Chairperson of TSMC Charity Foundation at the National Filial Piety Awards Ceremony

The 2018 Filial Piety Awards Ceremony was organized by the Ministry of the Interior, taking place at Tayih Landis Hotel in Tainan on July 13th. President Tsai Ing-wen personally handed out the awards to 31 recipients, while the event showed support to the practice of filial piety promoted by Chairperson of TSMC Charity Foundation Sophie Chang.

Earlier this year, Ministry of the Interior Department of Civil Affairs Director-General Lin Ching-chi was thinking about not only honoring examples of filial piety among the poor, but to see filial piety practiced among normal families. “Ministry of Education was putting in a lot of action on promoting the practice of filial piety. I asked my colleagues to do some research, and found out that the main person behind-the-scenes was Sophie! So I thought if we want to practice filial piety in businesses and society, we need to have Sophie as our spokesperson,” said Lin. Consequently, he invited Sophie Chang to be the spokesperson for promoting filial piety and family ethics.

Outgoing Interior Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong would like to express his thanks to Sophie as well. After promoting filial piety for twelve years, Ministry of Interior had a breakthrough this year with Sophie Chang taking the lead for promoting filial piety among enterprises. Yeh also sang a song at the ceremony that his mother had taught him, a song that his 88-year-old mother with dementia remembered.

Sophie gave a speech about her concern for the care of elderlies five years ago. When she realized that family ethics and filial piety were no longer observed by the society, she decided then that she wanted to make promoting filial piety her goal.

When Sophie saw that Ministry of Education has put filial piety back in the teaching materials, she was so touched that it brought tears to her eyes. She believes that filial piety isn't just something read in textbooks, but an action taken with a grateful heart. She appreciated the support of the president and other government personnel for joining her on making the society a better and loving place. Unlike the former ceremonies, recipients this year went up the stage to receive their awards in the melodious guzheng music by Gu-Fang Contemporary Art of Zheng, signifying the heartwarming and everlasting practice of filial piety.