Driver’s test offered in several languages
Taipei City’s Motor Vehicles Office is offering its written test in several languages to accommodate expatriates and new immigrants. The office offers written tests in Mandarin, English, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Cambodian. To allow alternative testing, the office also built a database of pre-recorded spoken questions in different languages. The alternative testing is available in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, English, Japanese, and Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Cambodian. Details about the English-language test are available at: www.mvo.taipei.gov.tw/cgi-bin/SM_themePro?page=461d9c5e. A list of sample questions from the foreign language testing database is available at www.mvo.taipei.gov.tw/cgi-bin/SM_themePro?page=461f1ead.
More information about the exam is available from the 1999 Citizen Call Center at (02) 2720-8889.
Mykonos founder dies
Long-time Taipei resident Michael Stephen Waldor, who brought Greek food to Taipei with a string of Mykonos restaurants beginning in 1993, died in Pattaya, Thailand, where he had a second home, on Oct. 10. The 61-year-old Waldor, known as Mickey or Mike Waldorf to his loyal clientele, had been battling pancreatic cancer since being diagnosed on Oct. 8 last year. The New York native first came to Taipei in April 1985 to work for Asia World Hotel after working on cruise liners and passenger ships for 22 years, mostly in the Mediterranean area, as a catering manager. Those years at sea served as an inspiration when he decided to leave the hotel industry to run his own restaurant, Mykonos, which he opened in a lane off Anhe Road in November 1993. Mykonos moved from its first location to the other side of Anhe and then to Lishui Road and is now in its fourth incarnation in a lane off Siwei Road. Waldorf also owned a Chinese restaurant in Athens for several years and the Cruise Ship Restaurant, which opened on Anhe in December 2003. He was famous for his authentic spanakopita and New York cheesecake, for his sense of humor and for always encouraging people to travel to Greece or try a cruise. He is survived by his partner of 23 years, Gino Lin.
TAS holds flea market, rummage for orphanage
Taipei American School’s (TAS) Orphanage Club will hold a Flea Market and Rummage Sale in the school’s lobby on Saturday, rain or shine. Items offered at the sale include clothing, household items, electronic appliances and furniture, TAS said in a press release. “The proceeds from the Flea Market will go to the Orphanage Club to provide funding for needy children and orphans in Taiwan [and] overseas,” it said. TAS is located at 800 Zhongshan N Road Sec 6, in Tianmu (天母). For more information, contact Richard Arnold at (02) 2873-9900 ext. 239, or Ms Koh at (02) 2874-0902.
AIT sponsors democracy challenge
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has invited all budding filmmakers, democracy advocates and the general public to participate in the inaugural Democracy Video Challenge. Winners will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to the US to meet prominent figures in the movie industry and democracy advocates. “We expect this competition will be well received and lively in Taiwan, not only because of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy, but also because of Taiwan’s creativity in filmmaking,” AIT Chief of Public Affairs Thomas Hodges said. The three-minute film must complete the phrase “democracy is.” Three semi-finalists from Taiwan will be chosen to compete in the regional finals and the ultimate winners will be selected by YouTube viewers worldwide. For more information on the contest rules, visit www.videochallenge.america.gov. All videos will be judged on artistic content, promotion of democracy and production values.
Grand Hyatt hosts St Andrew’s Ball on Saturday
The British Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the annual St Andrew’s Ball at the Grand Hyatt Taipei on Saturday. Traditionally a Scottish evening, the event is now held in more than 200 cities around the world. The ball in Taipei features a wine reception starting at 6pm, a seven-course dinner of traditional Scottish Fayre and a dance to Scottish music, followed by breakfast at 1am and “carriages” at 3am. The fee is NT$4,600 per seat and NT$44,000 per table of 10. More information is available on the British Chamber of Commerce Taipei Web site at www.bcctaipei.com/Events/20081101_SAB.htm, by e-mail at aurora.chien@bcctaipei.com or telephone on (02) 2547 1199.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
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