Far Eastern Big City Shopping Malls Conferred Asia’s Most Prominent CSR Awards under Social Empowerment Category

TAIPEI, TAIWAN�- Media OutReach - 10 June 2019 – A total of 64 projects and
business leaders across 16 countries in Asia were selected as recipients of
Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2019, an increase of 19% from last
year. Regarded as the top corporate social responsibility awards in Asia, this
year’s ceremony was organized in Taipei, after being held in Macau, Singapore,
Bangkok, and Manila previously.

Organized by Enterprise Asia, the leading non-governmental organization
for responsible entrepreneurship in Asia, the AREA aims to recognize and honor
Asian businesses and leaders for championing sustainable and socially
responsible business practices. The award categories are social
empowerment, investment in people, health promotion, green leadership,
corporate governance, and responsible business leadership. Some of the
dignitaries who graced the event include Mr. Chang San-cheng, former premier of
the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Mr. Hou Yu-Ih, mayor of New Taipei City.

 

Leading the list of
winners under the social empowerment category was Far Eastern Big City Shopping
Malls with their project “Co-hosting 8^th Vocal Asia Festival with
Kehua Foundation to Realize Big City’s Vision of Promoting with Profound Impact
the Preservation of Taiwan’s Native Culture and Hakka Folk Songs”.

 

Big
City is the largest of its kind in Northern Taiwan, hosting an array of more
than 260 retailing brands that offer an abundant selection of fashion,
entertainment, sports and dining. It is also known as the largest indoor F&B
Kingdom of Taiwan, featuring a venue of more than 60 local and international
dining brands with seating capacity in excess of 3,800. Big City aims to
provide one-stop shopping with the finest service experience amidst a most
inviting environment.

 

Language diversity is
essential to human heritage. Many different native languages embody the unique
cultural wisdom of the people of Taiwan. However, UNESCO has listed Taiwan as
one country with significant risk of native language extinction.

 

To raise awareness of
this risk, Big City strives to promote language diversity and provide ongoing
support of the expression, creation and dissemination of Taiwan’s native
languages through education and musical performances. One concrete and
effective means of achieving this is to encourage and facilitate folk song
singing across all age groups. Big City is mindful of its intrinsic value as
Northern Taiwan’s largest shopping mall that daily draws large crowds. The
public open spaces throughout the mall can provide an optimal learning and
performing venue for fostering and promoting the preservation and dissemination
of native languages for all generations.

 

Since 2016, Big City
has implemented a series of initiatives involving global cooperation and local
networking of resources to promote music curriculums and performances,
including co-sponsorship with the Vox Nativa Taiwan Association of a visit to
Taiwan by the Poland Poznan Boys’ Choir.

 

It has also devoted
intense effort to actively assimilate and boost intergenerational native
language dissemination and cultural diversity via A-Cappella education,
including co- organizing parent-child lessons and A-Cappella children summer
camps.

 

The “2018 Hsin-Chu
Vocal Asia Festival” was one of the successful events of this initiative by combining
A-Cappella with Taiwan’s Hakka culture. The 8^th Vocal Asia Festival,
co- hosted by Big City and the Kehua Foundation, comprised a series of
A-Cappella master classes, an Asia Cup A-Cappella competition, the Hakkappella
Concert, the A-Cappella Gala Concert, the A-Ca-Day festival and numerous
simultaneous performances on Big City open stages between August 16 and 19 of
2018. This profoundly realized Big City’s mission of fostering public awareness
regarding the importance of native culture and promoting Taiwan’s rich
linguistic inheritance.

 

Big City realizes the
importance of maintaining a long-term effort toward promoting language
diversity if there is to be an enduring impact. Accordingly, it has
continuously provided resources for A-Cappella education programs not only in
the form of classes for all ages, but also master classes for music teachers.

 

Achievement
and Impact

Through a combination
of the Big City’s online and offline marketing and media resources, it was able
to attract more than 20,000 live audience members and 4.8 million online
viewers in their related music events.

 

Big City values the
preservation of native culture and practices as one of the sustainable
development goals set forth by the United Nations. While fostering an ongoing
constructive contribution to society during this event, Big City was also able
to provide its customers with the moving experience of encountering beautiful
native songs performed in the mall, while earning the respect and trust from
those who share the same vision of protecting endangered languages.

 

Future
Direction

Big City will continue
to devote its efforts to music education on behalf of preserving native
culture. A series of Native Music Promotion Projects has been planned and is
being implemented for teachers and students of different ages. It will involve
various initiatives to bridge and connect resources from different industries,
government agencies and universities, as well as provide performing stages to
assist in promoting events that maximize audience size and participation.

 

Big City aims to be one
of the most respected and influential platforms for the collaborative effort to
promote native music and cultural education in Taiwan. It gladly shares in
shouldering the responsibility of ensuring that no native languages disappear,
and is dedicated to the goal of fortifying, maintaining and perpetuating native
culture for many generations to come.

About Enterprise Asia

Enterprise Asia is a
non-governmental organization in pursuit of creating an Asia that is rich in
entrepreneurship as an engine towards sustainable and progressive economic and
social development within a world of economic equality. Its two pillars of
existence are investment in people and responsible entrepreneurship. Enterprise
Asia works with governments, NGOs and other organizations to promote
competitiveness and entrepreneurial development, in uplifting the economic
status of people across Asia and in ensuring a legacy of hope, innovation and
courage for the future generation. For more information, visit: https://www.enterpriseasia.org/.

About Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards

The Asia Responsible
Enterprise Awards recognizes and honors Asian businesses for championing
sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in the categories of Green
Leadership, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Social Empowerment,
Corporate Governance and Responsible Business Leadership. For more information,
visit: https://enterpriseasia.org/area/.