President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) wrote in yesterday's issue of his personal electronic newsletter that he would provide timely assistance to a beef-noodle vendor who hopes to create "Taiwan's Stanford" by founding "a decent university."
Noodle-eatery owner Lee Ching-ming (李錦明) from Tainan wrote in the reader's letters section of Chen's newsletter that many wealthy people in Taiwan are happy to donate money to build extravagant temples, yet few are willing to donate money to build a world-renowned center of higher learning like Stanford University in the US, which was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford, a railroad tycoon, governor of California and US senator.
"Ah Ming," as Lee has been nicknamed by his neighbors and customers, urged Chen to appoint someone to help him deal with the problems that he said he will likely face in founding his school and building it into a world-class university. The 49-year-old Lee quit school at the age of 11 to help his parents make ends meet by collecting garbage and began his beef-noodle business at the age of 19.
Chen praised Lee as a person embodying the "true Taiwan spirit" who is worthy of respect in a society geared more toward utilitarianism.
With over NT$40 million (US$1.14 million) in savings and the support of a group of aca-demics who have joined him to form a board of directors, Lee has been able to raise a fund of NT$300 million (US$8.58 million) for the Hsinying Academy of Information Technology and Man-agement, which is slated to open this fall.
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
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