A grand Lunar New Year gala was held on 4th February by the Federation of Taiwanese Student Associations in Washington DC (FTSADC) at a restaurant in Rockville, Maryland. Deputy Rep. Robin J. C. Cheng attended on behalf of Amb. Bi-khim Hsiao to celebrate this meaningful gathering with the participants.
More than 300 participants attended the annual celebration, including alumni of National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, Fu-Jen Catholic University, Soochow University, National Cheng-Kung University, National Tsing-Hua University, Taipei First Girls High School and Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, as well as representatives of Hakka and Taiwanese Association of America Greater Washington Chapter, the local chapter of Buddha's Light International Association, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Rep. Cheng wished the participants a happy new year, expressed appreciation for the FTSADC’s hard work in organizing the gala, he also expressed hope for increased cooperation between the students, alumni associations and TECRO to better assist the students as they begin their careers.
Dr. Aaron Chen, Director of the Education Division then delivered welcome address to all participants. Under the assistant of Education Division, the Greater Washington Taiwan Student Federation has expanded its organizational scale since November 2022. It is now jointly formed by Greater Washington and the Taiwan Alumni Associations of 29 universities in 11 states in the southeastern United States. The Lunar New Year gala has been as an annual tradition aiming to gather overseas Taiwanese students, alumni and communities together to enhance cohesion and celebrate the special time of the year. The FTSADC, decided to restart the event this year after two years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Chen said, the Education Division will continue to assist the Federation of Students in organizing various activities that are beneficial to students.
All the participants spent a heartwarming and delightful night with the gala featuring culinary delights and creative warm-up games, culminating in a raffle prize ceremony for air-tickets and other exquisite prizes sponsored by the alumni, various airlines and TECRO.