Driver’s test offered in several languages
Taipei City’s Motor Vehicles Office is offering its written test in several languages to accommodate expatriates and new immigrants. The office offers written tests in Mandarin, English, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Cambodian. To allow alternative testing, the office also built a database of pre-recorded spoken questions in different languages. The alternative testing is available in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, English, Japanese, and Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Cambodian. Details about the English-language test are available at: www.mvo.taipei.gov.tw/cgi-bin/SM_themePro?page=461d9c5e. A list of sample questions from the foreign language testing database is available at www.mvo.taipei.gov.tw/cgi-bin/SM_themePro?page=461f1ead.
More information about the exam is available from the 1999 Citizen Call Center at (02) 2720-8889.
Mykonos founder dies
Long-time Taipei resident Michael Stephen Waldor, who brought Greek food to Taipei with a string of Mykonos restaurants beginning in 1993, died in Pattaya, Thailand, where he had a second home, on Oct. 10. The 61-year-old Waldor, known as Mickey or Mike Waldorf to his loyal clientele, had been battling pancreatic cancer since being diagnosed on Oct. 8 last year. The New York native first came to Taipei in April 1985 to work for Asia World Hotel after working on cruise liners and passenger ships for 22 years, mostly in the Mediterranean area, as a catering manager. Those years at sea served as an inspiration when he decided to leave the hotel industry to run his own restaurant, Mykonos, which he opened in a lane off Anhe Road in November 1993. Mykonos moved from its first location to the other side of Anhe and then to Lishui Road and is now in its fourth incarnation in a lane off Siwei Road. Waldorf also owned a Chinese restaurant in Athens for several years and the Cruise Ship Restaurant, which opened on Anhe in December 2003. He was famous for his authentic spanakopita and New York cheesecake, for his sense of humor and for always encouraging people to travel to Greece or try a cruise. He is survived by his partner of 23 years, Gino Lin.
TAS holds flea market, rummage for orphanage
Taipei American School’s (TAS) Orphanage Club will hold a Flea Market and Rummage Sale in the school’s lobby on Saturday, rain or shine. Items offered at the sale include clothing, household items, electronic appliances and furniture, TAS said in a press release. “The proceeds from the Flea Market will go to the Orphanage Club to provide funding for needy children and orphans in Taiwan [and] overseas,” it said. TAS is located at 800 Zhongshan N Road Sec 6, in Tianmu (天母). For more information, contact Richard Arnold at (02) 2873-9900 ext. 239, or Ms Koh at (02) 2874-0902.
AIT sponsors democracy challenge
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has invited all budding filmmakers, democracy advocates and the general public to participate in the inaugural Democracy Video Challenge. Winners will enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to the US to meet prominent figures in the movie industry and democracy advocates. “We expect this competition will be well received and lively in Taiwan, not only because of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy, but also because of Taiwan’s creativity in filmmaking,” AIT Chief of Public Affairs Thomas Hodges said. The three-minute film must complete the phrase “democracy is.” Three semi-finalists from Taiwan will be chosen to compete in the regional finals and the ultimate winners will be selected by YouTube viewers worldwide. For more information on the contest rules, visit www.videochallenge.america.gov. All videos will be judged on artistic content, promotion of democracy and production values.
Grand Hyatt hosts St Andrew’s Ball on Saturday
The British Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the annual St Andrew’s Ball at the Grand Hyatt Taipei on Saturday. Traditionally a Scottish evening, the event is now held in more than 200 cities around the world. The ball in Taipei features a wine reception starting at 6pm, a seven-course dinner of traditional Scottish Fayre and a dance to Scottish music, followed by breakfast at 1am and “carriages” at 3am. The fee is NT$4,600 per seat and NT$44,000 per table of 10. More information is available on the British Chamber of Commerce Taipei Web site at www.bcctaipei.com/Events/20081101_SAB.htm, by e-mail at aurora.chien@bcctaipei.com or telephone on (02) 2547 1199.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
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