A cultural cafe and store offering agricultural products, delicacies and handicrafts from Taiwan’s indigenous tribes opened Jan. 28 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, spotlighting government efforts to foster cultural exchanges with the Southeast Asian nation under the New Southbound Policy.
Established with financial and technical support from the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples, Ayoi Taiwan Culture Cafe is run by Bobby Chen, a member of the Atayal tribe. The store sells food and drinks like indigenous-style rice dumplings and chiffon cake with litsea cubeba, a form of spice, as well as traditional handicrafts including sculptures, wooden furniture and notebooks made from the leaves of betel nut trees.
Ayoi also displays photographs and short films highlighting the history and cultures of Taiwan’s 16 officially recognized indigenous tribes.
According to Chen, the store evolved out of a desire to promote the creativity and business potential of indigenous cultural products. Opening a cafe in a foreign country was no easy task, he said, adding that support from the CIP was central to the success of the project.
Located in the capital of Sabah state, a popular tourist destination, the cafe will help foster international awareness of Taiwan’s diverse cultural landscape and the rich handicraft traditions of indigenous peoples, the CIP said. The government is committed to helping indigenous talents develop innovative cultural and creative businesses at home and abroad, and to bolstering cultural exchanges with nations across the region in line with the New Southbound Policy, the council added.
A key plank in the government’s national development strategy, the initiative seeks to deepen Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, education, tourism and trade ties with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.
Indigenous peoples have lived in Taiwan for millennia, with archaeological evidence confirming their presence dating back 12,000 to 15,000 years. The latest CIP statistics reveal that the population of the country’s 16 tribes stands at around 530,000 or 2.3 percent of the nation’s total. (CPY-E)
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