The labor ministry on Sunday honored the Taiwanese competitors who won at the 43rd WorldSkills competition, which was recently held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In the competition, some 1,200 young people vied for medals in 50 areas of skill, such as carpentry, hairdressing, and auto body repair.
The team from Taiwan – known as “Chinese Taipei” – fared third best among 60 nations at this year’s games, which are known as the “Olympics of Skills.” The team picked up five golds, seven silvers, five bronzes, and 19 honorable mentions, coming third only to Brazil and South Korea.
Labor Minister Chen Hsiung-wen on Sunday lauded the winners from Taiwan, encouraging them to keep learning new skills in order to shine in the workplace.
One of the winners from Taiwan was Juan Pei-hao, who became the first person from Taiwan to pick up a gold in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. Juan said he learned the trade by working with his father in the family’s air-conditioning repair business. He said his father had gotten him involved, figuring he’d go back to school after seeing how difficult the business was. But Juan Pei-hao ended up loving it.
The labor ministry says it is planning to bring this year’s winners around to give speeches at the nation’s junior highs and high schools, as well as the labor ministry’s branch offices. The goal is to help promote vocational skills training.