding of Taiwan. You could view it through the eyes of early naturalists, at the National Taiwan Museum’s “Discovering Taiwan” exhibition; you could explore the photography of Li Hao, which makes us rethink daily life; or you could admire the amazing artworks fashioned from scrap materials by Tsai Erh-ping.
Such concern for the environment, societal systems, and human nature involves a degree of deconstruction and reobservation of preconceived notions, as a means to restore truth and discover solutions. At the social enterprise “Do You a Flavor,” a group of young people use their free time to stage events, construct websites, and promote activities like the “Life Market” and “Stone Soup” projects. They aim to strip away the labels that people attach to street people and hawkers, reconnect the disadvantaged with society, and create new possibilities for social engagement.
The integration of diverse ethnic groups in Taiwan society relies on understanding and acceptance between cultures, which can be expressed through religion, cuisine, and customs. In this context Fatayat NU, the women’s youth league of the Indonesian Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama, not only provides spiritual support to female Muslim migrant workers; it also encourages members to take skills training classes offered by the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei, and it takes part in public service activities in Taiwan.
National policy advisor Ho Thanh Nhan, an immigrant woman from Vietnam, visits schools and communities to lecture on cultural diversity, building cross-cultural bridges by explaining Southeast-Asian customs. Meanwhile Chef Ah-Tong (Rapeeporn Sillapkit) has used the flavors of her native Thailand to spark a craze for Thai cuisine in Taiwan. The efforts of these people of different nations and ethnicities are creating rich and colorful cultural vistas for our island.
