All the trials of her life could’ve been spared, had she not falsely believed that a better life awaits her in Taiwan, the tragedies that plagued this migrant’s life, translated…
As a reporter for the advocacy of the rights of migrant workers from Southeast Asia, newly migrated people, I get asked, “You’re not related to them, no ties with Southeast Asia, why are you willing, to keep on speaking out?”
This need to be traced back to the autumn of 2013, I went with my partners to the all women’s prison in Longtan, Taoyuan to visit the Southeast Asian inmates.
As Taiwanese citizens committed a crime, they are to serve in prison, this goes for Southeast Asian migrant workers, as well as the immigrated individuals as well, some broke the laws unknowingly, some acted on impulse, and did something they couldn’t take back, an assortment of reasons had, made them get locked up inside these jail cells, and they’d counted the days, until they’re, released.
And still, compared to all other younger Southeast Asian inmates, there was this elderly, small-framed, hair all white woman who’d smiled on from the Philippines who’d caught my attention; she looked like a kindhearted elderly woman living in any normal neighborhoods, and I had a difficult time, connecting her with the “prisoners”. Besides, at her age, she should be at home, living out her elderly years with ease, what is she doing here, in jail?
Too many whys had gotten me to find this Filipino elderly woman to chat. As she’d started talking, her smiles vanished without a trace, and replacing it, were the never ending cries.
The elderly woman who had a melt down, told me her past in plain English: she was a carefree Filipino girl, with a stable job back home, although her household is a bit poor, being with her family was the biggest blessing to her. Back then, she’d never imagined she’d traveled abroad for work, to live.
Thirty years ago, the trends of shipping in foreign brides from China and Southeast Asia, there were a ton of agents of marriage that enticed these younger women with false promises, “You’ll get a HUGE payout, marrying over to Taiwan, you will be dearly loved by your husbands.” It’d had them carrying that imagined wonder, to marry Taiwanese men they’d never met, and, as they set foot on this island, the bursting of their bubble had, begun.
In her younger year, grandma married over to Taiwan for the same reasons, but, what’s unfortunate was she married an awful man who’s an alcoholic and into women, even after they’d had a son and a daughter together afterwards, her husband didn’t want to come home anymore, in the end, he took up another woman outside, and forced the elderly woman who was heartbroken to file for divorce, and she’d started shouldering the responsibilities of raising her two children.
But, the difficulties of a Southeast Asian woman with no fluency in the language, finding work was extremely difficult, the elderly woman hit walls, trying to find work, in the end, she’d started working at a factory, earning very low pay. The enormous pressures of life, plus having to carry the hardships of raising her own two young children, made her sell her soul to the devil in a time of weakness—she’d started getting drugs from the dealers to sell, sold to the Filipinos in the factory she worked in for extra money, in the end, she got caught, was arrested, and was sentenced to ten years, and she was forced to part with her two beloved children too.
The elderly continued crying, and told, “if I can restart time again, I would NEVER do such things, or, maybe, I wouldn’t have chosen, to marry to Taiwan.”
But, time can’t restart, no amount of regrets can, make up for the past. Still, if our social services organizations in her direst time of need, can provide her with a helping hand, or someone who knew of her predicament was willing to help, I’m sure, that the elderly who’s naturally kind wouldn’t have gone down the wrong paths in life.
Ever since, I’d started writing stories of these Southeast Asian migrant workers, the stories of these immigrated individuals, so the citizens in Taiwan will better understand them. All of this, I hope, is to prevent the Southeast Asian friends to become like the Filipino elderly woman, shedding her tears of regrets in prison.
So, this elderly woman came here when she was young, in search of a better life, she was fed the lies, coaxed, into believing, that a better life awaited her here, but instead, fate had other plans, and, the only wrong move she’d made was, coming here, had she not done that, maybe, her life would be completely different now…
Life, the Obstacle Course 