Cup of coffee reunites 2 Taiwan sisters separated since childhood

Two Taiwan sisters separated since childhood 40 years ago were recently reunited, virtually by a cup of coffee, a newspaper reported on Thursday. ( dpa )


Ho Mei-yun and Fang Chuang-li were born into a poor family which had 13 children. Hoping to give their kids a good life, their parents kept only 8 kids and gave away the rest to better-off families, the United Daily News said.


Ho was put up for adoption when she was 11 months old. Her adopted parents allowed her to see her "nanny" - who was her mother - once a year, but Ho later found out the "nanny" was her mother, so she eventually resumed contact with her biological family.


Fang, Ho's younger sister, was given away when she was 2 months old. She heard from neighbors that she had been adopted and found out that her parents lived on Hami Road in Taipei, but her adopted parents barred her from tracing her parents.


Ho and Fang have been working as insurance agents at the Cathay Life Insurance to work as insurance agents, but did not know each other as the company has nearly 30,000 employees across Taiwan and they worked in different departments, the United Daily News said.


Recently Cathay Life Insurance paid for its outstanding insurance agents to go to Los Angeles for its annual meeting which doubled as a bonus vacation. Ho and Fang sat in the came coach but did not know they were related.


On the day of departure, Ho bought a large cup of coffee. Seeing Fang and another colleague also wanted to buy coffee, she suggested the two share her cup of coffee because the cup was too large for her.


So they sat down to chat and asked one another's age. Both Ho and Fang said they are older than their registered age because they were adopted and their adopted parents did not register their correct birth date.


The more Ho and Fang recalled their childhood, the more they felt they were from the same family, and the other colleague even asked: "Don't you think you are separated sisters?"


So from the Los Angeles airport, Ho phoned her eldest sister in Taiwan to check the details of the Number 8 sister, and concluded Fang is the No 8 sister.


When Ho brought the news to Fang, the two cried in a tight embrace while their colleagues stood around clapping hands for their reunion.


Ho and Fang returned to Taipei several days ago. Cathay Life Insurance held a news conference Wednesday to break the good news to the press.


At the news conference, Fang said the theme of the company's annual meeting in Los Angeles was "Change Your Life," and the trip has certainly changed her life.

Young overseas Vietnamese do business at home

Many people considered Trinh Sonny a “crazy man” when he quit a 100,000 USD/year salary job in the US to return to Vietnam to seek investment opportunities. Bobby H, working for a leading computer group in the US, plans to explore business opportunities in Vietnam. They are two of many young overseas Vietnamese who have a burning passion: enriching themselves in the homeland.
1. Seeing Trinh Sonny (called Son in Vietnamese) on an ancient street of Vietnam, one can easily recognise him as an overseas Vietnamese by his glossy short hair with gel and his puzzled expression when crossing the crowded street.
Son can speak Vietnamese better than many young overseas Vietnamese who grow up abroad. He said his Vietnamese was very poor but after a few months living in Vietnam, his Vietnamese has improved remarkably. This is the second time Son has returned to Vietnam after 28 years and he will stay here for six months.
Leaving the International Business Faculty at Temple University, Son worked very hard and became an official at the US Department of Commerce. Working at this position, he built good relationships with the Malaysian, German and UK embassies and he thought he would become an effective commercial channel between the US and these countries.
But a Vietnam in the renovation period with many challenges and opportunities is much more interesting and attractive to this young man. Moreover, the country is Son’s homeland. Son said he will spend 6 months to explore the Vietnamese market, hoping to learn about advantages of Vietnamese firms to help them enter the US market.
“Though the US government paid me a high salary the job was not so interesting, because after 25 years I will receive only pension. I’m still young and I want to do more lucrative and interesting things than be a government official,” he said.
He is seeking good sources of Vietnamese commodities to export to the US. Although understanding the challenges from the gap in lifestyle and business thinking between Vietnamese and US companies, Son believes that he can speed up the US-Vietnam bilateral trade relationship. “I would not take the risk if it was just for the money,” Son added.
There is one more thing to bind Son with Vietnam: Vietnamese culture and Vietnamese family relationships. Son loves the way that everybody in a family shows their love and affection for each other.
Son has travelled to HCM City to survey that bustling market.
2. Like Son, Bobby H and his mother left Vietnam for the US when he was just 6 months old. He was working in IT Accerture consultancy firm in the US, earning about $250 per hour. After 6 years of experience, he was appointed head of a branch. However, Bobby H is more careful than Son as he hasn’t quit his job in the US to seek business opportunities in Vietnam.
This year’s visit is his first time returning to Vietnam. He hopes to learn more about Vietnam’s market, especially real estate and IT.
He wants to devote himself to the current job and he will invest in Vietnam once he saves a good sum of money. H also wishes to transmit his experience to Vietnamese students.
Both Son and Bobby H share a common idea of doing business in the homeland to enrich themselves and their home country.
Previously, Nguyen Bao Hoang returned to Vietnam from the US to become the CEO of the IDG Vietnam Venture and the two above overseas men are likely to follow Hoang’s path.