Hongdao Elderly Welfare Foundation (弘道老人福利基金會) and the Social Affairs Bureau of Taichung City Government co-hosted the "21st Recognition Ceremony for Multigenerational Families of Filial Piety" on September 20. A total of nearly 500 persons from 51 multigenerational families attended the event. Mayor Lin Chia-lung conferred awards to diamond model families that have been taking care their elders for more than 30 years. He hoped that everyone would treat their elders and their families with love and respect. “Embrace the elders often to show your love,” said Mayor Lin.

Among the 84 families being recognized in the ceremony, 77 were multigenerational families and the other 7 were model families that have been practicing filial piety. Among the elders who attended the event 38 are over 90 years old, of whom the oldest is 102 years old. The "Filial Piety Awards" were conferred for the first time in the ceremony this year. 12 of the 19 families from Taichung City who received the Filial Piety Awards attend the ceremony. Among the participants, the most notably were the family of Mr. Han Xue-huo (韓學火) from Pingtung County. It was spectacular to see the Han family of 50 persons, all dressed up in uniform, walking onto stage to receive the award. It was a demonstration of family cohesiveness.

Guests attending the ceremony included Mayor Lin; Chen Su-chun (陳素春), Deputy Director of Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare; Lue Jen-der (呂建德), Director-general of Social Affairs Bureau; Wang Nai-hong (王乃弘), Chairman of Hongdao Elderly Welfare Foundation, and many others. "Show your love now. Start to show your love to the elders," Mayor Lin said. “I am glad to see so many grandmas and grandpas taking their sons and grandsons to participate in this event. I am very honored to co-host this event with Hongdao, because Hongdao started its services from Taichung and expands its service scope to the whole country. As we position Taichung as a most livable city, Hongdao is our best partner in promoting filial piety. It is only natural for us to show filial respect to our elders. Take care of the elders like you are taking care of your own children. Embrace them more often.

“The city government is now working with Hongdao to promote the Evergreen Studio (不老館), the first of its kind in Taiwan,” Mayor Lin continued. “We have launched an integrated, comprehensive daycare plan for the elderly, which includes free dentures to senior citizens aged 60 and older, the Changqing Happiness School, the Evergreen Academy, the community care stations, etc., We hope to give our elders the best care. At the same time, if anyone has difficulty in caring his or her family, please talk to our team to seek assistance.”

Wang Nai-hong, Chairman of Hongdao Elderly Welfare Foundation, pointed out that three different age groups of people (in the 20, 62, and 73 categories) were invited to talk about filial piety, their care giving experiences and how the third generation felt when observing their father taking care of their grandmas. “Filial piety means not only to take care of the daily life for your elders but also to help them fulfill their dream to stay young,” said Wang.

Ye Jun-jie (葉俊傑), a resident in North District of Taichung City, is the winner of diamond model this year. Raised up by the 102-year-old Tsai Lin Duan (蔡林端), Ye Jun-jie has been taking care of his wheel-chaired grandma and his ill parents with all his hearts for more than 10 years. He not only serves meals to his grandma and parents in person but also chats with them very often every day. “The filial piety of Ye Jun-jie is really very touching,” Social Affairs Bureau said.