Translated…
Taiwan had officially, entered into the aged society now, with the decline in birthrate, the structure of the population looked like a reversed pyramid, and this sort of societal trend is especially prevalent in the distant areas; and, the foreign nurse’s aides and migrants had added to the population of the younger generations in these areas, becoming a unique scene on its own.
and this, is what is currently going on here…
Take Pingdong for instance, in the parks here, in the afternoons, there would be a row of elderly in wheelchairs, pushed outside by the foreign nurses’ aides to get some sun. The elderly who were sitting in the chairs used Taiwanese to communicate with one another, and, the foreign nurses’ aides also used their own language to talk with each other. At after seven or eight in the evenings, there’s a brand new scene at the park, because the local elders are already asleep, and the park had become, an exercise place for the migrant caretakers. At which time, the dialects of Southeast Asia were heard, and, as a local of Pingdong, I’d felt like, I WAS the outsider now.
In the traditional marketplaces, I’d often come across the foreign brides from Southeast Asia who were very agile in weighing the items they were selling, or using the unpracticed Taiwanese, helping her husband do business. And, Pingdong was originally having the difficulties of declining population as is, but now, due to this group of “outsiders”, I’d made the city younger, and more alive.
Every time I’d seen these foreign nurses’ aides who’d floated from the seas to find work here I and my silver-haired friends would always smile at them friendly, because maybe, when we’re older, we may need them, to look after us too; on the other hand, maybe my own offspring will need to, leave home to find work away from their home country. As we’re treating the foreigners’ younger generations with kindness, hopefully, others will also, treat our own younger generations kindly too.
And so, this, would be in hopes of that empathy being passed on, because you realized, how hard it must be, for these foreign-hired workers to come abroad, leaving their own children behind, to take care of your own elders, you’d treated them kindly, because someday, your own young may become a “guest” in someone else’s world too.