wfn.org | Taiwanese Pastor¡¦s Daughter Elected City Councilor in Canada

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> Taiwan Church News

> 2964Edition

> December 15-21, 2008

Taiwanese Pastor¡¦s Daughter Elected City Councilor in Canada

> Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

> Written by Lydia Ma

During last month¡¦s municipal elections in Burnaby, Canada, a young Taiwanese woman was elected to the city council. This marked the first time in Burnaby¡¦s history that Taiwanese Canadians were elected to the city council. Besides Anne Kang, fellow Taiwanese Canadian Richard Chang was also elected. Kang is 31 years old and will be the city¡¦s youngest councilor. Her swearing-in took place on December 10. Her father, Kang Rong-fa, is a Presbyterian Church in Taiwan pastor who ministers abroad.

During a phone interview, Kang sounded very upbeat when describing her inauguration. She said that as a newcomer in the political arena, she was very surprised when she realized she had been elected. As a Taiwanese Canadian, this was quite a feat. ¡§There was a 2,000 vote difference between the other candidate and I,¡¨ said Kang. 
¡¨This is a big margin considering that the voter turnout rate was only 25%.¡¨ There are eight city council seats in Burnaby and Kang picked up the last seat.

Anne Kang is currently a special education teacher at a local elementary school. Because of her father¡¦s work as a pastor, she moved to Canada with her family when she was in first grade. She later went on to study at the University of British Columbia where she obtained degrees in music and education. She also obtained a Master degree in Special Education. She is fluent in Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English.

When asked about why she decided to get involved in municipal politics and become a candidate, Kang said that seeing Taiwanese youths in Vancouver struggling to find jobs, seeing how they had no place to use their talents, and feeling their homesickness and inability to fit into Canadian society were major motivators. She decided to get involved in municipal politics so that she could speak for the rights of Taiwanese immigrants, help new Taiwanese immigrants fit in when they arrive to Canada, and help immigrants gain respect from the Canadian society. She said, 
¡§We must root and bloom where we are planted. We must recognize that we are Canadian citizens.¡¨ Because of her convictions, she founded an organization for Taiwanese youths called
¡§Taiwanese in one¡¨. The purpose of the organization is to enable Taiwanese youths to encourage each other and find an outlet whenever they miss Taiwan. Kang also hopes that through the activities hosted by the organization, Taiwanese youths can slowly find ways to fit into Canadian society.

As for when she would make an official visit to Taiwan, Kang said she was planning to visit Taiwan and China in the spring of 2009 with a group of government officials. Details of the trip are currently under discussion.

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