How do you react when you come across homeless people on the street? Homelessness is something that can happen to anyone, if they lose access to the means of earning a living. Last year’s attempt to drive the homeless out of a park in Taipei’s Wanhua District by hosing them down was very contentious. The practice was seen as inhumane and certainly not a solution to the problem of homelessness, but neither are welfare handouts or members of the public giving money to beggars viable long-term solutions. What disadvantaged people need is to be given a chance: a stable job with a legitimate income.
The Big Issue, which operates based on the social enterprise model — using an economic vehicle to carry out social participation and thereby achieve a social purpose — is a magazine providing exactly one such “chance” for homeless and socially disadvantaged people to earn a living for themselves.
The Big Issue Taiwan was granted a publishing license in November 2009 after its chairman and editor-in-chief Fines Lee met with The Big Issue founder John Bird, who gave Lee the go-ahead after Lee’s presentation. In the following months of preparation, re-editing and positioning, the first Taiwan edition was published in April 2010. As of today, 30 editions have been published. The magazine, with a circulation of 30,000, is turning a profit, mainly from advertising — and Lee revealed that he is considering expanding its vending locations to southern Taiwan in future.
Photo: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片：台北時報林亞蒂
The Big Issue — one of the UK’s leading social businesses — was initiated by The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick and founded by Anita’s husband Gordon Roddick and social entrepreneur Bird in London in September 1991. The magazine is a member of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), and as of today, it is also produced and sold in different languages in about 10 countries, including Australia beginning in 1996, Japan in 2003, and also South Africa, South Korea, Namibia, Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Taiwan.
To become a seller, one must be homeless or socially disadvantaged. All sellers undergo training and internship, and they wear ID badges, which include the seller’s photo and seller number. There are currently 60 sellers regularly shouting “The Big Issue! NT$100 a copy!” in the vicinity of the top 50 MRT stations in Taipei and New Taipei City. Initially, a seller gets 10 copies for free so he or she can earn NT$1,000 after selling all 10 copies. Then, the seller buys each copy for NT$50, which is half the cover price. Several sellers have already experienced an improvement in their lives and their psychological well-being. This echoes, “[Our work] will have kept us out of greater trouble,” written by UK-based Swiss writer Alain de Botton at the end of his book The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work.
Once a successful dot-comer, Lee has now shifted his career to the publishing industry and introduced the social enterprise model to Taiwan — successfully creating jobs for the homeless and the disadvantaged. The Big Issue Taiwan’s target readers are the “Y” generation, office workers of the Internet generation, MRT commuters, and others, most of whom are between the ages of 20 and 35. Given that the content is key to maintaining readership, the seven full-time staffers and dozens of contributing reporters from all over the world are constantly working hard not only to get paid, but also to produce a quality magazine to attract readers. Based on the idea of “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish,” as well as objective and unbiased reporting, the magazine aims at covering important global issues concerning past and future. The contents include global consciousness, business and technology, culture, design, and other comprehensive reporting and commentary focusing on a wide range of issues.
Photo: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片：台北時報林亞蒂
Lee said, “I have to be honest. Initially, I did not run the magazine for the purpose of helping the vulnerable … A social enterprise is a social enterprise. I simply hope to give the public an opportunity to be aware of the homeless issue. Other than that, we are no different from other businesses. The public might mistake a social enterprise for a non-profit organization (NPO) and start to impose high moral expectations on us. But honestly, a social enterprise is an enterprise, or otherwise, I would just run an NPO instead.”
The magazine is a fresh force in Taiwan’s printed media. Through the positive cycle of “helping those who help themselves,” the magazine helps homeless people earn a living, rebuild their confidence and self-esteem, reintegrate them into mainstream society, and thereby gain control of their lives. Lee also encourages sellers to accept any jobs that are better than selling magazines on the streets. US blind and deaf educator Helen Keller once said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” The magazine exists as a catalyst to help the homeless overcome homelessness.
(Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times)
Photo: Lin Ya-ti, Taipei Times
照片：台北時報林亞蒂
路上看到街友時，你會如何反應？當一個人自營生計的條件被剝奪時，你我隨時都有可能窮途潦倒。去年發生在台北市「以灑水驅離萬華遊民」的事件，再度讓街友的社會問題浮上檯面。「灑水」當然不人道，遑論解決遊民問題；社福救濟與民眾捐款幫助靠施捨度日的街友，也非長久之計。這群弱勢朋友們所需要的是一個機會：一個能正當賺取穩定收入工作的機會。
《大誌雜誌》正是一份給街友與社會弱勢族群自食其力機會的「社會企業」雜誌。「社會企業」是運用商業模式，進行社會參與，達到長期支助某個議題或弱勢族群的目的。
《大誌雜誌》中文版執行長兼總編輯李取中於二○○九年十一月親赴英國與《The Big Issue》創辦人約翰‧博德會面，而博德在李取中的簡報後，直接給一句「放手去做吧！」授權中文版發行。不到幾個月的籌備、重新編輯與定位，《大誌雜誌》二○一○年四月在台創刊，至今已發行至第三十期。李取中表示，雜誌目前發行量約三萬本，營運至今是獲利的，廣告為主要收入來源，並期待未來能將販售點擴及南台灣。
《The Big Issue》是英國的「社會企業」先鋒之一，該雜誌是由美體小舖創辦人安妮塔‧羅迪克發想，並由其夫婿果登‧羅迪克與社會企業家博德於一九九一年九月創立於英國倫敦。這本雜誌是國際街報聯盟的一員，迄今已有超過十個國家取得授權，以各自語言獨立發行，例如澳洲於一九九六年開始發行、日本於二○○三年以日文創刊，其他國家還包括南非、南韓、奈米比亞、肯亞、馬拉威、衣索比亞、奈及利亞與台灣。
販售員必須是街友或是社會弱勢，經過訓練與實習，目前約有六十位佩戴具編號相片識別證的販售員，在大台北五十大捷運站出口外圍，以「《大誌雜誌》！一本一百元！」的方式叫賣。每位販售員首次可免費獲得十本雜誌，賣完得到一千元收入，而後繼續到發行站以一本五十元進貨，每本利潤為五十元。許多販售員在販售雜誌後表示，他們皆獲得生活上與心裡上的改善。正如旅居英國的瑞士籍作家艾倫‧狄波頓在《工作！工作！》結尾寫道：「因為工作，我們才不至於陷入更糟的困境裡。」
李取中原是位成功的網路人，轉戰出版業後，成功將「社會企業」模式引進台灣，帶給街友與弱勢族群工作機會。《大誌雜誌》以Y世代、網路世代的上班族、捷運族為閱讀族群，讀者年齡以二十歲至三十五歲居多。為了讓消費行為持續，公司七名全職員工與來自世界各地外稿記者投注心血，除了獲得合理報酬外，還要讓雜誌內容吸引讀者。他們秉持「保持飢餓，保持未知」的核心精神，以及客觀中立的報導，傳達世界各地已發生或未發生的重要資訊，雜誌內容涵括全球意識、商業科技、文化、設計之綜合報導與評論。
李取中表示：「我必須誠實說，我一開始並不是為了幫助弱勢才去做雜誌…社會企業就是企業，我只希望能夠讓大眾有持續關注且改善遊民機會，但其實我們與其他商業是沒有差別的。一般社會大眾會以為我們是非營利組織，用比較高的道德標準要求，但說實話，就是商業企業，不然我就直接做非營利組織就好了。」
《大誌雜誌》是台灣平面媒體的一股新勢力。透過「幫助自助者」的良性循環，讓無家可歸者自食其力、重建自信自尊、融入主流社會，進而找回生活主導權。若販售員找到比街頭販售雜誌更好的工作，李取中也非常鼓勵販售員轉換更好的跑道。美國盲聾教育家海倫‧凱勒曾說：「世界充滿苦難，但也充滿超越。」而《大誌雜誌》可以說是帶給街友「超越」生活困境的推手。
（台北時報記者林亞蒂）
A: South Korean supergroup Blackpink has finally come to Taiwan, and I’m going to one of their Kaohsiung concerts this weekend. I’m over the moon. B: My goodness. However did you manage to get a ticket? I’ve heard that all tickets were snapped up. A: That’s right. They sold 90,000 tickets for the two shows, breaking Coldplay’s record of selling 80,000 tickets for two shows in Taiwan. B: No wonder Blackpink is the world’s top girl group. A: Well, I may be too excited to sleep tonight. A: 南韓女子天團Blackpink終於來台灣啦，而且我週末要去高雄看她們的演唱會，真開心。 B: 天啊，你竟然能搶到門票，聽說所有門票全都被秒殺了。 A: 對啊，這次兩場演唱會賣出九萬張門票，還打破Coldplay兩場賣出八萬張門票的紀錄。 B: 她們真不愧是全球最紅的女團！ A: 我今晚可能會興奮到睡不著吧。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩)
對許多人而言，雞蛋是生活上不可或缺的食物，不論是早餐三明治內的煎蛋、或是晚餐便當中的滷蛋，台灣人對雞蛋的需求量極大，根據統計，台灣人每年吃掉七十幾億顆蛋，是全世界雞蛋消耗量第一的國家。去年冬天開始禽流感侵襲全世界，全台雞蛋也受波及，嚴重缺貨，許多民眾排隊還不一定搶得到雞蛋，不只是大賣場與雜貨店，甚至早餐店都面臨了「缺蛋」的問題。全台面臨「蛋蛋危機」，政府也開始提出更多配套措施來應付目前缺蛋的窘況。本次就讓我們從「蛋荒」的議題來學各種描述社會現象及數據的英文吧！ ========== 如何描述蛋荒？ 一般講到「短缺」時，最常用shortage來形容，如去年的water shortage「缺水」、electricity／power shortage「缺電」。而現在全台面臨的就是一個egg shortage「蛋荒」。 Taiwan’s daily egg demand is about 24 million, while its daily production capacity during the shortage has been about 22.6 million eggs. （台灣每日的雞蛋需求約2,400萬顆，缺貨期間僅約2,260萬顆雞蛋。） shortage和shortfall的差別在於shortfall指的是「不足的（量）、缺額、短少的量」，簡單來說，fall short of…就是「短缺…」的意思。 Our sales have fallen short of the target set by the department. （我們的銷售額沒有達到部門設定的標準。） insufficient insufficient (adj)「不足，短少」在TOEIC測驗中經常出現，deficit (n)則可以解釋為「赤字、虧損」。 The bank just informed us that there were insufficient funds to make the transfer. （銀行剛通知我們帳戶資金不足以轉帳。） 另一個較難的單字是scarcity (n)「缺乏、不足、稀少」，形容詞為scarce (adj)。 The government decided to import eggs from other countries to address the scarcity. （政府決定從其他國家進口雞蛋來應付短缺的問題。） 「蛋蛋危機」？ 造成這次蛋荒的原因究竟為何？根據報導，本次導致「蛋蛋危機」背後的因素相當複雜，從飼料價格上漲、日夜溫差大導致母雞致死率高、到禽流感肆虐等，都是引起缺蛋的主要原因。 The cold weather has been to blame, for some, and for others, the impact of avian influenza, climate instability, and rising international prices for materials. （天氣寒冷、禽流感、氣候不穩定以及國際原物料價格上漲都是罪魁禍首。） instability (n)「不穩定」，相反字為stability (n)、stable(adj)「穩定」，都是多益測驗高頻出現的單字。 Maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait is important
Global population hits 8 billion 全球人口突破八十億！ Humanity reached a milestone in November last year, when the global population exceeded eight billion people. Reaching this number means people are living longer, with generally better access to healthcare, food and sanitation than previous generations. Along with passing this milestone, many demographic changes are expected to occur in the coming years. A United Nations report shows that the world’s population will increase to around 9.7 billion people by the year 2050. It is predicted to peak three decades later at approximately 10.4 billion people and stay around this number until the end of the century. What’s interesting to note is
James is surfing the Internet for lessons. 詹姆斯正在上網搜尋課程。 必備單字 1. experience v.經歷；n.經驗（國中基本1200字） 2. offer v.提供 （國中挑戰800字） 實用字詞 1. PE (Physical Education) class 體育課 2. voucher 現金券 3. ASAP (as soon as possible) 盡快 閱讀技巧： 將長句分成短字詞，以利閱讀 Become a member／of fUN Learning,／and choose the courses／you like. 成為一個會員／「fUN Learning」的／並且選擇課程／你喜歡。 斷句練習： If you have questions, you can also ask our online teachers. 解答: If you have questions,／you can also／ask our online teachers. 假如你有問題，／你也可以／ 問我們的線上老師。 考題練習： TOEIC Bridge測驗 X 國中會考題型 1. Which is true? (A) fUN Learning is a school. (B) fUN Learning is for students only. (C) You can learn from fUN Learning at midnight. 2. What does “them” in the text refer to? (A) The members. (B) The courses. (C) The questions. 3. James bought three
RSS