New resident Huang Jiahui shares Vietnamese Ao Dai culture and life experience in Taiwan

The Immigration Department has long been committed to promoting multicultural exchanges. The Taipei City Service Station invites new residents to share their home country culture and life experience in Taiwan through various channels such as lectures and broadcasts. HUYNH GIA HUE, a new resident from Vietnam, is specially invited to share the cultural characteristics of "Áo Dài" and the life story of cross-border struggle. Ao Dai is a classic Vietnamese costume. In Vietnam, it is regarded as the quintessence of female elegance and national dignity. Ao Dai is also often listed as a cultural image with Vietnamese characteristics along with bamboo hats and pho.

Ao dai is deeply rooted in Vietnamese people's life customs, and its unique cut and color are like cultural codes. Huang Jiahui gives an example. Vietnamese high school girls always wear pure white ao dai during class. Groups of girls in white during the school day inject youth and vitality into the bustling streets of Vietnam, which is very representative. In a traditional wedding, the bride will wear a red Ao Dai, which symbolizes joy and good luck, and the groom will wear a blue Ao Dai, which symbolizes the joy and eternal commitment of the two families.

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In addition, the exquisite embroidery of dragon, phoenix, lotus and crane totems on the Ao Dai conveys happy and auspicious blessings. Huang Jiahui specially introduced that Ao Dai's flowing clothes and neat tailoring when walking around fully demonstrate the "soft and perseverance" life attitude of Vietnamese women.

Huang Jiahui shared that when she first came to Taiwan, not only did she not know how to cook, but she was also not used to eating Taiwanese food. She mostly ate outside. Later she found that learning to cook not only helped her quickly integrate into local life, but also allowed her family to eat healthier, so she decided to try cooking. When I first started learning, I was not familiar with chopping vegetables, seasoning and controlling heat. Often the dishes were either too salty or too bland, or even the vegetables were burnt.

But Huang Jiahui did not give up because of this. Every time she finished a dish, she would record her thoughts and find out the areas that needed improvement. After continuous practice and mastering cooking skills, I can also complete many home-cooked dishes full of Taiwanese style, such as stir-fried vegetables, braised pork, fried fish and various soups. I also gain a full sense of accomplishment in the process of cooking and sharing.

Huang Jiahui also relied on her unwillingness to admit defeat, worked hard to improve her language skills, obtained a police interpreter license, and served on the frontline of police and medical services for 15 years, and made many friends. In order to share Ao Dai clothing with friends in Taiwan, Huang Jiahui collected nearly 100 Ao Dai clothing at home, and analyzed Ao Dai aesthetics through various cross-cultural activities, showing the tenacity of women to explore in many directions.

Li Xiren, director of the Bei City Service Station, said that new residents are a very important part of Taiwanese society and have brought about rich cultural exchanges. The public is welcome to listen to the "New Residents' Heart Power" radio program broadcast every Friday and Saturday at 2 pm on the police radio station FM104.9 channel. In the program, new residents, their children, and experts and scholars are invited to share life experiences and issues.