Category：Features

The story unfolds in real-life settings with street theater

Have you ever heard of street theater? It’s a kind of play that takes place in public spaces like a street, with the story unfolding in real-life settings. Last year, the National Theater and Concert Hall made its first-ever street theater production with a Japanese director and a Taiwanese cast. In the streets of New Taipei’s Sanxia and Taipei’s Wanhua, the audience followed the lead actor to help an elderly neighbor find his missing wife. What is slowly revealed is a poignant story about dementia and how it affects the patients’ family and friends. Here’s our special report.

A large audience follows the lead actor on the streets and alleyways. With the plot of the play integrated with everyday life, the audience also becomes a part of the story. Yes, this is a theater production. But instead of the stage in a theater building, the plot unfolds right on the streets.

- You’re Big Nose.
- Big Nose.
- You’re the Big Nose that used to come to my home as a kid?
- It’s been so long, grandpa. How about this? I’ll help you find grandma. If we still can’t find her, then we’ll call the police.
- I’ll go over there myself.
- Take care, grandpa. Watch your steps and don’t rush.

As the story unfolds, the audience begins to understand that the main character A-jung has returned to his hometown, Sanxia in New Taipei as an adult. He bumps into the neighbor of his childhood home, an elderly man and helps him search for his wife, who has dementia.

- I wonder if you’ve seen a lost grandma. She was wearing yellow and carrying a red bag.
- Yes, I think I’ve seen her.
- It was right over there, near the bear statue when I saw her this morning.
- Yes, right there.

Every plot twist appears on the street corners. The scene changes not by shifting set pieces, but by traveling with the actors. The production took place in Sanxia’s Taipei University Special Zone, taking the story to the streets. It’s a play about dementia.

Tsai Min-ni
Assistant director
They need to help the grandpa find grandma, so the journey on foot begins. The male lead has to track down grandma in the place where he grew up with clues he gathers along the way. Through this production, we’re not only allowing the audience to immerse themselves into the plot in ten different settings, but also allow them to experience the Taipei University Special Zone.

We followed the theater company backstage, a week before the show was premiered, getting a glimpse of the rehearsals.

Naoki Sugawara
Director
I’m really excited to see what kind of work will be produced. It would be great if the audience and crew will enjoy themselves too.

Japanese theater director Naoki Sugawara was invited to produce the play on dementia with a Taiwanese team, titled “FormosArt: Night Never Gets Darker.”

Naoki Sugawara
Director
I believe the issues of dementia and aging societies can be shared with everyone in the community through theater. I hope to encourage the audience to think about how to solve the issues arising from dementia in the community through street theater. I also hope that the end of the play isn’t an end, but that the stories in the play can continue at the location where it took place.

- Hi grandma, are you alone?
- Excuse me. I’m grandma’s care companion. How can I help you?
- Oh, sorry. It’s just that there’s a grandpa asking me to look for his wife. She happens to be wearing yellow too, so I thought it was her.
- Why didn’t you call the police if you’re looking for her?

In order to find actors who can accurately portray dementia, casting took the production team almost a whole year.

Actor Huang Chiu-chin is 71 years old and plays an elderly woman with dementia. Her nuanced body language perfectly captures what it’s like to live with dementia. It’s because she had experience caring for elderly family members with this condition.

Huang Chiu-chin
Actor
It’s mainly because my husband had a stroke. He had vascular dementia. Later on, my mother also had Parkinson’s disease dementia, so she also developed dementia. I once had to take care of three family members. Now, two of them are gone. My 100-year-old father is still alive. I incorporate these experiences into my performance in the play.

Another cast member, Chang Cheng-I, like Huang, has real-life experience dealing with dementia in the family. In the play, he’s an elderly man taking care of his spouse with dementia.

Chang Cheng-I
Actor
My father-in-law passed away at the age of 96. He had dementia at 85. My father is still alive. He’s 97 years old now and also has dementia. In the beginning, their conditions were pretty mild, but gradually worsened. All I had to do in the play was to recall my experience with them and embody that naturally in the play.

The two actors brought their real-life experience into their performance. They’re not alone in having to take care of aging family members. In Taiwan, around 350,000 older adults suffer from dementia, the burden of care on their immediate family.

- Have you seen an old lady wearing yellow and carrying a yellow bag? She walked past here earlier. She’s been missing since this morning.

The main character A-jung is played by Talum Isbabanal. He’s the one leading the audience throughout the play and through the winding streets, in search of an old lady with dementia.


- I’m A-jung. Do you remember me? I used to visit your noodle shop often, and you’d make me noodles. Remember?

Talum Isbabanal
Actor
Our performance takes place in a real-life setting, so there’s no need to exaggerate anything. After the performance, a member of the audience came to me and said that they felt understood. For those who are unfamiliar with the subject matter, they’ll be prompted to think about elders in their families. Maybe this will change their attitude towards elder family members with chronic illnesses.

Talum Isbabanal used to work at a senior daycare center, so he’s very familiar with older adults. His role deals with feelings of anxiety and helplessness when looking for someone with dementia. His real-life experience makes his performance all the more convincing.

Through this production, street theater becomes a medium to advocate for issues in an aging society, thanks to the National Theater and Concert Hall’s FormosArt Initiative.

Liu Yi-ruu
NTCH General and Artistic Director
We have a relatively large outdoor production every year. At one point we wondered how we could go further instead of maintaining the same format. A large outdoor production can feel like staging fireworks. It’s brilliant for that one night. But what happens afterwards? Did we really make an impact on the local community?

The FormosArt Initiative was inaugurated in 2015, bringing stage productions out of stately performance theaters into cities and townships all over the country. But what more can be done for locals after the credits roll in? That seeded the FormosArt 2.0 Initiative and resulted in the very first street theater production in Taiwan.

Liu Yi-ruu
NTCH General and Artistic Director
We were really attracted to stage theater then, not only for its unique format, but also because dementia is something that occurs in our daily lives. And so we thought this topic must be explored in a way that’s close to our surroundings. Because the performance deals with something so mundane, it fully immerses the audience very easily.

The production took place in a new neighborhood and an old town: Sanxia in New Taipei and Wanhua in Taipei. In the future, it’s hoped that street theater can enter a greater number of neighborhoods and create stories that belong to the communities.

Liu Yi-ruu
NTCH General and Artistic Director
FormosArt 2.0 is special in that we invite local government to become co-producers. So they’re not just bringing in an audience. They’re more or less also involved in the production. And because local production teams are involved, they can replicate it in the future, whether on their own or with the local government.

- Cherish the opportunity right now to see those you hold dear, and tell them what you’ve yet to say to them.

Audience member
Watched the production
The whole play was really touching. As you walk with the cast, you’ll notice that you’ve walked past the older parts of Sanxia into the newer and bustling part. It also touches upon many issues related to societal aging. It really got me thinking how I should seize the day and cherish all that I have.

Audience member
Watched the production
I find the topic to be quite dark, but a play is another way to get to understand dementia.

Even a serious topic can be explored through a play, while keeping the audience grounded in reality. With the initiative, fiction and reality become one.

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

#NTCH #theater #streettheater #culture #taiwan #formosart

2026-06-18

Social isolation suggested as common, crucial risk factor of mass violence

During rush hour on Friday Dec. 19, 2025, a man conducted a mass killing spree at Taipei Main Station exit and at a department store next to MRT Zhongshan Station. He killed three and injured 11. The attacker died immediately after jumping off the building. Cases of mass violence may be relatively rare in Taiwan, but they’re worrying all the same. More so, because they indicate larger societal and structural risk factors that played a part in driving the attackers to violence. So what exactly is the socio-psychological root of mass violence? Let’s find out now in our Special Report.

In 2021, on the night of Halloween, screams erupted on a Keiō Railway train in Tokyo, Japan. A man dressed up as a clown conducted mass stabbing of fellow passengers, and arson. A total of 18 were injured.

Earlier, in 2014, another stabbing spree took place outside a subway station in Chiba Prefecture. The perpetrator attacked four passers-by, leaving one injured and another dead.

Since the 1990s when Japan began formally documenting statistics of mass killing events, at least one would occur every year. There were 14 such cases in 2008 alone.

The most chilling of all was the 2008 Akihabara massacre. The perpetrator drove a mini-truck and rammed through the pedestrian area. Then he exited the vehicle and began stabbing. Within five minutes, he killed seven and injured 10.

Witness
2008 Akihabara massacre
The mini-truck ran over three people. It didn’t look like an accident. It ran over about three people in high speed.

The perpetrator of the 2008 Akihabara massacre was a 25-year-old contract worker. His dissatisfaction with employment and personal life drove him to violence.

Tai Shen-feng
Professor of Criminology, CCU
The perpetrator in this case was unhappy that full-time employees had their own desks and lounge, while contractors like him had to squat in a corner or gather in a separate space to eat their bentos. It’s this feeling of differential treatment that made him feel marginalized very deeply. The last thing that happened to him was when he couldn’t find his work gear. Someone left it in the restroom. That’s a rather extreme example of social rejection, which aggravated him. He likely thought, “since society doesn’t care about me, what’s wrong with me annihilating others?”

In Taiwan, such cases of indiscriminate killing, in which victims were targeted at random, gained widespread attention in 2012, following a brutal case of child murder at a game arcade.

Tai Shen-feng
Professor of Criminology, CCU
“Indiscriminate” here is a direct Japanese loan word. Of course it differs from our concept. It’s not really indiscriminate. Someone will have to get close enough to get killed. Taiwan has very strict gun control, so it’s not possible to do this from a distance. Rather, it’s a form of mass murder in a very short period, causing a great number of casualties in a very short period.

Call it indiscriminate killing, random killing or more accurately, mass murder, this form of homicide are all characterized by a stranger relationship between the perpetrator and victims. Anyone in a public space could be randomly attacked.

Hsu Fu-sheng
Central Police University dean
Think about it. You happen to be walking down the street only to get stabbed and killed by a complete stranger. That sense of fear. I believe anyone would be frightened. That’s why random killings or indiscriminate killings cause such great terror.

On the afternoon of May 21, 2014, a stabbing spree erupted on the Taipei MRT’s Blue Line. The attacker was quickly captured at Jiangzicui Station by the police and members of the public, but he still caused four deaths and 24 injured. Shock and fear quickly rippled through society at the wake of the incident.

Little by little, people in Taipei dropped their guards. But exactly ten years later, on the same day in 2024, a similar knife attack took place on the Taichung MRT.

Fortunately, no one lost their lives this time, thanks to brave passengers. But very soon, on Dec. 19 the following year, Taipei MRT was again the site of violent crime.

Tai Shen-feng
Professor of Criminology, CCU
The way the crime was carried out this time around at the Taipei MRT was even more sophisticated. He had exhibitive props, such as the addition of smoke bombs, which he used in an attempt to create terror. He killed those who stood in the way of his criminal plan, those who he perceived as obstructions. We can reasonably deduce that the perpetrator thought those he killed were those who obstructed him from taking the next steps. For example, sometime stopped him from lighting up the Molokov cocktail, or maybe someone caused him the trouble of having to go through traffic before he could enter the store. His killings were done to eliminate those obstructions.

This time around, the perpetrator killed three pedestrians and injured 11 within three hours. He also died after jumping off a building during a police chase. All three instances of mass attacks on the metro were astoundingly similar in execution.

Hsu Fu-sheng
Central Police University dean
The commonalities, I guess, are that all of them chose public spaces, targeted complete strangers and instilled widespread fear and panic. The perpetrators often choose highly visible public places, train station and the metro are typical examples. The action must be shocking, and it was especially so this time around. The key is to instill fear in everyone.

Sadness, fear and rage were in everyone’s heart after the tragedy, but also questions. Why did all three attackers target strangers without any regard?

Hsu Fu-shen
Central Police University dean
Speaking of the perpetrator Cheng, he did well in high school, at Banqiao Senior High. He later attended the National Defense University but got expelled, and then he transferred to Tunghai University, and became interested in killing others. It’s worth noting these shifts. It’s the same with Chang in the recent incident. He also did well in high school and university, but he experienced a major setback when he was dismissed from the military after being caught drunk-driving. And he only stayed on his next job as a security guard for a year. In the year or so afterwards, he started planning the mass murder. What was the impetus? At which point was he completely abandoned by our society and its systems and institutions, which in turn motivated him to commit this form of lone actor terror?

Only the perpetrators themselves can fully explain their motivation. But Cheng of the 2014 attacks was executed in 2016, while Chang of 2025 plunged to death immediately. Only the Taichung MRT attacker, sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison, could serve as a research subject.

Tai Shen-feng
Professor of Criminology, CCU
In the Taichung MRT incident, the attacker survives. After analyzing lots of data, we discovered that the attacker had trouble adapting in new stages of life. He experienced difficulties at home and in school. He felt bullied in school. The attack was his way of avenging, which he saw as an exercise of justice. He sought justice, alright, but the method wasn’t ideal.

Chuang Yueh-hsiang
Flying Youth mentor
We’d describe this as the safety net in their heart fraying bit by bit. Once they lose their family, friends, colleagues, work, their support system would come undone little by little. Imagine that every individual is a web within a larger system. If every link snaps, the individual’s life is no longer supported. When someone becomes isolated to a certain extent, they become negative. When these negative thoughts accumulate, they’re expressed in harmful action, whether to the self or to others.

Researchers believe that instigators of mass murder at home were similarly motivated as those in Europe or Japan. They’ve all experienced, or rather perceived, great social rejection.

Tai Shen-feng
Professor of Criminology, CCU
What’s perceived social rejection? It’s when an individual believes that people around them are marginalizing them, despite otherwise. It’s a form of cognitive distortion. The individual may perceive others as targeting them in some way. That perception would aggravate feelings of hostility, and the intensification of such feelings could motivate the individual toward aggression.

In all three cases, the perpetrators were in their twenties, transitioning from campus life to the job market. It’s easy to perceive setbacks negatively during this critical period. Difficulties in life could lead to cognitive distortion, in which the individual believes they’re marginalized. From what the police gathered in Chang’s phone, it appeared that he was almost completely cut off from others.

Hsu Fu-sheng
Central Police University dean
In Chang’s case, I’d say it’s due to his personal dissatisfaction with life trajectories. I believe there are more and more people of this sort. Chang was dismissed from the military, he got another job, but he only stayed on it for a year. Little by little, he became isolated from society. Someone who’s dissatisfied with their life course may turn to random killing to assert their individual existence.

In all three cases, the perpetrators acted upon feelings of extreme social rejection. Experts believe these events hinted at a higher probability for similar incidents in the future.

Tai Shen-feng
Professor of Criminology, CCU
Now that we have three such cases, our society has to face a certain reality. It’s happened repeatedly, meaning there could be many more out there with similar fantasies, but dare not act them out yet. Or perhaps they might not have entertained such acts of violence before, but now they are. Could these people be emboldened to entertain, and even act out their violent fantasies? We certainly don’t want this to be true.

How can we prevent these negative feelings from being internalized, and in turn become the catalyst for violence? With increased evidence from research, the government has worked on bolstering the social safety net.

Hsu Fu-sheng
Central Police University dean
A Japanese study was conducted on random killing. It analyzed 52 cases. The researchers concluded that they’re all related to social isolation.

Chuang Yueh-hsiang
Flying Youth mentor
Now that we’re able to identify the cause, we can perhaps reflect on those around us. Someone may start acting strangely. They may speak less. Once these symptoms appear, we should think about how to intervene through care and action so that tragedies can be avoided.

It’s not enough to strengthen connections with one’s social circle. A long-time mentor for high-risk youth, reminded us not to incite hatred.

Chuang Yueh-hsiang
Flying Youth mentor
After a young person commits a crime, they may see comments on YouTube attacking them, calling them scum or trash, or wanting them to just die. But just think here: the law protects these youths and they could be released or rejoin society to work. If they do not develop self-awareness, or if they do not reflect on themselves, and internalize all the criticisms at them, they would take that as, “Yes, I am no good. I’m violent. I want to attack you. To those that once made me suffer, I’ll make you all suffer too!” All that hatred and fear only breed more fear.

The three lives lost on that fateful day in 2025, and many more before them, are scars in our collective memory. But even more than that, they forced us to open our eyes to interpersonal, societal and structural risk factors that catalyzed violence in the very first place. The perpetrators’ individual traits notwithstanding, we can also play a part in healing our communities and prevent another similar tragedy.

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

#crime #criminology #psychology #sociology #highriskyouth

2026-06-11

Traditional markets get modern revamp to attract customers

Due to unruly human behavior in its open-air structure, traditional markets are gradually losing customers to supermarket chains. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, more than 100 traditional markets closed in just two years, from 2021 to 2023. To reattract customers, governments are stepping in to revamp the facilities and vendors are also finding clever ways to gain new customers. Our weekly special report.

Pulling a trolley and fritting from one stall to another: this is A-ming, a retail-level fruit and vegetable vendor. Every morning, he goes to Sanchong Fruit and Vegetable Market to bulk buy what he’s planning to sell.

He stacks boxes upon boxes of produce onto the trolley, then takes them over to his truck in the parking lot. It usually takes several trips back-and-forth to get everything he needs.

Loading his truck under the hot summer weather is quite some serious workout. Some vendors couldn’t bear to see him having to work so hard, so they try to make things easier by pre-packaging the goods. Others even help A-ming transport the boxes over with their own scooters. That saves him a number of trips.

Many people enjoy shopping at traditional markets for the social aspect. However, traditional markets all over Taiwan are in decline, losing customers and even forced to close in some cases.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, from 2021 to 2023, the number of government-owned markets fell from 486 to 438. The decline is even steeper with privately-owned markets, from 215 to 153. In total, more than 100 markets have shut down in just two years.

It’s likely some shoppers are put off by those inconsiderate people, and coupled with the rise of supermarket chains and hypermarkets, many customers would rather opt for those instead. Is modernizing traditional markets, and thereby improving the shopping experience, the solution?

As soon as one walks in, they’re greeted by the cool AC. This is Wugu Market in New Taipei, where A-ming runs his fruit and vegetable stall. It’s not only well-lit and comfortable. The vendors also try to provide a better experience themselves. A-ming and his wife Elsa clearly put a lot of thought into product display.

Elsa
Fruit and vegetable vendor
We have different layers as opposed to having everything on one flat surface before. We noticed that people may be overwhelmed when everything’s placed together, so we categorized our products in different layers to make it easier for them.

Established in 2022, Wugu Market is the first modernized, government-run traditional market in New Taipei. Stalls here are placed in designated areas for fresh produce, meats and prepared foods. Scooters are also not allowed inside, making for a comfortable and safe shopping experience.

A-ming
Fruit and vegetable vendor
The clearest difference is the AC. In traditional markets, when the weather’s hot, it really feels like a sauna. It’s really hot. Also drainage. We have well-designed drains with covers, whereas in traditional markets it’s the usual type that have many gaping holes, and residue like vegetable waste and other stuff will get inside, and cause blockage. When it’s really hot, the odor becomes worse.

Wugu Market’s modern facilities allow it to be free of the shortcomings plaguing traditional markets, but foot traffic there still can’t compare to markets past.

Ya-wen
Pork vendor
I can’t manage to sell the day’s inventory. Sometimes I make sausage from those pork, and also cured meat. For the shoulder, we turn that into sliced meat for hotpots. And pork belly can be made into bacon.

Ya-wen has run a pork stall for over 20 years. She applied for a spot at Wugu Market when it opened because rent was cheap. But she didn’t expect the decline in shoppers after the initial opening period. Many vendors have already left.

Ya-wen
Pork vendor
In the beginning there were more than 100 vendors. But after the number of customers fell, vendors left too.

At the time of filming, we noticed that the signboards from those previous vendors remained, but their spots were taken over as storage or made into dining areas. And with less vendors, the number of customers also dropped.

Customer
Some people enjoy shopping at markets because they like to look around for things to buy, but there aren’t as many vendors or products available here anymore.

Why is it so hard to attract customers even though the facilities are much better?

Wu Yi-shin
National Sun Yat-sen University assistant professor
Most people seem to redesign markets on the premise that consumer habits have changed when that’s not the case.

Dr. Wu Yi-shin believes instead that consumer habits are hard to change. For example, modernized markets with AC may be more pleasant for pedestrians, but because scooters aren’t allowed inside, a great proportion of customers and older adults are left out. That greatly shrinks vendors’ customer base.

Wu Yi-shin
National Sun Yat-sen University assistant professor
I think they can start with allowing scooters inside, but with rules in place. I believe that would be a good start. It’s less abrupt than banning them altogether. Begin by putting a speed limit on scooters and make scooter riders build a new scooter etiquette, then move on to the next stage. People with scooters will be better behaved and that makes it easier to implement traffic control.

Because of its proximity to industrial zones and a redevelopment zone, the local population is still quite small. To attract customers, the vendors’ association often hands out vouchers on weekends or organizes family activities to create incentives to locals to drive over to shop. Additionally, being close to highway exits also brought them customers through partnerships with tour groups, and turn the market into a rest stop of sorts.

Chen Wen-sun
Wugu Market vendors’ association head
Wugu’s tourism is mainly centered on our Guanyinshan National Scenic Area. Many visitors come from Central and Southern Taiwan and stop here to rest. They can have meals, do some shopping and rest a bit before going back on the road.

While the vendors’ association launches campaigns to attract customers, individual stalls try to get them to make a purchase.

Ya-wen noticed that her customers are usually small families in the nearby redevelopment zones. They buy little and don’t cook very often. So she began offering sausages and vacuum-packed ingredients that suit those customers better, and has since gained a steady clientele.

Ya-wen
Pork vendor
I’ve been here for almost three years now. I have a steady customer base and also my own Line open chat group. My customers order from there and we also try to offer products, such as vacuum-sealed meat that they can order straight from the chat.

Meanwhile, A-ming approached many eateries outside when he’s not taking care of the stand. He now has several long-term contracts, and clients like working with him because he has machinery that can quickly prepare chopped green onions, ginger and chili. A diverse clientele improved his business.

A-ming
Fruit and vegetable vendor
Sometimes there are really so few customers. In this situation you must come up with solutions. So I approach restaurants and we also do deliveries and group-buying. I deliver to the nearby Zhouziyang redevelopment zone, and also Sanchong and Xinchuang, because I live in Sanchong and I can do deliveries on my way home. So there are ways to get more customers.

Vendors at Wugu Market have to do more than traditional retail-level outdoor markets, and even reaching customers beyond the market building. But A-ming has no complaints. He says he believes it’s only a matter of time for vendors to have to adapt to new business practices. He also says he observes local markets on holidays to Japan and South Korea.

A-ming
Fruit and vegetable vendor
The markets there are now all renovated, have AC and are all pretty clean, which is closer to what we have here. But they try to keep a retro vibe, meaning they combine the old and the new, while prioritizing cleanliness and tidiness. But our modernized markets may still feel off for older generations or people who are used to traditional markets. But I also think it’s a matter of habit. If you visit certain sellers often, you’ll eventually develop a cordial relationship with them. You just have to take the first step inside here.

Newer markets may no longer look like they used to, but it’s all for a better customer experience. They also offer a more social experience even when chain stores are gradually taking over.

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

#shopping #markets #consumertrends #taoyuan #nanmenmarket

2026-03-10

Discarded oyster shells recycled for a wide range of applications

Have you ever paused to think about where oyster shells end up when you’re enjoying a nice plate of oysters? Compared to the delicious flesh, the shells take up much more space. Instead of being left discarded and continuing to take up space, they could be used for so much more! Find out now, in our special report.

Every day, oyster farmer Chen Cheng-I pulls up his oysters from the pond to get sunlight. This makes it easier to remove algae from the shells and also allows him to check for flatworms.

Chen Cheng-i
Oyster farmer
This is a flatworm. It preys on oysters. Sunlight kills it. The sun also dries out and kills the algae growing on the shells. We don’t want flatworms to eat up the oysters.

Chen is a second-generation oyster farmer. Unlike previous generations farming oysters with racks installed on sea, Chen is experiment with oyster farming with aquaculture ponds. Although this method gives him a smaller yield, the quality ends up much better.

Chen Cheng-i
Oyster farmer
There’s nothing you can do about flatworms at sea, where there are plenty. If you farm oysters on sea, there’s no way for you to spread them out under the sun. But it’s much easier to do these things with ponds. Although the yield is smaller, the quality is relatively better.

Penghu’s oysters are best harvested between Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Over this period, visitors flock here to enjoy fresh oysters delivered daily. Oyster farmers also pick up waste oyster shells when shipping their goods.

This large, white mound is entirely comprised of oyster shells. This Penghu’s westernmost Xiyu Township. Around 100 tons of waste oyster shells are piled up here every year.

Hsu Kuai-le
Xiyu Township cleaning team
You can’t dispose of oyster shells immediately. They need some washing from the rain and sun-drying. That way, you can get rid of the odor and germs.

The shells need to be exposed to the elements for at least half a year to get cleaned and have the organic matters fully composted. Only then can they be disposed of.

Xiyu isn’t the only place with an oyster shell storage site in Pengu. They’re also in Magong City and Baisha Township. Around 2,000 tons of waste oyster shells are generated in Penghu every year.

The shells actually have more uses than their humble appearance may suggest. They mainly made up of calcium carbonate, which has a wide array of applications in buildings, textiles and packaging. It can also be used as pharmaceutical filler. All these uses are already being applied on Taiwan proper, and Penghu does in fact export clean waste shells to the main island. But there will always be waste shells. Therefore, in 2024, the Penghu Fishery Research Center started running a small-scale processing site.

The shells are fed into a storage tank, then ground up, dried, and packaged by grit size. This NT$3.7 million site in Xiyu can process 30% of all the waste oyster shells in the county, or around 700 tons. The resulting product can then be applied locally.

Hernyi Hsieh
Penghu Fishery Research Center
Over in Taiwan, they use it to improve soil quality or in fertilizers, or in other higher-end applications. There’s already a supply chain around it there, but not in Penghu. So we’re trying to figure out how to turn this material into something useful. It’s not trash. It’s just not given the treatment it deserves.

Here at Lintou Beach, this entire wall looks like it’s made of coral stones, but it’s not. The coral-shaped building blocks are made with molded oyster shell powder. The Penghu Fishery Research Center replicated the look of Penghu’s traditional building material and reduced waste at the same time.

Lu I-lin
Penghu Fishery Research Center
Take this 10kg piece. Around 60% or more of it is oyster shell.

The composition of oyster shells makes them a substitute for cement, reducing the environmental impact of mining. Using them in construction also helps use up a great amount of the shells. However, oyster shells contain chloride, which is corrosive. To use them in construction, the shells must be left in the open for at least half a year. Otherwise, the chloride could eventually compromise the building structure.

Lu I-lin
Penghu Fishery Research Center
Its physical properties are not necessarily weaker than cement, so we’re thinking about using it as a building material. However, a new building material will have to comply with safety codes, which requires the introduction of relevant laws. So it’s going to be a long way because it also has to do with legislation.

Even though oyster shells are not yet approved as a main construction material, some are already making plaster with them.

Tsai Shan
Local rejuvenation project manager
This is our rejuvenation site. It’s called “GO Nan’ao.” We demonstrate the applications of oyster shell powder here.

The plaster is made of shell powder is mixed with water and a binder. Just spread it over the wall like you would with paint. The material can quickly absorb and release excess moisture, preventing water damage to walls.

Kuo Wen-yih
CEO of materials company
They have diatomaceous earth, or DE in Japan. The material made with the calcium carbonate from oyster shells can become Taiwan’s very own DE.

Nan’ao Township in Yilan has a humid climate. Most residential buildings here, especially older ones, often suffer leakage problems.

Tsai Shan
Local rejuvenation project manager
There’s a lot of leakage here. And this spot is also starting to crack. It’s already bulging. It gives off a different sound, a bit broken. This is how oyster shell powder works: you can see that the color’s darker here, which means there’s leakage. But there’s no bulging. After we turn on the AC or have ventilation, the color will lighten, meaning the moisture’s released.

Nine years ago, Tsai Shan returned to his hometown to film the renovation process of the old family home. His videos went viral and he gained a clientele. That’s how he got started as a rejuvenation project leader.

This row of houses near the train tracks are all over 50 years old. They used to be Taiwan Railway’s dorms for employees, but now they’re a demonstration site for Tsai’s project. He began using his oyster shell plaster on the fourth unit.

Tsai Shan
Local rejuvenation project manager
It’s like soil. Oyster shell powder can regulate moisture, just like soil. If you apply this plaster onto spots that have leakage in your old building, the moisture will be released if you have the AC or dehumidifier on. Then you won’t get cracks on your walls. I think that’s what makes this material so wonderful.

The plaster also helps regulate indoor temperature on a hot summer day, when it could easily be over 30 degrees outdoors.

Tsai Shan
Local rejuvenation project manager
When the sun is directly on top of the roof, heat will begin to be released. In the case of a cement building, you’ll need to use reflective paint at the top. We didn’t use reflective paint on any of these houses. This one here is less prone to overheating, because the plaster helps regulate the temperature. It also allows the temperature to cool down faster after turning on the AC.

The oyster shell plaster has wonderful properties, doesn’t contain formaldehyde and is environmentally friendly. But it’s a lot fussier than conventional paint, which can be applied straight from the can by one single person. This plaster has to be prepared before the paint job and requires many pairs of hands to use up. It takes a lot more time and effort than conventional paint.

Tsai Shan
Local rejuvenation project manager
It’s faster to use paint, and time is very important for our project. We have a strict deadline. With this plaster, we need 25 people and so many tools to use it all up and complete the paint job in a single day. It’s applied by spraying, and there are hard-to-reach spots. For these spots we must apply it manually.

A group of visitors from Taichung are trying out a DIY project, for which they pour an oyster shell mix into a mold to make a decorative item.

Hsiao Po-wen
Artisan
I knew that this material is used to improve soil quality or in fertilizers, but that’s not very profitable. So I thought I’d come up with an application to develop products that everyone would like. And so it got a creative use.

Hsiao Po-wen’s oyster shell crafting material, which he uses to make water-absorbent and heat-resistant place mats, became so successful, it’s not only loved by tourist, but also the National Palace Museum. He was commissioned to develop museum gift products for a special exhibition.

Hsiao Po-wen
Artisan
This is the place mat made for the National Palace Museum. The exhibition was on Tongan ships, so we incorporated the design and made a very special and exquisite product. It also has a lot of added value.

The exterior of Hsiao’s seaside home also uses oyster shell plaster, making it stand out from all the other houses in the area.

Kuo Wen-yih
CEO of materials company
If we apply it to the exterior, then it becomes characteristic of Penghu. It’s like how things were in the past, when people would build with locally available materials. But our materials are more durable. We’re all promoting sustainability today, and this is one way to go about it.

Now you know where the shells could go, instead of straight to the landfill. The shells are showing us a way to make better use of what nature has to offer.

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

#circulareconomy #oysters #freshoysters #shells #seashells #seafood #sustainability

2026-03-05

Gyms adopt diverse business models to keep members coming back for more

Everyone knows the importance of exercise, but our sedentary lifestyle makes it seem like an impossible challenge. What’s more, some of us may even be inundated with commitments like young children and pets, which keep us away from the gym. If that’s the case, then here’s some good news. Gyms today have now adopted several business models that address these issues, and maybe there’s just the right place for you, right here in our weekly special.

Rebounding, or mini-trampoline exercises has become an increasingly popular workout. It’s not as taxing as running, but still burns calories, making it an attractive option for many people who want to become fitter.

Xiaowei
Rebounding coach
Many office workers come here to lose weight. Because they sit for long hours in the office, they complain about widening hips. Later on they find that rebounding helps them slim down the lower half of the body, and at the same time, our workouts are short in duration and really cost-effective.

According to the World Health Organization, physical inactivity had become the fourth leading risk factor for death. In Taiwan, 46% of the population has inadequate levels of physical activity. The most inactive subset is office workers between the ages of 30 and 54.

Office worker
I usually only get up from the desk every hour or two. On an eight-hour workday, I spend pretty much all eight hours sitting.

Office worker
I sit for probably a total of six hours every day. My feet go numb and my hands become sore quite easily. I also don’t go to the bathroom as I should, but I’m so used to it that I don’t really feel it after holding it in for a while.

Wang Ssu-heng
PM&R physician
To live, you must move. That’s no exaggeration. Our muscles require long-term movement to stay healthy. When we’re sitting, especially in front of a computer, we might lean forward like this. If you feel around your waist, neck and shoulder in this position, you’ll notice that the muscles are exerting force, and for a long duration, too. So you can imagine how much stress the muscles endure being contracted like this day after day, year after year.

Mr. Feng is a 26-year-old office worker at an animation company. On weekdays, he basically spends all 8 working hours sitting in front of the computer. On days off, he likes to play videogames and with the phone. As a result, he often has back pain and even has a mild case of carpel tunnel syndrome, as well as poor posture.

Mr. Feng
Office worker
I think the most obvious would be the shoulders. I really do feel a lot of tension in the neck and shoulders. Also the back. When I’m always sitting, my back gets sore. Sometimes I feel a sort of fatigue, as if my body is out of my control.

Sitting for long hours easily causes muscle stiffness. Coupled with poor posture, it could even lead to kyphosis, or an excessive forward rounding of the upper back. A sedentary lifestyle could also lead to diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. In severe cases, these chronic health issues could even lead to acute stoke and paralysis. So, what can we do when we can’t change our sedentary lifestyle?

Wang Ssu-heng
PM&R physician
There’s a concept called micro-workouts that’s being promoted now. It means we need to get up and move every 30 minutes—every hour at least. The workouts are quite simple, too. For example, you could do ten squats. Personally what I do is take the stairs from the seventh to the eighth floor and then back down to get back to work. That way, your muscles can get a break from being in the same unmoving position. Moreover, exercise has several benefits. First, it improves blood circulation throughout your body. Muscles with good blood circulation are less likely to become sore. Second, people who exercise have stronger muscles, which are more able to withstand the stress of sitting for long periods of time.

In order to feel good in his body again, Mr. Feng sought professional assistance from a gym. He does light stretches to relieve his carpal tunnel syndrome, and also does flexes on gym equipment to realign his shoulder blades. These exercises allowed him to gradually correct his kyphosis.

Shao Wei-ming
Fitness coach
In the beginning, he may feel less sore and notice a gradual difference in posture. Towards the final stages, which is usually 12 weeks later, he may start to really feel a difference.

With the coach’s regimen tailored to his needs, and changes to his posture and habits, Mr. Feng, who had just started exercising, already felt that his physical strength had improved. However, he also admitted that the thought of giving up exercise had never left his mind.

Mr. Feng
Office worker
My initial motivation to start exercising was to relieve the discomfort caused by soreness. However, doing these high-impact workouts could make me feel sore for three days. It feels counterintuitive.

Shao Wei-ming
Fitness coach
A great tip is to do regular strength tests. For example, we can use some simple equipment to test your strength. It’s like an exam. If you’re taking an exam, then you must prepare. In other words, you’ll stay disciplined.

Quantified training results help students stay motivated and gives them sense of accomplishment. Many gyms use the same method to keep their members. But there are also places that aren’t so hardcore, but people keep coming back for more, nonetheless.

One example is Xiaowei’s rebounding class. It’s less intimidating for students who did not used to exercise regularly. It’s also great for families with young children.

Ms. Ku
Mother of 1
She likes to exercises. Rebounding, swimming, gymnastics, she enjoys all of those.

Ms. Ku’s five-year-old daughter may be a little camera shy, but once she gets on the trampoline, she really gets into it, for 40 minutes straight. Another mother of young kids, Ms. Hsu, also takes her two children here once a week for fun.

Ms. Hsu
Mother of 2
I really enjoy exercising with them. Sometimes I’m a little too strict on them with schoolwork, but exercising on the weekend really helps everyone relax and improves parent-child relationships. Sometimes when I’m feeling lazy and not exercising with them, my son would tell me not to be lazy and go jump on the trampoline with him.

Ching-hsin
Mother of 1
Having to take care of my kid takes away time to do things I want to do or from exercising. So I try to find a place that can accommodate children. It’s more convenient for me this way.

Ching-hsin started exercising regularly two years ago, but her new routine used to feel too high-maintenance, taking away from time with her son.

Ching-hsin
Mother of 1
It wasn’t easy to find a child-friendly place. In many other places I worry for the safety of my kid, and I may still have to check on him while exercising. But at this place, I can see directly what my kid is up to. The owner and coaches are all very friendly too, so it feels less stressful for me.

In the one hour that Ching-hsin exercises, her son also keeps himself busy doodling on the mirrors, playing with toys in the adjacent room and even does his homework. Sometimes he interrupts the lesson, but the coach doesn’t seem to mind at all.

Stanley
Fitness coach
I have two young kids myself, so I really understand the kind of environment and space parents with young kids would need if they want to work out. I’ve been to large gyms before. In most places, you can’t bring your children, because there’s no one to take care of the kids. I believe many people feel the same. They may really want to exercise, but there’s also the question of young kids that makes them unable to commit to a routine. So I believe that my space can help these people feel a peace of mind when they’re exercising.

Child-friendly gyms like this are a great choice for parents who have to keep their kids with them. But what if your kids are the furry kind?

We were greeted by two adorable pups as soon as we set foot inside here.

Kevin
Pet-friendly gym owner
This is Doffy, he’s a golden-colored mixed breed. It’s 14 years old already. It really enjoys cuddling and pats on the backside. When it bumps into you with the backside, it means it’s time for pats. This one here is Baby. It’s also here every day. It’s a spitz.

At this pet-friendly gym, members can bring their cats and dogs with them. There are also cats and dogs belonging to staff here. In fact, both Doffy and Baby are Kevin’s. They come to the gym with him every day.

Kevin
Pet-friendly gym owner
Before, I’d leave them at home when I’m at work. I’d feel bad for them, and I could only check them through my phone, which shows home security camera footage. later I thought, if I wanted to open a gym myself, it’s got to be pet-friendly. So now I take them here when I come to work, and bring them home with me at the end of the day.

On the day we’re here, there’s a total of five cats and two dogs. Kevin jokes that the pets are what draws people in, and that many people see this place as a pet café where you can exercise. It’s even attracted members that didn’t used to enjoy exercising.

Kevin
Pet-friendly gym owner
Some of our members would send a text message to check if their favorite cat or dog is here before coming. So that’s great. But we might lose customers that are allergic or afraid of them. But even so, we gain customers that love animals.

Bella is a loyal member of this gym. She sometimes brings her own cat, Snoopy to socialize it.

Bella
Pet-friendly gym member
What makes this place different is that when you work out to a certain extent, you’d start to feel tired. But being able to play with the cats is really cute and helps you relax very quickly and then you’d no longer feel tired and you’d also feel happier.

Even though everyone knows the importance of exercise, it may not always seem fun. Only when you can truly enjoy your workouts will you be able to really stay motivated and reap the benefits.

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

#exercise #fitness #health #weightloss #gym

2026-03-03

After 9 years, farmers successfully harvest wasabi again

Wasabi was once grown in the scenic mountains of Alishan at a high altitude and was a local specialty loved by Japanese and Taiwanese people alike. However, it was also grown on state-owned land and tolerated for decades, until the then-Forestry Bureau banned the cultivation of wasabi on altitudes of 2,200m and up near the end of 2016. In 2023, the Tsou people established a cooperative to try grow the crop again at mid-altitude area. Their efforts have paid off and a newly developed wasabi cultivar is expected to become the next local money spinner after high mountain tea and coffee. Our weekly special report.

Chen Meng-liang
Japanese cuisine chef
The taste is good. It’s basically the same as before. A customer brought some down before and it wasn’t as great. But this one’s not bad. It’s sweet and spicy at the same time.

After trying some, this experienced Japanese chef gave his seal of approval to the new variety of Alishan wasabi.

Chen Meng-liang
Japanese cuisine chef
Fresh wasabi is spicy and sweet, but it doesn’t sting. It’s milder. Whereas powdered wasabi has chemical additives more or less. So while it’s spicy, it also burns. But not with fresh wasabi: when you mix it with soy sauce, it even gives the soy sauce a slight sweetness that lingers.

This exquisite taste didn’t come easily, all because wasabi cultivation was banned on Alishan in 2017.

Chen Meng-liang
Japanese cuisine chef
It’s a pity. Customers keep asking why we don’t offer fresh wasabi anymore. Sometimes they order bluefin tuna, which should be paired with Alishan wasabi, but it’s just not possible.

Wasabi used to be one of Alishan’s most iconic produce. The holy trinity of Alishan were the sacred trees, taking the forest railway to catch the sunrise, and wasabi.

Liang Pi-chu
Alishan wasabi farmer
In the past, when visitors come up here, the first thing they look for is wasabi. It was an Alishan specialty that only grows here and exported to Japan.

Mazuma wasabi from Alishan has great quality and taste, and was therefore popular in the Japanese market. It was also pricey, at more than NT$1,000 per kilo.

Huang Chin-cheng
Alishan wasabi farmer
Back then, at the height of wasabi cultivation on Alishan, everyone living on the mountains, Han Chinese and Indigenous alike, relied on growing wasabi for their livelihoods. Apart from bamboo shoots, wasabi was probably the most widely cultivated. And it’s not just about the economic value. It’s such a great crop and kept so many of us alive.

Liang Pi-chu
Alishan wasabi farmer
Before, we only had scooters and carts. After we started growing wasabi, we could buy mircovans, then sedans, and we could start doing repairs around the house too. It really allowed us mountain residents make a good living.

Wasabi can only be grown in humid, shady and cool areas between 12 and 18 degrees. Not only that, it also takes one-and-a-half to two years before it can be cultivated. Due to the stringent conditions required, in Taiwan they’re almost exclusively grown in Alishan at around 2,200m above sea level, in state-owned forests. That’s also where the controversy begins: the crop may be an important source of income for farmers, but the government grew increasingly concerned about the impact of wasabi cultivation on the local ecosystem.

Nine years ago, we also reported on the wasabi farms at the time.

After a fierce tug-of-war, the Forestry Bureau, now the Forestry Conservation Administration, reclaimed all state-owned forest land in 2017 and banned wasabi cultivation. It also eradicated all wasabi plants, thus bringing an end to the once-thriving industry.

Huang Chin-cheng
Alishan wasabi farmer
When wasabi cultivation was brought to a halt, all young people moved out in the next few years. That means there wasn’t a way they were going to make a living in the mountains.

Now, after nine years, can the industry be revived?

We’re now at Alishan Wasabi Cooperative chair, An Shu-mei’s wasabi farm. She’s set up a screen house to create a suitable growing environment for wasabi plants.

Here it is, the coveted wasabi.

An Shu-mei
Alishan Wasabi Cooperative chair
I’m pulling it up like this. The roots are free of disease. It’s really healthy, without any disease. This is the wasabi rhizome that will be ground into wasabi paste, it’s this section here.

The wasabi rhizome is still covered in soil, but reveals itself after rinsing.

An Shu-mei was a pastor for the Tsou people in Alishan. To help support the local economy, she started growing wasabi a few years ago, at the village of Lalauya, 1,200m above sea level.

An Shu-mei
Alishan Wasabi Cooperative chair
Our wasabi was famous and had great economic value. There has to be a cash crop that allows our tribespeople to make a living. It’s also the question of protecting our land, our Indigenous reserve. The plot of land next to Lalauya was already sold to Han Chinese people. The Indigenous front is only a cover. We keep losing so much of our productive land.

An Shu-mei established the cooperative in 2023 to encourage fellow villagers to get into the trade. But her efforts did not pay off in the beginning.

An Shu-mei
Alishan Wasabi Cooperative chair
People were skeptical. Everyone said to me, “Even Dr. Lee failed. What made you think you’d succeed?” I’ve also heard that many biotech companies tried to cultivate wasabi and even invited our villagers to try planting them too, but even the companies gave up.

People didn’t mean to be dismissive. There were simply too many cases of failure.

Liao Hui-fen
National Chiayi University professor of biochemical science
Most wasabi cultivars cannot adapt to the altitudes of 1,200m to 2,200m. So we had to select and breed a cultivar ourselves. The wasabi cultivar grown on Alishan now can be considered a new cultivar. It’s handpicked by us in Taiwan. It’s not what the Japanese had, the Mazuma or Shimane cultivars. So the Alishan wasabi cultivar is really precious. It’s suited to the environment here.

An Shu-mei not only had to select a new cultivar, she also had to create quality seedlings. With subsidies from the Agriculture and Food Agency, the cooperative built a smart greenhouse for cultivating healthy and bacteria-free seedlings, which will then be allocated to cooperative members to grow in their own screen houses.

But that’s still only the beginning. There are still many challenges that await wasabi farmers.

Wang Chi-sheng
Alishan wasabi cooperative member
The high-altitude farms were colder and didn’t have an issue with pests. But now that we’re growing here, it’s harder to fight against pests and disease. This is what we’re dealing with.

Yang Cin-sian
Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute
Moving wasabi to a place between 1,000m and 2,000m above the sea where most Indigenous reserves are poses several challenges. First, the temperatures are higher, and the duration of high temperatures is also much longer. That’s the first challenge. Second, the insect population differs. Within this area, pest infections are much more common and varied than higher up in the mountains.

Growing healthy wasabi crops in lower-lying regions was an immense challenge, but the cooperative, now with more than 20 members, persisted.

Towards the end of 2024, the cooperative finally harvested the first batch of wasabi crops and immediately attracted wide attention. Even Japanese buyers hurried to score them.

Liao Hui-fen
National Chiayi University professor of biochemical science
They’ve been missing the Alishan wasabi from before. So as soon as they heard that we’ve started growing it again, they were excited to come and see. They actually love our wasabi. When they came before, they asked for long-term purchasing contracts even for the leaves and stems. But because our farms are still small and we can’t guarantee a certain yield, it’s not feasible for us to accept large orders at the moment.

The challenge now is for the yield to catch up with demand. Wasabi already sells for more than NT$6,000 per kg, and can reach over NT$10,000 for produce of high quality. This has become a great source of motivation for Indigenous farmers.

Liang Pi-chu
Alishan wasabi farmer
Although those of us who are active in wasabi cultivation belong to the older generation, there are already a couple of youngsters who’ve joined our cooperative. I also hope that young people can help us succeed.

Nine years has passed since wasabi cultivation on Alishan was uprooted. What does the state-owned land now look like?

The wasabi plantation reclaimed by the Forestry Bureau at that time covered nearly 300 hectares. Today, no trace of the former plantation can be seen.

Ho Wen-I
Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency technician
It’s good. We had hope to retain its original state, meaning a larger natural habitat for wild animals. Here we’re starting to capture images of the Formosan black bear, as well as other commonly spotted wild animals, including wild boars, Reeves’s muntjacs, goats, yellow-throated martens, crab-eating mongooses and even pangolins, really diverse fauna.

After nine years, it seems that both wasabi farmers and environmentalists have reached a happy ending.

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

#agriculture #taiwan #alishan #wasabi #sashimi #sushi

2026-01-26

More and more late midlife adults take to social media in retirement

What comes to mind when you think of a social media influencer? Although the first internet celebrities were usually young women, nowadays more and more senior influencers, or “granfluencers” are gaining a following online. They’re usually late midlife adults who’ve retired and are eager to share their wisdom and even explore building a second career. From fitness and diet, to fashion and beauty, and even activism, nothing is beyond these older adults. Let’s take a look in our special report.

This man wearing a white polo shirt and small round sunglasses is Fu Keh-tau, also known as Vajroam online. He’s turning 72, but it’s hard to tell from his energy and dress. Today he’s doing a collab video content for a vegan restaurant, to promote their Hakka-style offering.

Fu Keh-tau
Content creator
I became vegan in 1985. When I transitioned to veganism, I noticed that my high blood pressure, which I had since I was young, was gone, and it was within two to three months after becoming vegan.

Fu has been vegan for more than 40 years. His online content promotes the benefits of veganism. He also goes to the gym regularly, because he believes staying healthy is more important than anything else at an advanced age.

Here’s another older-adult-turned-influencer.

Suri Liu
Content creator
I really like all-white outfits. Many people may think it’s difficult to put together all-white outfits, but I think it’s the contrary. All you need is accessorizing smartly. That way, you can also create interesting layers in your outfit.

The right accessories easily makes her all-white outfits that much more elegant. Suri Liu is 62 years old and loves to wear white. So much so, that she posts under the name “Suri the White Goddess.”

Suri Liu
Content creator
My living space is just like my white outfits. Every time I open my closet, it’s almost entirely white, because I hope my life is just like the color white, simple and fuss-free.

Some people may think that online spaces are occupied by younger people. Certainly not these influencers who are well past their fifties?

In fact, more and more senior influencers, also known as “granfluencers” are cropping up. From Japan, South Korea, the US and many more, granfluencers are sharing their lives online with the world.

Chiu Ya-ta
Senior influencer agency CEO
Have you ever thought about what Taiwan would look like in 2050? By then, those aged 50 and above will probably account for at least half of the population. I believe by then, late midlife adults will lead society’s fashion and trends.

But what about the skills needed to become an influencer?

They’re using a trending AI-powered app to facilitate the filming and editing process. These trainees listening intently to the lecture and trying their hands on the app were handpicked by the senior influencer agency to become the next batch of internet stars.

Iris Huang
Senior influencer agency co-founder
Becoming an influencer really suits late midlife adults, because having nothing to say is the worst thing that could happen to an influencer. But with senior influencers, being in their fifties and sixties gives them more than fifty years of experience to talk about.

Age is their greatest asset. Experiences over half a lifetime, whether it’s good or bad, can all be turned into stories. Likewise, the senior influencer agency, by training these late midlife adults, also hopes to break into a lesser-tapped portion of the competitive social media industry.

Afterall, the Internet is a great source of information and entertainment, even for late midlife adults. Some of them hope to become creators too, whether for promoting products or advocacy. One trainee wants to make anti-scam content.

Huang Ting-yi
Trainee
I’ve been scammed NT$40 million and managed to get back all that money. I’ve even published a book about it. So I hope to create short-form videos to engage with my audience and let them know how they can avoid getting scammed.

Huang Ting-yi works as an insurance agent. Before, she used to make text-based posts on Facebok teaching followers how to identify scams. But text readers have always been outnumbered by video watchers by far, so she decided to enroll in the influencer training program to learn how to make social media videos.

Huang Ting-yi
Trainee
Scamming is an entire industry, we just happen to be implicated in this industry when we get scammed. There are three reasons why people get scammed: relationships, health and wealth. If you are lacking in any of these three things, scammers come in and appear to fill that gap for you, and that’s how you get scammed.

Chiu Ya-ta
Senior influencer agency CEO
Every late midlife adult may seek different lifestyles in retirement. As for becoming an influencer, it’s mainly because some late midlife adults believe they have things they want to share, ideas or values. They may even wish to influence more people. Many of our influencers actually do a lot of charity work every year.

The co-founders of the agency, Iris Huang and Chiu Ya-ta were actively involved in long-term care centers while in their university days. Chiu even set up a volunteer group in 2014 and got more than 40 fellow students to participate in a round-the-island cycling trip, during which they volunteer at retirement homes all over Taiwan, playing games and singing with the residents, or just keeping them company. The volunteer group is still active today.

Chiu Ya-ta
Senior influencer agency CEO
If you used to have an active outdoor and social life, but suddenly lose it and don’t know what else to do, you may spend all day at home watching TV. But doing so for too long keeps you at home for the long term.

When Chiu was born, his father was already 56 years old. That’s why he’s so aware of the perils for a retiree to lose a routine or a goal to work for.

Pipia Liu
Content creator
My life with the hubby these years have basically been the two of us taking care of each other. We’ve reached that age now. One day my friend told me that they’re now two old people taking care of each other, that it’s their reality now. And I realized it’s also mine.

She talks about how an elderly couple takes care of one another with her husband in front of the phone camera. This is Pipia Liu. She’s 75 years old and shares tidbits of her life by making videos with her phone.

Apart from the life of an older couple, she sometimes makes cooking videos with whatever she has in the fridge. Her videos feel relaxed, familiar and unembellished, and more than 27,000 followers enjoy her content.

Even though the number of followers she has pales in comparison with younger Internet celebrities, Liu doesn’t seem to mind. She says she’s already more famous that she believed she could ever be.

Pipia Liu
Content creator
People who I don’t know would leave comments. There are also those I know who would be surprised to see me on their phones. They’d tell be that they saw me on social media. Even my neighbors who I’d only nod to greet with would come up and chat with me, only because they saw me online.

A passion for learning and sharing is key to becoming a successful content creator. This character is evident in Liu herself.

Pipia Liu
Content creator
I really do feel young again, like I’m back in childhood. I get to play around, look around and try things.

As for Fu Keh-tau, who has more than 72,000 followers on Facebook: he was also a trainee at the senior influencer agency. He started out as teaching English pronunciation, but that didn’t get him many views. After discussing with the agency, the company noted that he already has two specialties to tap into: veganism and fitness

Fu Keh-tau
Content creator
People are more interested in older people’s exercise habits and diets. Whereas an old person trying to teach you English pronunciation wouldn’t be as interesting.

Fu used to work in real estate in the US and China. He returned to Taiwan in retirement. To keep himself busy and build a second career, he turned to social media.

Fu Keh-tau
Content creator
What I say is much more convincing than someone who’s 55 years old even if they say the exact same thing. Why? Because I’m already past 70, but I’ve stayed fit. If I were only 55 years old but also look like this, I wouldn’t be as persuasive, because lots of 55-year-olds look like this. But once you’re past 70 and still able to keep up a certain lifestyle and stay relatively fit—that I believe is relatively less common. And so someone like that would have more weight to their words and have a bigger influence.

Chang Te-yung
NTNU Professor of Adult and Continuing Education
After retiring, it’s important to somehow feel that you’ve not really retired yet. You must continue to feel that you’re still contributing to society, and get to feel that you still have value of a sort for society. In a way you’re like a more senior intern passing on your knowledge and experiences to the younger generations. But at the same time they’re also learning lots of new things. It’s a form of lifelong learning that encompasses video production and social media management. I believe that’s still quite an important challenge.

The Internet offers a wide platform for retirees to stay connected with the world. With a lifetime’s worth of experience under their belt, they make for strong candidates in social media, if they choose to become influencers. If they do, there’s a whole new world waiting to hear what they have to say.

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

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2026-01-23

Improving pedestrian safety with AI-powered automobile technologies

Can AI absolve Taiwan of its reputation for being a “pedestrian hell?” This summer, the death of a respected surgeon brought the issue to the fore once again. Dr. Chou Chia-cheng was killed by a left-turning bus while crossing a street at the heart of Taipei. His colleagues immediately started calling for all buses to adopt pedestrian crash avoidance mitigation, or PCAM, systems for another layer of protection. But is PCAM ready to be mass deployed? What about other AI-powered automobile technologies? Our special report.

Back in July this year, Dr. Chou Chia-cheng who headed Taoyuan General Hospital’s breast surgery department was killed by a bus while crossing a street in Taipei. Chou almost reached the other side of the zebra crossing while the bus made a left turn and took his life right there and then.

The death of this respected surgeon once again put Taiwan’s road safety under the spotlight.

Now, at the site of the event, the pedestrian countdown has been lengthened to 83 seconds, up from 69, allowing more time to those on foot. Several upgrades were also made, including widening the pedestrian crossing and adding traffic islands.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only case of too little time for pedestrians to cross a busy, multi-lane road.

Hsu Ching-jou
FTV reporter
This is the intersection between Section 2, Huanzhong Road and Fuke Road in Taichung. There are a total of ten lanes behind me, for a width of 60m, but pedestrians only have 46 seconds to cross.

Pedestrian
It is quite a rush to cross this intersection on Huanzhong Road. Older adults also move slower. Twenty seconds or so simply aren’t enough on a wheelchair. We always start as soon as the countdown begins, and it’s always red light by the time we reach the other side, quite nervously too.

Crossing the road feels like an escape mission, not to mention there are ten lanes. If one cannot cross all ten, they will have to pause on a traffic island.

Y. C. Wu
Vision Zero Taiwan
I think the problem lies in the layout of streets and not pedestrians. What we have in the layout of our streets today, you’ll find that traffic lights for pedestrians and vehicles aren’t separated. There isn’t a complete separation of traffic lights for pedestrians and vehicles in most places, so often, you’ll encounter vehicles turning right or left while pedestrians are still crossing the road. If we change this by having vehicles stop when pedestrians move and vice versa, there won’t be an issue of traffic flow being hindered.

Apart from too little time allocated for pedestrians, in Dr. Chou’s case it was also because the bus driver did not stop and wait for him to cross. But it’s not the first time for something like this to happen.

In 2022, a family of three in Taichung got hit by a left-turning bus at the intersection of Xueshi Road and Yingcai Road. The mother and infant even got caught into the bottom of the bus while it kept going killing them both.

The incident led to a revision to a traffic law, effective since June, 2023. Under the new law, vehicles must yield to all pedestrians on a zebra crossing, with no exceptions. When the new law was first introduced, some even derided it as the “Pedestrian is King Provision.”

Luo Shiaw-shyan
Tamkang University professor
It’s called the “Pedestrian is King Provision,” yes. But it’s not right to say that pedestrians are rude, arrogant or domineering. Instead, pedestrians are the ones with less power. Those who are driving, have a driver’s license or able to maneuver a vehicle must protect these less powerful pedestrians. I think most people in Taiwan still don’t fully put this concept into practice.

To prevent such casualties, in 2013 the Ministry of Transportation and Communication started mandating “pointing and calling” by bus drivers making turns.

Liang Yun-ling
Taipei City Public Transportation Office
Pointing and calling is for making a right turn. You must first check there isn’t anyone on the left, then check on the right, and then you can make the turn. As for left turns, because they’re more complicated, we ask that the driver really thoroughly check the road signs, traffic flow and pedestrians. You must check all of these multiple times before making a left turn.

Pointing and calling is a method in occupational safety originating from Japan. For bus drivers, it requires the coordination of vision, cognition, action and verbalizing to increase focus. However, it’s not thoroughly implemented in Taiwan.

Luo Shiaw-shyan
Tamkang University professor
Our bus drivers lack comprehensive training in this aspect. I do think we need to do more here. In other words, drivers must have risk awareness. Normally people who drive may think checking before turning is enough, that after making the turn you can let the whole vehicle move forward, but that’s incorrect. You must be aware of risks during the whole process.

According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the number of deaths and injuries caused by large vehicles has increased over the past three years, from 12,000+ in 2022 to 13,000+ in 2024. To reduce human errors, local governments had bus service providers install radar sensors and advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS on all vehicles. The imaging system allows drivers to see all around the vehicle, especially blind spots.

Liang Yun-ling
Taipei City Public Transportation Office
Our original target was to have all buses install these systems by the end of 2025. But because we really wanted to improve road safety in general, we’ve already reached the target of having all installations done in March this year, There are 3,384 vehicles in total, and all 15 vendors complied.

ADAS mainly alerts drivers of obstacles in a blind spot while turning, and thus preventing pedestrians from harm. After the death of Dr. Chou, physicians in Taiwan called on installing in addition, pedestrian crash avoidance mitigation, or PCAM systems for another layer of protection. So how does PCAM work?

Wang Cheng-chien
Automotive Research & Testing Center
PCAM is a composite of many functions. First, it recognizes pedestrians in the way. The pedestrian could be in front of you and be at risk of getting hit. But it’s not just about recognizing pedestrians. The second step is to calculate how much time and distance there is between the driver and the pedestrian after detection. The system has to decide whether to alert the driver and remind them to brake. If the driver fails to brake, then the system activates the AEB, the autonomous emergency braking system.

This is Taiwan’s very first international-tier vehicle testing site in Changhua Coastal Industrial Park. With 12 test lanes over an area of 119 hectares, the site is dedicated to product development and regulatory testing of various vehicles. This includes the latest AI-powered self-driving electric buses, which allow drivers to operate hands-free

This Level 3 self-driving electric bus features intelligent driving and driver monitoring systems able to self-navigate, change lanes, avoid obstacles and monitor driver attention. AEB is one feature of an L3 self-driving vehicle.

Hsu Ching-jou
FTV reporter
With an autonomous emergency braking system, accidents can be avoided.

Wang Cheng-chien
Automotive Research & Testing Center
What is an emergency? It’s when there’s only a distance of 10m to 20m from the obstacle. In this case the AEB system will alert the driver to brake. If the driver failed to do so, the system will step in and put on the brakes. The AEB’s brake is more abrupt than a human driver’s. So it’s only activated as a very last resort.

As for PCAM, it encompasses AI-powered imaging sensing technology to recognize objects around the vehicle and triggers autonomous braking when needed.

Wang Cheng-chien
Automotive Research & Testing Center
I must make predictions on this wide strip of area on the sides. A pedestrian might get in the way, so I must predict where they could go. So it’s quite a large area and involves a whole set of systems. This makes it more technically challenging, but it offers better protection. It won’t just consider what’s in front, but also what are on the sides. More importantly, it uses AI when making predictions.

So if PCAM can step in and alert the driver to make an emergency brake and prevent pedestrians from getting hit, why isn’t it deployed in our buses at present?

It’s because there have been cases in which emergency braking on buses was so abrupt that passengers fell and even got bruised.

Liang Yun-ling
Taipei City Public Transportation Office
On Taipei buses, there are many standing passengers. Second, even the seated passengers may not always fasten their seatbelts. In this case, if we apply autonomous brakes which are also quite strong, we’re worried that there’s a risk of making people fall down and get injured. So after consideration we decided not to introduce this just yet.

The AES is so powerful that it could put passengers at risk. Even a specialized seat belt must be used to test one out. That’s why there’s no plan to deploy it yet. But the Automotive Testing & Research Center says it’s still developing an AES that doesn’t risk making passengers fall.

Wang Cheng-chien
Automotive Research & Testing Center
When it comes to vehicles, there are many stages between movement and stillness. You can release the accelerator to slow down and check if there’s really someone coming toward you. If that’s the case, then you can put on the brakes.

There’s more that technology can do, including using AI image recognition to monitor the driver’s line of vision and head movements to determine whether the driver could be fatigued or unwell, and notify the operations control center if that’s the case.

Self-driving electric buses are still at the testing stage. To ensure safety, they can only be deployed once relevant laws are introduced.

A researcher believes that technology will always remain auxiliary to humans.

Luo Shiaw-shyan
Tamkang University professor
Technology has always come from human nature. So it’s ultimately one’s attitude that matters. So when it comes to operating a vehicle, we must take into account the risks involved and deal with risks properly, and drove with care. I think attitude comes before auxiliary tools. Is traffic human-centered or vehicle-centered in Taiwan? I’d say neither. It’s me-centered. Everyone puts themselves first. But the examples of road design I gave earlier all start with protecting the vulnerable. All of us could be in a vulnerable position on the streets, because we’re not always behind the wheels.

In the end, it’s all about putting yourself in others’ shoes. You might be behind the wheel one day, but someday, you might be an older adult anxiously crossing the street. Only with consideration for others will road safety truly improve.

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

#EV #electricvehicles #roadsafety #traffic #AI #selfdriving

2025-12-12

Volunteers in Penghu remove coral-devouring starfish to save precious reefs

A starfish outbreak is threatening to destroy Penghu’s beautiful coral reefs. This year, the number of crown-of-thorns starfish exploded so much so, that the population is already up to 20 times bigger than the threshold for the amount of living corals to stay constant. To save the corals, local volunteers are taking to removing the starfish one-by-one underwater. However, local government officials say there has to be a long-term solution. Our weekly special report.

This is Penghu’s southernmost island of Qimei. Following in the footsteps of local snorkeling coaches, we’re at Yueli Bay. It’s also the earliest port for local fishermen. The waters here are quite calm, attributable to the inward, crescent-shaped curvature of the bay. It’s also the only water recreation zone on Qimei.

Chan Deng-kai
Snorkel operator on Qimei
This is the Wuoniu area of Yueli Bay. Usually when we do tours, we enter the waters from here. This is also where you can find our most beautiful purple corals, which we call the lavender corals.

The purple staghorn coral fields are popularly referred to as “lavender forest” and attract numerous visitors to snorkel every year. According to the Taiwanese Coral Reef Society, the area boasts a healthy coral coverage rate of 70.5%. However, starting from May this year, an organism with multiple arms and completely covered in spines is threatening the area’s coral population.

The coaches are ready with full diving gear, tongs and carriers to capture the unwanted creatures.

Chan Deng-kai
Snorkel operator on Qimei
In the past we would only see single digits of them. But this year we’ve already caught 56.

They’re removing the crown-of-thorns starfish hiding in the reefs. The crown-of-thorns starfish preys on live corals and could even kill entire colonies.

Hernyi Hsieh
Penghu Fishery Research Center
The starfish we normally speak of has five legs, but the crown-of-thorns starfish’s number of legs is way more than that. Its legs are covered in many sharp spines, which are filled with toxin glands. So when a human or organism comes into contact with it, that could result in great harm.

Jeng Ming-Shiou
Academia Sinica Biodiversity Research Center
Someone had their whole finger sore for three months and really swollen. Another one of my colleagues got three fingers stung. In his case, he still felt a throbbing pain after a year and a half. So it’s a protein neurotoxin that stays inside.

The crown-of-thorns starfish has always existed off Qimei, so why are people hunting them all of a sudden now?

Chan Deng-kai
Snorkel operator on Qimei
If their population suddenly explodes—and they reproduce very quickly—if there’s an outbreak, they would quickly devour the corals and may even wipe out corals.

Chan Deng-kai has done watersports for over 18 years, and he often gives snorkeling tours for visitors to admire the corals. He didn’t know much about the crown-of-thorns starfish, except that they were venomous. But now he’s forced to acknowledge their existence, because there are simply so many.

Lu Chi-chun
Qimei Township head
These crown-of-thorns starfish were caught in May and June this year by volunteer divers. Look, they’ve caught so many, an entire bucketful of crown-of-thorns starfish.

The head of Qimei Township, Lu Chi-chun says it’s snorkel operators that first discovered the outbreak. After calculations, it’s estimated that there are almost 250 starfish per hectare, way above the 10 to 15 threshold for the coral population to stay sustainable.

Lu Chi-chun
Qimei Township head
The entire Yueli Bay area, from the offshore to the open sea, is covered in coral. That’s why we’re worried about the crown-of-thorns starfish. They release spawns in the billions, which is terrifying. That’s why we’re concerned. If the crown-of-thorns starfish grows and matures, it could cause a lot of damage to our coral. This is why many of us are concerned, because the corals under the sea in Qimei are the most beautiful.

The high density of starfish at the bottom of the sea is a terrifying sight to behold. This was taken off Pratas Island, the area with the highest crown-of-thorns starfish population under Taiwan’s administration. Academia Sininca researcher Jeng Ming-Shiou recorded this starfish outbreak in April this year.

Jeng Ming-Shiou
Academia Sinica Biodiversity Research Center
What we saw was really bleak. After the crown-of-thorns starfish ravaged the area, the number of fish decreased, and so did the number of invertebrates. It’s like a habitat, a forest after a fire. It’s basically a coral graveyard, and the biodiversity was just gone. That’s why it’s so urgent, because it’s really frightening. If you’re not careful and if you don’t remove them, they’ll gobble up all the corals. The juvenile starfish were carried over by the currents, so it’s really frightening how they’re being transported everywhere. They’ll settle down anywhere nice.

Jeng had cautioned that the outbreak off Pratas Island would eventually affect the waters around Taiwan, and he was right. Later, another outbreak occurred off Qimei, more than 400km away. Every year, the starfish can release 200 to 300 million spawns. They are then transported all over by ocean currents. Even if only 1% were to survive, that number would still be in the millions.

It takes professional divers to help eradicate the outbreak. But it’s an arduous effort. They must spot the starfish with their naked eye underwater, then remove them individually with tongs. Additionally, they can only work during low tide.

Chen Chung-hsing
Penghu water recreation operators’ association
We must conduct searches. What’s more burdensome now is that the starfish is too scattered, but we must conduct searches. So our association began making plans to get funds for the searches. Every time it costs a whopping NT$40,000 to NT$50,000, but it has to be done.

The competent authority for this issue would be the Ocean Conservation Administration, but it’s a multi-step process to get approval and financing from the central government. Later on, the tendering process would also take some time. Therefore, Penghu County Council Speaker Chen Yu-jen forked out NT$100,000 from his own pocket to raise awareness. Other businesses have also pitched in by offering NT$300 for every starfish caught.

Chen Yu-jen
Penghu County Council speaker
There’s a lot of bureaucracy. The central government’s Ocean Affairs Council and the local Penghu County Government are still in talks. Soon after I though the issue was simply too urgent, that I had to join the volunteers.

Chu Shih-pei
PR manager at distributing company
We make regular annual donations to National Penghu University of Science and Technology. Then university then entrust local NGOs to help eradicate the crown-of-thorns starfish.

But it’s not enough to throw money at eradication. There has to be a long-term monitoring system.

Lu Chi-chun
Qimei Township head
Stretching the chain of islands starting fom Hua Islet to Qimei, Xiyuping Islet, Dongyuping Islet and Dongji Island, or even the entire sea around Penghu, anywhere with corals: we hope that relevant authorities can conduct underwater investigations and long-term monitoring to prevent the issue right from the start.

The crown-of-thorns starfish does have natural predators: the Triton’s trumpet and the humphead wrasse. The former is a large sea snail that preys on the mature starfish.

The Triton’s trumpet is mainly found near coral reefs and feeds on the crown-of-thorns starfish. However, they’re quite rarely seen in the wild now. That’s because its shell is highly sought-after and often made into decorative objects. It’s also used as a ceremonial tool in Tibetan Buddhism. Since 2010, Penghu has banned the collection of tritons, but poaching cases are still reported every now and then.

Chang Hung-an
Penghu agriculture and fisheries department
There’s one case each last year and the year before. They caught them with fishing net intentionally or not, and sold them at the fish market. But actually, some fishers rarely see this thing, so they probably didn’t know that the county government had announced banning the collection of tritons.

To make sure the Triton’s trumpet doesn’t go extinct, the Ministry of Agriculture is also trying to revive the population and conducting research at the Penghu Fishery Research Center, hoping to successfully breed the sea snail.

Hernyi Hsieh
Penghu Fishery Research Center
We know around when it will lay eggs every year, and we can also get the fertilized eggs and the juvenile sea snails. But we still can’t completely figure out what it feeds on in the winter.

Unfortunately, there still isn’t a successful breeding program after 14 years. It’s because a new feed can only be trialed once a year, and the researchers are still figuring out how to ensure the juveniles successfully mature.

Hernyi Hsieh
Penghu Fishery Research Center
This year we’re giving them crown-of-thorns starfish. Whether that will help the development of reproductive glands, improve the quality of eggs, ensure that juveniles mature and undergo metamorphosis and help our program succeed, or at least make a breakthrough, it might be possible.

The starfish population only went out of control due to human causes. An increased amount of nutritional salts from waste water, overharvesting of natural predators and rising sea water temperatures due to climate change—all these factors created conditions for the crown-of-thorns starfish to thrive.

Hu Chun-chieh
Penghu University of Science and Technology
Coral reefs are very important to Penghu, whether for the fishing industry for creating a habitat for fish or for tourism in terms of snorkeling or diving to observe the coral reefs and tropical fish. Therefore we place great importance on coral reeds and will find ways to bring down the starfish population to a controllable level.

The idea that the starfish is turning Penghu’s beautiful coral reefs into a wasteland is terrifying, not just for aesthetic reasons but also for environmentalism.

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

#tropical #sea #ocean #coralreef #starfish

2025-11-07

Immigrant culture and businesses flourish in Taiwan

In recent years, the sizeable Southeast Asian community in Taiwan has introduced more than just their cuisine to locals. From Muay Thai to Vietnamese head spa, they’re bringing trendy experiences otherwise not known to locals. Let’s take a look in our weekly special.

Punches and grunts fill the space. They’re practicing Muay Thai, a popular sport in recent years.

Muay Thai pad work emphasizes a steady rhythm above all. The trainee must accurately hit the target held by the coach. The coaches here are all from Thailand.

Max
Muay Thai coach
I’ve always liked Muay Thai. I used to watch the players and think they’re so good and so strong, and I wanted to be like them.

Thum
Muay Thai coach
I’ve wanted to compete since I was little, because my family didn’t have much. When I was seven or eight, I only made around 150 or 200 baht per session, but it made me so happy.

Thum, who’s now 37 years old, started practicing Muay Thai as a kid to earn money, like many others in his native country. After some 20 to 30 years, it’s become a bona fide skill.

And here’s the person who brought them to Taiwan.

Kelly Tang
Muay Thai gym owner
Unlike many other sports, Muay Thai uses the whole body. There’s the elbow, the knee strike and also turns, and also punching and kicking, really varied. I found it more exciting, and also lost weight very quickly. I lost almost 5kg just two months in.

Tang started practicing Muay Thai five years ago to lose weight, during which she met Lin Jing-cheng, a professional Muay Thai boxer.

The two of them soon became a couple and eventually opened four Muay Thai gyms in Kaohsiung. Tang travelled to Thailand herself and recruited 11 coaches. This not only gave Taiwanese boxers a chance to train with seasoned coaches, it also deepened cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Thailand.

Lin Jing-cheng
Muay Thai boxer
Speaking of the Thai coaches’ credentials and experience, they’ve all participated in hundreds of professional matches. Taiwanese coaches really don’t have that kind of experience if I’m being honest.

What was once a weekend past-time for migrant workers, is now a trendy workout in the country. In the past four years, the number of Muay Thai boxers in Taiwan almost tripled, from a little over 200 to almost 600.

Max
Muay Thai coach
When Thai boxers compete, they are prepared with wits and movements. They’re fast. They move fast, strike fast, kick fast and kick hard. We’re here to teach them how to make more effective strikes. We must teach them false moves. Thai boxers do employ false moves.

Thum
Muay Thai coach
You must think about your strategy, and not just attack. You’ll lose stamina.

Taiwan is a country of immigrants. There are now more than 800,000 migrant workers. Adding marriage migrants and overseas compatriot students, that brings up the number to over 1.6 million.

Chen Hui-fen
National Taipei University of Education
We have lots of new immigrants. We also hope that they can assimilate and conduct exchanges with Taiwanese society in a way that precludes cultural autonomy and greater personal agency. Meaning, when we’re interacting with them, we can also learn from their cultural strengths, unlike in the past, or even at present still, when we’re extracting another group’s labor to do tasks we ourselves aren’t willing to do.

The immigrant community in Taiwan was predominantly manual laborers, but now, an increasing number are skilled workers introducing an international flair to local life.

At 7 p.m. the gym comes alive with office workers looking to work out, lose weight, and learn self-defense.

Thum
Muay Thai coach
I hope they become really good. After all, they did pay, if we can’t make them happy, they won’t come back.

Chen Hui-fen
National Taipei University of Education
It’s a conceptual shift from fighting to workout. On a societal level, I think Taiwan’s martial arts gym model is a great incubator for Muay Thai.

There are lots of customers in the waiting area of this Vietnamese head spa. Meanwhile, the phone is ringing off the hook.

Cheng Chiu-huai is from Vietnam. After ending her previous marriage, she met Kuo Chin-fu, a Taiwanese businessman. Cheng had always wanted to open a hair and nail salon, but Kuo had other ideas. Having been thoroughly impressed with Vietnamese head spa while in the country, Kuo suggested that they bring the experience to Taiwan. In 2021, at the peak of Covid, the couple opened Taiwan’s very first Vietnamese head spa.

Cheng Chiu-huai
Vietnamese head spa owner
I want customers to feel like they’ve traveled abroad when they come here. Everyone working here is Vietnamese and from the way they speak, it’s obvious they’re Vietnamese. Some of our clients even want to learn Vietnamese.

Kuo Chin-fu
Vietnamese head spa owner
We’ve been doing well since the beginning. Our clients are from everywhere, even from the south.

This golden hydrotherapy device is an instantly recognizable trademark of Vietnamese head spa. A hair wash in Taiwan normally costs around NT$200, but be prepared to shell out at least NT$1,500 here for a session, starting at 90 minutes. It may seem like a lot, but there’s a whole range of cleansing and pampering treatments from head to toe.

Client
I think it’s great, whether for men or women. It feels really great to come here and relax.

Cheng Chiu-huai
Vietnamese head spa owner
In Vietnam we scratch our clients’ scalp with our nails when giving a head wash. But in Taiwan, it seems that clients prefer the pads of the fingertips. So we really need to switch up our technique. I make sure our employees don’t grow their nails, even just a little bit must be trimmed.

But for a cultural product to break into a new market, it must teeter the fine line between authenticity and palatability.

Chen Hui-fen
National Taipei University of Education
It must make a lot of adjustments when being introduced to the Taiwanese market, we call this process adaptive innovation, or by another term, innovation recontextualization. In that way, a hair wash is no longer just a hair wash. There’s a conceptual shift. What was a hair wash now becomes a spa treatment.

According to the Ministry of Finance, there were more than 20,000 hair salons in Taiwan in 2023. But in the past two years or so, more than 100 hair salons added are Vietnamese head spas. For Cheng’s establishment alone, seven branches were opened in just four years. They employ more than 200 Vietnamese people, many of them single mothers divorced from their Taiwanese ex-spouse.

Cheng Chiu-huai
Vietnamese head spa owner
I am also a marriage migrant, and a new immigrant. I hope I can take care of my compatriots.

Cheng’s business also shows how immigrants can find their niche and succeed in Taiwan.

Chen Hui-fen
National Taipei University of Education
In the earlier days, new immigrants usually open restaurants when starting a business. But we can see how with head spas or Muay Thai, they’re actually bringing a whole new skillset with their business ventures. I believe this helps improve the social standing and image of new immigrants in Taiwan.

Nuel, another Muay Thai coach, shares his life with friends and family back in Thailand through livestreams.

Kelly Tang
Muay Thai gym owner
They have uprooted their lives to come here. They send two-thirds of their salary to their wives and children in Thailand. They usually keep less than NT$10,000 for themselves, so they are really frugal.

Tang says being with the Thai coaches day in and day out has completely removed any prejudice she might have held against Southeast Asian migrants.

Kelly Tang
Muay Thai gym owner
This group of Thai people are really responsible and disciplined. So I’m so grateful that they’re willing to come here and be so far away from their homes. So I try to treat them as well as I’m able to.

Lin Jing-cheng
Muay Thai boxer
As long as you treat them well, they reciprocate manifold. They’ll really go the distance. They will feel that we too are really passionate about Muay Thai. They tell me that they’re really happy and willing to impart their skills.

Thum
Muay Thai coach
When Lin went to Thailand to compete, I was so happy that he won. I took him there twice and he also won twice. I’m really happy.

Thanks to these Thai coaches in Taiwan, more and more people have taken up Muay Thai. This helps raise the visibility of the sport and perhaps make it an Olympic sport someday.

Meanwhile, Cheng and her husband are also planning on opening new branches in Vietnam, and hope to expand to other countries too.

Chen Hui-fen
National Taipei University of Education
Taiwan is a really diverse society that can nurture lots of innovative ideas. Because we’re accepting of new things, innovations that are successfully trialed in Taiwan can then have a greater chance of success in the rest of the world. I think all this is great.

Immigrants are bringing their skills and business ideas to Taiwan, and Taiwan in turn helps their innovations take root and flourish, opening up new possibilities in cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the world.

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

#TaiwanCulture #culture #fusion #Thailand #Vietnam #muaythai #headspa #relaxing #selfcare

2025-09-26