Meet leading Taiwanese wakesurfer Karen Wang

2023-11-05

Today we meet wakesurfer Karen Wang. Wakesurfing is a water sport in which a surfer rides a boat’s wake on a specially designed board without being directly pulled by the boat. Wang has won numerous titles, and, aside from competing she is also a coach. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to Wang to find out why she’s making such a splash.

She rides a wave effortlessly. This is Karen Wang, a Taiwanese wakesurfer. She has won numerous accolades during her career. She is a 10-time Chinese National Wakesurf Champion and 2023 Amateur Female Surf World Champion. She is currently ranked number one in the semi-professional division. Her goal is to turn professional.

Karen Wang
Wakesurfer
I started competing for CWSA, which is a competitive wakesurf association that basically allows wakesurfers all around the world to be ranked as individual riders. The goal really is to turn pro. I think if you have an overall ranking in the top three of that category then you are able to become pro. That is really my personal goal.

Before becoming a wakesurfer, Wang spent 10 years working as an architect in New York and Paris. She fostered an interest in wakesurfing in Taipei in 2018, and began competing competitively during the pandemic in 2020.

Karen Wang
Wakesurfer
I wasn’t always an athlete. I actually transitioned from an architect to this career in wakesurfing during the pandemic. How did it happen? Basically, I have always been involved in wakesurfing because it was what I loved to do. I got started in Taipei where I am from. I started wake surfing in 2018. My job as an architect usually is very sedentary and very indoors. Whenever I had any free time I would always try go outdoors. Try to do something active. Wakesurfing was just one of those things that allowed me to balance a life inside an office.

Other than competing, she also has worked as a consultant to the largest wakesurfing school in the world in China. She is now based in Kuala Lumpur but often travels around the world to train and compete. When she is not training for competitions, she holds training camps, where she coaches using both Mandarin Chinese and English. She hopes to combine her passion for wakesurfing and design. She is currently writing a textbook and designs boards for wakesurfers.

Karen Wang
Wakesurfer
I am also working on a systematic coaching textbook to help riders to learn this sport with more efficiency and also kind of to streamline everything that I have learned in the past two years in this industry. If you like surfing, you have to get to the beach, you have to wait around for the waves. That usually takes a long time but wakesurfing you can see it as a very efficient city sport, because the wake that we surf, which is the artificial wave created by the boat that we surf behind, it kind of basically gives you a perfect wave. If you go for an hour, and you don’t fall, you basically are surfing for an hour consistently. It is quite a workout. It is a nice thing to balance a very indoor lifestyle.

Wang says the wakesurf scene in Taiwan is still in its infancy. She hopes to let more people know and love the sport.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

「快艇衝浪」正夯選手Karen Wang專訪

2023-11-05

今天帶大家來認識台灣「快艇衝浪」選手Karen Wang。「快艇衝浪」是一項水上運動，利用快艇快速移動以及船尾的擋板切換時所產生的湧浪，推動浪板往前移動。Karen在國際間獲獎無數，除了比賽之外，她還是一名教練。

台灣「快艇衝浪」選手Karen Wang，輕鬆地駕馭著海浪。獲獎無數的她，不但拿下十屆中國女子尾波衝浪冠軍，也是2023年業餘女子衝浪世界冠軍。Karen Wang目前在半職業組中排名第一，她的目標是成為一位職業選手。

[[快艇衝浪選手 Karen Wang]]
"我開始參加 CWSA 的比賽，「快艇衝浪」協會舉辦比賽，讓世界各地的選手可以取得積分及排名。我的目標是成為職業選手，如果我的總體排名在該類別的前三名，那麼就能夠成為職業選手，這是我的目標"

在成為「快艇衝浪」選手之前，Karen在紐約和巴黎當了10年的建築師。2018年，Karen對「快艇衝浪」產生興趣，並在2020年疫情期間開始參加比賽。

[[快艇衝浪選手 Karen Wang]]
"我不是一直是運動員。事實上，在疫情期間，我從建築師轉行到「快艇衝浪」這個職業。怎麼會這樣呢？基本上，我一直有在接觸「快艇衝浪」，因為這是我喜歡做的事情。我從我的家鄉台北開始。我從2018年開始熱衷「快艇衝浪」。我當建築師的時候，因為工作的關係，常常需要久坐，而且多數時間都在室內。每當我有空時，我都會嘗試走出戶外，作一些運動。「快艇衝浪」只是讓我紓解辦公室生活的事情之一"

除了參加比賽，她還曾在中國擔任世界上最大的「快艇衝浪」學校顧問。旅居吉隆坡的她，經常前往世界各地參加訓練和比賽。閒暇時還會舉辦訓練營，用中英語教學。結合對「快艇衝浪」和設計的熱情，Karen還編寫教材，並為「快艇衝浪」愛好者設計衝浪板。

[[快艇衝浪選手 Karen Wang]]
"我在撰寫一本系統性的教材，幫助大家更有效率地學習這項運動，同時也概述了過去兩年，我在這個行業所學到的一切。如果你喜歡衝浪，你就得到海灘等待海浪，這通常需要花很長時間，但「快艇衝浪」是一項非常高效率地的城市運動，因為我們衝的是船後產生的人造海浪，基本上是很完美的海浪。如果你衝浪一個小時都沒有摔倒，那麼你基本上就足足衝浪了一個小時。這是一個激烈的運動，可以有效地紓解平常的生活"

Karen說，「快艇衝浪」在台灣仍處於起步階段，她希望讓更多人了解並熱愛這項運動。

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Majority of Taiwanese interviewed say they would fight in a Chinese invasion

2023-11-05

Lai opens Miaoli campaign office and speaks to Hakka voters and farmers

DPP presidential candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, went on the campaign trail that covered Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli Sunday, where he hoped to secure support from the Hakka community. Lai took the opportunity to solicit votes for pan-green legislative candidates in those constituencies. He also took a jab at his election rival Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party, who he said is out of touch with the needs and concerns of farmers.

DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te on Sunday attended the opening of his campaign office in Miaoli. Up on stage Lai joined hands with DPP legislative candidate Kang Shih-ming and Independent legislative candidate Tseng Wen-hsueh. The three candidates raised their hands and shouted campaign slogans.

Lai Ching-te
DPP presidential candidate
Over the past seven years, the government has been implementing three types of insurance and a retirement fund for farmers. Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je has confused the personal insurance benefit for farmers with farming insurance. He’s even gone so far as to say that helping farmers is equivalent to throwing money around. Ko isn’t concerned about farmers, and he doesn’t understand the agricultural industry. He especially doesn’t understand national affairs.

Lai went on the offensive, criticizing his rival for not understanding the agricultural industry. At the same time, Lai cited the DPP’s achievements as the ruling party, hoping to gain stronger support from local voters.

Lai Ching-te
DPP presidential candidate
We need to say no to candidates who overlook the needs of the people, and who have no specific vision. I implore you all to choose the candidate who has experience and who will steadily lead the country forward. Regardless of whether the TPP and KMT collaborate in the elections, I am still your best choice.

More than 3,000 supporters attended Lai’s campaign event in Miaoli on Sunday. Lai was also joined by Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan and former Vice Premier Yeh Chu-lan, whose presence was aimed at securing support from the Hakka community.

Cheng Wen-tsan
Vice premier
Whatever the KMT failed to do in the past, we will do. Whatever it failed to take care of, we will take care of. What it didn’t build, we will build. Everyone, please vote for Lai Ching-te. The Executive Yuan will give Miaoli the greatest support.

As his campaign marches forward, Lai has set his sights on Hakka voters and farmers. He hopes that the DPP’s policies aimed at the agricultural industry will convince voters his party would have their best interests in mind.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2023-11-05

Draft law sets withdrawal and transfer limits on dummy account providers

2023-11-05

Tsunami expert Philip Liu describes how he can forecast gigantic sea waves

Have you ever wondered what causes those gigantic sea waves known as tsunamis? Today we meet Philip Liu, one of Taiwan’s renowned tsunami experts. Liu is known for his frontline research in the field of water wave theory. He was also instrumental in setting up a pioneering tsunami warning system that’s been used in the U.S. Our very own Stephany Yang takes us to meet Liu, who has ridden a big career wave of his own.

Philip Liu is an academician at Academia Sinica. He has also served as an associate dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell University. He is currently a distinguished professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore, and also the university’s vice president for research and technology. His most recent research has focused on nonlinear waves.

Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
In most recent years at Singapore, we have focused on studying nonlinear waves for the deep water and also shallow water. What we have discovered was that some of the theory which has been used for more than 40 to 50 years contains some mistakes, and so we have corrected these mistakes. I think the new results will have long-term impacts in engineering applications. In ocean engineering, especially.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree focusing on civil engineering at National Taiwan University in 1968, Liu studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a Master of Science degree in civil engineering in 1971 and a doctorate in science in 1974. Liu is a frontline researcher in the fields of tsunami dynamics, water wave theory, wave-breaking processes, sediment transport, and the interaction of waves with structures. He pioneered the development of a unified mathematical model for wave behavior, along with a tsunami monitoring and warning system.

Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
The tsunami model we developed over the years can be used to simulate the tsunami wave propagation from the ocean all the way to the coastal regions so that you can estimate the inundation of the flooding area by the tsunami. And also, this type of model can be used in the tsunami forecasting process to estimate when a tsunami is going to arrive in a certain location and when the tsunami occurs. The model has been actually used by the forecasting system used in the United States for the routine sort of estimation how, when, how much, and how large a tsunami will actually arrive in a certain area.

In the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, his team visited Japan to conduct field research. The research was not only instrumental for Japan but also significant for Taiwan in evaluating safety conditions.

Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
We went to do a survey after the tsunami. A week after tsunami to look at the inundation areas caused by the tsunami and also try to understand the situation with the nuclear power plant. That is important information for us. For Taiwan to evaluate the safety conditions in the nuclear plant in Taiwan.

Over the course of his career, he has received many academic awards. He has trained nearly 30 Ph.D. graduates who are now prominent professors and researchers.

Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
One of my students, Dr. Tso-ren Wu, actually is the one has been using a similar model that we developed and helping Taiwanese governments to assess the tsunami hazards, and also I believe he has used a similar model to look at the safety issues in terms of nuclear power plants on the different locations in Taiwan.

Liu says tsunamis are not only generated by earthquakes but also by landslides. He hopes to conduct further research on landslide-generated tsunamis in the future.

Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
The tsunami can be generated by earthquakes and also by landslides. And also, even volcano eruptions. I think most of the work has been focused on earthquake-generated tsunami but the modeling capabilities for estimating the tsunami generated by landslide is still not very strong or very well done. I think in the future, in the next few years, probably the focus will be on really trying to model the landslide-generated tsunamis because in reality that, in many locations around the world, the landslide can still generate quite a bit of tsunamis.

During a talk at National Taiwan University, Liu encouraged researchers to never stop observing, asking questions, pursuing the truth, and maintaining their enthusiasm for exploring the unknown.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2023-11-05

Premier Chen inaugurates Taiwan’s first brain bank

The Taiwan Brain Bank was officially launched on Sunday. Premier Chen Chien-jen and health minister Hsueh Jui-yuan were on hand for the unveiling of the plaque. NTU medical school professor Hsieh Sung-tsang says the brain bank will collect brain and tissue samples from deceased donors for the purpose of developing drugs and raising the understanding of brain disorders.

With a quick tug on the red ribbons, Premier Chen Chien-jen, health minister Hsueh Jui-yuan, and Vice President of NTU Chang Shan-chwen unveiled the Taiwan Brain Bank, which is located in the NTU hospital.

Chen Chien-jen
Premier
I hope the Taiwan Brain Bank will become a very important academic institution for brain research in Asia and connect to the international community, so that we will have a better understanding of brain diseases unique to Asians or East Asia.

Hsueh Jui-yuan
Minister of health and labor
The brain bank will have two functions, with the first being to maintain its daily operations, which is something that the Ministry of Health and Welfare will provide support for. The second function is brain research. For this part, the government must rely on science and technology projects to support it, and that means our entire academic community has to come up with meaningful research projects and propose them.

Taiwanese people have special genotype manifestations of many diseases, such as amyloid neuropathy, Wilson’s disease, and cerebral small vessel diseases. However, up until now, Taiwan has never had a brain bank. Most of the research to date has relied on imported samples of brain tissue. However, due to the genetic differences between Asians and people in other parts of the world, the research has not been able to meet the needs of Taiwanese patients.

Hsieh Sung-tsang
Taiwan Brain Bank representative
An example is cerebellar degenerative diseases, such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, because these are diseases for which there are no medical cures. So, the biggest objective of the brain bank is to use human brain tissues to develop new drugs. That is our greatest hope as we work on the brains donated by our patients, who did so out of their great love.

Now that Taiwan’s first brain bank has been established, authorities are hoping to develop new drugs through research and give patients new hope.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2023-11-05

3000 runners take part in Gaillardia Island Penghu Cross-Sea Marathon

2023-11-05

Taiwan’s southernmost school offers pioneering ocean classes

2023-11-05

Meet leading Taiwanese wakesurfer Karen Wang