TAIPEI (The China Post) — With more than one million second-generation Taiwanese in Taiwan, many have begun sharing their unique stories and backgrounds as well as their journeys in getting to know their parent’s cultures.
One such child of a Vietnamese mother recently took to the internet to share their story. According to the anonymous post, the writer’s mother is a foreign spouse, and because of this, the writer was often subject to cruel taunts from their peers at school who called them “the child of a Vietnamese.”
Frustrated, they often took their anger out on their mother, who would cry her apologies to her child. Fortunately, the writer revealed that their father’s family was very supportive of their mother and arranged for her to take Chinese classes in the evening.
Without the language barrier, mother and child began rebuilding their relationship and the writer’s mother was able to fit into her new life in Taiwan.
After entering the sixth grade, the writer revealed that they began to regret blaming their mother for being bullied and began embracing their own identity as a second-generation Taiwanese.
The writer explained how they began learning Vietnamese and would visit Vietnam every two years to visit their grandparents back home. After graduating, they successfully landed a job at an international business and began truly acknowledging the advantage learning a third language was for them.
By sharing their story, the writer wrote that they hoped more second-generation children would be inspired to embrace their identities as well and appreciate their parents even more.
The post was met with positive responses from the internet community with many acknowledging the contributions of new immigrants and their children, adding that because of them, Taiwan can become a more culturally diverse and welcoming home.