Culture Minister Lung Yingtai and several public figures are urging the public to contribute their personal stories to a “national memory” project.
The project was launched last November and aims to help preserve Taiwan’s history. The Ministry of Culture said on Thursday that the project has so far gathered the personal stories of over 3,000 Taiwanese people.
Among them are stories from immigrants to Taiwan, former leprosy patients who were segregated from society, and Taiwanese men who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Lin Li-chan moved to Taiwan from Cambodia 16 years ago when she married a Taiwanese man. She is one of the contributors to the project.
"I wrote a poem in memory of my mother. She cooked food for me, and all I could give her now is a poem. I want to preserve the memory of her in here. When you read the poem, you read about my mother and palm sugar," said Lin.
The Ministry of Culture said members of the public can record their stories at 61 recording stations across Taiwan, or do it on their own and upload the files to the project’s official website at https://storytaiwan.tw.