A first grader named Liao Kui-yun, who had not had a haircut since she was born, came together with six middle school girls and some older high school girls to cut their hair at Yuanlin Elementary School in Changhua County on May 2. The hair was donated to A Skin-Graft With Love Foundation. Liao’s hair had grown down to her waist, but she was still more than willing to cut it and even said in excitement, “I have been waiting for this day for so long.”
A Skin-Graft With Love Foundation president, Chan Li-chu, says that for the past 30 years cancer has been the number one killer in Taiwan, and that around 100,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year. Many chemotherapy patients lose their hair during treatment, which often makes them feel terrible, and some even avoid going through chemotherapy because they are afraid of losing their hair. Around five years ago, the foundation started organizing fundraiser events to collect hair for cancer patients, and then use the hair to make custom wigs for them. Around 4,500 people have donated their hair so far and as many as 700 cancer patients have received wigs from them.
Liao’s mother, Liao Pei-fang, who is a school nurse at Changhua’s Chongshih Industrial High School, was actually the one who organized the hair donation event. She said when her eldest daughter donated her hair three years ago, her younger daughter also wanted to donate her hair, but decided not to because she felt it was not long enough, so for the past three years she continued to let her hair grow out. Not only has she been patient about conditioning it, but she also endured the summer heat and insisted on not trimming it.
Photo: Ruan Yi-yu, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者阮怡瑜
On May 2, Chongshih Industrial High School’s director of student affairs, Yang Shih-chen, also had her three daughters donate their hair. They said, “The event was sponsored by our father, so of course we have to see this through.” The oldest daughter was not able to go to the event in person because she goes to school at National Taichung Girls’ Senior High School. Instead she went to get a haircut the night before and had Yang bring it to the school to donate it.
The school principal, Lin Yu-fen, who has gorgeous short hair, was so moved by the students’ enthusiasm for the hair donation event that she decided she would grow her hair out to donate it the following year with everyone else.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
彰化縣員林國小一年級學生廖桂筠,五月二日與其他六位國中、高中的大姐姐們共同將長髮剪下,捐給切膚之愛基金會,出生至今從沒剪過髮的廖桂筠對於及腰長髮一刀剪斷,沒有一絲不捨,反而開心又興奮地說:「等這一天等好久!」
切膚之愛基金會執行長詹麗珠表示,近三十年來癌症已成為國人的頭號殺手,每年約有十萬人罹癌,而許多民眾在化療過程中會嚴重掉髮,讓他們身心飽受痛苦,甚至因為害怕掉髮而逃避化學療法,所以該基金會從五年前開始為癌友募集真髮,再為癌友量身訂做假髮,至今已有四千五百人捐髮,受惠癌友也高達七百人。
發起這次捐髮活動的崇實高工護理師蔣佩芳正是廖桂筠的母親,她說,三年前大女兒就捐過頭髮,當時年僅四歲的桂筠也一直想捐,卻因頭髮不夠長而作罷,這三年來,小女兒為了將頭髮留長,不但願意乖乖坐著護髮,也強忍著夏天的悶熱,堅持連髮尾都不修剪。
五月二日響應捐髮的還包括崇實高工學務主任楊世圳家中的三位千金。女兒們說:「活動是父親主辦的,當然要挺到底!」其中,三千金中的大姐因為就讀台中女中無法親自到場,前一晚還專程先去剪髮,再委由楊世圳帶到學校一起捐。
看到學生們熱情響應捐髮活動,向來留著清秀短髮的校長林玉芬深受感動之下,也宣布她將留一年的長髮,明年再度帶著大家一起捐髮。
(自由時報記者阮怡瑜)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110