光輝十月贈書活動 Double Ten Book giveaways

Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese and learners who love traditional Chinese characters celebrated double ten

To celebrate Taiwan’s 109th birthday, Dublin school of Mandarin Chinese is delighted to share the joy of double ten with the school community offering the handmade Taiwanese cakes made by Jane and the books sponsored by the Overseas Community Affairs Council. Special thanks to the OCAC for its enthusiastic sponsorship of this book donation event.

During the planning period of this event, the pandemic restriction was at level 2. Three weeks ago, three cities were moved onto level 3. The number of new cases infected was over a thousand daily, which led to the implementation of the highest level of restriction in Ireland on October 22, which is level 5. Therefore, this event can only be carried out by post.

The Irish Times reported on October 20, “Rise TD Paul Murphy said that not implementing a zero-Covid strategy meant a “continuous yo-yo into lockdown, out of lockdown”, which is a “nightmare for people”. Other countries including New Zealand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iceland and Australia had successfully done this”.

In May this year, the number of people claiming pandemic unemployment payment 350 euro/week in Ireland was 598,000, accounting for 30% of all employed population. The only industries that have not been affected by the epidemic after March 2020 are probably only the finance, insurance, and education industries; however, related industries that provide cultural events, artistic activities, and after-school education have a considerable impact due to the restrictions. Many organisations such as heritage language schools and after school languages have been forced to suspend classes or even close.

The unforgettable 2020 is coming to an end. Taiwan’s performance in the prevention of Covid-19 has been outstanding, and people’s lives have not been greatly affected. The lives of our relatives and friends in Taiwan are now back to normal; we are looking at the beautiful Taiwan from abroad, Its overall economy is mildly affected by this pandemic, which has made us who are living in a "new normal" life in Ireland very envious.

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都柏林中文學校與愛爾蘭熱愛正體中文學習者共渡光輝十月

為慶祝台灣109歲的生日，都柏林中文學校很開心藉由台灣媽媽的手工台灣點心和僑務委員會贈送的僑教書籍等好康物品，借花獻佛讓大家在全球新冠疫情的陰影下，還能感受到些微的光輝十月燦爛。特別感謝僑委會對光輝十月贈書活動的熱情贊助 。

在本活動策畫期間，愛爾蘭的疫情管制是二級。而三周前有三個城市則是在三級防疫規範中，因每日感染新病例的數字成百上千，導致全愛爾蘭在10月22日起開始實施最高級的警示分級，也就是五級的封城措施。故於本活動只能採用郵寄的方式進行。

愛爾蘭時報 (The Irish Times) 在10月20日的報導中，一位國會議員指出：愛爾蘭政府不實施零病例戰略意味著這個國家會像溜溜球一樣上上下下“進入封鎖，解除封鎖”的窘境，這實在是“人民的噩夢”。他也指出成功地做到了這一點的國家包括紐西蘭、台灣、越南、冰島和澳大利亞。

今年五月愛爾蘭請領疫情失業救濟金 (pandemic unemployment payment 350 euro/week，不包括一般請領失業救濟金的人) 的人數為598,000，占所有就業人口的百分之三十。2020年三月後未受到疫情影響的產業大概只有金融、保險和教育產業；但是提供文化活動、藝術活動、課後教育等相關產業受到疫情管制下，衝擊相當大。許多周末母語學校和課後外語教學等機構被迫停課，甚至關閉。

永遠難忘的2020年即將接近尾聲 ， 台灣在這次新冠肺炎的防疫表現相對突出，民眾生活未受到太大影響 ， 我們在台灣的親朋好友們生活現在一切恢復正常 ； 我們在國外眺望著美麗的台灣 ， 其整體經濟受疫情衝擊相對輕微，非在愛爾蘭過著"新正常"生活的我們所能望其項背。