When Julia Chu was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 15, her life was turned upside down. Having undergone numerous operations, she is safe now, although she has lost her sight and the hearing in one ear. Picking herself up from life’s potholes, she has become Taiwan’s first blind counseling psychologist. For Chu, her vision loss has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
In her 12-year badminton career, Shen Yan-ru (Zoe Shen), now 22 years old and a student in the Graduate Institute of Physical Education at National Taiwan Sport University, has achieved a number of distinctions.
Known as “Grandpa Clown,” Chang Shih-ming is a street performer who suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed. Sitting in his wheelchair and wearing a clown costume, he uses balloon art to interact with others. Laughter fills the air wherever Chang goes.
Lo Chia-ling, whose kicks in the Tokyo Olympics were precise, swift, and fierce, is outside the ring a sincere and upbeat young woman who scrupulously abides by the spirit of Taekwondo. “In fact, I was more nervous during the qualifying events than I was in the formal competition.” Thinking back on her experience, she can’t help but laugh. “By the time I got to the formal competition, my mind was calm, and I wasn’t worried about winning or losing.”
At age 21, Chang Bu, like her fellow undergraduates, was in the prime of life. No one guessed that in that year she would be diagnosed with a type of bone cancer with an incidence of only around one case per million people per year. With her life plans derailed overnight, the young woman ventured into a world she had never imagined.
“Huang Hsiao-wen used straight punches and jabs with her forward hand to draw her opponent in, then attacked. In the first round, four of the five judges gave her a score of ten.”
“Huang Hsiao-wen won the third round with assurance, and advanced to the semifinals by a score of five to nothing.”
For Lin Hsin-pei, flaws in her appearance do not mean she is not normal, just as a nearsighted person is not abnormal for wearing glasses. Paralyzed from the waist down, she needs only a wheelchair and accessible spaces to live the life of an ordinary person. Lin has filmed a commercial for an around-the-world tour and has competed on the TV show I Am a Speaker. She has delivered more than 450 lectures, and lent moral support to countless people in trouble.
“Buen Camino!” (“Good Path!”) is a phrase you are sure to hear on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) in Spain, as pilgrims from around the world wish each other a safe journey.
In 2009 Peggy Liao, in her role as an International Youth Ambassador, visited Taiwan’s diplomatic ally Nauru for the first time. Many youth ambassadors visit this place once, then never go back, but thus far Liao has made four return journeys to Nauru.
Sun Ten Pharmaceutical’s Chinese patent medicines are famous, but few people know that the company’s founder, Hsu Hong-yen (1917-1991), was a dedicated collector of Taiwanese art. Believing that “medicine heals our bodies, and culture heals our souls,” he left behind an invaluable collection of cultural assets. Having taken care of these treasures for more than two decades, Hsu’s descendants in the United States at last decided to send them back to Taiwan.
