Iruan Ergui Wu (
A Brazilian TV reporter, accompanied by Brazil's top representative in Taipei Paulo Pinto, went to Iruan's kindergarten in Kaohsiung County Friday to present him with an autographed football jersey and a hat from Ronaldinho.
"He smiled a lot then, so it showed he was very happy [upon receiving the gift]," Pinto told the Taipei Times.
Ronaldinho also sent the little boy from his hometown, Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, a taped message saying "the whole Brazilian team is wishing the best for you," according to Pinto, director of the Brazil Business Center.
Pinto said the gift from Ronaldinho was "a reward" to the boy, who turns eight years old next month, for what he termed "all the efforts" the boy has made to show his Brazilian roots.
According to Pinto, Iruan even drew pictures of soccer balls for a local judge last April, expressing his willingness to return to Brazil.
Iruan was born to a Brazilian mother who died in Brazil three years ago and a Taiwanese father, Wu Teng-shu (
Iruan's Taiwanese uncle, Wu Huo-yen (吳火眼), managed to obtain permanent resident status for the boy in June of last year, claiming he did so to fulfill his brother's wish that the child be raised in Taiwan.
When contacted by the Taipei Times yesterday, Wu Huo-yen was lukewarm about the gesture.
"Iruan just put the stuff aside after he came back [from school], and I have already put it away," he said. When asked if Iruan has been watching the World Cup, Wu said: "We have not been watching the football matches."
Pinto said earlier this month that Iruan was shown on TV watching dragon boat races in an attempt to show he has assimilated to local customs.
"But the boy is still a Brazilian by soul and by culture, and nobody can deny that," Pinto said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)