Beyond Meat, the American maker of meat substitutes, was established in 2009. Since then, Taiwan has seen the rise of a new kind of vegetarianism, one not limited to certain religious groups, but that also extends to people who adopt it for reasons related to health, the environment, or a love for animals.
Taiwanese brands and professionals want to go international. Foreign startup teams want to establish businesses in Taiwan. Unfortunately, starting a business in a foreign land can be challenging, with obstacles ranging from different languages, legal systems and cultures, to the availability of qualified staff. Each can be a headache for new entrepreneurs.
This is a social movement without tensions and clamor. In place of accusations and criticism, you find mirth and a sense of duty. Instead of preaching and protesting, you get your message across through the watchwords “Health, Environment, and Sustainability.” This is the vegetarian movement, and it is a global trend.
The amount of rice eaten by Taiwanese has again hit a new low. It has fallen by nearly half from the level of 80-90 kilograms per person per year back in the 1960s and 1970s, and will soon be outstripped by the rising consumption of wheat.
When Japan’s postwar economy took off in the 1960s, young people began traveling overseas. When they arrived in nearby Taiwan, they discovered that many Taiwanese, young and old, could speak fluent Japanese.
The Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the globe has changed our lives and made 2020 into quite a year. The disease has made close contact a thing to be avoided, and affected us all, wherever we may be and whatever work we may do. The only comparable event in modern history has been the 1918 flu pandemic.
Taiwan has its own group of dedicated treasure hunters! But instead of searching for riches hidden in caves, they are trawling the US National Archives for historical information related to Taiwan. This isn’t the sort of treasure that will make anyone wealthy, but it can help Taiwanese better understand ourselves and how we got to our present place in the world. More, gaining a clearer view of where we’ve been will enable us to hold more firmly to our course into the future.
Around the world, the Covid pandemic has caused an upsurge in online learning. With the virus well under control, Taiwan is one of the few nations in the world to have been holding regular classes in school classrooms without interruption. Universities have even opened new courses for students who have—at least for now—been forced to scuttle plans to study overseas. These offer them real face-to-face interactions with faculty and other students.
Art Rumah in Pingtung was founded by two individuals who wanted to inject new life into communities. One of the founders is Le Le, a Taipei girl who discovered her love for art through her work. The other is I Wayan Sadera, an artist from Indonesia who has lived in Taiwan for more than a decade, and gets involved in the community by helping to make carnival puppets.
“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” These words provide an apposite description of the year 2020. Throughout this year, Covid-19 has caused economies across the world to shrink. Lockdowns, social distancing rules, canceled flights, and other anti-coronavirus measures have dealt a crushing blow to many industries, giving rise to a wave of job losses. Creative artists are bearing the brunt because of the cancellation of income-generating events and performances.
