95-Year-Old Civil Affairs Volunteer Honored for Nearly 30 Years of Service, Japanese Skills Aid Cross-Border Genealogy

(CNA, Taipei, July 1, 2024) Tsai Su-ping, a 95-year-old volunteer at the Taipei Daan District Household Registration Office, was honored by the Ministry of the Interior today. She has dedicated nearly 30 years to volunteer service, often assisting Japanese nationals with their official business or when they come to Taiwan to trace their roots and access household registration records. She said, "I truly love being a volunteer, and I love speaking Japanese," hoping to continue until she is no longer able.

The Ministry of the Interior held the "115th National Household Registration Day Commendation Ceremony" today, honoring six local governments, 25 outstanding household registration offices, 71 outstanding household registration personnel, and 28 outstanding household registration volunteers.

Among them, the sprightly 95-year-old Tsai Su-ping attracted considerable attention. She began her volunteer service in January 1997, accumulating 2,359 hours at the Taipei Daan District Household Registration Office and a total of 4,604 hours serving in Taipei City. Leveraging her Japanese language skills, she has assisted with communication and translation for Japanese nationals conducting official business or tracing their genealogy and accessing household registration records in Taiwan. She also served as a Japanese volunteer during the Universiade.

In an interview with CNA, Tsai Su-ping stated that she received her education in Japan and worked for the Taichung City Government in her youth. Later, as she grew older, she saw an advertisement for volunteers and signed up. "They asked me to come in the next day, that's how lucky I was!"

Tsai Su-ping recalled an instance where she assisted in hosting a Japanese delegation visiting Taiwan for the Taipei International Flora Exposition and took the group to a restaurant. When a member of the group lost an item, she helped search for it, and it was eventually found.

Tsai Su-ping said she is happiest when translating for Japanese people, and she finds great resonance in communicating with them. For example, she knows the children's songs they mention. She has also personally bought Shaoxing wine as gifts for Japanese individuals, and she is delighted to be able to engage in citizen diplomacy, hoping to continue until she can no longer do so.

Tsai Su-ping's daughter said that although the number of Japanese people conducting business at the household registration office may not be very high now, she is truly grateful to the household registration office for allowing her mother to volunteer and for treating her so well. Especially as her mother is getting older and her friends have all passed away, volunteering has become a significant source of purpose for her mother. (Editor: Su Chih-tsung) 0701

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