hehe...moving the blog to the wordpress. Always nice to try new stuff. Will see how it turns out. lol
http://dixteel.wordpress.com/
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
lol...WTF, Microsoft.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms441219.aspx (Got the link from Michael's blog)
OMFG, they actually have to make a special method for it?!?!?! LMAO.
Microsoft, you are a genius. (extreme sarcasm).
Maybe you should put more effort in fixing your XBOX 360 instead of making special functions for China.
OMFG, they actually have to make a special method for it?!?!?! LMAO.
Microsoft, you are a genius. (extreme sarcasm).
Maybe you should put more effort in fixing your XBOX 360 instead of making special functions for China.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
:-o Very Nice One from Mr. Keating
A very nicely written article from Mr. Keating.
http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome/1250649669/index_html
It has a certain Zen type of feeling.. (hum...is that why the url starts with Zen? No idea). Anyway, I think it is a very nice one, worth a read...
http://zen.sandiego.edu:8080/Jerome/1250649669/index_html
It has a certain Zen type of feeling.. (hum...is that why the url starts with Zen? No idea). Anyway, I think it is a very nice one, worth a read...
The Loyal Lapdog
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=awoSlB5BBgPk
I simply cannot believe it...this guy simply uses every chance to help putting makeups on China no matter what.
The title:
That just sounds so wrong...the armed forces main job cannot be just disaster prevention and rescue operation. Their main job should include repelling external national threats, etc. Now he tries to limit our national military mission? Maybe they don't need MND (Minister of National Defense) anymore, all military will take order from an organization similar to the US FEMA.
I don't like to say it...but what a fool...
This is from the English one with the foreign reporters...There is nothing new, he still tried to lie or deny his way through everything. I am still trying to digest the craps he said in the Mandarin one with domestic reporters.
The title:
Taiwan’s Major Threat Is Nature, Not China, President Ma Says.WHAT!! In so many way that is just so wrong. It is like I got stabbed by a knife, therefore, knives are more dangerous than guns. How about just say both natural disaster and China are challenges and threat Taiwan has to face?
The armed forces will have disaster prevention and rescue as their main job.
That just sounds so wrong...the armed forces main job cannot be just disaster prevention and rescue operation. Their main job should include repelling external national threats, etc. Now he tries to limit our national military mission? Maybe they don't need MND (Minister of National Defense) anymore, all military will take order from an organization similar to the US FEMA.
I don't like to say it...but what a fool...
This is from the English one with the foreign reporters...There is nothing new, he still tried to lie or deny his way through everything. I am still trying to digest the craps he said in the Mandarin one with domestic reporters.
Some Coincidence
I am not a superstitious person...but sometimes it is just amusing when something coincidental happens:
1 From 海兒's post reply in South News.
This time again, after he grabbed KMT chairman position, this unfortunate event caused a storm in his political career. A lot of people, even foreign reporters, think Ma's political career looks very grim. I agree with that...in all logical reason he has lost all his political credibility. But I also wonder...Do Taiwanese truly wake up this time? And the root of the problem is actually not just Ma, but all the KMT's twisted values that he stands for...I wonder if Taiwanese see it clearly.
2. From 海國右衛門's post.
(Click the image to see the full picture and the number 546 clearly)
One of the US navy's MH-53E Sea Dragon Helicopters' that landed in Taiwan to help the rescue mission has a code number NAVY 546... During 2008 presidential election, approximately 5460000 voted for DPP's Mr. Hsieh, and 7650000 voted for KMT's Ma. So the code coincidentally approximated the first 3 digits of the number 546 萬 (萬 is 10000, a common way to short hand the number in Taiwan) of votes that go to Mr. Hsieh.
This is first time that any US military force enter Taiwan's domain in...30 years maybe, and one of the helicopter has this number.
Yea, this is just a stupid coincidence, but what a coincidence.
1 From 海兒's post reply in South News.
以馬英九所走過的政治路來看，他都是以迅雷不及掩耳之勢達到一個新的權力顛峰，然後快速地盛極而衰，從顛峰上摔落山谷。The example describes how Ma took a fall every time he became KMT chairman. After he succeed Lien and become KMT chairman, he has to step down very soon due to Taipei Mayor special budget scandal.
2005年他趁著連戰出國時先下手為強的宣佈參選黨主席並順利地以高票當選，結果在2007年就因為「市長特別費弊案」被迫辭去黨主席。2008年他以 765萬高票當選總統時，我當時隱約也感覺到他很可能重蹈覆轍，結果現在一年三個月不到的時間就真的搞得眾人唾罵，權位岌岌可危。
而這一次的政治危機不同於過去幾次只是台灣內部的茶壺內風暴，而是涉及了美、日兩國對於馬英九的政治誠信已經消失甚至於質疑，這可不是馬英九再裝皮皮、裝可愛就能夠挺得過去的。
This time again, after he grabbed KMT chairman position, this unfortunate event caused a storm in his political career. A lot of people, even foreign reporters, think Ma's political career looks very grim. I agree with that...in all logical reason he has lost all his political credibility. But I also wonder...Do Taiwanese truly wake up this time? And the root of the problem is actually not just Ma, but all the KMT's twisted values that he stands for...I wonder if Taiwanese see it clearly.
2. From 海國右衛門's post.
今天的直機 CODE 竟然是!!!
NAVY 546 !!!
(Click the image to see the full picture and the number 546 clearly)
One of the US navy's MH-53E Sea Dragon Helicopters' that landed in Taiwan to help the rescue mission has a code number NAVY 546... During 2008 presidential election, approximately 5460000 voted for DPP's Mr. Hsieh, and 7650000 voted for KMT's Ma. So the code coincidentally approximated the first 3 digits of the number 546 萬 (萬 is 10000, a common way to short hand the number in Taiwan) of votes that go to Mr. Hsieh.
This is first time that any US military force enter Taiwan's domain in...30 years maybe, and one of the helicopter has this number.
Yea, this is just a stupid coincidence, but what a coincidence.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Interesting Interview
Interesting interview... http://blog.libertytimes.com.tw/eric0514/2009/08/12/37268
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Random Thought on the Rescue Operations and The Defense Paper by Taiwan Defense Working Group
It is quite coincidental that a defense strategy paper titled Deter, Defend, Repel, Partner was published just a few weeks before this natural disaster. Perhaps because of closeness of their occurrence, it prompts me to think them together...and I think there are some concepts that can be examined or proven with the currently on going relief and rescuing efforts.
I hope those that are really concerned about Taiwan's national defense can examine this paper and the rescuing operations...I think there are actually quite a few things that can be learned from examining them together.
I am no expert, so I might be wrong. But a few things just come into my mind, and I will just blurt them out here. Since this disaster scenario is only closely related to the Ground Domain talked about in the paper, I am only considering the ground domain, not much air and maritime domain. That does not mean air and maritime domains (and perhaps a real good deterrent forces) are not important to Taiwan.
The Limitation of Armor Vehicles and the Importance of Helicopters
I think this time, as with previous earth quake and typhoon disasters, helicopters prove they are indispensable in Taiwan's security. As can be seen in the news, because of Taiwan rough terrain close to the mountain and river area, and because of the twisted landscape after disasters, helicopters are always the first ones that can go near those area and offer some assistance.
Although armor vehicles, especially the amphibious ones, also helped out greatly, their operational area are limited to the plain area. Also, a lot of times it seems their movement are also limited by the narrow streets etc. After the bridges etc are destroyed, I wonder how much use they have. Especially Humvee vehicles this time seem quite useless. This limitation could be due to the lack of mobilization of combat engineers. They have the ability to establish temporary bridges and clear out obstacles etc. Although armor vehicles have their use, I imagine during war time, if the armor divisions are to operate effectively, there have to be enough combat engineers, and they have to work very closely together. Because it can be expected that the bridges, rails, highways and roads to be destroyed during war. Also, those that advocated for mobile land based anti-ship missiles trucks might want to re-examine the scenario as well. (I am not saying it is a wrong concept, but would those destructions of bridges, road and rail effect their operations etc...those are the questions)
The problems with the helicopters are: 1. they are more dangerous (accidents etc) 2. they do not work as well in bad weather. These 2 disadvantages could be remedied a little, although not completely. Modern helicopter carriers such as Black Hawk are specially designed to protect its pilots and passenger during crashes. The helicopters are also quite robust. Also, helicopters have night vision system etc integrated that can help a little during bad weather or night flight. The most important is probably also the pilot training. They should be train to fly during bad weather and night time....although I am not sure if it is feasible to do that now or if they are already doing that, but certainly if Taiwanese helicopters can fly safely and efficiently in all weathers, it would be a big advantages during war and during rescue operations.
Another important thing is...perhaps people, especially those in remote villages, have to be informed on how to establish emergency helicopter landing zone...Because there was a news report that one village was able to have all their survivor transported out by helicopters after they establish a landing zone for the helicopters to land. Without a landing zone, the helicopters can only drop provisions...and the drop might destroy some provisions in the process. By establishing landing zone, provisions can be brought down safely, and those in need can be transported away.
Also, Taiwan needs more heavy lifting helicopters that can lift armors and small bulldozers...
Another thing is of course, the importance of air defense...in order for helicopters to carry out their orders effectively, airspace has to be secured. The importance of air forces and SAM cannot be under estimated.
Localization, Communications, Militia, Special Forces and Guerrilla Warfare
As can be seen, the central government performed very poorly and slowly comparing to the previous disaster effort. Local government, although reacted faster, did not have authority to mobilize the military. The troops stationed near the disaster area, ironically, can not react because they did not receive orders. This results in the lack of military resources committed in the rescue operation in the first few days.
If a state of emergency was declared, the local commanders can mobilize the troops under his/her command and offer assistance to the local government without the direct order from MND. But since Ma did not declare a state of emergency, that is not possible.
This shows the advantage of a degree of decentralization and localization in ground domain. In another word...it is vital that each area is well equipped to help itself to a degree, in case the communication to the central command is disrupted. This time, the central government react poorly simply because of incompetence, but during war, the central government might react poorly because the communication are cut or because the command centers got destroyed.
Also can be shown is the value of volunteers...Military are essential in rescue operations, but volunteers from different organizations also help out big time. This might also prove the value of independent and self sufficient militia, as mentioned in the report. Highly trained militia might be as effective as regular military forces in urban and mountain warfare. Of course, it might be a nightmare and the worst scenario to see Taiwan becomes a battle field of guerrilla war, but better be prepared than sorry. Also, even without full scale combat within the towns and cities, one can expect damages from bombing and enemy infiltration etc. In this scenario militia might also be indispensable as well.
As mentioned in the report, and as can be seen in this disaster, it is important to maintain good communication and battle field awareness. It seems Ma's government is really slow at receiving disaster reports etc. They have to rely on news, and even call-in program to locate the disaster areas. There is nothing wrong with getting information from all the different channels, but first of all...a lot of those that call into the TV station because no one answered their calls for many hrs etc, and second thing is during war, how do you know if all these channels have valid information? It is also known that even the online community updates their disaster reports much faster than the government (with Twitter and Google Earth, from what I can see)....this is really ridiculous. The report recommend a multi layered communication capabilities and communications redundancy etc. It is probably just that Ma government's screws are all loose, but certainly communication capabilities in Taiwan can be improved and upgraded.
Special forces also prove their use this time, although perhaps due to Ma government's slowness, a lot of special force units are not even used. Especially in the mountain area, where roads are mostly destroyed, only special forces can operate extensively in those area. (helicopters have to come and go, and usually the pilots cannot see everything up there). They seem to be crucial in scouting and communication.
I hope those that are really concerned about Taiwan's national defense can examine this paper and the rescuing operations...I think there are actually quite a few things that can be learned from examining them together.
I am no expert, so I might be wrong. But a few things just come into my mind, and I will just blurt them out here. Since this disaster scenario is only closely related to the Ground Domain talked about in the paper, I am only considering the ground domain, not much air and maritime domain. That does not mean air and maritime domains (and perhaps a real good deterrent forces) are not important to Taiwan.
The Limitation of Armor Vehicles and the Importance of Helicopters
I think this time, as with previous earth quake and typhoon disasters, helicopters prove they are indispensable in Taiwan's security. As can be seen in the news, because of Taiwan rough terrain close to the mountain and river area, and because of the twisted landscape after disasters, helicopters are always the first ones that can go near those area and offer some assistance.
Although armor vehicles, especially the amphibious ones, also helped out greatly, their operational area are limited to the plain area. Also, a lot of times it seems their movement are also limited by the narrow streets etc. After the bridges etc are destroyed, I wonder how much use they have. Especially Humvee vehicles this time seem quite useless. This limitation could be due to the lack of mobilization of combat engineers. They have the ability to establish temporary bridges and clear out obstacles etc. Although armor vehicles have their use, I imagine during war time, if the armor divisions are to operate effectively, there have to be enough combat engineers, and they have to work very closely together. Because it can be expected that the bridges, rails, highways and roads to be destroyed during war. Also, those that advocated for mobile land based anti-ship missiles trucks might want to re-examine the scenario as well. (I am not saying it is a wrong concept, but would those destructions of bridges, road and rail effect their operations etc...those are the questions)
The problems with the helicopters are: 1. they are more dangerous (accidents etc) 2. they do not work as well in bad weather. These 2 disadvantages could be remedied a little, although not completely. Modern helicopter carriers such as Black Hawk are specially designed to protect its pilots and passenger during crashes. The helicopters are also quite robust. Also, helicopters have night vision system etc integrated that can help a little during bad weather or night flight. The most important is probably also the pilot training. They should be train to fly during bad weather and night time....although I am not sure if it is feasible to do that now or if they are already doing that, but certainly if Taiwanese helicopters can fly safely and efficiently in all weathers, it would be a big advantages during war and during rescue operations.
Another important thing is...perhaps people, especially those in remote villages, have to be informed on how to establish emergency helicopter landing zone...Because there was a news report that one village was able to have all their survivor transported out by helicopters after they establish a landing zone for the helicopters to land. Without a landing zone, the helicopters can only drop provisions...and the drop might destroy some provisions in the process. By establishing landing zone, provisions can be brought down safely, and those in need can be transported away.
Also, Taiwan needs more heavy lifting helicopters that can lift armors and small bulldozers...
Another thing is of course, the importance of air defense...in order for helicopters to carry out their orders effectively, airspace has to be secured. The importance of air forces and SAM cannot be under estimated.
Localization, Communications, Militia, Special Forces and Guerrilla Warfare
As can be seen, the central government performed very poorly and slowly comparing to the previous disaster effort. Local government, although reacted faster, did not have authority to mobilize the military. The troops stationed near the disaster area, ironically, can not react because they did not receive orders. This results in the lack of military resources committed in the rescue operation in the first few days.
If a state of emergency was declared, the local commanders can mobilize the troops under his/her command and offer assistance to the local government without the direct order from MND. But since Ma did not declare a state of emergency, that is not possible.
This shows the advantage of a degree of decentralization and localization in ground domain. In another word...it is vital that each area is well equipped to help itself to a degree, in case the communication to the central command is disrupted. This time, the central government react poorly simply because of incompetence, but during war, the central government might react poorly because the communication are cut or because the command centers got destroyed.
Also can be shown is the value of volunteers...Military are essential in rescue operations, but volunteers from different organizations also help out big time. This might also prove the value of independent and self sufficient militia, as mentioned in the report. Highly trained militia might be as effective as regular military forces in urban and mountain warfare. Of course, it might be a nightmare and the worst scenario to see Taiwan becomes a battle field of guerrilla war, but better be prepared than sorry. Also, even without full scale combat within the towns and cities, one can expect damages from bombing and enemy infiltration etc. In this scenario militia might also be indispensable as well.
As mentioned in the report, and as can be seen in this disaster, it is important to maintain good communication and battle field awareness. It seems Ma's government is really slow at receiving disaster reports etc. They have to rely on news, and even call-in program to locate the disaster areas. There is nothing wrong with getting information from all the different channels, but first of all...a lot of those that call into the TV station because no one answered their calls for many hrs etc, and second thing is during war, how do you know if all these channels have valid information? It is also known that even the online community updates their disaster reports much faster than the government (with Twitter and Google Earth, from what I can see)....this is really ridiculous. The report recommend a multi layered communication capabilities and communications redundancy etc. It is probably just that Ma government's screws are all loose, but certainly communication capabilities in Taiwan can be improved and upgraded.
Special forces also prove their use this time, although perhaps due to Ma government's slowness, a lot of special force units are not even used. Especially in the mountain area, where roads are mostly destroyed, only special forces can operate extensively in those area. (helicopters have to come and go, and usually the pilots cannot see everything up there). They seem to be crucial in scouting and communication.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
HMMM...Why....(UDPATE)
I am quite confused...i am not sure why. It seems Ma government did not mobilize all the possible assets in the rescue operations.
LINK
The last paragraph:
Basically the author (a retired military officer) is very surprised that only 6,000 military personnels are mobilized in the rescuing effort, and that is on the 4th day of the disaster...there are approximately 25,0000 military personnels available, and during 921, much more people were mobilized...6,000 is simply not enough to cover the whole disaster areas.
From the news we can see that all the soldiers that went into the rescue operations are doing their best, some even sacrificed their lives during the process (helicopters crashes). :( But it is obvious they were stretched to their limits but still cannot perform the operation fast enough. It is obvious more people and equipments is required. And there are more...but Ma did not use them. Why???
Also, he mentioned:
Basically, he said during his military career, whenever there was a typhoon warning, they will receive one command: treat rescue operation the same as battle, if there are disasters, all units should mobilize for rescue operations immediately.
Comparing the past and present, I am sure everyone notice how much slower and how much less the government and the military reacted. Even now, a lot of possible useful military assets are still unused...
This is really strange...Also, combining this to this news, it is even stranger. The US state department said they have enough resource in east Asia, and if required, they are willing to help out. But Ma government so far does not ask for it. However, it seems there are still a lot of problems, a lot of people that need to be rescued and a lot of towns etc that need assistance. Why doesn't the government mobilize more of its assets, and at the same time also does not ask for foreign aid?
Just weird and sad...hm....
UPDATE: eTaiwan news has a nice editorial on this matter.
LINK
The last paragraph:
從昨天新聞報導中，我很驚訝在災情第四天才投入六千兵力。六千人就像是『螞蟻撼樹』一樣，無力呀！我實在不 清楚為何昨天災民call in說隔壁營區阿兵哥在唱軍歌，看到報紙有人投書救災部隊不出來，改待命等長官視察。如果真的苦民所苦，現今三軍統帥為何不像九二一時下令北中部軍團往 南，前進各災區，發揮二十五萬軍隊的力量迅速幫助災民清理及重建家園呢？
Basically the author (a retired military officer) is very surprised that only 6,000 military personnels are mobilized in the rescuing effort, and that is on the 4th day of the disaster...there are approximately 25,0000 military personnels available, and during 921, much more people were mobilized...6,000 is simply not enough to cover the whole disaster areas.
From the news we can see that all the soldiers that went into the rescue operations are doing their best, some even sacrificed their lives during the process (helicopters crashes). :( But it is obvious they were stretched to their limits but still cannot perform the operation fast enough. It is obvious more people and equipments is required. And there are more...but Ma did not use them. Why???
Also, he mentioned:
另外在我軍旅生涯中，每當有陸上颱風警報都會收到一則命令：救災視同作戰，遇有災情，各部隊不待命令立即出發救援！
Basically, he said during his military career, whenever there was a typhoon warning, they will receive one command: treat rescue operation the same as battle, if there are disasters, all units should mobilize for rescue operations immediately.
Comparing the past and present, I am sure everyone notice how much slower and how much less the government and the military reacted. Even now, a lot of possible useful military assets are still unused...
This is really strange...Also, combining this to this news, it is even stranger. The US state department said they have enough resource in east Asia, and if required, they are willing to help out. But Ma government so far does not ask for it. However, it seems there are still a lot of problems, a lot of people that need to be rescued and a lot of towns etc that need assistance. Why doesn't the government mobilize more of its assets, and at the same time also does not ask for foreign aid?
Just weird and sad...hm....
UPDATE: eTaiwan news has a nice editorial on this matter.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Other News...
The rescue and relieve operations continue...
There are many tragedies and sad stories...but also some stories of bravery, humanity, survival and hope...From earth quakes to typhoons, sometimes it seems Taiwan is a place of trial...Fortunately, many Taiwanese offered their help and assisstance to those in need.
It seems there are still a lot of work to be done...such as clean up and reconstructions. It might also be the time to review how we can cope with major rainfall of Typhoons, and prevent this type of natural disasters...
Sika Taiwan office raided in probe into faulty adhesives
It seems there are still a lot of work to be done...such as clean up and reconstructions. It might also be the time to review how we can cope with major rainfall of Typhoons, and prevent this type of natural disasters...
But other than the disaster, there are other news:
Sika Taiwan office raided in probe into faulty adhesives
I certainly hope this is an actually investigation instead of just yet another way for Ma and his team to push the responsibilities to others.
TSMC set to invest in green sector
This might be a very good move by TSMC. Also for Taiwan, in the long term, development of alternative (green) energy source and less reliance on fossil fuel is a good thing in many ways.
This might be a very good move by TSMC. Also for Taiwan, in the long term, development of alternative (green) energy source and less reliance on fossil fuel is a good thing in many ways.
This one is very interesting...and has a plausible proposal...
Monday, August 10, 2009
Donations
Some Typhoon Morakat disaster donation information from DPP's website:
http://dpp0808.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_4671.html
Organization listed on Liberty Times:
http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/specials/Morakot/h.php?p=3
http://dpp0808.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post_4671.html
Organization listed on Liberty Times:
http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/specials/Morakot/h.php?p=3
Typhoon Morakat (UPDATE)
Worst flood disaster in southern Taiwan in 50 years.
Right now rescue and delivering aids operations are still on going. I wish those in central and southern Taiwan will be alright....
It is one of the worst in recent history...Right now it seems the amount of rain fall is abnormally high, but still there are quite a lot of lessons that can be learned about flood prevention and rescue operations...I hope those experts within the government and society can learn from it.
Also, a lot of bridges etc collapse again...the long time construction quality problems that have plagued Taiwan for so long once again surface...something has to be done about it. Given Taiwan's constant Typhoon and earth quakes, every structures in Taiwan should be made more sturdy than the structures in other places...
Unfortunately Taiwan has to cope with Earth quakes and typhoons. Taiwan has typhoon every year, and without typhoons Taiwan will have constant water shortage,...but for quite a long time it seems every time there is a major typhoon, some disasters happen. Taiwan should always be prepared for the worst...
Update: BillyPan mapped out the disasters using google map...
Right now rescue and delivering aids operations are still on going. I wish those in central and southern Taiwan will be alright....
It is one of the worst in recent history...Right now it seems the amount of rain fall is abnormally high, but still there are quite a lot of lessons that can be learned about flood prevention and rescue operations...I hope those experts within the government and society can learn from it.
Also, a lot of bridges etc collapse again...the long time construction quality problems that have plagued Taiwan for so long once again surface...something has to be done about it. Given Taiwan's constant Typhoon and earth quakes, every structures in Taiwan should be made more sturdy than the structures in other places...
Unfortunately Taiwan has to cope with Earth quakes and typhoons. Taiwan has typhoon every year, and without typhoons Taiwan will have constant water shortage,...but for quite a long time it seems every time there is a major typhoon, some disasters happen. Taiwan should always be prepared for the worst...
Update: BillyPan mapped out the disasters using google map...
Friday, August 7, 2009
Kaohsiung Success is A Good Lesson
I think we can learn a lot about the successful transformation of Kaohsiung in the past decade...
Claudia Jean has a nice blog on the story of the preparation of World Games in Kaohsiung.
This quote is quite interesting:
Comparing this to Taipei, which has a lot more money...it is real good contrast. Of course, Kouhsiung still has room for improvement, but it has taken the first most difficult step. Its success shows that...yes, with the right attitude, heart and leadership, it is possible in Taiwan.
UPDATE: This article is also very interesting...it indicates the similar problems that were mentioned by Prof. Lin: http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=92575
Claudia Jean has a nice blog on the story of the preparation of World Games in Kaohsiung.
This quote is quite interesting:
Prof. Lin pointed out the two main reasons which make high quality public construction work in Taiwan difficult. One is corruption where people’s representatives and civil servants at various government levels take bribes or kickbacks. Another is actually the law that is meant to prevent corruption.Connecting this with what is happening in Taipei...it seems that there are many interesting issues that can be studied. Why is it that under KMT, there are a lot of poor construction and severe pollutions? Is it impossible to improve Taiwan? Kaohsiung showed that it is possible. It is possible to have beautiful cities in Taiwan. It is possible to clean up a stinky river. It is possible to break through and change the corrupted policies that have always plagued Taiwan. Starting from Frank Hsie, the consecutive DPP mayors of Kouhsiung continuously contribute to the improvement, and follow trough their policies, no matter the pressure. And it is not just the politicians, but a lot of engineers and officials sacrificed their reputation and life on the great task, on what they believe is right.
Comparing this to Taipei, which has a lot more money...it is real good contrast. Of course, Kouhsiung still has room for improvement, but it has taken the first most difficult step. Its success shows that...yes, with the right attitude, heart and leadership, it is possible in Taiwan.
UPDATE: This article is also very interesting...it indicates the similar problems that were mentioned by Prof. Lin: http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=92575
Continueous Problem with Neihu MRT
There are quite a lot of news on the Neihu MRT lines. The problem seems to be much larger than previously anticipated. For the past month, almost everyday there are problems (LINK). Yesterday apparently the computer crashed and the service is suspended for 4 hrs. This is quite unprecedented in Taiwan's history. Not only that, the incompatible systems between Neihu and the older Muzha line seems to cause Muzha lines to go nuts as well (LINK). In summary, the new system is causing more trouble instead of providing more services.
IMO, it is very likely that Neihu will become the next Maokong. Its service has to be suspended until it is fully fixed. However, it actually looks like the problems is quite huge and fundamental, not some small bugs that can be fixed easily. From the beginning it is ill designed. The new Neihu system uses wireless communication in open environment. (the same Bombardier system is supposed to be used in closed, less complicated environment like an airport. I do not know why Bombardier agreed to do this contract because I think professionally they shouldn't. But seriously though I never like Bombardier as a company, because I heard a lot bad news from that company, and from my understanding their internal management is quite lousy as well...but this blog is about Taiwan, not Bombardier so I will stop here and focus on Taipei's problem). The line has a more than 90 degree turn toward the airport, which indirectly causing the train to be very narrow. Even if they fix the fundamental network, computer and electrical problems, the whole system is limited in capacity and comfort. Plus...the cart seems to LEAK WATER :-o. It is really a very bad construction.
Also, 謝長廷 and the DPP now point to the relations between the construction company 工信工程 and Ma (http://www.shadowgov.tw/23988_0_nc.htm) as a possible cause of all these fiasco. The newest development also includes 新生高架橋...once again this maintenance project is given to 工信工程. Will keep an eye on this for later development.
It is quite clear though, that Ma and KMT messed up in Taipei big time.
IMO, it is very likely that Neihu will become the next Maokong. Its service has to be suspended until it is fully fixed. However, it actually looks like the problems is quite huge and fundamental, not some small bugs that can be fixed easily. From the beginning it is ill designed. The new Neihu system uses wireless communication in open environment. (the same Bombardier system is supposed to be used in closed, less complicated environment like an airport. I do not know why Bombardier agreed to do this contract because I think professionally they shouldn't. But seriously though I never like Bombardier as a company, because I heard a lot bad news from that company, and from my understanding their internal management is quite lousy as well...but this blog is about Taiwan, not Bombardier so I will stop here and focus on Taipei's problem). The line has a more than 90 degree turn toward the airport, which indirectly causing the train to be very narrow. Even if they fix the fundamental network, computer and electrical problems, the whole system is limited in capacity and comfort. Plus...the cart seems to LEAK WATER :-o. It is really a very bad construction.
Also, 謝長廷 and the DPP now point to the relations between the construction company 工信工程 and Ma (http://www.shadowgov.tw/23988_0_nc.htm) as a possible cause of all these fiasco. The newest development also includes 新生高架橋...once again this maintenance project is given to 工信工程. Will keep an eye on this for later development.
It is quite clear though, that Ma and KMT messed up in Taipei big time.
Why Are We Funding This?
The recent fiasco regarding the Hong Kong film removal in Melbourne International Film Festival is quite interesting:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/08/07/2003450566
http://fareasternpotato.blogspot.com/2009/08/gio-angered-by-removal-of-film.html
http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/08/melbourne-film-festival-success-afp.html
This quote from Michael should be heeded by all artists in Taiwan:
This is actually a very interesting phenomenon in Taiwan that exists for quite a long time. In the movie and entertainment industries especially, the government often funds and supports projects in places like Hong Kong with more money than for Taiwan's own project.
This is quite weird. It is not like those films really benefits Taiwan's images. If the government does not want to help out Taiwan's own movie industries, that is fine. But they actually fund other countries' projects that has nothing to do with Taiwan. It is like the US government giving money to Honda and Toyota.
The full review on this type of illogical policies is warranted IMO. Instead of wasting money on some Hong Kong films that no body watches, they should give more indirect supports to Taiwan's film makers...etc. After the success of Cap No. 7, it is clear more support for Taiwan's film makers is not illogical or irrational.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/08/07/2003450566
http://fareasternpotato.blogspot.com/2009/08/gio-angered-by-removal-of-film.html
http://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2009/08/melbourne-film-festival-success-afp.html
This quote from Michael should be heeded by all artists in Taiwan:
I hope Taiwanese artists and others involved in collaboration with Chinese observe that their work will always be nothing more than a pawn in Beijing's political strategies.
This is actually a very interesting phenomenon in Taiwan that exists for quite a long time. In the movie and entertainment industries especially, the government often funds and supports projects in places like Hong Kong with more money than for Taiwan's own project.
This is quite weird. It is not like those films really benefits Taiwan's images. If the government does not want to help out Taiwan's own movie industries, that is fine. But they actually fund other countries' projects that has nothing to do with Taiwan. It is like the US government giving money to Honda and Toyota.
The full review on this type of illogical policies is warranted IMO. Instead of wasting money on some Hong Kong films that no body watches, they should give more indirect supports to Taiwan's film makers...etc. After the success of Cap No. 7, it is clear more support for Taiwan's film makers is not illogical or irrational.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
DDRP...Interesting
Interesting report (recommendation) from Project 2049 Institute:
Deter, Defend, Repel And Partner
I got this link from Mr. Turton blog.
Some of the ideas in it was mentioned else where before, but this one seems to be able to describe those ideas with a more understandable terms, I think. Many concepts and recommendations in it is also quite interesting....worth a read.
Deter, Defend, Repel And Partner
I got this link from Mr. Turton blog.
Some of the ideas in it was mentioned else where before, but this one seems to be able to describe those ideas with a more understandable terms, I think. Many concepts and recommendations in it is also quite interesting....worth a read.
UPDATE: Taipei Times has more reporting on this report.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The Long Term Problems
After looking at Ma's performance for the past 400 or so days as president, IMO, there is little hope of Taiwan actually improving much over the next few years. Taiwan will be lucky just to stay alive. Sure, the economy will start to recover eventually in the next few years, but the fundamental economic problem will not be solved. Problems in other areas will also surface. If Ma gets re-elected, it will be a total nightmare, but that might actually become a reality.
Also, looking at what Ma did in Taipei you wonder what kind of long lasting negative effects Ma will leave in Taiwan in the next few years. If Taiwan is lucky, and Ma doesn't get re-elected, the next President and his/her team will still face some huge challenges. Some already exist but for sure cannot be solved by Ma, some I suspect Ma will leave behind:
Judiciary System Reform
As shown by the Chen case, the Judiciary system has some huge problems both in its system and people. The system, from my understanding, is resemblance to German Nazi's system. It gives too much power to the judge and prosecutors etc. I am no expert, but I know a lot of it does not make any sense, especially if you comparing it with the courts in the US or UK. A lot of the people under the system is also problematic. The prosecutors leaking confidential information to the media, judges mocking the accused, unreasonable/unnecessary detention, too much KMT influence inside are all big problems.
The reform I imagine will take a long time and will face very stiff opposition, but it has to start somewhere now. First, the system has to be changed gradually, and the law education system has to be adjusted.
National Defense
Recently a lot of news seem to show some deterioration of the military both in hardware and software. The maintenance, training and the morale seem to be down. Combining this with Ma's current policy, it is not hard to imagine in the next few years the military would be in a poor state. The next government I imagine will face huge challenge in this area, and will need to pay a lot of attention to it.
Also, as the recent Japanese defense white paper mentioned, Taiwan's military has no counter to China's short range ballistic missiles etc. This problems will need to be addressed sooner or later...and better sooner than later.
Education
Some small improvement has been made during Chen's time but really not even near enough. IMO in a lot of area the education system is still tightly controlled by the KMT.
Economy
I cannot think of any thing solid on this one, and I doubt there are a lot of people out there that can actually propose a good economic strategy etc. The only people that are fully confident in their economic strategy are those KMT BShitters that keep saying invest in China. I do not know where their "confidence" come from, but I know those kind of policies are wrong, as been shown in the past decade, after Taiwan starts to pour money into China.
Basically, I think a lot of pan green people know what is not good, but they are not sure of what is good, regarding this topic. For sure, there are a few things that need to be achieved:
- Lower Unemployment Rate: We have to be careful about what kind of unemployment, because different unemployment means different things. For sure though the unemployment rate is rising and right now it is ridiculously high (for Taiwan) comparing to neighboring countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea etc. The most problematic unemployment is IMO Structural Unemployment. Actually this part is also related to the education problem.
- Attracting Investment into Taiwan: How to retain and encourage people inside and outside Taiwan to invest in Taiwan is a big question. Right now there are still huge tendency for people to throw their money into China instead of invest in Taiwan. The fundamental cause has to be found, and policy that encourage investment in Taiwan has to be formed.
Those problems might even be underestimations...because there is a chance that Ma will do something catastrophic to Taiwan's economy in the next few years (signing ECFA might, for example). Given the lousy jobs he did when he was a mayor...this is actually a likely scenario.
Conclusion
In any case...even if Ma will not get re-elected, I think the next government will have a real hot potato in its hand.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Bravo! Kaohsiung
Wow, talking about going out with a BANG. The opening ceremony was very impressive, and the closing one certainly did not disappoint.
This editorial said it the best:
EDIT:
Claudia Jean has a lot of nice reports, information and links on this.
This editorial said it the best:
Kaohsiung's success is rooted in the deep sense of community and solidarity in the southern port city around the values of democracy, human rights, free expression, citizen participation and, last but not least, Taiwan national dignity.
It is this set of values that the PRC boycotted and that Ma's KMT government have downplayed since coming to power last May which have now been dramatically returned to the view of Taiwan's people by the World Games.Congratulation to the citizens of Kaohsiung.
EDIT:
Claudia Jean has a lot of nice reports, information and links on this.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
I Wonder How Many People Are LIke This Person...
http://www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=92338
I wonder how many pan blue supporters are like this guy.
To translate simply. The author is now very disappointed in KMT, but he/she was a very strong KMT supporter. He/she was very happy when Ma won the election in 2008, but now disappointed and start to worry about the future.
Those are not unusual. What is unusual is...he/she supported pan blue and KMT simply because pan blue express themselves more 溫文儒雅 (means something like politeness, gentleman/lady like, courteous etc). First thing to get straight is not every pan-blue politician are 溫文儒雅. A lot of them are quite thuggish in their appearance and behaviour. However, indeed, all the more popular pan-blue politician, like Ma, or the Taichung city Mayor like Hu, talk in a more gentle...almost feminine like tones.
Personally I don't give politeness too much credit. I think people should be courteous and polite...but those are not major concerns when we talk about something serious like politics. In politics, I would rather put priority on other more important personal quality. Especially in Taiwan's teenager-ish political environment, fervor in comments are sort of expected. Politicians will occasionally raise their voice, talk loudly, and with animated body language...etc in this environment, unless they have the trained mind of Dalai Lama, which I doubt many people have, or they do not give a f**k, in which case they are worse politicians.
However, I know majority of people prefer/like people that talk softly and act politely. It is simply part of human nature. I also know this is actually part of KMT's past propaganda taking effect. In the past, KMT simply labeled pan green as low level rioters, and a lot of people believe it, because they saw the picture and the video of the violent protest. However, they do not know the cause and the reason. They do not understand those violent protesters are fighting for people's freedom in Taiwan. They do not know they are trying to change a corrupted authoritarian government. Those past emotion remain until this day. So even there are a lot of thuggish pan-blue politicians, people do not notice....etc.
However, the main point really is...do you want to base your political judgement and choice simply on how people speak and how polite they are? Just think about it, and you will know how ridiculous that is.
I wonder how many pan blue supporters are like this guy.
To translate simply. The author is now very disappointed in KMT, but he/she was a very strong KMT supporter. He/she was very happy when Ma won the election in 2008, but now disappointed and start to worry about the future.
Those are not unusual. What is unusual is...he/she supported pan blue and KMT simply because pan blue express themselves more 溫文儒雅 (means something like politeness, gentleman/lady like, courteous etc). First thing to get straight is not every pan-blue politician are 溫文儒雅. A lot of them are quite thuggish in their appearance and behaviour. However, indeed, all the more popular pan-blue politician, like Ma, or the Taichung city Mayor like Hu, talk in a more gentle...almost feminine like tones.
Personally I don't give politeness too much credit. I think people should be courteous and polite...but those are not major concerns when we talk about something serious like politics. In politics, I would rather put priority on other more important personal quality. Especially in Taiwan's teenager-ish political environment, fervor in comments are sort of expected. Politicians will occasionally raise their voice, talk loudly, and with animated body language...etc in this environment, unless they have the trained mind of Dalai Lama, which I doubt many people have, or they do not give a f**k, in which case they are worse politicians.
However, I know majority of people prefer/like people that talk softly and act politely. It is simply part of human nature. I also know this is actually part of KMT's past propaganda taking effect. In the past, KMT simply labeled pan green as low level rioters, and a lot of people believe it, because they saw the picture and the video of the violent protest. However, they do not know the cause and the reason. They do not understand those violent protesters are fighting for people's freedom in Taiwan. They do not know they are trying to change a corrupted authoritarian government. Those past emotion remain until this day. So even there are a lot of thuggish pan-blue politicians, people do not notice....etc.
However, the main point really is...do you want to base your political judgement and choice simply on how people speak and how polite they are? Just think about it, and you will know how ridiculous that is.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Pipe Dream
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/25/today-fo1.htm
Some reports come out that indicates the opportunity regarding China's 家電下鄉 (Basically means selling electronic to the rural area, one of the stimulus type economic policy of China) is but a pipe dream.
One nice thing about this section of 大話新聞 is that it recorded all the stuffs officials etc said before, and replay them later to show if they are bull shitting or not. It shows how big of a BS the Chinese officials and KMT had created. One thing I notice is that those Chinese officials seem to have a habit of exaggerating description and numbers etc when answering questions. It is kind of a pattern I noticed over the years...but I am not sure if it is generally true. Unfortunately, once again, there are many idiots that fall for it. What is worse is that KMT actually helps in these lies.
So far, there were the fruits, tourists and now electronic...all pipe dreams IMO.
Some reports come out that indicates the opportunity regarding China's 家電下鄉 (Basically means selling electronic to the rural area, one of the stimulus type economic policy of China) is but a pipe dream.
One nice thing about this section of 大話新聞 is that it recorded all the stuffs officials etc said before, and replay them later to show if they are bull shitting or not. It shows how big of a BS the Chinese officials and KMT had created. One thing I notice is that those Chinese officials seem to have a habit of exaggerating description and numbers etc when answering questions. It is kind of a pattern I noticed over the years...but I am not sure if it is generally true. Unfortunately, once again, there are many idiots that fall for it. What is worse is that KMT actually helps in these lies.
So far, there were the fruits, tourists and now electronic...all pipe dreams IMO.
ECFA Cartoon Shows Many Kuo (郭冠英) in Taiwan
Many nice blog posts regarding the insults of the ECFA cartoon:
Everyone is very surprised that such shameful discriminatory cartoon gets created in Taiwan, and not from any place, but the government itself (or some whomever is hired by the government to create this). It feels that we are going back in time 20 or so years, or rather, such problem still exist within Taiwan society. It is like grasses with deep roots, that get cut during DPP's time in the government, but grow right back after. It shows that the Kuo (郭冠英) incident, like I said before, is but a tip of an ice burg. 郭冠英 is not a single crazy guy. There are quite some people like him. Even Ma, IMO, has this tendency. He just hides it very well. (in many occasions he shows his arrogant and almost colonizer-ish attitude, but they are apparent if one does not pay attention to news or his behavior)
However, although some idiots will actually believe this garbage, majority of people I am sure are shocked and displeased by such creation. I am wondering though...why? If they know these cartoon is insulting, it means that Ma's government is trying to insult people (especially the opposition to ECFA) on purpose. If they actually think this is OK, it means Ma's government is worse than Kuo. Or maybe they are trying to redirect public attention from a bigger problems? I speculate too much....in any case, this cartoon is disgusting and unacceptable. It shows Ma team's incompetence, arrogance, stupidity and...evilness, for the lack of better word.
- The Far Eastern Sweet Potatoe: How to Insult People
- The View From Taiwan: MOFA Exploit Ethnic Stereotype to Sell ECFA
- The View From Taiwan: Guest Post, very nice one.
- Taiwan Matters: Bigotry as a Tool of Persuation
Everyone is very surprised that such shameful discriminatory cartoon gets created in Taiwan, and not from any place, but the government itself (or some whomever is hired by the government to create this). It feels that we are going back in time 20 or so years, or rather, such problem still exist within Taiwan society. It is like grasses with deep roots, that get cut during DPP's time in the government, but grow right back after. It shows that the Kuo (郭冠英) incident, like I said before, is but a tip of an ice burg. 郭冠英 is not a single crazy guy. There are quite some people like him. Even Ma, IMO, has this tendency. He just hides it very well. (in many occasions he shows his arrogant and almost colonizer-ish attitude, but they are apparent if one does not pay attention to news or his behavior)
However, although some idiots will actually believe this garbage, majority of people I am sure are shocked and displeased by such creation. I am wondering though...why? If they know these cartoon is insulting, it means that Ma's government is trying to insult people (especially the opposition to ECFA) on purpose. If they actually think this is OK, it means Ma's government is worse than Kuo. Or maybe they are trying to redirect public attention from a bigger problems? I speculate too much....in any case, this cartoon is disgusting and unacceptable. It shows Ma team's incompetence, arrogance, stupidity and...evilness, for the lack of better word.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
BS + Lies + Deciets
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1009686&lang=eng_news&cate_img=1033.jpg&cate_rss=news_only_on_taiwannews
It has became quite clear that the way KMT works is by BSing and lying.
It does not matter what they do. They are full of sh*t. From constructions in Taipei, domestic policies and statistics, to foreign policies and statements. Like what is happening is Taipei construction now, KMT's actions are getting more and more ridiculous. The latest idiotic news from Taipei is about the new swimming pool.
I hope people in both Taiwan and the US see things clearly.
It has became quite clear that the way KMT works is by BSing and lying.
It does not matter what they do. They are full of sh*t. From constructions in Taipei, domestic policies and statistics, to foreign policies and statements. Like what is happening is Taipei construction now, KMT's actions are getting more and more ridiculous. The latest idiotic news from Taipei is about the new swimming pool.
I hope people in both Taiwan and the US see things clearly.
Disaster Summary
Made some summary about the disaster construction project Ma created over the past few years...so I can keep track. There are just too many of them. The summary is by no mean comprehensive. It is from what I read and heard so far. There are a lot more detail and comprehensive information online regarding these, but most of them are in Chinese.
======================================
Neihu Mass Rapid Transit Line
Problems Summary:- Service suspended due to various system problems. (People have to evacuate and walk on the rail line to station) LIBERTY TIME PHOTO1 PHOTE 2
- Cart is too small and narrow. PHOTO From Mango Daily, LINK 2
- Use mid capacity system (skyline with small train) instead of high capacity system (underground with large train). In this case during planning various group already suggested using high traffic system due to the expected high volume of people created from the residential area development. (DETAILS)
- Flawed design (Some Detail Analysis) Especially regarding the big curve redirection toward the airport. It is a very questionable decision because the high angle turn, which indirectly cause the narrowness of the train, and the high amount of extra money required. Making a separated straight line toward the airport might be a better option.
- http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1005077&lang=eng_news&cate_img=83.jpg&cate_rss=news_Politics_TAIWAN
- http://www.shadowgov.tw/23304_0_is.htm
- http://www.shadowgov.tw/23281_0_is.htm
- http://www.shadowgov.tw/?p=news,detail,23121&target=yan&yan=100&page_no=0
- http://www.yuyen.tw/2009/07/blog-post_5071.html
- http://www.yuyen.tw/2009/07/blog-post_10.html
======================================
Maokong Gondola
Problems Summary:- Service suspended due to various system problems
- Foundation of Tower 16 and others exposed as the soil around them got washed away by rain. Foundation most likely unstable now.
- Bad design or choice of carts (fully sealed, extremely hot in Taiwan's climate)
- No geographic assessment before construction, even though there are already large amount of geographical survey around the area.
- http://www.shadowgov.tw/?p=news,detail,21330&target=yan&yan=100&page_no=1
- http://www.shadowgov.tw/?p=news,detail,20220&target=yan&yan=100&page_no=2
- http://www.yuyen.tw/2009/07/blog-post_06.html
- http://www.yuyen.tw/2009/05/blog-post_09.html
======================================
建成圓環
No idea how to write the name in English. But basically this was a traditional market place. Ma decided to construct this new structure to facilitate the market.
- The market place are mostly small restaurants. The design is again sealed which cause high temperature and lack of air flow. The glasses exterior also adds to the problem. Furthermore, each compartment is too small for each restaurants.
- There are a lot of other design problems. Basically it's a incompatibility between traditional market place and an ill-designed and impractical structure.
- In the end all the restaurants move out and the place become a wasted empty structure.
Because it's from more than 1 year ago, I cannot find a lot of information on this. But here are 2 blogs containing some comprehensive information:
======================================
The Taipei 2009 Deaflympics Swimming Pool
Problem Summary:
This one just came out very recently and there are still not enough coverage or investigation on it yet. Suffice to say it is quite ridiculous because of the very obvious mistakes. The pool should be international standard 10 lanes wide but instead it is built 8 lanes wide. Therefore, the pool cannot actually be used in the game. However, they wasted 600,000,000 NT dollars in it. Really ridiculous. Further tracking on the development of this issue is required.
LINKS
- http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/antired-newspaper/article?mid=21808&prev=21820&next=21806
- VIDEO LINK
- Taipei Times report
================================
Others
There are some other minor ones:Others
- 羅斯福路公車專用道: Last time I was in Taipei, I visited the place, and it looks like no bus is using it. But for some reason no one gets rid of them yet. Many have complain that those things actually worsen the traffic greatly, increasing the likely hood of traffic accidents. I do not know the detail but I know a lot of people complained for quite a long time.
- 龍山寺地下街: Similar to 建成圓環 situation. The poor design or the choice of location result in the lack of customers etc. Most stores are shut down now.
Oh crap, I made a big mistake. The stupid pool costs 600,000,000 NT dollars, not 6,000,000.
Report LINK Interesting Taipei Sports Office Director Mr. Fang said the pool is not for Deaflympics. Well, why the heck did they spend Deaflympics budgets on it then?!?!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Kaohsiung World Games 2009 Opening
June 16 2009 Opening. Can find some video on youtube etc. Here is the fire work parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zt0t82Fr7o&feature=related
Bunch of other videos are available. Overall not too bad. Personally I especially like the singing part. The stadium also looks very nice. (NY Times Architecture review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/design/16stadium.html)
UPDATE: Hehe, this part is pretty amazing, with the special effect, music and stuff. And that roar by Lin is nice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuJVnKhpog
Bunch of other videos are available. Overall not too bad. Personally I especially like the singing part. The stadium also looks very nice. (NY Times Architecture review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/design/16stadium.html)
UPDATE: Hehe, this part is pretty amazing, with the special effect, music and stuff. And that roar by Lin is nice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yuJVnKhpog
What is the Cause?
http://www.shadowgov.tw/23121_0_is.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/12/today-fo5.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/12/today-o5.htm
What a mess! This construction is not suppose to be extremely high difficulty...why so many problem? So much money and so much time wasted! And this is the result? Just looks very bad. People say don't spend money on Kidd class destroyers because they are expensive "garbage steel." Look carefully, people. This 內捷 is the real "expensive garbage steel."
Looking back, we can see a lot of expensive, wasteful and poor construction in Taipei during Ma's time as Mayor of Taipei. I am trying to compile a summary lists in English...but since they all use Mandarin them, it's kind of difficult. I will attempt it later. Looking at all of them I see some pattern in this series of disasters.
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/12/today-fo5.htm
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jul/12/today-o5.htm
What a mess! This construction is not suppose to be extremely high difficulty...why so many problem? So much money and so much time wasted! And this is the result? Just looks very bad. People say don't spend money on Kidd class destroyers because they are expensive "garbage steel." Look carefully, people. This 內捷 is the real "expensive garbage steel."
Looking back, we can see a lot of expensive, wasteful and poor construction in Taipei during Ma's time as Mayor of Taipei. I am trying to compile a summary lists in English...but since they all use Mandarin them, it's kind of difficult. I will attempt it later. Looking at all of them I see some pattern in this series of disasters.
The Lack of Foresight And Understanding of the Environment
Take Maokong Gondola for example, the cart are fully sealed!!! Don't those planners know that Taiwan is hot during summer? And now look at this new rail system. The cart is just too small and tight. Also, many people pointed out, the city planned the system as medium load mass transit, but that area is obviously booming and the amount of possible passengers should warrant a heavy load mass transit design. Plus, from some photos I saw, the inside is so narrow; I doubt you can actually call it even medium size.
Other than the transit system, there are plenty of examples as well. For example, several construction or reconstructions of marketplaces are just total failures. The most famous case is the one where they make a glass cylinder structure. The problem with it is numerous. The market is supposed for Taiwanese food restaurant. But because the place is sealed up, it gets very hot inside. Also, each compartment is too small and closed in for any practical purpose. In the end those restaurants just left the place, and the place becomes another garbage construction.
Lust for Credit: Speed and Quantity Instead of Good Design and Quality
The two prime example are the Maokong Gondola and the recent new rail system. Maokong Gondola did not have environmental assessment. How is that possible? Because Taipei city treat it as "amusement" construction and under the law those construction does not need environmental assessment. It is really a big mistake not to have one because just a simple one would have prevent the problems with the infamous tower 16. (As someone shown before, geographical survey of the hills around those areas is available and quite comprehensive. But apparently no one in Ma's team even takes a look)
But why don't they do it? I think they just want to speed things up. They want to finish the construction near the end of Ma's 8 years as Taipei Mayor. Indeed, all those construction are finished or near finished within his term, but they are all in extremely poor quality. Further, they are all much smaller projects than what people expected. For example, full transportation system is changed to "amusement" system. Heavy load mass transit is instead medium load mass transit. "Small Giant Egg" Baseball Park is complete (without proper fire alarm system by the way if I remembered correctly) but "Big Giant Egg" baseball park is nowhere in sight. It is obvious. Ma prefers many small and fast constructions instead of a few huge and slow constructions. Things like Taipei 101 or high-speed rail is not his cup of tea (Taipei 101 started during Chen's term). His lack of foresight and lust for credits caused the waste of billions of taxpayers' money.
Putting Blames on Others and the Lower Ranks
Every time this shit happens, what is the result? Well, most of the time we just see someone else taking the blame. Of course, people might view this differently. Some might say, you cannot blame everything on Ma and maybe others made mistakes that Ma did not know. Of course, I also know that could be the case is some area. However, overall, aren't some of the top decision and planning a huge mistake? And aren't the screw all loose in Ma's team? During Chen's time, which most of the lower rank officials are the same, do we see that much problems? I believe some of the top decision and mentality are the cause of all these problems, because they are just too numerous, and they all share a similar pattern in terms of problems.
Conclusion
This is just my random thoughts on the stuff I read and see over the past few months. I will try to put a more comprehensive summary on this later. Need to find some old links, photos etc to have a more clear summary of these.
UPDATE:
Today's Taipei Times have 2 detail articles regarding this:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448874
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448877
UPDATE:
Today's Taipei Times have 2 detail articles regarding this:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448874
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2009/07/17/2003448877
Friday, July 10, 2009
Hmm...
Echo Taiwan has some comprehensive coverage and analysis on the cause of deadly clashes in Xinjiang. Disturbing.
http://echotaiwan.blogspot.com/2009/07/trigger-of-uyghor-han-clash-in-xinjing.html
But if we look at ourselves...aren't there people like that in Taiwan as well? They just hear some rumors from the media, and get enraged instantly. Especially if we look back at those KMT supporters during the Red Clothes Army and post 2004 and 2000 presidential election time. Of course what is happening in China is 100 times more severe because obviously those Han Chinese do not even treat those Uyghurs as human beings.
People nowadays look back at the witch-hunt in Europe and North America and think those people are so stupid. But look at what is happening today! Even with all the information technology available, those Guangdong Han Chinese are as ignorant and fanatical as ever. This is disturbing indeed. Also, it is in Guangdong, a supposedly more prosper, advanced and civilized province in Chinese territory. It shows that advance in economy does not guarantee humanity. (Well...if we look back at history, there are already a lot of example, but this one is a good reminder.)
But if we look at ourselves...aren't there people like that in Taiwan as well? They just hear some rumors from the media, and get enraged instantly. Especially if we look back at those KMT supporters during the Red Clothes Army and post 2004 and 2000 presidential election time. Of course what is happening in China is 100 times more severe because obviously those Han Chinese do not even treat those Uyghurs as human beings.
People nowadays look back at the witch-hunt in Europe and North America and think those people are so stupid. But look at what is happening today! Even with all the information technology available, those Guangdong Han Chinese are as ignorant and fanatical as ever. This is disturbing indeed. Also, it is in Guangdong, a supposedly more prosper, advanced and civilized province in Chinese territory. It shows that advance in economy does not guarantee humanity. (Well...if we look back at history, there are already a lot of example, but this one is a good reminder.)
I hope Taiwanese look at this event carefully. I hope they look, sympathize and learn... DON"T REPEAT THE 228 MISTAKE.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Value of Indepedence
People nowadays emphasize more on words like peace, love, stability, progress, open trade, money,...etc. But looking at the recent events in Tibet,Hong Kong and Xinjiang, I think people need to emphasize more on the value of Independence.
Independence is important. To be your own master, to determine what road to take without the arbitrary coercions of others...these are essential and important for human beings.
Some people say what is the point, you cannot eat Independence. Chinese government, Taiwanese government, Martian government, there is no difference. Look at East Timor, they got their Independence but things don't become better. I can only tell them: YOU ARE WRONG. Just look at what is happening in Xinjiang for the past 60 years and tell me Independence is not important. Independence does not automatically mean prosperity, but at least it gives you a chance. It gives you a chance to be your own master to pursuit your fortune. Without it, you are just a slave, that is kept alive and healthy enough to work for the master.
Independence is important. To be your own master, to determine what road to take without the arbitrary coercions of others...these are essential and important for human beings.
Some people say what is the point, you cannot eat Independence. Chinese government, Taiwanese government, Martian government, there is no difference. Look at East Timor, they got their Independence but things don't become better. I can only tell them: YOU ARE WRONG. Just look at what is happening in Xinjiang for the past 60 years and tell me Independence is not important. Independence does not automatically mean prosperity, but at least it gives you a chance. It gives you a chance to be your own master to pursuit your fortune. Without it, you are just a slave, that is kept alive and healthy enough to work for the master.
Finally Some Interesting Economic News
Now this is more like it. Interesting stuff. The government finally gets some fresh ideas. The government needs more stuff like this instead of just thinking about Chinese market all the time. Although in this case, Chinese language market is still part of the focus, I hope they can extend this beyond language and culture. Like what the Japanese and Korean did. (They don't just sell their games in Japan and in Korea only, right?)
Not sure if this will be a success. Video games nowadays have a very high development cost. It's no joke. To be competitive in this industry, there can be no half measure. To be successful, Taiwanese development studios have to compete (and cooperate) with studio in Japan, South Korea, Europe and the US, there is no question about it. Of course Taiwanese studio most like will start out on the smaller PS3 Network Download games. However, even those require good efforts to be successful. And in the long term, bigger titles can be considered.
There are also some concern though regarding the 40% subsidize. I don't see a problem with it. Taiwan also did that for the quite successful semi-conductor industries. However, the government should not interfere or "help" too much otherwise it will most like turn into failure like the car industries. Also, gradual reduction in the subsidization etc after the industry can stand on its own feet needs to the considered and planned.
Now...I just hope this move can turn out some real good games, and hopefully none of those stupid low quality generic games based on some lousy Chinese TV and movies like before.
UPDATE:
Well, since I am a big gamer, might as well talk more about my opinion on Taiwan's game industry. Note though that I am not some industry guru. This is just a small part of my personal opinion. (I have a lot more thoughts on this topic, but too much to write it here).
Personally I hope some dude that really understand Taiwan can make a great game that recreate the success of the movie Cape No. 7. Of course, it has to be even better and able capture market outside of Taiwan. These will enforce the "soul" of Taiwan and letting others know what is interesting about Taiwan's culture etc. Some of the games enjoy success not because they are main stream but because they are unique and have a great loyal fan base. Taiwan cannot just rely on "Chinese" language because heck, China can probably do better with this. They already have game studios in Shanghai etc. Taiwan needs something even more to have a place of its own.)
From my observation, Taiwan's game industry also seem to have quite a narrow vision. They need to broaden it up. For example, most of the games Taiwan make have 2 type of themes. One is Chinese fantasy theme, the other is "cute" theme. They kept drawing inspiration from Chinese history and fantasy, probably because they think China has 5000 years of history or BS like that and thus there are a lot of possible inspiration. Wrong! Although 5000 years are a long time but the interesting periods are only few and far between. Plus a lot of the history stuff are just not much different. Therefore the market is saturated by games that look and sound similar. Everyone just draw from the same theme, same idea, same source. There is no way you can sell games in this way. Gamers a lot of times want something different and refreshing.
Looking at Japanese animation and games for example. They don't just draw ideas from Japanese history and fantasy. They also got inspiration from sci-fi and western fantasy. Taiwan needs to learn to do that. It does not mean to be a copy cat, but getting inspirations from new sources are important. Especially the Sci-Fi area I think Taiwan actually has a lot of potential but people never thought much of it before. Sci-Fi offer an unlimited space for imagination, but developers in Taiwan often just look at Chinese fantasy and limited their imagination into a quite narrow area.
Of course, one major problems every gamer knows about Taiwanese games are its quality. There are games with good quality of course, but there are also games that are just unplayable and a complete ripoff of players' money. This is more of a technical issues that Taiwan's software community needs to work on. However, it is also a lack of watch dog system. In the North America and else where, there are solid game website like GameSpot, Gamespy, IGN etc that has high quality and fair reviews of each games that come out.
What Taiwan needs, are websites like those, that focus on giving fair review to games, especially Taiwanese games. There are site like Gamers.com.tw and others in Taiwan but from what I can see, they don't review much games at all. Most of the time they only give preview and news. It's like a big commercial website. What we need are review sites people trust. These kind of trust can only be built over time with professional and serious reviews of each games that come out. However, this must be done, in order to restore and sustain consumers' confidence in Taiwanese games, and give developers big incentive to make great games in order to sell them well.
Suspecious...
Many people would agree that Ma's trip to Latin America was a total disaster. Mr. Keating has a nice one on this. One thing that really puzzles me though, is why? Why did he make this trip? Because I remembered he had another trip to the same places just few months ago. In both trip, he didn't do anything meaningful. It is like he is a tourist. So what is the point? And why so frequent? Especially this time, the performance is really bad. What is the rush?
The Pattern...
Recently there are a lot of unrest around the world, from Iran, Honduras and now Xinjiang. All these recent events in Tibet, Iran and Xinjiang showed a general pattern however:
- Protest occurs.
- Paramilitary police went in and starts the killing.
- Foreign media access, Internet access and other access including cell phones are cut. The area is locked down.
- Official media becomes the primary source of the news, and starts releasing footage and photos etc.
- There are accounts of police going around arresting people from their house etc. However, as the media is not there it's not clear how many got arrested etc.
I think, if one takes a look at what people say on the Internet forum discussion etc, one can realize this is actually a clever strategy of the despots. They have taken great advantages of the modern technology:
- By blocking out information sources, most people, including the main stream media and the government officials, do not know what exactly is going on. They can only get a fuzzy pictures from the occasional leak of information from YouTube and twitter. It is like looking at the computer screen one pixel at a time: you only see the trees, but not the forest.
- By blocking out foreign media, the official despot media is the only one that can pump out information in great quantity. Using the good old communist propaganda trick, mixing 80% truth with 20% lies, and by not showing everything, the despots have the power of interpretation. As the propaganda contains 80% truth, and there are no other major source of information, it is hard to tell what are facts and what are bullshits. They can damp down the opinions against them and create general confusion regarding the events. Thus, cooling off the sympathy towards the protesters and oppositions etc.
- Internet becomes another battle field in which the despots supporters have the advantages. Because the lack of true information, sympathy expressed toward the victims are not as strong as it could be, while the despots supporters can use the partially information to further support the despots action and further harming the victims.
Thus, the victim becomes less of a victim, the murders become less of a murder, and the world becomes even greyer.
UPDATE: LINK
Looks like things are getting worse. In some ways similar to Iran, now there are another pro-government mob going around beating people up. But this one is worse because it's ethnically based. I wonder if those Han Chinese realized they are just pawns of the Chinese government, or perhaps they are willing to be the pawns. Look carefully at this, Taiwanese. This is what could happen. First, conquer and suppression. Second, force immigration. Third, ethnic culture destruction. If the situation reaches this point it's already too late.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Interesting News, Japan and the US finally Made a Move?
This is an interesting news.
Japan and the US are moving military forces Apache helicopters to 與那國島.
Not totally sure what the implication is yet, but certainly it looks like a big move by Japan and the US. Does this have something to do with North Korea situation? Or is this just for Taiwan, or something else?
Hmm....
But looks like the stupid KMT "military specialist" already jumps up and down with great fury...idiots. If they take care of their business in the past few years, would Japan and the US make this move? It is obvious their action of hindering Taiwan's military development has threaten the stability in the region, now that the military balance is tilting in China's favor. That is why the move by the US and Japan.
All I can say is, those KMT so called "military specialists" can only think for China, not for Taiwan. I would say most of their "expert" opinion can be discarded unless Taiwan wants to help China instead of helping itself.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Concern Over Chinese Investment
http://www.shadowgov.tw/22773_126_act.htm?page_no=0
Mr. 謝 got a very good point on the issue of Chinese investment in Taiwan.
This issue actually bothers me quite a bit. Because on the one hand there is the traditional idea of opening market create prosperity, competition and stability, on the other hand China is not friendly toward Taiwan. The problem becomes, does it make sense to open market to a country that wants to swallow Taiwan? What 謝 said makes me realize the key point, and make my thoughts on this much clearer.
It's actually quite simple, just looking from the economical side:
Mr. 謝 got a very good point on the issue of Chinese investment in Taiwan.
This issue actually bothers me quite a bit. Because on the one hand there is the traditional idea of opening market create prosperity, competition and stability, on the other hand China is not friendly toward Taiwan. The problem becomes, does it make sense to open market to a country that wants to swallow Taiwan? What 謝 said makes me realize the key point, and make my thoughts on this much clearer.
It's actually quite simple, just looking from the economical side:
- China is not real capitalism. A lot of big industries are under control of communist party, some even under control of PLA.
- Under normal circumstances, all corporation's goal is to gain money. When they invest, they also expect profit and risk etc. But as mention by point one. Chinese corporations are actually controlled by the government more or less. What does this mean then? It means those investment are not for profit. They are for Chinese government goal, to swallow Taiwan.
- Thus it will create unfair competition. Because they are not for profit, they will not reward those companies that are profitable, but those companies that are pro-China. It will mess up the whole market system. Because now the market is not driven by profit, but driven by political will of Beijing at the same time. Those company can get huge funds even if they are not profitable, as long as they are pro-China. Those companies that have very nice products, but are not favored by Chinese government, will face unnecessary tough competitors. Thus the free market become not free because the Chinese government can manipulate it.
- With the huge control Chinese government has, the whole economic system of Taiwan might fall completely into Chinese control. The market system will be destroyed, replaced by Chinese controlled market.
I think this is one of the possible outcome. Probably some economic experts with more solid data can have a more clear and concrete view on this. But I think these are the general idea and the danger. There are actually already some example we can take note from. One is Hong Kong. In the recent July 1st celebration we can see how much Hong Kong's political circle has changed. A lot of politicians simple kiss Beijing's ass. Furthermore, if we really think about it, there is no way Hong Kong can break free from the grip of China, because their economy is "infiltrated" by China and is now under Chinese control.
And I haven't even mention the obvious political implication. As 謝 mentioned, with Chinese investment in, China can indirectly "participate" in Taiwan's election, through election campaign donation. What will result from this, I think everyone knows already.
And I haven't even mention the obvious political implication. As 謝 mentioned, with Chinese investment in, China can indirectly "participate" in Taiwan's election, through election campaign donation. What will result from this, I think everyone knows already.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Disgust...
http://www.southnews.com.tw/videos/00/2009/06/0630_01.htm
The first few minutes...really disgust and scare me. Is it really possible that Taiwan has people like that? What are the difference between them and those Chinese communist red guards during culture revolution (calamity)?
Fortunately, the video shows that there are some rational parents in that school.
There is some part of Taiwan's society that is really sick now. I just hope the sickness is not wide spread.
PS...Now I think of it...isn't this like a disease? CCP and KMT spread their Chinese culture revolution fever and their fanaticism to Taiwan. Now, it is up to Taiwan's rational and cool minds to be the immune system, to retaliate against this disease. Otherwise, this disease will certainly kill Taiwan...or rather, the vary soul of Taiwan.
The first few minutes...really disgust and scare me. Is it really possible that Taiwan has people like that? What are the difference between them and those Chinese communist red guards during culture revolution (calamity)?
Fortunately, the video shows that there are some rational parents in that school.
There is some part of Taiwan's society that is really sick now. I just hope the sickness is not wide spread.
PS...Now I think of it...isn't this like a disease? CCP and KMT spread their Chinese culture revolution fever and their fanaticism to Taiwan. Now, it is up to Taiwan's rational and cool minds to be the immune system, to retaliate against this disease. Otherwise, this disease will certainly kill Taiwan...or rather, the vary soul of Taiwan.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sigh...Ignorance, Fanaticism and Tyranny
http://current.com/items/90250785_iran-tehran-wounded-girl-dying-in-front-of-camera.htm
Perhaps...this video sums up of what is happening in Iran...
Although I have nothing to do with Iran, I felt something stirring deep within my heart watching this video. Perhaps it's sadness, or something else...I don't know.
It reminds me of 228 as well...It's totally different situation, yea...but there are similarities...
Approximately half month before this thing happened in Iran, I was watching a TV program about Freemason, and one quote in the TV show stroke me and made an impression in my brain. Some dude (maybe a historian, I cannot remember) said something like, in Freemason's mythology, one always struggles against 3 things: Ignorance, Fanaticism and Tyranny.
Ignorance, fanaticism, tyranny...
Looking at what is happening in Iran and in Taiwan, ...ignorance, fanaticism and tyranny indeed.
Perhaps...this video sums up of what is happening in Iran...
Although I have nothing to do with Iran, I felt something stirring deep within my heart watching this video. Perhaps it's sadness, or something else...I don't know.
It reminds me of 228 as well...It's totally different situation, yea...but there are similarities...
Approximately half month before this thing happened in Iran, I was watching a TV program about Freemason, and one quote in the TV show stroke me and made an impression in my brain. Some dude (maybe a historian, I cannot remember) said something like, in Freemason's mythology, one always struggles against 3 things: Ignorance, Fanaticism and Tyranny.
Ignorance, fanaticism, tyranny...
Looking at what is happening in Iran and in Taiwan, ...ignorance, fanaticism and tyranny indeed.
It is Really Not Hard to See
http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new/jun/28/today-fo1.htm
This report reminds me again what I have been saying and what I have been thinking ever since Ma get elected. Over time a lot of things happened...but the basic trend does not change.
It is actually quite easy to see. It's like how drug dealing work. Someone for some reason are lured to try the drug because he/she does not have enough information or does not have a firm principle, and because he is under a lot of stress. The drug dealer acts all nice etc. But after the person become a drug addict, the drug dealer has total control over the person. The drug dealer sucks away all the money and dignity from the addict. The addict's life and his/her family's life are ruined, usually forever until death.
This is very similar to Taiwan's situation. Taiwan is under pressure (economic and internal politics). China is the drug dealer. China is attempting to make Taiwan addicted to a drug...a drug of economy and myth.
Too many people are greedy and do not care about anything else...like someone who is weak in mind and principles, and easily lured by temptation of something "magical" that can cure all the stress and worries of reality. Taiwanese need to be more aware of things other than money.
This report reminds me again what I have been saying and what I have been thinking ever since Ma get elected. Over time a lot of things happened...but the basic trend does not change.
It is actually quite easy to see. It's like how drug dealing work. Someone for some reason are lured to try the drug because he/she does not have enough information or does not have a firm principle, and because he is under a lot of stress. The drug dealer acts all nice etc. But after the person become a drug addict, the drug dealer has total control over the person. The drug dealer sucks away all the money and dignity from the addict. The addict's life and his/her family's life are ruined, usually forever until death.
This is very similar to Taiwan's situation. Taiwan is under pressure (economic and internal politics). China is the drug dealer. China is attempting to make Taiwan addicted to a drug...a drug of economy and myth.
Too many people are greedy and do not care about anything else...like someone who is weak in mind and principles, and easily lured by temptation of something "magical" that can cure all the stress and worries of reality. Taiwanese need to be more aware of things other than money.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Shameless...
Those KMT members are really shameless: http://www.shadowgov.tw/22597_0_is.htm
They know they are just playing politics. But they never thought what kind of danger and disadvantage they put Taiwan into? At the same time they accused others?
Shameless...Shameless...shameless.
They know they are just playing politics. But they never thought what kind of danger and disadvantage they put Taiwan into? At the same time they accused others?
Shameless...Shameless...shameless.
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