GIVING HOPE: Three seniors told of how shock at their diagnoses led to deterioration, but seeking out activity, community and acceptance has helped them thrive

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 29, 2018
By: Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CNA

The Taiwan Catholic Foundation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia has

released three videos showing how people with dementia and their families have gone from feeling lost to accepting treatment and living full lives.

Benign interaction with friends and family could help patients change their perspective on their condition and help ameliorate the symptoms of dementia, foundation CEO Teng Shih-hsiung (鄧世雄) said.

One of the videos features 91-year-old Lin Tien-fa (林添發), whose family noticed that his condition began with forgetting his hat or documents, until he even forgot his friend’s phone number while dialing, said Lin’s daughter-in-law, Yang Chun-cha (楊春茶).

The family took Lin to see a doctor, who about 17 years ago diagnosed him with dementia, Yang said, adding that at the time of his diagnosis, Lin’s mental facilities regressed to the equivalent of a seven-year-old.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International 
Date: 27 December, 2018
By:Natalie Tso

The Agriculture and Food Agency has put out a popular calendar featuring Taiwan’s fruit. As the calendar is so popular, they are now letting the public download the pictures for free here on their website.

Taiwan fruit: lush strawberries, juicy tangerines, delicious pineapples, are all a part of the new calendar put out by the Agriculture and Food Agency.  People just love the pictures of Taiwan’s delicious fruit.

Even the farmers ask for the calendar. They like to put it in their homes. They usually print 10,000 copies but that is not enough to meet demand.  Farmers say it is a great way to promote the fruit.

The fruit is organized by season so you can see what fruit is fresh and in season that month. The calendar is a great way to advertise local produce. Since they are so popular, the agency now has digital files available on their website. People can download the pictures of the delectable fruit for free.

Taiwan’s lychees,mangoes, dragon fruit are all on the calendar. It’s a great way to promote Taiwan’s fresh locally grown fruit.     [SOURCE]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/27
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

The annual Taiwan-Japan maritime affairs cooperation talks will begin in Tokyo today.

This year’s talks are expected to cover such issues as marine resource conservation, marine scientific research, emergency and rescue operations and fishing rights in waters near the Okinotori Atoll.

Taiwan’s delegation includes the secretary-general of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association, the Fisheries Agency, the Coast Guard Administration, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The delegation is reportedly seeking to sign a cooperation agreement aimed at reducing illegal fishing by Taiwanese fishermen.    [FULL  STORY]

The state-owned enterprise has not altered charges for water supply for 23 years

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/12/27
By: Teng Pei-ju, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Water Corporation (TWC), a state-owned enterprise that provides water supply services across most parts of Taiwan, is mulling a plan to increases water fees next year.

Except for Taipei City and a number of districts and neighborhoods in New Taipei City, which are subject to the Taipei Water Department, the TWC is responsible for water supply across the rest of the country.

TWC has not altered water fees for 23 years.

The company has commissioned an outside company to evaluate the possibility of modifying charges for water supply, reports Central News Agency. The evaluation report will go through an internal review next January before being submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, its supervising agency, for approval.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/27
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan 

Taipei, Dec. 27 (CNA) Taiwan’s government is aiming to launch electronic national identify cards (new eID) in 2020 to facilitate access to e-government services, simplify administrative processes and improve efficiency and transparency, Premier Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said on Thursday.

Lai instructed the Cabinet members to ensure completion of digital infrastructure and foundational services necessary to enable a smart government after he was briefed on the project at the weekly Cabinet meeting by National Development Council chief Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶).

In the planned new eID system, such a card is to be used by residents as definitive proof of identity in an electronic environment, rather than as a device to store personal data, which means it will not lead to security and privacy issues, according to Chen.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 28, 2018
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Red air-quality alerts, which signal “severe” air pollution, were issued 282 times this

year as of Dec. 16, beating a target of at most 499, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.

Preliminary data on the nation’s air quality from Jan. 1 to Dec. 16 showed that the agency had reached its 2015 goal of halving red air-quality alerts earlier than expected, it said.

The goal was to reduce the frequency of red alerts from 997 to 449 per year, Department of Environmental Monitoring and Information Management Director-General Chang Shuenn-chin (張順欽) said.

The goal for this year is to see fewer than 698 red alerts, but data so far show that the goal of halving 997 was reached earlier than expected, Chang said.
[FULL  STORY]

Your daily bulletin of Taiwan news, courtesy of ICRT.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/26
By: International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)

Education Minister Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) has resigned following his decision to approve the controversial appointment of Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) as National Taiwan University (NTU) president.

Yeh’s decision to allow Kuan’s appointment had drawn an angry response from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers.

In a post on his Facebook page, Yeh said he was resigning to take “political responsibility for any problems his decision on Kuan’s case would or could cause.”

Yeh went on to say that the NTU selection process caused “serious damage to Taiwan’s education system, which should not be a battleground for social differences and standoffs.”    [FULL  STORY]

Surveillance footage shows rogue Vietnamese tourists sneaking out of their Kaohsiung hotels

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/12/26
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Surveillance footage and eyewitness accounts have surfaced showing that the 152 missing Vietnamese tourists left their hotels in Kaohsiung shortly after checking in and boarded waiting vehicles to make their getaway, reported Apple Daily.

After news broke yesterday that 152 Vietnamese tourists had suddenly abandoned the four tour groups they had been assigned to, a manhunt for their whereabouts has begun and surveillance footage has been released. A ​witness, who is an employee of the Kaohsiung International Star Hotel surnamed Chen (陳), told Apple Daily that at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, when delivering passengers to the hotel, she saw Vietnamese passengers rushing out of the hotel door with their luggage in tow, before jumping into private cars in batches.

Chen recalled seeing over 40 Vietnamese leaving the hotel in this way. When Chen asked a nearby Vietnamese person what they were doing, they said, “They are not here to travel, they are here to run away.”

This morning, officials from the Southern Administration Corps of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said that a total of 152 Vietnamese tourists, including 102 men and 50 women, were expected to check into the Kaohsiung International Star Hotel in Sanmin District and the Delton Hotel in Yancheng District on Sunday evening. The travelers checked into the hotels at 6 p.m. and then fled from the hotels at 7 p.m., some of the tourists left their luggage in their rooms, while some of them took their luggage with them as they made their escape.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/12/26
By: Yang Shu-min and Christie Chen

Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) Taiwan has asked Beijing five times for updates about the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in China, but those requests have fallen on deaf ears, a Taiwanese official said Wednesday.

Li Tui-chih (李退之), deputy head of the Council of Agriculture (COA), said at a press conference that the council has formally asked China five times to provide updates about ASF, but no response has been received.

Li also refuted a remark made by Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光), spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, earlier in the day that the ASF epidemic in China has not yet reached a “massive scale.”

The disease has spread to 23 Chinese provinces or regions, Li said, asking “if that is not a massive scale, what is?”    [FULL  STORY]