DIPLOMACY
Guatemala touts coffee
Guatemalan Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Karla Samoyoa on Thursday said she hoped Taiwan can help the Central American country’s coffee industry reach new heights. In a prerecorded video message at a tasting event in Taipei, Samoyoa said that Guatemala’s coffee exports to Taiwan increased 46 percent over the past two years to become Taiwan’s fourth-largest supplier of beans. Samoyoa also praised bilateral ties with Taipei, saying that diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Guatemala were “stronger than ever.” The tasting event was organized by the Guatemalan embassy and the government-funded Central America Trade Office (CATO) to promote Guatemalan coffee. Attendees at the fourth edition of the event sampled brews using industry-standard cupping techniques that measure the body, sweetness, acidity and aftertaste of coffee beans. Representatives and tasters from more than 30 Taiwan-based companies sampled and rated 33 varieties of Guatemalan coffee at the event, CATO head Augusto Liao (廖鴻達) said.
EDUCATION
Taiwan rises in reading
Taiwan has moved up one place to rank seventh out of 44 countries and areas that took part in an international comparative assessment of student achievement in reading, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2021 international assessment of reading comprehension found Taiwan scoring 544 on average, which advanced the country in the rankings relative to 2016, the previous time the study was conducted. The study assesses reading and comprehension at the fourth-grade level of the participating countries and areas. For instance, students were asked to retrieve explicitly stated information, interpret ideas and evaluate content. Singapore ranked first in the survey.
SOCIETY
Tainan to change crossing
An exclusive pedestrian phase is to be added next week at an intersection in Tainan where a three-year-old girl was hit and killed by a car while she was legally crossing the street with her mother earlier this month, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said on Thursday. The phase, which stops traffic in all directions while pedestrians cross, is expected to go into use at the intersection of Chenggong and Xinyi roads on Friday next week, Huang said during an inspection of traffic conditions in the area. The city has launched a plan to improve pedestrian safety at the city’s 100 most dangerous intersections by the end of this year, he said.
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
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