In Taiwan, migrant workers can listen to radio broadcasts in their native languages to get the latest news, pop music, and life information. The Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency produces 13 radio programs in Chinese and foreign languages (Mandarin, English, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian). Migrant workers and their employers can listen to these programs through analog radio, online radio, and their mobile phones. The weekly programs bring relaxation and entertainment to their listeners every week. They also help migrant workers integrate more quickly into Taiwanese society, and like a caring friend offers company in times of homesickness.
Foreign-language radio programs warm migrant workers’ hearts. When Awen from Vietnam first came to work in Taiwan, he would rest in his dorm room at night after work. One night, flipping through the Manual for Foreign Workers in Taiwan that he had received among other materials at the service station at the airport, he discovered the broadcasting time table of the Ministry of Labor.
Tuning in to the station on his radio, the program reported news about his hometown and Taiwan and played familiar melodies that transported him home. Awen was very touched. The program taught Chinese conversation and shared information about labor law in Taiwan. There were also call-ins where listeners shared their feelings and experiences, encouraging their fellow workers in Taiwan. Before long, Awen became a loyal listener of the radio program and he no longer felt lonely.
A little more understanding, a little less misunderstanding. From its first broadcast in 1997 until today, the Workforce Development Agency has produced 13 Chinese and foreign-language programs, which in recent years have been listened to over 5 million times. Every week, the latest and correct information is communicated to its listeners, so that more Taiwanese employers and migrant workers may understand and follow the law. It also helps people understand the current situation of migrant workers, when they hear those workers and their employers share their stories on air. Hopefully it will make migrant workers more aware of their legal rights, so they can have a happier experience working and living in Taiwan.
More information on listening to Chinese and foreign-language radio programs. The Chinese and foreign language radio programs can be listened to through analog radio, online radio, and mobile phones. The migrant workers website of the Workforce Development Agency (under Policies > Broadcast) offers further detail on these radio programs at https://fw.wda.gov.tw/wda-employer/home/broadcast. All employers and migrant workers are invited to tune in for the latest legal information.
Source：https://fw.wda.gov.tw/wda-employer/home/activity/2c95efb36cf9f565016d247fd5203b8b
