TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taoyuan City Government said Saturday (Sept. 23) that Vietnamese and Indonesian services are now available for its 1999 citizen hotline.
The city of 2.3 million boasts a diverse demographic that counts 70,000 new immigrants and 130,000 migrant workers. About 57,000 Vietnamese and 34,000 Indonesians now call Taoyuan home, according to the city’s Research and Evaluation Commission.
Foreign workers and residents can fall prey to scammers as language barriers make accessing information difficult. With the new services, people from the two Southeast Asian countries can seek help via phone when the need arises, said Wu Chao-ming (吳肇銘), head of the commission.
1999 citizen hotline provides answers to a wide array of questions regarding city affairs. Vietnamese and Indonesians can inquire about topics such as welfare, education, employment, healthcare, legal aid, naturalization, recreational activities, and more.
The city will promote the service with videos and make improvements before adding further languages in the future, the agency said. The service is free of charge for the first 10 minutes after a call is initiated, by cellphone or landline.
