Made by: Zoey

Grandma Huang and me

Grandma Huang was born during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, She has an ordinary but happy family. She is 83 years old, her Dad is from Japan, and her Mom is a housewife. grandma Huang has an older brother and two younger sisters. After Japan's defeat, grandma Huang's father went back to Japan. Grandma Huang's mother was left alone to take care of all of the children. Grandma Huang's grandma felt that girls couldn't take care of all of the children by themselves, so she helped grandma Huang find a new dad. Since grandma Huang's mother remarried, she had three younger sisters and one younger brother.

When Grandma Huang was in elementary school she was an intelligent and obedient student, She is also a student with good grades in the class, and served as the “squad leader”. Because Grandma Huang's mom thinks studying is very important, so all brothers and sisters go to school. In 1941 Japanese set the age limit in elementary school, and set the policy of 6 years for elementary school. At that time they had added many classes like Japanese, western art, singing….etc.

日治時期台灣的學校. (2022). In 維基百科，自由的百科全書.

When Grandma Huang was in elementary school, the Japanese had already left Taiwan, so she did not receive much Japanese-style education, nor did she learn Japanese and English. When Grandma Huang was a child she has already been very sensible. Every day she has to pick up her younger siblings from school. When she returns home she will do her homework fast and immediately. After she finishes her homework she will go to help her mom to do some housework. Sometimes she will also take care of her younger siblings. During the Chinese New Year, Grandma Huang will also give the red packets to her mother, trying to reduce her burden. Since there were no plastic toys in the past, so most children played with marbles. but in Grandma Huang's family they do not let the girl play marbles, so most of the time Grandma Huang is doing the housework.

In the past, Most people think girls can not do physical strength work. So most of the girl work in the past was more like a service. The job that many girls “wanted” was a department store service lady. One of the reasons girls like to do this work is because the salary is higher and people think they look like superstars.

女性職業 (2014, November 11). CitiOrange 公民報橘.

When Grandma Huang grows up she chose to work at Shihlin Electric and Engineering Corporation (士林電機). But Grandma Huang only has an elementary school education, she does not have many choices in her work. So the only thing she can do is send the documents. Later, Shihlin Electric and Engineering Corporation needed an accountant. so Grandma Huang's coworker asks Grandma Huang Do she wanted to study accounting. Grandma Huang told the company that she could try. After that day Grandma Huang worked in the morning and studied accounting in the evening. In fact, It is very few girls would become accountants in the past, because the exam was very difficult to pass, and their qualifications were not high enough.

Through the example of Grandma Huang, we can see the change of women's status in Taiwanese society over a few years. Taiwanese and Chinese men have been regarded as the heart of the family since ancient times. Men need to make money, women need to take care of the home and do housework. In addition, women must listen to their husbands. In the past, boys could study at school but girls could not.

傳統女性顧家 (n.d.). Retrieved 17 November 2022

Grandma Huang's family is the same as when Grandma Huang was little she needs help from her parents to do housework and take care of younger siblings. but one thing that is different is Grandma Huang's mom gives all the children a chance to go to school to learn. People in the past thought girl should get married as soon as possible, so girls sometimes can not choose their own husbands. some of them are to be chosen by parents. Grandma Huang could not choose her husband either. Although the marriage is not perfect, Grandma Huang has a daughter that is very dutiful and loves her. Today’s society is already different, in the Republic of Taiwan 86, the government set up the Gender Equality Committee, Executive Yuan (行政院婦女權益促進委員會), start to promote equality between girls and boys. After that, the government also set laws to protect women like economic rights or the right to life, These two laws can help girls have equality inside the family and in the workspace. Grandma Huang is a pioneer of women's rights.

Right now Grandma Huang's daughter will send Grandma Huang to the Datong Rizhao Center to study every day. Grandma Huang is not only keen on learning but also likes to be optimistic and cheerful, And have a good time every day.