Canberra as Australia’s seat of democracy is home to more than 100 embassies and high commissions. It is a community comprised of individuals who hail from over 170 countries from across the globe.
Taiwan's representative to Australia DrDavid Lee (right) poses with Taiwanese calligrapher Tze-chi Lin (center right), Mr Alistair Coe MLA (center left) and Mr Andy Bi (left), Executive Director of Education Division at TECO in Australia.
The National Multicultural Festival (NMF), an iconic annual event unites the community in a celebration and sharing of culturally diverse traditions, dance, food, performances, exhibitions, concerts and information. In 2014, more than 250,000 people attended the event.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Australia has a long history of participating in the event by setting up a Taiwanese themed stall for outreaching to the community. This year, TECO in Australia invited calligrapher Tze-Chi Lin to come to Canberra to demonstrate calligraphy and promote the beauty of classic Mandarin as an art form.
The Taiwan Stall at the NMF, which was organised by the Education Division at TECO in Australia, ran for one day on the 14th of February, it promoted the cultural and aesthetic value of classic Chinese characters, as well as to promoting Mandarin learning environment in Taiwan.
Held at the Civic Centre, thousands of people joined a selection of TECO’s officials and Australian political, cultural and educational leaders, including Taiwan Representative to Australia Dr David Lee, Liberal Party of Australia Mr Alistair Coe MLA, Executive Director of Education Division at TECO in Australia Mr Andy Bi, Executive Secretary of Association for Learning Mandarin in Australia Dr Mandy Scott and Mandarin teacher at Lake Ginninderra College Ms Lee-Ying Leong.
In addition to the calligraphy demonstration, a selection of latest information on Study in Taiwan, Working Holidays in Taiwan, Taiwan scholarships offered by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, Mandarin Learning Centres in Taiwan’s universities, tourism were provided. The Stall also provided promotional publicity on the upcoming Taiwan Film Festival – an upcoming event in March that TECO in Australia cooperated with the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University.
