KAOHSIUNG
Health ambassador picked
Chen Chao-long (陳肇隆), a leading expert on liver transplants, on Monday said that he has agreed to serve as Kaohsiung’s “healthcare ambassador,” to promote the city’s medical sector to the world. An honorary superintendent of Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chen said that Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Friday asked if he was interested in taking on the role. “If it means doing good for Kaohsiung, then I’m up for it,” he said. Chen performed the first successful liver transplant in Asia in 1984 and performed the first living donor liver transplant in the nation in 1994. He has published more than 270 scientific articles and has lectured at nearly 200 international conferences. He also trains surgeons at home and abroad. Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has carried out more than 1,830 liver transplants, including 115 on foreign patients who visited Kaohsiung for the procedure.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Paraguay delegation visits
Taiwan expects to work hand in hand with Paraguay to advance bilateral trade and investment, and develop public infrastructure to create a win-win situation for both countries, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Monday. Tsai made the pledge while welcoming a visiting delegation led by Silvio Ovelar, president of Paraguay’s Chamber of Senators. Visits to Taiwan by Ovelar, the delegates and other Paraguayan friends of Taiwan have contributed to deepening the friendship between the two countries over the past 61 years, Tsai said, adding that her administration is committed to enhancing bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and infrastructure based on talks she had with Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez during his state visit in October last year.
A Taipei veterinarian is urging pet owners to avoid using insecticides around their homes, as their ingredients can be toxic to pets. Commercial-grade insecticides contain pyrethroids — organic compounds similar to natural pyrethrins, pesticides produced by flowers such as chrysanthemums — in quantities that are harmless to humans, but potentially fatal to cats and dogs, Asian Veterinary Specialist Referral Center veterinarian Chua Man-ling (蔡曼琳) said. Even in small quantities, pyrethroids are hazardous to cats, as they lack the metabolic enzymes needed to process them, Chua said. Cockroach sprays and ant traps are especially dangerous to pets as they contain boric acid, she
People should avoid eating too many zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), as consuming several in one meal could cause indigestion, bloating, gastric acid reflux, heartburn and other stomach ailments, a doctor said on Saturday. Zongzi is a traditional delicacy for the Dragon Boat Festival, which was on Thursday. Citing a recent case as an example, Cathay General Hospital gastroenterology department head Chu Yu-ming (朱淯銘) said that a 58-year-old taxi driver surnamed Hsiao (蕭) ate meals at irregular hours due to his work and has been taking diabetes medicine for three years. Hsiao recently bought a bag of zongzi and ate
DREAMING OF TRAVEL: About 7,000 people applied for the experience, with about 60 chosen for the first flight yesterday, which includes boarding an airplane Starved of the travel experience during COVID-19? Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) has the solution — a fake itinerary where you check in, go through passport control and security, and even board the aircraft. You just never leave. The airport yesterday began offering travelers the chance to do just that, with about 60 people eager to get going, albeit to nowhere. About 7,000 people applied to take part, with the winners chosen by random. More fake flight experiences are to take place in the coming weeks. “I really want to leave the country, but because of the pandemic, lots of flights cannot fly,”
A DEPRIVATION? The Taiwan Higher Education Union said the program, which drew much student criticism, undermined students' right to an education The Taiwan Higher Education Union on Monday accused Ming Chuan University (MCU) of sacrificing its students’ right to education by altering the English-language instruction for first-year students. The university, which has long emphasized the value that it places on English-language education, in the 2019-2020 academic year changed its English program for first-year students to a combination of self-learning through online videos and weekly lab sessions, during which students would take online tests, the union said. The change has deprived more than 3,000 students of in-person instruction and of interaction with their teachers, the union added. The online program drew much criticism from students
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