I immigrated to Australia from Taiwan in the eighties with my young family.

We lived in a leafy, family-friendly suburb in Melbourne’s east. During that era, Melbourne did not have particularly a large Taiwanese population and not many people were familiar with Taiwan and Taiwanese culture.

From the mid-to-late eighties, more immigrants from Taiwan started to settle in Australia, a significant portion of them choosing Melbourne as their ideal Australian city to live in.

It was from this period, that the Taiwanese community in Melbourne grew and in turn, several Taiwanese non-profit community groups were established to cater for the social, cultural and commercial needs of the Melbourne Taiwanese community.

I have had the honour and pleasure of being a founding member of one of the key Taiwanese associations in Melbourne and to this day, I am still an active member of this association and the local Melbourne-Taiwanese community.

The Taiwanese community has since made its mark in Melbourne, reaching out to other communities, as well as the general public. Some of these include, charity fundraising drives (i.e. the Bushfire/Flood Appeal, Royal Children’s Hospital, St Johns etc), as well as hosting some of the largest and most iconic multicultural events in Melbourne, including the Taiwan Festival at Federation Square, which aims to celebrate community spirit and showcases the best of Australian-Taiwanese culture.

Almost thirty years on, as an Australian of Taiwanese background, I am extremely happy and proud to have become part of such a beautiful, diverse and welcoming city. It has been a colourful journey for the Taiwanese-Australians in Melbourne – from our humble beginnings to becoming an integral and active member of a larger Melbourne community.