Saturday, September 25, 2010

Indonesian caretakers meet loved ones in Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 25 (CNA) Seven Indonesian caretakers on Saturday met relatives they had not seen for years, at an emotional reunion in Taipei.

The seven female caretakers, selected from more than 100 applicants to take part in the event organized by Radio Taiwan International to reward hard-working migrant workers, hugged and kissed their husbands and fathers with tears streaming down their faces.

The families were flown in Friday from Indonesia for a six-day trip, during which they will share rare private moments and visit places of interest such as the Taipei 101 tower, mosques and scenic spots in the Taipei area.

Sunday, 33, finally had a chance to give her husband Datas Henry Gulton a kiss, something she was unable to do since she left her home country for Taiwan at midnight two years ago.

An employer surnamed Chung told the 200-odd guests at the ceremony that his family's caretaker, 44-year-old Masrikin, knew almost everything about his 95-year-old mother-in-law, even more than he did. Chung said he was happy to see Masrikin finally have an opportunity to meet her husband Kademin again after eight years.

Muryati, 39, was praised for saving her employer's life when she took the 90-year-old woman to a hospital emergency room without waiting for an ambulance, which arrived late.

Muryati's employer was so determined to accept her into the family that the family stopped eating pork out of respect for her Muslim faith.

Despite the occasional negative report in the headlines about migrant workers abuse, the seven inspiring stories related at the ceremony Saturday said a lot about what is happening in most people's daily lives, said Lin San-quei, director-general of Taiwan's Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training under the Council of Labor Affairs.

One such story, which was reported earlier this year, was about a Taiwanese employer forcing Indonesian workers to eat pork.

At the event Saturday, Taiwanese employers took pictures of their employees on stage and told everyone how proud they were of their Indonesian employees.

"My compatriots left their homes to take care of Taiwanese employers -- I hope that the people of Taiwan will look after my fellow Indonesians," said Harmen Sembiring, the representative at the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei.

Four members of the Indonesian Parliament and staff members of the Indonesia's Antara news agency and Indonesian public television also joined the six-day tour.

According to Harmen, there are 151,723 Indonesian workers in Taiwan, accounting for more than 40 percent of all migrant workers. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc