Many years ago, aware of the potential for the nation's gambling industry, Kaohsiung Hospitality College (KHC) began to offer its students a course in "gambling studies."
KHC then applied in 2002 for permission to convert its course into a department for gambling studies and were promised that they could do so as soon as gambling was legalized.
The department would focus on the study of commercial gaming to help students gain an in-depth understanding of a field that most Taiwanese have very little knowledge of.
Hsieh Wen-Chin (
And not only that.
Hsieh, trained at Penn State University and a specialist in casino management and the psychology of gambling, said that the study of commercial gaming offered by the school will also teach students how to see through many of the deceitful tricks used in gambling.
"To manage a casino, you certainly have to understand all the rules and tricks used in the gambling industry," Hsieh said.
To find out more about how the underground casinos in Taiwan operate, Hsieh many years ago apprenticed himself to a local gambling master.
National Penghu University also plans to set up a similar department. But although some academics believe that schools should respond to industrial trends, some are also worried that the establishment of such departments could influence social attitudes.
In places such as the US and Macau -- where commercial gaming has long been legal -- casino management is becoming an increasingly popular subject among college students.
Last year, the first group of students graduated from the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming (ISCG) at the University of Macau.
Casinos in Macau recruited these young graduates immediately after graduation, as they had already acquired the technical know-how to work in the business. The base salary offered them was NT$60,000 (US$1,840) to NT$80,000 per month.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS