Sept 14 to Sept 20Hwang Tae-im’s in-laws were among the many Korean families that congregated in Keelung after World War II, hoping to board a ship home. Japanese colonial rule had ended in both Korea and Taiwan, and many Koreans were eager to return to their newly-liberated homeland. Around 3,000
For a time, it became popular to describe the tactics of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in encroaching on sovereignty and militarizing islands in the South China Sea as “salami slicing.” Those slices have been getting chunkier. The People’s Liberation Army has been increasing its navy and air
For most train journeys, where you are going is the main consideration. On the Shanlan train (山嵐號) in eastern Taiwan, however, it’s not the “where” but the “how” that matters.On this pricey but meticulously crafted train journey running between Hualien and Taitung County’s Chihshang (池上), what you’r
Hollywood has given us some classic mismatched buddy cop movies, like Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs., Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour and perhaps the most iconic pair — Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon. Now, make room for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg.The late
As the light turns red at a busy intersection in the Kenyan capital, a young man costumed in leopard print emerges into the street to perform somersaults. He is joined by five others, dressed similarly, as they execute a combination of acrobatic stunts.One of them, juggling woven hats, breaks away a
Drones are widely recognized as a critical weapons technology of the future. Because of this, the pro-China Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) appear to be obstructing their development. One approach to handling this obstruction is to circumvent it by building robust
In the words of Joni Mitchell, the planners of many urban centers around the world “paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” The European Prize for Urban Public Space tries to show that cities don’t have to be locked in the automotive age for ever.The prize’s latest shortlist, announced yesterday,
Alfred McCoy has been a thorn in the side of the CIA at the very least since 1972, when he published The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, a book the agency tried — and failed — to kill.Now, with his latest, The Cold War on Five Continents, McCoy continues to hammer the CIA for its crimes of the
On the eve of her wedding, Liudmyla Ryzhak pressed her delicately embroidered dress, laid out a full white tulle skirt and her husband’s traditionally patterned shirt, then hung them on the bedroom door.After repeated delays caused by the war with Russia, she was only hours away from marrying her pa
Releasing its latest demographic projections, the National Development Council last month predicted that Taiwan’s human population is set to shrink by 48 percent between now and 2075 — a collapse with undeniable economic fallout.There’s no certainty that a smaller population will put less overall pr
The Guardian: You write that instead of fearing cognitive decline, “changing the way you think about the brain cliff can literally change the way you think and remember.” How?Norman Swan: There are three things you need to know which are not widely known.Think cognitive change not cognitive decline:
On selected weekends, moviegoers settle into reclining deckchairs on Dream Plaza’s rooftop garden in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義). Wearing wireless headphones and surrounded by city lights, they watch everything from romantic favorites to independent films and Hollywood hits.Skyline Film (屋頂電影院 ) ha
Picture humanity in a boat being swept down a raging river, praying there is no Niagara Falls ahead. Or imagine standing with the pioneering physicists in 1942 before they triggered the first self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction beneath a Chicago stadium.These were two of the analogies use
Another doleful set of demographic announcements this month from the National Development Council (NDC), with the number of young people shriveling as the proportion of old people grows. “Taiwan’s 18-year-olds, the typical age for entering college, will fall below 200,000 for the first time in the 2
Searching for the body of his wife in the mud, Dil Bahadur Shrestha lamented that he did not even have a shovel left. For now, he has been using his hands to try to find her as he picks through the ruins of his house.On Wednesday morning last week, Jamuna Shrestha, his wife of 50 years, had been at
No matter where one sits on the political spectrum and who one blames for the ongoing struggles between the executive and legislative branches or the latest food scandal, there has been noticeable frustration with the way democratic institutions are functioning.Attempts to circumvent political oppos
A decade ago, Taiwanese television had an image problem.When representatives of Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS) traveled to Singapore to meet Netflix, they brought two dramas: A Touch of Green (一把青, 2015), a sweeping story of war, displacement and military families, and Wake Up (麻醉風暴, 2015)
Late August can be a depressing time at the movie theater, but there’s a gem to be found in the British romantic comedy Finding Emily. Here, finally, is a smart, funny and sweet story about young love that moviegoing audiences deserve. Yes, the setup is contrived — it even fits almost entirely into
Television loves a gangster story — and apparently so does the Duchess of Sussex. This week, Netflix’s The Gentlemen — Guy Ritchie’s latest addition to the gangster canon, which stars Theo James as a distractingly handsome aristocrat who becomes embroiled in the world of organized crime — returns fo
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