Indonesians in Taiwan

Today we took a friend to eat at a newly opened Indonesian restaurant/grocery shop. We asked the owner why there were so many Indonesains around that area. He told us because of the mosque in the little lane behind his shop.

We were surprised to hear this as we have lived in the area for a long time and passed the lane many times. But as it is a dead-end we had never been down it or seen the mosque. It's quite a big building, green tiles, 4 stories high and apparently has been there for more than 20 years.

The shop owner is a Taiwanese man in his 50s married, but has married a young Indonesian woman. He didn't speak Indonesian and his wife had limited Chinese. However, they spoke a common language of service as they got our meals ready and served us tea. It was good food too!

The shop is obviously filling a need as many women poppped in to get a meal or buy a box of instant Indonesian "mee goreng" noodles. ($230NT for 40 as a Ramadan special!) Most people were buying food boxes rather than eating there, possibly as it is the fasting month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from sunrise to sundown.

The owner told us of the many Muslim female students studying at the local universities or working as maids with Taiwanese families. Men were not as common there, possibly as they are usually in Taiwan as foreign labourers and this was in the middle of a work day. Apparently there are over 135,000 Indonesians working in Taiwan - the largest group of foreign workers.

People in the shop were friendly and willing to chat with our friend with us who had spent years in Indonesia and spoke the language fluently. What a great outreach opportunity. Unfortunately my Indonesian is really only good for buying groceries and does not stretch to even basic conversation. Wouldn't it be great to have someone with Indonesian who could come and just sit and chat with these women and tell them the stories of Isa?

Irene Nicholson

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