Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/06
By: Yu Hsiang-kai and Christie Chen

Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) The Red Dot Design Museum in Taipei had a glamorous

opening in the city in 2013 as the world’s third Red Dot museum.

But two years later, a shoddy venue and the Taipei city government’s reported lack of action to improve the museum’s environment could bring a less-than-glamorous end to the museum’s short stay in Taiwan.

On Aug. 12, the museum submitted a report to the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs, complaining about the poor quality of the venue at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, and how the construction of the nearby Taipei Dome has created cracks in the museum walls, leakage problems, uneven floors and excessive noise.

Five of its displays have even been damaged as a result, according to the museum.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Post
Date: 2015-09-06
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

The co-organizer of The Face of Leonardo, Images of a Genius exhibition in

Taipei said on Saturday he would strive to clear the air over disputes surrounding some of the exhibited paintings as early as Monday, as more questions are raised over the authenticity of the art on display.

“We hope to explain everything in a clear and comprehensive way all at once,” said David Sun, head of TST Art of Discovery.

Sun said his company and the Italian curator of the exhibition Andrea Rossi are currently trying to reach the Italian curatorial team and will provide Taiwan’s public with an explanation as soon as they have one. “Actually, I hope to do this as soon as possible. Because the quicker things are explained, the quicker everything is alright,” Sun said.     [FULL  STORY]

DANGER TO STUDENTS?The Humanist Education Foundation’s director said the Ministry of Education was ‘raping’ the education system with outmoded guidelines

Taipei Times
Date: , Sep 07, 2015
By: Rachel Lin and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Action Coalition of Civics Teachers spokesman Huang I-chung (黃益中) said the

Ministry of Education’s changes to high-school curriculum guidelines allowed it to sneak in the desiccated corpse of party-state education of bygone days.

The dogma of the past might be making a comeback in some parts of new high-school civic education textbooks after its removal nine years ago, Huang said.

Changes in 2012 required textbooks to “define the concept of national identification and describe how Taiwanese hold different views on the issue of national identification in accordance with the Constitution,” which allowed textbooks to be more in tune with contemporary matters, Huang said, adding that there were differing ideas on national identification due to internal politico-historical factors and the China factor.

Textbooks introduced the idea that there are many facets of national identification, Huang said, adding that organizations often used identification and political stance as ways to gauge ideas of national identity.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-09-05
By: Jocylin Fan Chiang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

In an image and youth obsessed world, fashion is what everyone craves. It helps

people to project a certain type of imagination to the world. Fashion is an essential part of our lives; therefore, nobody protested when cheaper and stylish “fast fashion” was born. In Taiwan, people went crazy over the opening of H&M and Forever 21. Many girls lined up for 4 hours on the opening day of the stores and they glowed with pride when they left with their “prizes”. However, when they were informed of the real cost behind their fabulous and cheap clothing, they were shocked. “But that’s the pay and job is better than any alternatives right? At least they aren’t jobless,” said one of my friends. “The True Cost”, a documentary that challenges the chic and trendy image of the fast fashion industry, reveals the reality behind this trillion-dollar industry.

The film covers numerous dilemmas created by the fashion industry, the most labor dependent industry in the world. Fashion, a $2.5 trillion sector, is the second most polluting industry on Earth, just behind oil. During the interview with Vogue USA, executive producer Livia Firth told the reporter what inspired her to take on the issue, “We are sold this myth that to buy a dress for under $10 is democratic—but it’s democratic for who? We discard faster and faster, and that is how the consumer becomes poorer and poorer. Two of the 10 richest men in the world are the owners of Zara and H&M. I think it says a lot about how they make their money.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/04
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) Taiwan’s outlying county of Penghu reported its first dengue fever case on Friday, leaving only Taitung County in the southeast and the other two outlying counties of Kinmen and Matsu free from the disease.

Penghu’s Public Health Bureau said the patient, a 30-year-old man, had traveled to southern Taiwan’s Tainan County, where most of the dengue fever cases are located, on Aug. 21.

Penghu has stepped up disease control efforts, including spraying and removing unused water containers, the bureau said.

As of Friday, the number of dengue fever cases recorded in Taiwan since the start of the summer this year has increased to 4,667, with 88 percent of them reported in Tainan.