Taiwanese singer Michelle Pan Yueh-yun, who cannot afford to set up an orphanage, is supporting two orphans

Straits Times
Date: Apr 4, 2015
By: Gwendolyn Ng

Taiwanese singer Michelle Pan Yueh-yun, 57, laments that she lacks the financial means to

realise her dream of setting up an orphanage.

In lieu of that, the seasoned crooner is sponsoring orphans living in eastern Taiwan.

“I’m not rich. I can’t open an orphanage. I can only do so much to give the two young girls some warmth,” says Pan, who lost both her parents when she was 17.

A single mother of a 15-year-daughter, she was talking to the local media about her dreams as she had signed on to the Dream Come True music label last year. Among other labels, Pan was once with Taiwanese company Rock Records, where she was its first artist, signing in 1980. She went on to release hits such as Blue Skies Everyday (1982), Spring Comes For Wild Lilies Too (1983), and Am I The One You Love Most (1989).     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 05, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Despite speculation that the emergency landing of two US Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas

F/A-18 Hornets at a Taiwanese air force base on Wednesday was a “political message” being sent by the Pentagon to Beijing, some Taiwanese analysts found the theory far-fetched.

It was an “unintended incident,” said Alexander Huang (黃介正), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-04
By: CNA

Hotels located in Hengchun, a township at the southern tip of Pingtung county, charged foreign

tourists the most on average in 2014 among all tourist attractions in Taiwan, according to a survey from the online hotel booking agency Hotels.com.

The survey showed that foreign tourists spent NT$4,819 (US$154) on average for their hotel stay per night in Hengchun last year, up 5% from a year earlier. Hotels in Hengchun retained the title as the priciest hotel destination for foreigners in Taiwan, the survey said.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-03
By: CNA

A new program set up jointly by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Pingtung county

government in southern Taiwan is aimed at promoting American culture among local children and youth, according to the AIT.

The program, called “American Shelf,” is located in the Children’s Reading Room of Pingtung county’s Cultural Affairs Department, said the AIT, which represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Under the program, books about the US are provided to help local children and youth better understand US culture and society, the AIT said. The collection also includes information on studying and teaching English, it added.     [FULL  STORY]

MISLABELING:The firm labeled its products as made in Vietnam, instead of China, and extended the expiry date by one year, the food agency said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 04, 2015
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Noodle producer Tiger Brand (虎牌) has been ordered to pull five of its products from the shelves before Monday after it was discovered that the Taiwanese company had falsified expiry dates and manufacturing locations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

In a press release yesterday, the FDA said that a joint inspection with Yilan County and Taipei City health officials on Wednesday and Thursday found that five products from Taipei-based Tiger Brand Food Co (虎牌食品) and Yilan-based Tiger Brand Cheng Tung Industrial Co (虎牌正通) did not conform to labeling regulations.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/03
By: Yang Su-min and Ted Chen

Taipei, April 3 (CNA) Disputes over “telecommunications services” and “mobile device and peripheral” sales topped consumer complaints for the third consecutive year in 2014, the Consumer Protection Committee (CPC, 消保處) said on Friday.

But there were considerably fewer complaints in the two categories compared with 2013, indicating improved customer satisfaction, the Executive Yuan body said.

The most common source of disputes was telecommunications services, with 3,254 complaints received by the agency in 2014, down 23.85 percent from a year earlier.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/02
By: Lin Chang-shun, Huang Li-yun and Scully Hsiao

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Taipei City government on Thursday rejected efforts by a same-sex

couple to sign up for a mass wedding held by the government, saying they did not conform to Civil Code regulations on marriage.

The Department of Civil Affairs said the applicants, who go by the nicknames Ray and Small Ting, do not conform to the Civil Code requirements for marriage as their ID cards show them to be both female.

Article 972 stipulates that an agreement to marry shall be made by the male and the female parties of their own accord.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-02
By: CNA

The Taiwan-based online travel agency KKday is recruiting travel lovers to help it explore fun

activities in Japan and South Korea, with incentives of free flight tickets, free lodging for 30 days and 30 free theme tours.

The selection of five “explorers” for Japan and another five who will go to South Korea was launched Wednesday with the cooperation of low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan, according to KKday, which offers exotic and varied tour experiences for travelers.     [FULL  STORY]