Drifting No More

With each firm step I have taken, I have put down roots in this foreign land. I don’t want to drift any more.

Drifting No More is a music album published by the TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan. It includes all the songs and music that has appeared in previous theater performances and documentaries related to TASAT over the years. These songs have been written and performed by the immigrant sisters and the volunteers who have accompanied the immigrants along the road of struggles they have journeyed on since the establishment of TASAT. These melodies full of life are presented to you in this album.

This album, consisting of eleven songs and several music interludes, was created and inspired by the daily lives and emotional stories of the immigrant sisters. It portrays the immigrant sisters’ lives and feelings: the twists and turns in their lives after arriving Taiwan, their longing for their hometowns and families, the sorrows and bitterness they feel when facing oppression and discrimination, and finally, the growth and strength they gained after joining TASAT.

The production of this album integrates musical and cultural elements from Southeast Asia, where the immigrants are from. Different languages, folk songs, and gamelan music are blended into this album and the path traveled by an immigrant from her hometown to Taiwan is drawn. The multiple dimensions of geography, time, and emotions are described, thereby weaving the most touching stories and songs.

We believe in the power and influence of music. A song can connect people from different lands and dissolve boundaries, and finally become one common language and memory. When the immigrant sisters are involved in the writing of the lyrics, describing their experiences and emotions after arriving Taiwan, music becomes an instrument for them to organize themselves and to express themselves. The process by which this album was produced also served as a method of organizing, through which the immigrant women were empowered to speak for themselves without being translated, represented, or reinterpreted by others.

TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan （TASAT）

The TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan, founded in 2003, was the successor of the “Chinese Literacy Class for Foreign Brides” started in Meinong in 1995. TASAT focuses on the living conditions and welfare of immigrants in Taiwan. Through organizational empowerment, social education, legal reform, and policies advocacy, TASAT promotes understanding and respect for Southeast Asian histories and cultures, and upholds basic rights of immigrants in order to create a multicultural society.

The immigrant women participate in the organizing and advocacy work. They point out the errors in the legal and social systems of Taiwan. They express their thoughts, and fight for rights, equality, and justice for immigrants. Through books, theatrical plays, films, cuisines, and music, they interact with the public and engage Taiwanese people in dialogues. Gradually, this helps more and more people understand the difficulties the immigrants encounter in life and the distance between different groups is shortened. More people have started to take part in the movement for immigrants’ rights, which has become an important force fighting for an equal and just society.

Drifting No More

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