NTM launches tour guide service for new immigrants

2015/06/01

National Taiwan Museum is set to inaugurate a tour guide program providing better services for immigrants from Southeast Asia, according to the Taipei City-based institution May 28.

The first batch of 10 new immigrant volunteers from the NTM training program will start conducting museum tours June 21 in a variety of Southeast Asian languages.

NTM Director Chen Chi-ming said the program boasts volunteers from Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam. “They have all received extensive interpersonal communications training, as well as instruction on Taiwan’s biodiversity, indigenous culture, and the museum’s architecture and history.”

Chen praised the volunteers for serving as a flesh-and-blood bridge between NTM and Taiwan’s immigrants, adding that they are expected to make the museum a friendlier place and expand access to resources.

“With its prime location near Taipei Main Station, NTM is seeking to become a center of acclimation and learning for the country’s new arrivals,” he said.

The tour guide initiative follows an NTM book collection program launched earlier this year as part of a related nationwide drive. The aim is to help Taiwan’s rapidly growing immigrant community overcome homesickness by providing access to books in their own languages.

“Southeast Asians play a significant role in the development of Taiwan,” Chen said. “We are doing all we can to express our appreciation, including collaborating with Global Workers’ Organization in expanding the reach of our immigrant-friendly measures.”

NTM also plans on including Indonesian and Vietnamese introductions in its website and exhibition brochures. In addition, there will be open days for the new immigrants July 18-19 in celebration of Ramadan.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=230958&ctNode=413)