Having served as a guardian angel for consumers for 25 years, the non-profit Consumers' Foundation (
"Now the foundation has a working fund of only NT$760,000 (US$23,800), which is just enough to pay employees' salaries next Friday," Jason Lee (李鳳翱), the foundation's chairman, said during a phone interview yesterday.
"This is an unprecedented crisis. We hope the public can make donations or subscribe to our magazines to show support and encouragement," he said.
With 27 paid workers and several examination projects being carried out each month, the foundation has weathered a monthly capital gap of NT$300,000 for six or seven years.
Its huge group of volunteers, numbering between 400 and 500 around the nation, is the key factor to supporting the organization in its ongoing battles with ill-natured businesses.
"Many people think we are a government agency. But the foundation is a non-governmental organization, which mainly relies on public and corporate donations to fund its operations," he said.
However, due to an economic downturn and its persistent efforts to safeguard consumers' interests, which perhaps have incurred hostility from businesses, donations received nose-dived to a combined NT$100,000 in April and May, as opposed to its monthly expenditures of NT$1.2 million on personnel, examinations and utility fees.
The foundation once obtained a record-breaking donation of NT$10 million from a local bank, Lee said.
"We are not confronting businesses. In fact, our efforts to ferret out questionable products are an effective way to protect quality corporations," he said.
Dwindling subscriptions to its magazine Consumer Reports of Taiwan also dented its financial health, Lee said.
With the number of subscribers declining from a peak of 30,000 a few years ago to the current 11,000, the foundation is losing NT$20 million per year.
In addition, it stopped charging fees on written complaints this year, a policy aimed at serving more consumers but expected to lose NT$800,000 annually.
The foundation receives an average of 4,000 written complaints and 50,000 phone calls to make complaints or consult with volunteer lawyers every year. It holds press conferences every week to unveil examination results or call on the public not to consume unsafe foodstuffs, like US beef.
"I hope the public can treat and take care of us like a winged steed, so that we can continue to serve and protect consumers," Lee said.
This is not the first time that the foundation faces a "life or death" juncture. In 1994, when lawyer Lin Shih-hua (林世華) served as the foundation chairman, he had to reach into his own pocket on occasion to pay employees' salaries.
"Every penny must be used correctly. Increasing income and decreasing expenditure is the best way to help the non-profit organization weather the crisis," said foundation vice chairman Cheng Jen-hung (
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS