
Chuang Chen is the founding and honorary president of Taiwan Hakka Teachers Association. Spearheading Hakka language education, she has held courses and seminars for Hakka language teaching professionals across Taiwan, Canada, and United States, developed Hakka teaching materials and methods, edited Hakka textbooks, and produced teaching aids.
Chuang Chen grew up in the Hakka settlement of Hualien County’s Yuli Township, very familiar with the Hakka language—her mother tongue. After getting married, she moved to Taipei’s Dadaocheng, a non-pure Hakka language environment that she couldn’t easily adapt to. Meanwhile, she found out that Hakka people in Taipei rarely spoke their language with each other, which concerned her. In 2002, she passed the examination of the Ministry of Education to become a Hakka teacher.
Since 2003, with the help from the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), Chuang Chen has carried heavy Hakka textbooks and teaching materials, traveling to Canada and the United states to serve as a lecturer in seminars for Hakka teachers. She devoted herself to the Hakka community, fueling her passion to bring more warmth in the Hakka class and encouraging more and more non-Hakka people to learn about Hakka culture.
Huang Hou-yuan (黃厚源), winner of Outstanding Achievement Award in the Public Promotion category

Living in Taoyuan City’s Yangmei District, Huang has applied himself to historical research on Hakka native culture for over six decades, collecting Hakka proverbs, ballads, and folktales that feature Yangmei’s local culture. The 102-year-old makes a significant contribution by preserving precious Hakka folk literature.
Born in Fujian Province’s Quanzhou City of China in 1919, Huang came to Taiwan in 1946. In 1952, he served as a geography teacher in Yangmei Senior High School, since then he has settled in the Hakka region of Taoyuan for the rest of his life. Hailed as “Dr. Folk Culture,” Huang authored many works about local history and geography studies, which became the most important teaching materials for Taoyuan’s elementary and middle schools. In 2020, Huang was awarded the Hakka Affairs Professional Medal by HAC in recognition of his dedication to promote Taiwan’s folk and Hakka culture.
Rita Lin (林鈺婷), winner of Outstanding Achievement Award in the Youth Contribution category

Working at Hakka TV station and Hakka Radio, Lin, a Hakka singer, creates her songs with authentic Hakka language. As a Hakka youth, she has made strenuous efforts to promote her mother tongue and raise the profile of the ethnic language. Her album was nominated as the best Hakka album in the 23rd Golden Melody Awards in 2012.
Lin’s father is a Hakka from Hsinchu County’s Zhudong Township, and her mother is of Hakka descent from Kaohsiung City’s Meinong District. She enjoyed listening to her mother playing the piano and singing when she was little. As she was 7 years old, Lin’s mother passed away due to illness, but her longing for her deceased mother turned into a driving force, which led Lin to the musical route.
In 2008, Lin met Hakka musician Yen Chih-wen (顏志文), the leader of Hakka band “New San-geu-tai Band (山狗大後生樂團).” That was a major turning point in her life. Later, Lin became the lead singer of the band. Lin created her music pieces with traditional or modern elements to perpetuate her mother tongue—the Hakka language.