“Wow!” Children wearing 3D glasses watch the images being shown by a movie truck and occasionally let out shrieks of surprise. Schools of fish and flying purple crow butterflies seem to approach their faces, and the kids reach out as if to touch them. At Nan Sing Elementary School in Taoyuan’s Daxi District, the Formosa 3D movie truck is playing 3D video images as part of a project that has been running for more than a decade.

Finding unsung heroes

Director Charlie Chu, who founded the project, is a veteran filmmaker who shot music videos for many famous singers. However, at age 35, as his career was at its peak, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

After surgery that saved his life, he lost hearing in his left ear and normal vision in his left eye, and one half of his face was left paralyzed.

Following his illness, Chu retained his old enthusiasm for making videos. When 3D filming was still a difficult technology to master and was attracting little interest, Chu spent a great deal of his own money learning to use it. In his auto­biography, Chu says that in the past he had always looked to faraway places to seek out scenery that couldn’t be found in Taiwan. But after his illness he re­assessed his life, and discovered that the most precious scenery was right there at his feet. Taiwan has beautiful coral reefs, easily accessible high mountains, many endemic species, and many traditional craft skills that are still being kept alive. Without expecting any return on his investment, Chu used 3D filming to record Taiwan’s natural and cultural scenery in the documentary 3D Taiwan, which won a Creative Arts Award.

Chu was also determined to enable children in remote communities to see 3D films, and he sold his studio to create a movie truck. The 3.5-ton vehicle has a high-­resolution screen, surround sound, and excellent shading.

Besides visiting the remotest areas in Taiwan, Chu even transported the movie truck by ship to offshore islands, and he has turned temple plazas and school sports grounds into outdoor movie theaters. Wherever he goes, Chu is surrounded by kids seeking his autograph, and he always writes encouraging messages for them, such as “Face challenges bravely.”

These past few years, Chu has added films from his “Taiwan Unsung Heroes” series to the movies he screens. The images of indomitable people who have overcome difficulties and disabilities all inspire audiences to do better. Thanks to the touring movie truck, these seeds of positive energy have been planted in the minds of many more people.

Charlie Chu created this mobile movie truck which tours all over Taiwan to convey hope and courage to young people.

Children wear 3D glasses to watch a movie about Taiwan’s beautiful scenery, which seems close enough to reach out and touch. Their smiles provide the motivation for the Formosa 3D team to continue touring.

Bringing the world to you

Another mobile service that visits schools is mobile libraries, a.k.a. bookmobiles.

We follow one of the bookmobiles of the Taoyuan Public Library (TPL) as it visits Longgang Elementary School in Taoyuan’s Zhongli District. After the vehicle stops, the TPL staff open the gull-wing doors on both sides and neatly set up tables and chairs in the school’s entrance hall. Thus the truck is quickly transformed into a library ready to welcome young readers.

When the children see the bookmobile, they excitedly surround it in search of books they want to read, which they then flip through as they sit on the chairs and stools set out for them. One third-grader borrows a book of cupcake recipes, saying that her birthday is coming up and she wants to make some at home with her parents.

Besides visiting schools, Taoyuan’s bookmobiles travel to remote communities, nursing homes, and correctional institutions. They also combine their visits with other activities, such as inviting residents of veterans’ homes to tell their stories, or putting on small-scale theatrical or magic performances, to attract more people.

Hoping to deliver the vast world of books to every corner of Taoyuan, the TPL bookmobile teams try to find suitable partners in each location they serve. One example is Dun Pin High School, which TPL began working with in 2022.

Dun Pin High School is a youth detention center for minors of senior-high-school age. Principal James Kuo hopes his students will use their time there as an opportunity to start over. He believes that reading is a critical component in this process and is always happy to see the mobile library visit Dun Pin.

Reading can enable children to explore subjects they are interested in and expand their horizons. Dun Pin teacher Viv Chung recounts how one young person who was reading a cookbook said he wanted to cook for his family and dreamed of one day opening a restaurant. The school held an activity in which they invited the teenagers to write essays sharing what they had got out of reading books from the book­mobile. One student who read a psychology book set ­himself the goal of “trusting myself, appreciating myself.” As James Kuo says to his students: “What you get from reading is stored in your brain, and no one can take it away.”

When children see a bookmobile unfolding like a Transformer, they excitedly press forward to find a book they want to read.

Students sit down to flip through books they have selected from the mobile library. In this way reading imperceptibly becomes routine.

Besides showing films, the Formosa 3D movie truck serves as a green energy classroom. Here the host explains vividly how solar power works.

When the bookmobile visits Dun Pin High School, it helps make reading part of the lives of the young people there.

Dun Pin High School asked students to share their thoughts on what they had got out of books, creating an opportunity to lift the kids’ spirits.

Life services in Taitung

In sparsely populated rural areas there are many mobile vendors who drive around in small trucks selling meat, vegetables, and household goods, while “little bees”—trucks selling drinks, snacks and boxed meals—often gather around military bases and construction sites. Over the past few years many supermarkets in Taiwan have also launched their own mobile service ­vehicles. In 2022, the lifestyle-oriented clothing and household goods retailer Muji set up a mobile service base in Taitung County.

Gary Huang, who drives Muji’s mobile service vehicle, usually works alone, driving to remote places and handling inventory, inquiries, and sales. After noticing that many elderly residents have their grandchildren living with them, he thoughtfully brings along illustrated storybooks to entertain the children while their grandparents shop, transforming into a storyteller.

Huang has now been visiting various locations around Taitung for more than a year, and residents have become familiar with him and the Muji vehicle. They inform him of the best times to stop in certain places and even invite him to bring the vehicle to community activities, such as the graduation ceremony for Chih Shang Junior High School and the Taiwan International Balloon Festival.

Gary Huang has built up emotional ties with the communities he serves. When the weather is hot, people bring him cool drinks. Once a man who was working in the fields was in such a hurry to come and shop for his wife and children that he didn’t have time to wash the soil off his hands. And a father who was not very good at expressing himself carefully selected presents for his children. For Muji, even though the profits from the vehicle do not always match the costs, the fact that they can meet the needs of daily life for local people gives the whole enterprise meaning.

In the time that mobile services driver Gary Huang has been plying his beat in Taitung County, he has had many heartwarming interactions with residents. (courtesy of Muji Taiwan)

Muji’s mobile services vehicle visits townships throughout Taitung. The photo shows the scenic “King Kong Avenue” in Changbin Township. (courtesy of Muji Taiwan)

Songs for you

Living in Taiwan, where people treasure freedom and equality, there are always people willing to speak up for neglected groups in society. Music producer Hsieh Ming-yu, winner of multiple Golden Melody Awards, focuses on elders aged over 65, whom he calls “people who only ever lived for others.” “I decided to form a group to go and perform for them.”

Hsieh formed the band PunCar, which drives around to perform for older folks at medical ­institutions and nursing homes. Because the band plays free of charge, a prerequisite for joining it is that one has no financial worries. Now in his 50s, Hsien has been performing in this band since he was 35.

PunCar specializes in performing songs that were popular when these elderly people were young. Offstage some people clap their hands while others sing along, immersed in nostalgia for their own youth. To enable old folks in remote areas to enjoy concert-quality sound and lighting, in 2018 PunCar began holding concerts in remote areas with large elderly populations. Likewise featuring vintage songs loved by old people, the concerts are performed under the rubric “Songs for You.”

For Hsieh and the band, performing for old people is often a race against time. Sometimes the audience will include seriously ill people lying on gurneys with tubes inserted all over their bodies. When they hear the band play, they are moved to tears. “This kind of silent applause resonates the most,” says Hsieh.

The band PunCar tours medical institutions and nursing homes around Taiwan to perform for elderly people and help them recall the days of their youth. (courtesy of Liann Long-Term Care Center)

Mobile bathing service vehicles operated by expert teams of nurses and caregivers bring portable bathtubs into service users’ homes, enabling bedridden people to bathe with dignity. (courtesy of SOLC)

Bathing for disabled people

For most people, bathing or showering is routine. But for bedridden disabled people and their families, moving the patient to the bathroom is often too ­difficult, leaving them with sponge baths as their only option. However, over time this not only leads to unpleasant odors but also increases the risk of infection and can bring on stress and a sense of helplessness.

In 2008, Taiwan had its first mobile bathing vehicle. It carried a stretcher specially designed for disabled people and a bathtub that was assembled on site, and was operated by a specialist care team including a nurse.

It was Li Shih-hung, CEO at the Sisters of Our Lady of China Catholic Charity Social Welfare Foundation (SOLC), who initiated the mobile bathing program. He happened to hear about such services in Japan and personally went there to learn how they do it. After returning to Taiwan, he set about the tasks of refitting a vehicle, getting the right equipment, and training staff. He says that the service’s top priorities are safety and the feelings of the service users.

The mobile bathing vehicle can supply both hot and cold water, which is delivered into people’s homes through pipes. The team first assesses the service user’s physical condition and moves them into the tub using the stretcher. To avoid them catching a chill, the tub has continually running warm, clean water at a constant temperature. Li shares the story of a brother and sister who were providing long-term care to their mother, who had osteoarthritis. When the bathing service first visited her home, she was very tense, but after the team placed her in the tub with careful guidance, she relaxed her tightly clenched hands and her facial expression became calm. At this point the mother was moved to tears, while her son and daughter had already run to the living room to embrace each other as they wept with gratitude for the improvement that the bathing service had brought in the care they were able to provide to their mother.

With the general public still largely unaware of mobile bathing services, Li led his team on a tour of Taiwan, washing more than 100 patients in 40 days. He also founded the Taiwan Bathing Care Association to train personnel and create detailed technical guidelines for bathing services. As a result of the association’s advocacy, mobile bathing services are now included in the items eligible for government subsidies as part of long-term care packages. Many local governments are setting up mobile bathing services and a group even came from Singapore to learn about the system.

All these mobile services, whether movies, books, shopping, musical performances, or bathing, are not simply about the provision of services to meet demand. Rather, the people-to-people interactions that take place in the course of these services create sparks that are a beautiful part of Taiwan’s cultural landscape.

Mobile bathing teams visit disabled people in their homes and help make their wishes for a proper bath come true. (courtesy of SOLC)