Taipei, Sept. 23 (CNA) Vice President Annette Lu met Tuesday with local and foreign winners of the 2003 "Passion for Life" Awards presented by the Chou Ta-kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation for their courage and love of life in the face of adversity.
During the meeting, Lu exchanged views with her guests on the meaning of life and expressed great admiration for their courage in overcoming difficulties and inconveniences stemming from physical impairment.
Also present at the meeting was Chou Chin-hua, founder of the Chou Ta-kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation, which was set up after his son, Ta-kuan, a child prodigy with rare talent in painting and poetry, died at the age of 10 in May 1997 from a rare form of cancer known as rhabdomioparcoma.
Among the five recipients from abroad was John Wall, 68, chairman of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) in the United Kingdom -- the world's first educational institute for the blind. He was chosen as a recipient for his courage and determination in seeking legislation in the U.K. for better treatment for blind and partially sighted people.
The vice president said she was deeply moved by Wall's passion for life and his devotion to promoting special education for the blind.
The other four foreign recipients were Italian Professor Diego De Leo, a prolific writer and researcher into suicide prevention, Japanese woman cyclist Emiko Seal, who was forced to suspend a round-the-world bicycle journey in January 2001 after being diagnosed with cancer, Zhou Hung and his deaf daughter Zhou Tingting from mainland China.
Among the recipients from Taiwan were Tsai Yao-hsing, an armless man who conquered his physical difficulties to become a capable swimmer who has been dubbed the "frog king" because of his swimming style, and nine-year-old Huang Ting-wei, who died of cancer in August 2002. Huang's parents received the award on his behalf.