Miaoli man dedicates his life to restoring wild lilies after ecosystem degradation

Miaoli man dedicates his life to restoring wild lilies after ecosystem degradation

2023-06-26

Taiwan’s natural beauty is famous all around the world. In recent years, more and more ordinary people have got inspired to restore Taiwan’s ecosystems after degradation. Today we meet Wang Feng-hua, a local of Miaoli’s Sanyi Township. He’s passionate about the Wild Lily, a native blossom also known as the Hong Kong Lily. The beautiful white flower suffered in recent decades, as farming chemicals poisoned the countryside. But Wang has devoted himself to planting lilies over many years, supporting the local ecosystem to heal itself. Let’s see how his work turned out.

Wang Feng-hua walks us down a path he has known for decades. He grew up here in Miaoli’s Sanyi Township, leaving briefly for school before coming back home to Guandao Shan. But after his time away, he was shocked to find that local farmers’ use of herbicides was having a devastating impact on the wild lilies that used to carpet the paths here.

Wang Feng-hua
Wild lily gardener
They’re mowing the grass year after year, and some of the plants on the mountain have just disappeared.

Inspired to bring back to life the lush mountain of his childhood, Wang threw himself into restoring the wild lily, becoming a staunch “flower defender.”

Wang Feng-hua
Wild lily gardener
It’s just spending a little time on my own patch of land, and tidying it up a bit.

He doesn’t sell the lilies or make any money from them – instead he pays from his own pocket to plant them. It took a while to get his wife onboard with the project!

Liu Mei-chu
Wife of Wang Feng-hua
I said, “Are you crazy?! Everyone’s trying to earn money. Why are you doing something with no value, no income source?”

There were just 30 lily plants here, at the worst moment. But that’s all changed. One year Wang planted 10,000 lilies on the mountain. Another year, wild boar feasted on the flowers, causing havoc. But Wang is not to be dissuaded.

Wang Feng-hua
Wild lily gardener
They can only sprout their new stalks when you increase the water levels. Actually, it’s obvious at a glance that there are plenty the boar haven’t eaten right here.

And the project has blossomed. The area which Wang cares for has seen the arrival of a small insect, the tea jassid. It’s a good indicator of a healthy ecosystem, unspoiled by herbicides. After all these years, Wang can say with confidence it was time well spent.

憑一股傻勁! "護花使者"王逢華守護百合花

2023-06-26

苗栗縣三義鄉，有位名符其實的"護花使者"，愛護的是山上的野百合，王逢華當兵退伍後，回到山區的老家，有感於家鄉被除草劑污染，再難看到白花齊放的美景，致力於復育野百合，30多年後，上千株純潔的白色花朵，讓滿山遍野都散發幽香。

一步一步往前走，這段路王逢華已經走了幾十年，他從小成長在苗栗三義鄉間，求學時短暫離開過，等到當兵退伍後，再回到位在關刀山的老家，驚覺本來隨手可摘的野百合，卻因為附近農田使用除草劑，無法好好生長。

[[野百合栽種者王逢華]]
“一年復一年的在割草，我們山上一些植物，都被消滅掉了。”

就是一股想要重拾童年美景的傻勁，王逢華一頭栽進復育野百合，成為了護花使者。

[[野百合栽種者王逢華]]
“只是說自己的土地花費一點時間，把它處理起來。”

野百合不賣就沒有經濟價值，還要自費栽培，家人一度不諒解!

[[王逢華妻子劉美珠]]
“瘋子嗎？人家要賺錢，你為什麼做沒有價值的，沒有經濟來源。”

這裡曾經少到只剩三十株的百合，王逢華最多曾經讓上萬株百合，重新開滿山，雖然一度被山豬吃掉不少，不過，王逢華仍然繼續守護著。

[[野百合栽種者王逢華]]
“水分增加了以後才會慢慢抽梗起來，其實這邊山豬沒有吃的量，一看就知道，它的量還很多。”

園區出現生態指標的"綠蟬"，表示這裡是無農藥區，王逢華持續致力於重現百合谷的美景。

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Voice of Su Tzu-yun
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This is a testament to the political trust and security partnership between Taiwan and the U.S. The Jump 20’s principal purpose is battlefield reconnaissance. Through its visible light and infrared systems, it can effectively monitor battlefield environments day and night. Coast Guard missions are both military and police-like in nature. Besides adding a drone unit, Taiwan can also consider adding fixed-wing aircraft and an exclusive helicopter unit for the Coast Guard, which can be used to counter the CCP’s gray zone threat.

U.S. support for Taiwan also came recently from Congress. The House and Senate have passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which calls for expediting arms sales to Taiwan, expanding military training, and establishing a U.S.-Taiwan joint planning team. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the Select Committee on China, said that the danger of a Taiwan Strait conflict was at its peak. To contain Xi Jinping and the devastating consequences of war, the U.S. must work across party lines to counter China. Hard power must be used to stop Xi before it’s too late, and the 2024 defense bill is a crucial step in that direction, he said.

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We’re happy to see this kind of development as China’s militarization becomes increasingly rampant. We need more cooperation with allies including the U.S. Only then can we let the CCP know not to overstep in the Taiwan Strait.

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With COVID restrictions eased, passenger volume is recovering fast at Taoyuan International Airport. The transport ministry plans to expand its four-year-old one-stop security program, by exempting carry-on luggage from security checks.

Wang Kwo-tsai
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On July 1, we will launch our first phase of inspections. The main focus of our inspections will be large-scale operators. Large-scale operators refer to e-commerce operators with capital of NT$150 million or at least 500 stores.

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Every Monday, Fan Mei-jung teaches Southeast Asian languages on the campus of Minth University of Science and Technology. Today she’s brought along bamboo hats and is encouraging them to draw images of Vietnam on them.

Fan Mei-jung
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Fan Mei-jung
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I’ve brought back some local snacks, so everyone can try them.

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It’s crunchy, and has a distinctive Vietnamese flavor.

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College students are often tapping on their phones in class nowadays. But as you can see, they don’t do that in Ms. Fan’s class. They’re fascinated.

Fan has impressive capacities in many different areas. When she first came to Taiwan more than 20 years ago, she experienced discrimination in the workplace, partly because of the language barrier. But she didn’t get bitter. Instead, she doubled down on her efforts to learn Chinese, finding that positive thinking was her best friend in her challenging circumstances.

Fan Mei-jung
Vietnamese immigrant and teacher
Wherever we are carving out a life, we always need to understand the language. When we can do that, then we can protect ourselves, so that we can live better, and help others, and give back to society.

Fan founded a club for new female immigrants from Vietnam. It provides a place where women can ask for advice, and a safe place they can rely on. And she’s also the vice chair of the newly established Happy People Party, which exists to promote the participation of immigrants in all areas of life.

But Fan says the most enjoyable part of her work is teaching. The interaction with students brings immense satisfaction, as she watches them develop more and more interest and delight in Southeast Asian cultures.

This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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Dental appointments explained: the lowdown on Taiwan’s dental system

Have you ever thought about the difference between a dental surgery and other doctors’ clinics? At most clinics in Taiwan, you can just walk in and sit down in the waiting room, joining the queue to see the doctor immediately. But dentists work differently. Most require you to book an appointment in advance – often by phone. Why is that? And if you have an urgent toothache, what’s the right thing to do? Should you book an appointment for next week, or is it OK to walk into the nearest dental clinic and ask to be seen today? Well, we spoke to some of Taiwan’s prominent dentists, to get the lowdown on this sometimes mystifying system.

When you need a dental issue fixed, you’re meant to ring the clinic and book an appointment. Booking in advance is a standard procedure these days, as this member of the public explains.

Member of public
You know, if you have a real toothache, it can be quite inconvenient.

Some people wonder why normal medical clinics let you simply rock up, take a number, and wait your turn, while dental clinics want you to pre-book an appointment. It seems the two systems are dramatically different. Why?

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Dental treatment is usually one very small-scale operation. A complex treatment might take one or two hours. But the majority of treatments take 20 to 30 minutes.

More and more clinics are adopting the procedure of first talking to the patient to find out what’s wrong, and then arranging an appointment so they hopefully don’t have to wait too long in the waiting room, or impact other patients’ rights. But if you have a toothache right now, do you still need to book in advance? Well, not necessarily. In genuinely exceptional circumstances, you may be allowed to skip the queue.

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Usually that’s when the decay has reached the dental nerve, and the face is starting to swell. When you have cellulitis or something like that, then it’s definitely reached the point of a dental emergency.

Treating an acute toothache cannot be delayed. Alongside normal dental clinics, hospital ERs can also provide help in such cases.

Huang Yi-hao
Dental clinic director
When there’s really, absolutely, no other solution, you can go to a hospital emergency room. Yeah. The dentists have shifts – I used to be a hospital dentist.

Wen Ssu-yung
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When you have a toothache, sometimes you really can take painkillers first. I think that dentists in every clinic are willing to treat a patient who is willing to wait in the waiting room.

Dentists say that the main difficulty is the large number of regular hygiene treatments they have booked most days. If you want to avoid getting the kind of toothache that requires emergency treatment and impacts other patients, by far the best policy is to discover any dental issues early, and get them treated as soon as possible.

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