An exhibit detailing Taiwan's scientific and technological achievements over the past 100 years opened to the public in the Statue Hall of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall yesterday.
The exhibit, titled "Taiwan's Amazing Transformation in Science and Technology," traces the nation's technological rise from the Japanese colonial era to the present -- a century of achievements spanning the country's shift from the "edge of empires to the forefront of manufacturing."
Sponsored by the National Science Council and organized by the hall and tertiary education institutions, the exhibit features high-tech interactive displays explaining the history behind Taiwan's technological rise, from its first engineering projects executed by Japanese engineers to its current position as a global high-tech manufacturing powerhouse.
"Over the past 50 years, the scientific expertise and hard work of our people ... have not only fostered an extraordinary manufacturing ability and competitiveness, but led to our creating many technological `miracles,'" President Chen Shui-bian (
Taiwan should continue to work toward the goal of becoming a "technological innovator," after the country's industrial structure has been transformed from a labor-intensive one into a knowledge-intensive one, Chen said.
Chen noted that Taiwan's innovative competitiveness was rated second in Asia by the UK-based Economist Intelligence Unit.
Meanwhile, 14 Taiwanese-run businesses were included on a list released on July 2 by the US-based BusinessWeek of the world's top 100 performers in the information technology industry, Chen said.
Chen, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and other officials toured the meandering exhibit, reading some of the displays and trying the interactive exhibits.
For all its technological displays, the exhibit that seemed to grab the most attention, especially from the dignitaries, was a poster of a man's swollen genitals.
Guests did double-takes, peering quizzically at the large blown-up shot of what appeared to be grossly enlarged testicles, in the medical science section of the exhibit.
The shocking exhibit showcased Taiwan's apparent medical know-how in diagnosing and treating rare medical conditions.
Free and open to the public 9am to 6pm daily, the exhibit runs until Sept. 23.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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