The Double Ninth Festival is coming. This morning (October 21) Huashan Social Welfare Foundation invited ten elders, including five centenarians, to visit National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and feel the historical meaning of the historic building and the art and cultural beauty. Besides, on the Eve of Double Ninth Festival, Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s spirit of “fraternity” is communicated so that the concern and love for elders can be extended to every corner of the society.
National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has always insisted on cultural equal right and actively held the diverse concern activities and offered the service to the disadvantaged groups and elders. The space of the hall is for everyone’s participation. The organizer Huashan Social Welfare Foundation has provided the home-based service for the three groups of elders with the special needs (elders with disability, elders with dementia, and dependent elders). In recent years, by following the concept of respecting and looking after the “national treasure,” they have actively promoted the centenarian service. At present, the foundation has set up 389 love angel stations around Taiwan, sticking to “local aging,” “community support,” and “supplementation” and freely providing the three groups of elders with the special needs with the home-based service including care visit, nail care, hospital company, bath on bed, and festival greetings.
Director-general Liang Yung-fei of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall first expressed his gratitude to Huashan Social Welfare Foundation for holding the meaningful activity and to the ten elders aged nearly thousand in total for visiting the hall today and for their contribution to the land, the society, and the country of Taiwan. Today the activity has broken the record of the largest number of centenarians visiting National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall at the same time and of the highest average age (92.7 years old) of the visitors. The oldest among the visiting elders is He Jie-mei, aged 109. She is also the oldest person in Taipei City, breaking the record of the oldest person visiting the hall. Cultural equal right and cultural accessibility are the universal value as well as the important policy promoted by National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. In the future, the hall will plan a series of diverse concern activities for the elders to participate. Some elders have the different physical and mental tes. They may have difficulty moving around with the ages, but mental health is very important. Through the visit, they can deeply feel the beauty of the historic building of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the art and cultural atmosphere to increase the personal mental energy and benefit health. Taiwan and many advanced countries in the world have turned into the aging society. It is very important to take care of the elders, and the large economic benefits brought by them will also be the future trend of the world.
Today is the 100th birthday of Yan Mao-ru. Director-general and the other seniors sang the happy birthday song and cut the cake together with her. Every senior was given the limited-quantity cultural and creative gift box of the silk scarf designed and produced with Director-general’s calligraphy works. Director-general personally put on the scarf for them in the warm and touching atmosphere. He asked Ms. He, aged 109, about her way of staying healthy. Ms. He kindly laughed and answered that she didn’t do anything special but sleeping well and keeping a good mood. Director-general Liang specially invited the oldest visitor, Ms. He, to visit National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall again next April to celebrate the 110th Birthday of ROC together.
Mr. Huang Li-quan, aged 100 and living in Neihu District, loves outdoor activities. As he gets aged, he needs others’ assistance in daily life. Every opportunity to go out is precious for him. This morning, Huashan Social Welfare Foundation specially invited Mr. Huang to serve as the leader of “National Treasure” and guide the other centenarians, Ms. He Jie-mei, Mr. Yu Yuan-shi, Mr. Zheng Yi, and Ms. Yan Mao-ru to visit the historic building of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall full of historical memories. With the assistance of the professional guides of the hall, they watched the introduction films, visited Dr. Sun Yat-sen history exhibition, and enjoyed the modern art exhibitions. The precise steps of the splendid guard of honor changing caught the seniors’ eyes and enchanted them. The cultural and art feast of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall fully reflected the spirit of fraternity, “Extend your respect for your aged parents to all the aged.” The centenarians visiting today spent a memorable and warm Double Ninth Festival.