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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Technology
Cities to team up
The Canadian city of Burnaby will cooperate with Taichung City in technological and economic development, a Taichung City official said yesterday. Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan paid a visit to Taichung yesterday at the head of a delegation from the city in British Columbia, the official said. During the visit, Corrigan and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) signed a joint declaration expressing their determination to cooperate in promoting high technology development. Hu told Corrigan that Taichung's economy has been growing quickly thanks to its stable financial condition and the development of the Central Taiwan Science Park. Hu added that Taichung would benefit from Burnaby's experience in becoming a high tech center. Corrigan promised to promote bilateral trade and technological interchanges.

■ Entertainment
Top skater coming to Taiwan
Japanese figure skater Shizuka Arakawa, last year's Turin Winter Olympics gold medalist in the Women's Singles event, and the 2004 World Champion, will perform in Taiwan for the first time in August. Arakawa and other well-known Japanese figure skaters, including Takeshi Honda and Junko Yaginuma, will skate in six shows of the Prince Ice World 2007 Tour in Taipei, to be held from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 at the Taipei Arena. Arakawa, 26, is the first Asian-born female skater to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, and the second oldest woman to win gold. She announced her retirement from amateur figure skating and turned professional in May last year, joining the Prince Ice World Team.

■ Society
Award winners set to cash in
The winners of the fourth annual Presidential Cultural Awards will each be granted prize money of NT$1 million (US$30,273) and certificates signed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at an award ceremony on Oct. 17. The winning groups were announced on Thursday by the National Cultural Association. They are the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, Hualien County's Niouli Community Interchange Association, the International Headquarters Search and Rescue, and the Homemaker's Union and Foundation. The two individual winners are Chiang Shu-sheng (江樹生) and Lim Chang-tzuo (林昶佐). Secretary-general of the National Cultural Association Tchen Yu-chiou (陳郁秀) said the winners were selected for their contributions in the fields of social service, international peace, environmental protection, artistic creation and cultural development.

■ Ecology
Protected areas set up
The season for the endangered green turtle to return to lay eggs on the beaches of Penghu has arrived, and tourists should refrain from entering protected areas, a conservation official said yesterday. Chen Chin-lung (陳金龍), a section chief with the Penghu County Government's Department of Ecology and Conservation, said that every year between May and October, green turtles come to Penghu's shores to nest. Penghu County is the area in Asia where green turtles most regularly come to nest, Chen said. The county has set aside an area of just over 23 hectares in Wangan Township (望安) for the threatened species to lay their eggs undisturbed. Chen said that tourists are banned from entering the area between May 1 and Oct. 31, and that violators face stiff penalties.

■ Society
Girl shaves head for mom
A mother in Taoyuan who gave up her job in order to accompany her son to school and now has cancer has inspired her daughter to shave her head to show appreciation for her mother. Luo Jung-chu (羅榮珠), now 52, gave up her job seven years ago to accompany her son to school when she discovered he was not studying hard enough. As Luo was only an elementary school graduate, she finished junior high school with her son. Inspired by her mother, Luo's daughter Yin Kuo-fen (尹國芬) decided to show her appreciation of her mother in a special way. Since Luo had lost her hair during treatment for breast cancer last year, Yin shaved off her hair to symbolically join her mother's struggle against cancer. "I simply didn't want my mom to feel that she's all by herself," Yin said.

■ Sport
Paraguayans coach soccer
Four Paraguayan soccer coaches started a 10-day training program in Taitung County on Wednesday in the hope of developing more professional grassroots coaches to establish a solid foundation for the future of Taiwanese soccer. The coaches will provide their expertise in conditioning, techniques, tactics and psychology in programs which will be held in Taitung, Pingtung and Taichung through next Saturday. The coaching clinic is the result of a collaboration between the Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay, the Ministry of Education and the National College of Physical Education and Sports. Paraguay is proud of its long soccer history and achievement, the Paraguayan Embassy said, and believes the program will help the development of Taiwanese grassroots soccer thanks to the efforts of the four coaches -- Gustavo Alcibiades Blaires Ucedo, Ramon Duarte, Julio Vera Torres and Guido Armoa.


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