■ EDUCATION
Kaohsiung inks medical ties
Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) has forged sisterhood ties with Poland's Poznan University of Medical Sciences, paving the way for future academic exchanges, a KMU representative said yesterday. KMU will send 26 postgraduate students to Poznan in July for a two-week academic and clinical research program. The university and the Ministry of Education will pay the students' air fares, while the Poznan school will cover their expenses in Poland. Poznan University has four colleges: the First College of Medicine, which offers a six-year M.D. program; the Second College of Medicine, which includes the departments of dentistry and post-graduate medical education; the College of Pharmacy; and the College of Health Sciences. The representative said that KMU hopes to create more opportunities for exchanges between the two schools in the hope of allowing KMU teaching personnel and students to acquire wider medical knowledge and techniques from Poland.
■ IMMIGRATION
Foreign population rises
About 570,000 foreign nationals were residing in Taiwan at the end of last year, an increase of 17,000 compared with the previous year, the latest statistics compiled by the Ministry of the Interior showed. Some 358,000 of the foreign nationals were migrant workers, representing 62.8 percent of the total number, and more than 65,000, or 11.4 percent, were foreign spouses of local citizens, ministry statistics showed. Most of the foreign nationals lived in Taipei City, Taipei County and Taoyuan County. The number of foreign workers last year rose 5.7 percent from 2006, while the number of foreign husbands and wives of Taiwanese nationals dropped 14.1 percent. For short-term stays, Japan was the largest source of business visitors and tourists to Taiwan last year, accounting for 25.1 percent of the total, followed by the US with 23.2 percent, the tallies showed.
■ TOURISM
Firefly season in Alishan
The Alishan National Scenic Area Administration held a ceremony in the village of Ruili (瑞里) last night to mark the launch of the firefly season at the national park. The series of countdown activities to formally launch the firefly season included the lighting of special lanterns by the invited guests. The light from the lanterns was meant to symbolize the firefly's mating signal and served as an invitation to nature lovers to visit the national park to enjoy the firefly spectacle. A special draw was also held, with winners receiving a limited number of handmade firefly dolls that glow in the dark. An Alishan administration official said the firefly phenomenon was a testament to the scenic area's pure and pristine natural environment and local residents' love for and protection of the environment.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Hoklo movies on show
Free screenings of 18 classic Taiwanese movies in Hoklo will be held at 9:30am on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Tuesday until May 29 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the memorial hall said in a press release yesterday. The free screenings are part of an art movie appreciation activity organized by the memorial hall, which started five years ago, memorial hall director Cheng Nai-wen (鄭乃文) said. Film director and playwright Huang Ying-hsiung (黃英雄) will host a brief discussion session after each showing. Information on the list of films being shown can be downloaded at www.yatsen.gov.tw/chinese/movies/files/970128.doc
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