全通翻譯/翻譯社

Thousands of fans converge on Taipei Zoo on debut of panda cub

The public debut of the 6-month-old giant panda cub Yuan Zai at Taipei Zoo attracted huge crowds of visitors on Jan. 6 , with nearly 10,000 visited in the first day.

Seniors and disabled in America get help feeding their furry friends

If Meals on Wheels didn't deliver donated dog food, Sherry Scott of San Diego says her golden retriever Tootie would be eating the pasta, riblets and veggie wraps meant for her. But thanks to partnerships between the program for low-income seniors and pet groups across the U.S., fewer people and pets are going hungry.

Eye-catching exhibition reminds us of the importance of protecting wildlife

An outdoor exhibition featuring 1,600 papier-mache giant pandas opened in downtown Taipei recently, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors after some imaginative panda "flash mobs" made headlines across the country in the buildup to the event. This eye-catching, not to mention incredibly cute, exhibition is not simply an opportunity for people to take pictures with adorable panda sculptures, however. It is designed to raise awareness about the importance of wildlife conservation.

One of the biggest changes on the streets of Taipei over the past couple years is the rise of the YouBike bicycle-sharing system. Humble beginnings and growing pains have given way to a popular new form of public transit. The success has other countries interested in importing this homegrown Taiwanese service. 

Every so often, there are complaints about the YouBike system.

It might be nitpicking, but the criticism is worth listening to. It has led to improvements that created a new public service worthy of export.

At 5 o’clock in the morning, this YouBike dispatcher is working to make sure there is an even distribution of bicycles for rush hour between 7:30 and 9 am. It’s the start of a typical day for a YouBike employee.

YouBike offers a new lifestyle option in the city. There are presently 158 rental stations and more than 5,000 bicycles. Over 50,000 rides are made on YouBikes each day. 

John Ho
YouBike General Manager
Our (usage) is now the highest in the world. Daily turnover or usage of each bicycle averages more than 12, compared to eight in Paris or four to five in London and New York. So you can say that our turnover is quite high. 

The popularity of YouBike is different from when the program first began four years ago. At that time, pessimism was rampant and many thought YouBike would lose money.

John Ho
YouBike General Manager
At the time, there were only 11 stations and 500 bicycles, all located in Xinyi District. After four years of promotion, there were still only 30,000 members. When we started, we didn’t have enough experience and were worried about losing these bicycles. We had a rule that users needed to supply two forms of ID to become a member and pay an annual membership fee of NT$1,500. 

Over those four years, YouBike accumulated nearly NT$50 million in operating losses. This didn’t stop the Taipei City government, which aspired to develop a modern urban bike sharing system like Paris or New York. The city decided to increase rental stations throughout the 12 administrative districts of the city. But the huge losses incurred earlier meant no businesses were willing to take over operations.

In 2012, the Taipei City government finally convinced John Ho, the general manager of Taiwan’s best-known cycling brand, to give the YouBike system another try. Ho felt the first step should be making users happy from the moment they interact with the system.

John Ho
YouBike General Manager
We worked out the world’s friendliest and most convenient way of registering. Using a cell phone and an EasyCard, you can complete registration with no deposit and no annual fee. Just two to three minutes after registering you can begin riding.

After three months, the number of members topped 150,000. But with the additional users came new problems. Some people complained that after riding for a while the bike chain would fall off. This criticism led to soul-searching by a key YouBike parts supplier.

Wu Hsin-yuan
YouBike Chain Supplier
We have produced bicycle chains for many years. This is the first time that Chairman King Liu phoned to complain that our chains have some design defects, including loud noise and elongation. How could these problems emerge in YouBikes after just three months? In our hearts, we felt it was impossible that this problem was related to us.

Wu Hsin-yuan吳幸娟, the bike chain supplier, led a team to investigate the problem. She brought some of the defective bikes from Taipei to the company factory in Tainan. The team upgraded the tolerance on each chain and strengthened each link. YouBike, meanwhile, employs a repair staff of more than 70 people. Each person checks an average of 70 bikes a day.

John Ho
YouBike General Manager
At more than NT$10,000, the production cost of this bicycle is rather expensive. We thought it would be better to make a larger initial outlay rather than spending more for future maintenance and repairs.

Aside from hardware investments, software had to be created. And in the background there is customer service, maintenance and overall operations. Experience gained on the job became a key factor in YouBike’s success. When the contract expires in 2019, over seven years the Taipei City government is expected to have earned around NT$300 million from YouBike.

John Ho
YouBike General Manager
After the system became stable, we began looking at producing equipment for export. Over the past two years, Singapore, Malaysia, and Central and South American countries have approached us. We are currently in discussions with them. Now, we tell them that our first priority is doing this well in Taiwan. We are open to the idea of exporting this whole system as early as next year. 

Initial skepticism and growing pains gave way to a successful bike sharing system. This has led to new opportunities for Taiwan.

城市拜客 理想國

最近一年，在台北街頭有項交通工具很夯，有人暱稱它是「小小黃」只要付少少的錢，甚?至有時不須付費，就可以乘上它，自由穿梭大街小巷，它就是YouBike微笑單車，也就是台北市的公共自行車。說起公共自行車，很多人都還記得，四年前，在台北市開始推動的時候，只有區區五百台卻?乏人問津，各界砲轟不斷。然而，從2012年開始?，YouBike竟然奇蹟似地崛起，目前已經有將近一百五十萬人成為它的會員，不但世?界各國前來取經，希望複製成功的經驗，也使得YouBike創造公共服務業行銷海外的?新商機。帶您一塊來了解。

More than 120 historians came together to sign a petition delivered to the Ministry of Education. The petition requested more transparency in revising curriculum guidelines as they allege not a single Taiwanese historian was consulted regarding the new curriculum guidelines. 

Opposed to the Ministry of Education’s decision to revise curriculum guidelines for high school Chinese culture classes along with civics has led university professors to come together and express their joint dissatisfaction.

Lee Hsiao-feng
National Taipei University of Education Professor
There are so many university history departments and graduate research institutes as well as those dedicated to Taiwan history, and not a single professor with qualifications was consulted about this change to the curriculum? They must have a philosophy or be pro-Beijing person to carry out such actions.

120 historians from institutions as diverse as Academia Sinica to history departments at various universities and Taiwan history research institutes have come together to sign a petition asking the Ministry of Education to withdraw revisions to curriculum guidelines.

Hsueh Hua-yuan
National Chengchi Univ. Taiwan History Inst. 
Ministry of Education authorities should be willing to face history academics and withdraw these adjustments to the curriculum guidelines.

The Ministry of Education says a review team did included historians and slight revisions to the curriculum would enhance Taiwan’s subjectivity. Still, scholars who signed the petition refuse to accept this explanation. 

連署反課綱

國內有史以來，有超過120位歷史學者，聯合發表連署聲明，抗議教育部黑箱進行，課綱微調作業！學者認為，這一次檢核小組成員，沒有任何台灣史學者參與，是違背學術的專業性，他們要求教育部，撤回新課綱。

The plight of young people in Taipei was a topic in today’s debate amongst DPP members running for Taipei Mayor. A number of interesting policies were discussed, such as providing youth with everything from public housing to micro finance.

At today’s DPP Taipei mayoral candidate debate, a question fielded from the public asked how to relieve some of the pressure facing young people living in Taipei. The four candidates responded, presenting their views and potential policies.

Pasuya Yao
DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate 
The airport should return to Taoyuan, and in the future, (Sungshan Airport) could become a sort of central park. I estimate that about 10,000 (public residences can be created) which would be for rent and not for sale. 

Annette Lu
DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate 
First of all, I would try to locate available space, and immediately convert it into public housing for young people, giving them a reasonable place to live, along with expanding domestic demand and adding more jobs.

Hsu Tain-tsair 
DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate 
My social rented housing policy includes renting and not selling (public housing). Only if we change the structure of supply and demand can really solve this problem.

Wellington Koo
DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate
If we could create a venture capital fund providing micro assistance to Taipei youth and provide entrepreneurial assistance or help them enter an enterprise incubation park, I think young people would welcome this help. 

At the completion of today’s debate, it will ultimately be up to DPP party members to choose their preferred candidate in the upcoming election

辯論交火

怎麼解決年輕人在台北生活的經濟困境?四位民進黨台北市長參選人各自提方法，姚文智要遷移松山機場，蓋社會住宅，呂秀蓮許添財也要從租屋政策下手，顧立雄則是主張提供青年微型創投資金，讓年輕人有創業本錢。

The DPP held a televised debate for four party members vying to become the party’s nominee for the Taipei mayoral election. Those participating today included: Annette Lu, Wellington Koo, Hsu Tien-tsair and Pasuya Yao. 

Four DPP candidates for the party’s nod to run in the Taipei mayoral race relished the opportunity to talk politics and help the party win back Taiwan’s capital city.

Wellington Koo
Taipei Mayoral Candidate 
Average house prices in some places are approaching NT$1mn per ping. Housing prices have substantially increased. I support renting and not selling public housing, along with improving both the quality and quantity of public childcare. 

Hsu Tain-tsair 
Taipei Mayoral Candidate
Taipei City suffers from corruption which is a systemic problem and potentially a crisis. For Taipei’s future, I propose three major directions, the first is the need for a good environment, administrative reform, and an upgrade of industry.

Former Vice President Annette Lu concurred on many of these issues, and said rescuing a weak economy would be a top priority.

Annette Lu
Taipei Mayoral Candidate
Why am I running even though I have served as a legislator and two terms as Taoyuan County Commissioner as well as two terms as vice president. I am running because I am worried that someone may deliberately take advantage of this election, potentially opening up to an enemy (like China). I'm worried that someone has links with a financial group and could potentially give away Taipei’s prime real estate. 

Pasuya Yao turned the focus on his the three other competitors running for the party’s nomination, stating that their comments were overly political and lacked practicality, potentially making them more suited to running for president or premier. 

綠北市辯論 

民進黨台北市長初選政見辯論，參選人一開頭申論，都訴求為弱勢發聲，顧立雄主打興建社會住宅，許添財拋出市政三支箭振興產業，呂秀蓮則擔憂中國勢力藉大選入侵台灣，不過姚文智一開頭，就諷刺三人的政見，比較像是要參選總統或是擔任內閣首長。

An Australian woman injured when a motel room light fitting fell and hit her while having sex on a business trip failed in a bid for workers’ compensation Wednesday.

一名澳洲婦女在出差洽公時，因汽車旅館的燈掉落，砸中正在做愛的她而受傷，週三爭取工傷賠償敗訴。

The public servant suffered injuries to her nose, mouth and a tooth and said she was mentally scarred when the light was pulled down by either her or her partner during intercourse.