Many wonder while wishing upon a star or blowing out birthday candles whether there is such a thing as wishes coming true. Yesterday in Taipei, the Make-A-Wish Foundation proved that there is.
Ten years ago, 14-year-old Lin Shu-chuan (
Ten years later, Lin, now 25, is on her way to Disneyland once more today, but this time as an ambassador, to help the foundation celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Lin was one of 75 "wish kids" selected from 113 nations, after her fight against bone cancer touched the selection committee, whose members felt that she served as a good role model for children.
"Shu-chuan personifies the hope and joy that we celebrate every day," the foundation's international chief executive officer Victoria Ames said.
"She and her life-affirming story are an inspiration to all children confronting life-threatening medical conditions," Ames said.
When Lin was 22, she was again diagnosed with bone cancer.
Now, with her cancer under control, she is living an optimistic and active life -- she is learning taekwondo and is preparing for a licensing examination to become a professional radiology specialist, in the hope of being able to help other patients.
During the anniversary celebration, Lin will participate in dinners with Disney characters and share birthday cake with the Genie from Aladdin who is the "official wish granter."
According to Wu Hsing-mei (吳幸美), executive assistant of Make-A-Wish Taiwan, visits to Disneyland remain one of the most-requested wishes the foundation receives from children who have life-threatening medical conditions.
Disney fulfills more than 5,000 wishes for the foundation each year, Rudy Tseng (
"Lin represents the Disney spirit of optimism and enthusiasm," Tseng said.
The Rotary Club in Taipei also participated in the event, paying for visas, transportation and insurance fees.
"Lin is a role model, showing not only the importance of physical health, but also mental health," Lee Mei-chiao (
The Make-A-Wish Foundation, established in 1980, grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions around the world and operates in more than 30 countries.
The Taiwan branch was set up in 1994 and has helped realize the wishes of many children here -- from helping them meet their favorite celebrities to fulfilling their dreams of becoming police or military officers.
"I am very grateful to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for granting my wish 10 years ago, and for having the chance to be the ambassador representing Taiwan this year," Lin said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching