College students work hard to prove and improve themselves: Students of Southern
Taiwan University of Science and Technology were elected models of filial piety.

Three representatives of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology were elected models of filial piety this year. They are Sian-Ting Peng (Department of International Trade), Kai-Jie Zhan (Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering), Fon-Hwang Lin (Department of Finance). Peng-Sian Ting has had outstanding performance; in addition to her excellent academic, she has been hard-working as she grew up in a poor family. Thanks to the appreciation and recommendation by her townspeople, she was elected to the 2014 National Filial Piety Award. Kai-Jie Zhan and Fon-Hwang were elected models of filial piety in Taichung and Tainan, respectively.

【Vice President Wu Dun-yi (middle), Minister of Domestic Affairs Wei-Zen Chen (fifth from left) and National models of filial piety】

Sian-Ting Peng grew up in poor single-parent families, with her mother staying long-term in a mental hospital due to poor mental condition. Now she still lives with her brother, who is mildly mentally retarded, and her grandmother, who has been collecting and reselling recycled goods for money to bring up the two grandchildren. In order to share her grandmother’s heavy workload, every day after school she has to categorize recycling cartons, plastic, iron and aluminum cans, etc. When the school is off, she has to take two part-time jobs to earn money for tuition, thereby reducing the financial burden on her grandmother. She has never neglected her schoolwork because of the heavy work. Moreover, she rides her grandmother to see a doctor and visits her mother regularly to encourage her and help keep her in a happy mood.

【Minister of Domestic Affairs Wei-Zen Chen (left) awarded the medal to Sian-Ting Peng (right)】

Kai-Jie Zhan had an ordinary life similar to his peers before the third year of his junior high school year, when his father passed away due to illness and the family lost its finance support. Ever since then he has replaced his father, taking care of two young sisters and his mother and grandmother. Even after his entered college, he has never been slacking off; instead, he put in more effort than before, using his spare time to work and stopping the cost of living from the family. To reduce the burden on the family, he takes a lot of part-time jobs. Every time he gets salary, he always gives it to his mother, leaving to himself only the cost of living he needs. Despite the multi-part-time jobs he has to do, he is still able to keep schoolwork at a certain level.

【President Tai (right) presented certificates and gifts to the three representatives in recognition of their great deeds】

Fon-Hwang Lin, who was elected a model of filial piety in Tainan, learned from an early age to clean the house, cook for the family, and help guests shampoo their hair. As she is now in college, she makes use of her spare time to make money and takes no money from the family for her living cost. Her father died in her childhood, leaving five children to her mother, who cannot read but has never given up bringing her children up. As Fon-Hwang takes her mother as the most important one in the world, she wants to be her company for life and always keeps her in great health and happiness.