Migrant workers, new immigrants honored at literature award in Taipei

Taipei, Nov. 23 (CNA) Migrant workers and new immigrants were celebrated Sunday at Taipei Main Station for their contributions to Taiwan's literary landscape, with many awardees using the moment to express both their gratitude for Taiwan and their frustrations over the limits they continue to face.

"We, the migrants and immigrants in this foreign land, are just so lucky that Taiwan has been generally kind to us," Marvin Joaquin Alamag, a Filipino who won one of the three "Choice Awards," told the crowd at the ceremony for the 10th Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants.

Taiwan, he added, "never fails to make us feel that we are seen, that we are heard, that we are valued."

Alamag, 38, won NT$20,000 (US$637.45) with his Tagalog story "Ang Pagbabalik" (The Return), which follows the spirit of a Filipino worker who took his own life, as he navigates the memories of discrimination and exploitation he endured in Taiwan.

The fictional account drew inspiration from his 12 years working in an electronics-testing factory, Alamag said.

Despite the celebration, Alamag told CNA he feels "sad" as he prepares to leave Taiwan in mid-December after reaching the maximum 12-year stay allowed for most migrant workers.

"It's so hard to leave a place where I've lived for such a long time," he said. Earning about NT$35,000 a month including overtime, he added that he had already sent most of his belongings home to the Philippines. After returning home, he plans to take a break before seeking work opportunities in Europe.

"If I had the chance to work longer than that [12-year limit], I would love to," he said.

The ceremony ended with the presentation of the "First Prize" to Nguyễn Thị Hiền, a 23-year-old student from Vietnam. She received NT$150,000 for "The Rooftop Barber Shop" (頂樓的理髮店), a story that judges praised for its intimate portrayal of everyday migrant life in Taiwan.

Award founder Chang Cheng (張正) said the prize money is meant for immigrants "who are helping to write Taiwan's history, and their own history."

For Taiwan, he said, "they are carrying its history forward and writing a different kind of history."