TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Saint Vincent and Grenadines embassy on Tuesday (Feb. 14) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly opened reading room.
The space is intended to “present and to attract a catalog of significant, informative and entertaining reading material in English for the Taiwanese and the English-speaking community in Taiwan,” Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ambassador Andrea Bowman said in a speech.
“The more one reads, the better one writes. The more one reads, the more one is able to compare, contrast and critically assess perspectives,” Bowman explained. “Active reading promotes deeper thought and reflection, which should then lead to more thoughtful actions,” she added.
Occasionally, English language teachers can use the room to share selected readings with elementary to university-level students, Bowman said. She mentioned that the embassy is also open to other creative ways the space can be used.
Anyone who would like to access the room can make an appointment with the embassy secretary and clear security on the first floor, she said.
The reading room is part of the embassy’s efforts to help Taiwan achieve its 2030 bilingual goal, the ambassador said.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Foreign Minister Keisal Peters praised Bowman and her staff for their hard work and said education “is a very important cornerstone” for the Caribbean nation. She mentioned the “education revolution” that is currently being promoted by Prime Minister Ralph Goncalves and said that one of the keys to this revolution is reading.
(Taiwan News, Kelvin Chen photo)
Peters, who is in Taiwan for the Empower Women! Empower LAC! Forum on Feb. 15, told reporters after the ceremony that her goal for the meeting would be “presenting from the Vincentian perspective.”
“What I hope to learn are new initiatives that other countries may have dabbled in and tried and whether they were successful, and to see if there can be a similar fit for SVG,” she said.
She said that Saint Vincent and the Grenadines partnered with Taiwan for different initiatives for the empowerment of women. This includes training women to repair electronics and how to improve their small and medium enterprises.
The foreign minister described Vincentians as resilient and hardworking people. She encouraged her fellow nationals in Taiwan to “continue to put (their) best foot forwards” and to continue to love and cooperate with the Taiwanese. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has demonstrated its commitment to the government and people of Taiwan “at every step,” she said.
When asked to give bilateral relations with Taiwan a letter grade, Peters immediately responded, “A+”
Bowman said “there is a real genuineness” between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Taiwan. She noted that the two countries have had diplomatic relations for 42 years, which is “rare.”
“We have a home away from home here,” she added.
The reading room currently has a collection of 47 literary works all written by Vincentians, including Prime Minister Gonsalves.
