TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) sang to the public outside the Xindian MRT Station in New Taipei City on Dec. 6, to raise money and awareness for the area’s homeless, reported CNA.
Tsai said he felt compelled to do something for those sleeping rough, and he is helping to put multiple free dinners for Taiwan’s disadvantaged on Jan 27.
Tsai is a well known director of feature films, documentaries, and other pieces, and is recognized as one of the central figures of Taiwan’s “Second New Wave” of cinema. He won the Best Director award for his film, “No Sleep,” at the Taipei Film Awards in 2015.
For the street performance, Tsai sang a selection of Chinese-language classics including “The Price of Love” (愛的代價), “Grateful heart” (感恩的心), and “Farewell Tonight My Love” (今宵多珍重), as well as numbers in Taiwanese and Cantonese. These songs were chosen because they were the music to which many people in Taiwan grew up listening to.
Tsai said that the free dinner, which is organized by the Zenan Homeless Social Welfare Foundation, will offer those who are lonely, poor, or homeless the opportunity to meet people and feel supported in the lead up to Lunar New Year.
The dinner will be simultaneously held at 16 venues across Taiwan, and is expected to cater to 40,000 people.
(CNA image)
