[laughs]

Thank you for this interview. It was really great.

That was a poetic description. I’ll leave you with, we just entered 2021, what are you most looking forward to either achieving or the impact that you could have this year?

How could Taiwan be more accepting or grow more aware of the different LGBTQ groups?

I would say for Taiwan, even though it has become a beacon of LGBTQ rights, there’s still so much as a society for them to learn about the different groups.

[laughs] You’re a transgender woman in Taiwan. Can you share your journey with us?

Focusing on you a little bit because we talked a lot about your projects. You personally, you identify as what?

You just have to believe in yourself first.

Potential, I love that.

In the same vein of you mentioning the 250,000 people who lived abroad and have come back to Taiwan, I definitely see this fire in the Taiwanese people locally or abroad recently. What advice would you give them, for people who want to be more involved in Taiwan’s future?

Maybe I have asked but differently then, just in general, how has your relationship with Taiwan changed?

Oh, you were always in Taiwan.

Oh, sorry. [laughs]

[laughs] You were living abroad in the US until you started getting more involved with the Sunflower Movement. How has your relationship with Taiwan changed since you moved back?

You took away this perception of risk for them to be free?

Thank you. I enjoy it very much. [laughs] How is doing this work personally important to you? Is there anything that surprised you about your job and where you are today?

That’s true. It’s not that much smaller than the Canadian population. [laughs] A part of your definition of success is that everyone is digitally connected in Taiwan?

Yeah. Wow. One thing I want to ask you around the assumption of Taiwan’s success is a lot of people think it’s because of its smaller size. In some interviews, people have asked you about that as well. “Can what’s been done in Taiwan scale?” is the question people have ...

Why do you think that is compared to maybe civic innovation in other countries?

I never thought about it that way because democracy is new to us. I want to know, because you know that typically, I live in Toronto, Canada. I have been a part of a civic hack community there, but I still live at Taiwan. [laughs] I just think Taiwan has ...

Yeah. We’ve already talked about a lot of examples, but how would you say we’re reinventing democracy in Taiwan?

Wow. I did notice that with the Ubers here. They all have the taxi profile.

The UberX or Airbnb, was that citizens opposing the entry of these businesses?

Wow.

Exactly. What’s vTaiwan, and why is that an impactful part of the democratic process in Taiwan?

It’s more powerful.

I personally love the data viz, too, of especially spending budget. For me, looking at different smart cities around the world, that’s definitely one of the most beneficial ways they’ve adopted technology.

Can you share some of your favorite projects, I know it might be hard, [laughs] from g0v community?

Forking the code until you merge it.

Going back a little bit, you mentioned g0v in the Sunflower Movement. What is g0v, how was it first formed, and what has it become today?

[laughs]

[laughs]

What? [laughs] I didn’t know that.

More about that, Taiwan did become famous for its COVID response in 2020. What do you think were the key components of Taiwan’s success?

That’s such a great example of obviously using technology to solve COVID issues, but also government and citizens working together, in my opinion, to provide data, which is mask availability and distribution. That’s so important to both parties.

[laughs] I love that.

In a lot of the talks and tours you’ve given, you’ve talked about the importance of trust for building democracy. How do you help citizens trust our government?

Most of the people in the Social Innovation Lab are not from the government?

[laughs]

What happens in the Social Innovation Lab day to day?

I noticed that somewhere, it says, “Without an office,” as well.

If your title wasn’t minister, what title would you give yourself that’s fitting?

Oh, conservative anarchist. The Internet definition [laughs] is to be free from governing body. I am curious, and I know a lot of people have been curious, why did you choose to become a government official?

As a self-proclaimed anarchist, which…

Wow. Was it the first demonstration you are part of?

You were part of the Sunflower Movement. Can you share with the audience what was happening during that time and how you got involved?

I know Adi from Adi Speaks English. I didn’t know there’s so many facets to this. I love the community.

I was just learning from you that #TaiwanCanHelp, I thought it was driven by the government and the President Tsai led that donation of masks to other countries. It turns out, you were saying, the citizens got involved, too?

Hi, Audrey. Tell us about yourself and your connection in Taiwan.