Friday, January 13, 2006

FORMER VIETNAMESE CARETAKER EMPLOYER BEMOANS ABUSE

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) Reading a newspaper story of a Vietnamese caretaker abused by her employer, Wang Chin-ching could not believe it is true. As a former employer of a Vietnamese caretaker, Wang said the relationship his family developed with the caretaker is one of his fondest memories and one that he would not trade for anything.

"I don't know why these horrible things happened. Why would we abuse people -- domestic or foreign -- we hire to take care of our family members and contribute to our country and families?" Wang, 63, asked CNA in a telephone interview from the central city of Taichung.

Taiwan's national reputation and human rights protection have suffered great damage, with more and more cases of abuse and mistreatment of foreign workers reported by local media in the past several years.

"You hire a caretaker to work 'with' you, not work 'for' you. And you treat her like your family because she is a human, not a machine. Will you abuse your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters? I don't think so, " Wang said.

Wang claimed that he saw his former employee, Tran Thi My, a 37-year-old caretaker called 'A-mei' by the family who spent almost two years in Taiwan, as his daughter. His wife and Tran both wept on the day Tran left, Wang said.

Tran was hired to take care of Wang's ill father, who died in October 2005. Under Taiwan regulations, a migrant caretaker is required to depart within one month of the death of the employer. Tran went back to Vietnam in early November 2005.

Tran and the Wangs call each other all the time. Tran even wrote a letter to Wang last week. "It's in Vietnamese. I took the letter to a hospital where Vietnamese caretakers there did the translation for me, " Wang said.

"She invited us to visit Vietnam and thanked us for all our help during her stay in Taiwan, " Wang said. "In fact, it's me who should say thanks to her because of what she did for my father and my family. She is now a part of our family," Wang said.

Coming from a poor family in Duc Hue, Long An Province, about two hours drive west of Ho Chi Minh city, Tran arrived in Taichung without taking any Chinese lessons. She could only communicate with the Wangs with gestures at first before learning Chinese through the textbooks Wang bought her.

"She is such a quick learner in terms of language, medical knowledge and cooking Taiwanese food, " Wang said. "And she took care of my father just like her own... with tremendous patience and care." Within a year, Tran spoke fluent Mandarin and Taiwanese.

Two occurrences stand out when Wang recollects the time Tran spent with the family.

"One early morning when we were waiting in the hospital lobby for a diagnosis on my father, she noticed a little boy who looked frustrated in the corner, " Wang recalled. The boy was there because his mother committed suicide that morning. "She comforted the boy and bought him breakfast."

"That's 'A-mei'. She is a person with a bright disposition and never hesitates to reach out a helping hand to those who suffer, although she comes from a poor family herself, " Wang said.

The elder Wang died last year and Tran "insisted on doing all the traditional Taiwanese rituals in the funeral: kneeling down, thurification, worship for the dead and all that just like every family member although she didn't have to do so. What she did touched everyone in the funeral, " Wang said.

Tran sent her clothes to other Vietnamese caretakers before leaving. "She told me that Vietnamese workers in Taiwan should help each other because they come from the same country and most of them share the same background of coming from a poor environment, " Wang said.