![\"\"](\"http:\/\/peiyulin.tw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/TT-One-Forty-Story-1024x683.jpg\")
Suwarto, an Indonesian migrant worker, missed home. He missed listening to his children chatter about their school days and visiting his aging father every week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suwarto ran a factory in Indonesia producing school uniforms. But a sudden steep increase in the price of cloth put him deeply in debt. To pay it off, he closed his factory and set off for a new country, Taiwan, for three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve was thinking, it\u2019ll take a long time to pay off my debt because the factory where I work has no overtime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he received training from the non-governmental organization One-Forty, Suwarto acquired the Mandarin skills he needed to negotiate a raise with his boss, speeding his return to his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 600,000 Southeast Asian migrants work in Taiwan, primarily in the domestic caregiving, manufacturing and fishing industries. Unable to find lucrative jobs in their home countries, they go abroad in hopes of earning enough to support their families, as well as open small businesses upon their return. While in Taiwan, some endure poor working conditions, social isolation and negative stereotypes. When they go back to their home countries, failed businesses or low pay may again force them to leave, creating a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking its name from the fraction of the Taiwanese population that consists of Southeast Asian migrant workers \u2014 one out of 40 \u2014 One-Forty is a nonprofit founded in 2015 to break this cycle by providing skills training to workers and facilitating intercultural understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe want the public to see the stories of migrant workers, and help them to learn some useful knowledge and skills during their time in Taiwan,\u201d 28-year-old co-founder Kevin Chen (\u9673\u51f1\u7fd4) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One-Forty is currently the only non-governmental organization in Taiwan focused on providing classes for Southeast Asian migrant workers. These classes include in-person and offline courses \u2014 collectively known as \u201cOne-Forty School\u201d \u2014 on subjects such as computer skills, financial management, Mandarin and makeup application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With new language skills, the workers not only gain the ability to participate more fully in Taiwanese society and communicate with their employers, but also can spread awareness about their hardships and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BRIDGING CULTURAL DIVIDES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides its educational platforms, One-Forty attempts to break negative stereotypes Taiwanese people hold toward migrant workers. At its monthly Open Sunday event, the organization hosts picnics, cooking sessions, day trips to Southeast Asian communities in Taipei and other activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Wang Yio-en (\u738b\u4f51\u6069), a college student studying Indonesian who had often wandered Taipei Main Station to chat with Indonesian migrants, Open Sunday provided an opportunity to more systematically familiarize himself with Southeast Asian culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a day trip to a predominantly Filipino district on Zhongshan North Road (\u4e2d\u5c71\u5317\u8def), he talked to Filipino migrants in front of St Christopher\u2018s Church (\u8056\u591a\u798f\u5929\u4e3b\u5802), and purchased Filipino food at Jin Won Won Department Store (\u91d1\u842c\u842c\u767e\u8ca8) under the guidance of One-Forty volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hadn\u2019t interacted with Philippine migrant workers before\u201d Wang said, adding that he was happy at having the opportunity to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others are less sanguine over whether the organization\u2019s efforts can change minds or hearts. Wang Yi-ting (\u738b\u82e1\u5a77), 21, also an Open Sunday participant, questioned the event\u2019s effectiveness at broadening the perspectives of the Taiwanese public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[One-Forty\u2019s] main exposure is on social media, so they can [only] attract people that are originally interested in the topic,\u201d Wang Yi-ting said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BRIGHTER FUTURES ON THE HORIZON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond their current projects, One-Forty aims to apply its strategies elsewhere in Asia and partner with other NGOs. It recently gained authorization to use a financial textbook published by an NGO in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are lots of migrant workers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. We will connect the whole area, find organizations similar to One-Forty, and do some joint campaign,\u201d Chen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a more international reach, One-Forty can assist more migrant workers like Suwarto, who has returned to Indonesia with the skills to set up a successful business. Suwarto now operates a factory for T-shirts and screen printing in his hometown of Demak, Central Java. Sometimes, he misses the One-Forty teachers. But most of the time, he thinks about hiring 1,000 employees, cooperating with local brands and earning the high school diploma he never completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI used to be depressed because of the loss of my first business. There was also the fear of trying to open a business again [for fear of failure].. After One-Forty … I am eager to do business again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Lin Pei-yu and Catherine Lin – Published on Taipei Times.
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