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Two Taiwan schools make progress by learning together

Flying drones, singing traditional songs and walking in nature were among the educational activities in the lively learning program

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/07
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(K – 12 Education Administration, Ministry of Education photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung City’s Sihwei Elementary School (四維國小) and Nantou County’s Fa-zhi Elementary School (法治國小) have become partners under the Ministry of Education’s collaborative learning scheme.

The schools' joint learning activities created a more versatile learning environment and expanded the horizons of their students’ exchange activities. This included Fa-zhi’s ballad team singing traditional Bunun songs to greet their school guests.

In return, Sihwei students danced to the song “Embrace the World with You,” the theme song of the Taipei Universiade, in 2017. Fa-zhi students later joined their guests in dancing to this lively song.

After the welcoming ceremony, students from the partner schools engaged in various learning activities, some of which were initially a little daunting. Even so, they helped each other to complete their missions.    [FULL  STORY]

Indonesia releases detained Taiwanese vessel

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/08/07
By: Yang Su-min, Shih Hsiu-chuan and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) A Taiwanese vessel detained by the Indonesian authorities since Tuesday was released Wednesday after no forbidden items were found on the ship, according to Taiwan's fishery agency.

Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Lin Kuo-ping (林國平) said the Yung Man Shun, a cargo vessel, had already left the Batam Naval Base, where the ship and its 21 crew members had been detained for a day.

The vessel is scheduled to arrive in Kaohsiung in five or six days, he added.

The ship was originally boarded and inspected by an Indonesian naval patrol boat a day earlier in waters near Indonesia before being escorted back to the naval base for further investigation.
[FULL  STORY]

MAC decries cultural exchange meddling after Beijing severs Golden Horse ties

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 08, 2019
By: Chung Li-hua and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged China to cease its interference in cross-strait cultural interactions, after Beijing announced that it would ban all Chinese films and actors from this year’s Golden Horse Awards.

Such acts would only cause the international community — as well as both sides of the Taiwan Strait — to see China in an unfavorable light, the council said.

The Golden Horse Awards enjoy great international renown and participating is considered to be a great honor, it said.

China should respect the right of Chinese directors and actors to attend the festival and allow people across the Strait to share their works with each other, it added.    [FULL  STORY]

VIDEO: Male menopause can hit men in midlife

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 06 August, 2019
By: Natalie Tso

Matzka asks,

Father’s Day is coming up in Taiwan. It falls on August 8. Today we look at a health issue that not too many people talk about but may be affecting fathers today – male menopause.

Matzka sings “Big uncle! How old are you? This girl says," 40 or 50" and she says, "At least 65," but he says,  “70! Because I’m over 60!"

As Father’s Day approaches, we need to look out for our middle-aged men. People don’t talk about this much but…testosterone levels drop in midlife and could lead to many unpleasant symptoms such as a bad temper or low libido.    [FULL  STORY]

“I Felt Like I Was Drowning”: On Women’s Rights in Taiwan

Los Angelese Review of Books
Date: August 6, 2019
By: Jessie Tu

IN FEBRUARY 2017, Taiwanese indie press Guerrilla published a novel by a first-time author named Lin Yi-Han. Lin was the only child of a well-respected dermatologist in Tainan, one of Taiwan’s largest cities on its west coast. She was a top performing student during high school — beautiful, smart, bookish yet popular — but she was also privately struggling with a hell she had no language for. At 16, she began admitting herself to psychiatric clinics in the capital, Taipei, and was in and out for the next several years. Mainstream publishers refused to take her on as an author, believing her mental illness would be bad for publicity.

The novel follows a 13-year-old girl who is groomed and raped by her literature teacher for a number of years. The candid, raw descriptions of sexual abuse enraged some readers in a country where private matters are seldom aired publicly. Yet the book became an instant best seller. Lin gave several interviews on television and in print, deflecting questions about whether her protagonist’s experience reflected her own, and focusing instead on the craft of her writing. Two months after the release of her book, Lin was found dead in her apartment by her husband. She died by suicide. She was 26 years old.    [FULL  STORY]

Malaysian man declared brain dead after incident off Taiwan’s Orchid Island

Young man might have hit head on concrete while jumping into harbor

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/06
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

A young Malaysian who lost consciousness off Orchid Island last weekend was declared brain dead Tuesday August 6. (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The young Malaysian man who lost consciousness after jumping into the water off Orchid Island last weekend was declared brain dead Tuesday (August 6).

Relatives visiting him at the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taitung agreed to turn off life support and donate his organs, the Central News Agency reported.

Chay (謝), 22, on a working vacation on the island, had gone with friends to its harbor to swim last Saturday (August 3) afternoon. However, after he jumped into the water, his friends noticed he had lost consciousness and pulled him ashore.    [FULL  STORY]

Tour bus firms, drivers protest GPS requirement

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 07, 2019
By:: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Members of a transportation union protest outside the Ministry of Transportation and Communications building in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

More than 100 tour bus operators and drivers yesterday rallied outside the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei to protest a government policy requiring them to install a GPS device on their vehicles, which they said is designed to monitor their location and could compromise their operational safety.

Lee Shih-chia (李式嘉), chairman of the New Taipei City Touring-bus Craft Union for Drivers, said they are not against having GPS installed in their vehicles.

However, they oppose the Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) using GPS to collect evidence of traffic violations, he said, adding that those who refuse to be monitored would receive demerits in their performance evaluations.

The agency had originally said that the devices would be used to only collect “big data,” but they are now being used to collect all sorts of information, even drivers’ work hours, Lee said.    [FULL  STORY]

.VIDEO: Taiwanese smartphone app gains worldwide popularity.

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 05 August, 2019
By: Leslie Liao

Taiwan-made app Forest helps users regulate their productivity

Taiwan-made app Forest helps users regulate their productivity[/caption] It’s undeniable that hand-held devices are useful. But if you’re not careful, they can be a huge time sink. Now a Taiwan-developed smartphone app is helping people stay focused.

"

How many times has this happened to you… you pick up your smartphone to return a text, and then half an hour later you find yourself on a Wikipedia page for cheese puffs? These days, smartphones can be a black hole for concentration.

But Taiwan might have the solution to your problem. Forest is an app that helps users focus. It’s created by a Taiwanese startup, and has proven wildly popular not just in Taiwan, but around the world.    [FULL  STORY]

Fewer Chinese tourists make Taiwan more attractive to Japanese travelers

Japanese tourism in 2019 expected to increase after news of China's tourist ban

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/05
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

JAL 767-346 and ANA 767-381ER at Osaka Intl. Airport (By Wikimedia Commons)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On Aug. 1, the Chinese government announced that it would be suspending all individual permits for travel to Taiwan, forcing Chinese citizens hoping to visit the country to join officially approved tour groups instead. The move is widely seen as an attempted political maneuver to damage Taiwan’s economy ahead of the January 2020 elections.

While Taiwan is likely to see a major dip in tourism from China in the coming months, there are reasons to be optimistic, as the sudden drop in Chinese visitors will make Taiwan’s popular tourist destinations less crowded. Japanese website Zakzak is encouraging Japanese vacationers to consider visiting Taiwan in 2019 on account of decreased crowds and potential travel deals offered by hotels and tour operators to make up for losses.

According to the article, now is a “great chance” to visit Taiwan, which is regularly a top destination for Japanese tourists. In 2013, there were 1.24 million Japanese visitors to Taiwan, but by 2017 that number had increased to 1.9 million, reports Zakzak.    [FULL  STORY]

China rumored to ban group tours to Taiwan after halting individual travel

Travel industry insiders believe China likely to announce total ban on group tours to Taiwan on Aug. 20

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/08/05
By George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Flickr photo by Lordcolus)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – China is rumored to announce a policy on Aug. 20 that would double down on restricting citizens’ freedom to visit Taiwan, the China Times reported on Monday (Aug. 5).

Citing sources within the tourism industry in Taipei, the news outlet reported that China is likely to announce a total ban on group tours to Taiwan on Aug. 20. It suspended individual tours to the island on Aug. 1.    [FULL  STORY]