GIRL HAS BEEN FOUND “Missing Girl, Help Needed”

* * * * * * * Update : * * * * * * *

A missing girl who netizens from Social Media of Taiwan helped looking for last night, has turned up all safe and sound at a Police station in Taichung. She was picked up in the early hours of Sunday at 1:50 am by a member of her family. As of now (2:00 am December 17th, 2017) she is no longer being searched for. On behalf of the family and friends we want to thank all the readers for helping in the search.

* * * * * * * Original Message : * * * * * * *

Dear Observers, this is an emergency this time. A young, 19 years old girl from South Africa that only came to Taiwan recently has gone missing. She was last seen at the Changhua Police station after 3 am this morning. The girl in question was apparently quite intoxicated and this was the reason for the Police to apprehend her. Officers not knowing any better what to do with their ‘find’ drove her to National Changhua University of Education at 4 am and left her there. Later police claimed they didn’t know how to help her and the girl requested to be dropped off at that particular location, the force did not try to contact anybody. A search party has been dispatched combing Changhua county.

The girl doesn’t know anybody here in Taiwan apart from a few people that are beside themselves with worry. Her phone must be lost or broken as it appears to be turned off when somebody calls it.

Editor’s note:This is a developing story, updates will be given as new information arises.

Below we have posted her picture and if anyone sees her please contact us on:

0900 470 844

or go to https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanObsever and click the “Send Message”

She is a short, skinny girl with long brown hair and blue eyes.

her name is:

Luke Daniel

December 16, 2017 4

A review of the WeMo electric scooter sharing app and how it works

WeMo electric scooters

This week I finally tried the WeMo electric scooter service for the first time.

WeMo is a stationless rental scooter, it is basically the “oBike” concept applied for electric scooters.

You need a scooter? You find one nearby on the map, take it, ride where you want and leave the scooter on any scooter parking spot when you’re done.

I love the concept, and I feel it could improve a lot of things if it is used on a large scale.

Registration

Anyway. First things first, creating an account. That one made me postpone more than once, because you need to provide many documents:

– ARC (or ID)

– Driving license (it is a green plate so a car driving license is ok, I used my taiwanese car license to register, please comment if you succeded to register with an international car license, that would be sweet if they are accepted)

– Picture of yourself

– Credit card information. There are 2 payment types, either direct transaction from your credit card, or you can load some money into some WeMo wallet, and then use that money little by little as you use WeMo scooters.

After 1 working day I got an email saying my account was ready and I could start using the service.

Using WeMo app to do everything

Using the app, you see where scooters are and you can book one, or just walk to it and start using it.

I have used WeMo scooters 4 times in total. Every time the scooter was extremely new and in great quality: the 4 different scooters that I got didn’t have more than 250km mileage in total.

I have read some bad reviews in the WeMo app reviews where people complained about the quality of some scooters. Before any ride, better check the scooter, the general condition, the brakes, etc. In my case all was really new and good.

You control everything through the app.

– Opening the trunk (there are 2 helmets inside)

– Starting the rental

– Stopping the scooter (once it’s “started” it’s ready to accelerate any time you turn the throttle. “Stopping the scooter” is equivalent to shutting down the engine on a gas scooter.

– Returning the scooter: stops the renting and ends the ride.

The scooter

Once you open the trunk using the app, you find 2 helmets inside (one is half dome helmet for the passenter, and another one is a little bigger, covering the ears and has a wind protector, more suitable for the rider).

There is also a few disposable fabric papers that you can put in the helmet if you care about hygiene.

The scooter is pretty much like a normal gas scooter. It has the same controls, brakes, lights.

It is quite lighter overall, very comfortable to ride alone, and requires a little bit of skills for riding slow speed with a passenger, but that’s also true for regular scooters.

Riding WeMo

Once started, it is just like a normal scooter, the controls are the same: throttle, breaks, lights, direction lights.

The max speed i got was a steady 54km/h on flat. Not very fast but I was not slower than the average riders on the road.

The autonomy if the battery is 100% when you take it is about 45km. You can see how much battery is left on each scooter on the smartphone app before you start the rental.

You can see how many remaining kilometers the scooter can ride at all times.

Also I noticed than when the scooter autonomy is going below 10km, the max speed is lower, about 38km/h and the acceleration is also weaker).

With 2 people on the scooter, the acceleration is still good and the top speed still above 50km/h even with 2 passengers.

Even though speeding is not recommended, I find that the top speed is slightly below what I would hope for. A few times, I wanted to overtake someone quickly, but I simply couldn’t. On my regular 125cc scooter, I can go faster for a few seconds in certain situations to safely take over, or avoid some danger. That’s something to consider, the riding habits are slightly different here.

Pricing

As of November 2017:

– Initial price is 15NT for 6 minutes

– Next is 2.5NT per minute (99 seconds red light really suck, it would be neat if the price calculation did not count the stop time, specially as this is an electric scooter)

Out of the 4 rides I took, this is approximately the prices that I paid:

– 38NT for 4km distance in my first ride, because I took some time to explore the options

– 30NT for 4km (better luck at the red lights?)

– 60NT for 8km (Elephant Mountain to Nangang exhibition center).

– 23NT for 3 MRT stations late at night

In my opinion this is a good solution at night for a 5-15km distance when there are no more MRTs and you don’t want to pay 300+NT for a taxi.

Conclusion

After those rides I feel very happy that this solution exists. It completes the portfolio of transportation possibilities, and gives more freedom than MRT or bus.

It may not be something you want to use every day, but once in a while you need to go somewhere far from MRT stations, or you don’t want to take UBike for 30mn+ ride, well, if you have the app installed and the account already created, you can check if there’s a WeMo nearby.

by François Devatine

December 1, 2017 1

High school students take on Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan 2017

This year Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan saw three high school teams from the Dominican International School try their hand at getting investment in their businesses. They applied for the competition and were selected to be part of the preliminary round, where organizers listen to the pitches and determine the finalists.

The three teams that got through were:

Secom Dalcom: A company that makes and sells traditionally made Korean teas with a modern twist. The teas are all made by hand from locally sourced organic fruits.

About That Style: A company that focuses on helping schools and organizations get custom-made T-shirts and other branded clothing for official sports and special events, with a fresh approach to the style and manufacture of the garments.

Peer Learning Platform: A platform for kids to help each other with homework and tutor each other in subjects in which they are particularly adept.

The contestants went to their first round and were hoping to win over the organizers, or to at least do well enough for a second look if possible. All three teams prepared for weeks and presented their business plans. The organizers had some helpful notes and told the students how they could improve their pitches. They did not mince words and were clear from the beginning they would be treated just like every other team, regardless of the fact that they were high school students.

One team was asked to submit an updated presentation to see if they had improved enough to make it into the final round. Secom Dalcom had to revise their pitch in less than a week and resubmit it for a final look. Unfortunately the organizers felt that their business was too small and the expected investment too little for them to pitch to the dragons for investment purposes.

The organizers gave the students invaluable advice and experience. Each team got a gift from the organizers to celebrate their courage to participate in the first round. They each received a copy of the book “How to start a business in Taiwan” written by local entrepreneur Elias Ek. He also donated a copy to their school library that will become a valuable resource for other young entrepreneurs at the school.

These young entrepreneurs may not have made it through but they have learned numerous valuable lessons along the way. They have gone through the entire pitching process and will be watching their own videoed pitches for self-evaluation. They will attend the final pitch show on November 18th at the Taipei Expo Dome to watch the teams that made it through. These students are getting first hand experience at what it takes to get investment in a business, now they they more prepared when the day comes that they might want to pitch another business. Their teacher mentor shared with us that they have already followed the advice and adjusted their business plans.

November 11, 2017 0

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan, 2017

The second annual Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan is about to kick off. The final teams have been chosen and the final date is set. This year five teams have made it through to the finals.

Dragons’ Chambers is a version of the popular business pitching show Dragons’ Den (Shark Tank in the U.S.) for foreign entrepreneurs currently in Taiwan. This is a once a year competition where foreign entrepreneurs pitch an idea or current business to a panel of judges and potential investors. The teams are looking for investment to start or grow their businesses.

As the organizers say in the preliminary rounds “There are going to be many people in the audience that can give you the money you need…”, so these teams better get in ship shape for pitch day. The finalists this year are My Room Abroad, Eatsmart, KP Kitchen, Woodpecker Learning, and MemePR. The judges for this year will be; Elias Ek, Ensprye co-founder and CEO; Revital Shpangental Golan, Anemone Ventures founder and CEO; David Bostwick, Director of Trade and Investment at CTOT; and Kelvin Sun, Vice President WI Harper Group. (Meet the Dragons)

This year the preliminary round pitches saw a few student teams from Dominican International School pitch their ideas. Of the three teams that pitched one was a hopeful, but ultimately none of the made it through.

Dragons’ Chamber Taiwan will be held on Saturday November 18th, 2017 at Taipei Expo Dome, near Yuanshan station. The competition will be part of the Meet Taipei event and will take place on the Orange Stage from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. This Year the competition will be free to the public and seats will be first come first serve, so get there early for a good spot.

Su Beng’s 100th Birthday Gala

The Taiwan Observer team was invited by a local activist and artist Kenbo Liao to join Su Beng’s 100th birthday celebration. The event was held on Nov, 5, 2017. There were many of Su Beng’s fans and other political activists at the event. The security was extremely tight since president Tsai showed up to say a few words at the event.

The event was surrounded by fencing and everyone had to enter through security check points. Once inside there were many stalls many selling pro independence literature and art. The main star of the event, Su Beng, had a long line of revelers asking for photos and signatures. The man of the hour was more capable than one would expect a 100 year old man to be. The cameras snapped photos and videos for a while then he was carted of in his wheel chair with a mob in tow to go see the performance in his honor.

The day was filled with speeches from local activists, bands playing music, lion dances, a puppet show, and a few words from the president. Sellers of books, art, and traditional wares also took part in the festivities, with their respective political agendas prominently displayed.

The one downside to the event, as pointed out by a former professor and activist we spoke to, was that there weren’t enough younger people at the event. He lamented that only the older generation had shown up in large numbers and that he wished that there could have been more interest from younger people.

Here are the rest of the photos we took of the event, including a cool dog in glasses.

November 6, 2017 0

iPhone X launch at Taipei 101

The iPhone X was released this morning early at 8 am. There were queues of people lined up all night around the city, many lining up at 101 and many lining up at telecom stores. All to be the first to get the new highly anticipated iPhone X.

Last night the guards at the Taipei 101 building told people to leave from the front door and to wait elsewhere. Our correspondent caught it on camera while staking out the late night iPhone X line. Check out that article here (Nighttime Stakeout for New iPhone X). He also encountered some people queued at their local telecom provider.

This morning the iPhone event at Taipei 101 was a big to do, unlike the launch of the iPhone 8 where we saw only one enthusiast lining up over night in front of 101. More here (Not So Exciting Release of the New iPhone).

The guy in the front of the line was happy to talk to reporters and told us he is excited for the release and that the new feature he was most excited for was the Face ID, whereby you can unlock your phone by scanning your face. The guy got 2 new phones, one in Space Gray and one in white. We got him on our live stream of the event unboxing his new phones, at 14 minutes onward. (Facebook iPhone X launch live stream)

Each person at the event had to line up and wait for their own personal apple service person to help them with their new purchase. They would help customers by fetching their new iPhone and having them pay for it, as the phone were kept in a backroom. Then they would help the customer set up the phone and explain some of the new features. The Apple staff were very helpful and made sure to explain all the new features in as much detail as the customers wanted or needed. VIP treatment for all those buying in-store today.

Many media outlets showed up to cover the event. TV, print, and web, with live steams being plenty. Taiwan observer’s editorial scene event caught one of the apple employees using and iPad Pro to sketch pictures of the first person to buy the iPhone that day. They really went all out for this event.

We also got a little hands on with the new iPhone X during our live stream. We didn’t cover it extensively but the new feature for going back to home screen by swiping up from the bottom is a great new addition that Apple couldn’t do without after removing the home button and fingerprint scanner.

All in all the iPhone X launch was much bigger than the iPhone 8, but that was wholly expected giving the release of a much better phone, the iPhone X, just short time after. They really went all out for this one.

November 4, 2017 0

Nighttime Stakeout for New iPhone X

Early in the morning of November 3rd, 2017 one of Taiwan Observer correspondents set off on a mission to see how release of the new iPhone X unfolded in Taipei City. First, he went to the one and only official Apple store in Taiwan located in Taipei, next to the famous 101 skyscraper building. There he encountered a funny crowd of only three iPhone purchasers. When he arrived there were a few more souls willing to lay their hands on the new gadget but they were quickly discouraged by bothersome rain and presence of a few social media reporters. The remaining group of foreigners were three gentlemen from Korea, Japan, and Mainland China respectively. Two last gentlemen had a quite a good command of English, the man from Korea virtually spoke no English. All the communication with him had to be done through Google translator app what made whole situation quite funny. No Taiwanese buyer was present and at some point a security guard appeared telling everyone to go away and come back at 7 am. This was done after a quick walkie-talkie exchange between him and the control room. His appearance was followed by arrival of three more Apple representatives instructing everyone not to take photos of inside of the mall. Not before a long time all the buyers decided to go elsewhere.

Our correspondent started his ride home and on the intersection of BoAi road and GuiYang street he stumbled across a lonely Chunghwa Telecom shop addressed 168 BoAi road. Outside of the shop there was a family of three with a friend waiting for their four iPhones Xs, and that’s exactly how many iPhones the shop had in stock for the day. On the shop’s wall there was a little note showing what kind of iPhone Xs are available on the day and their specifications. This group of people wasn’t asked by anyone to move an inch, and they enjoyed rather light-hearted atmosphere sitting in their chairs, eating their victuals and downing their alcoholic drinks. What a merry way to wait for your new gadget.

November 3, 2017 1

First National Home-based Workers Union Meeting

Today (Oct. 29th, 2017) the National Home-based Workers (NHW) union had their first meeting to introduce the new union and to have a vote on who the board of the union and its members will be. The NHW will be there to help domestic workers in Taiwan, they have very few rights under the current labor act and the union wants to be able to change this in the future. They feel that caregivers are treated as second class citizens and that it’s time for the Taiwanese government to change their status. The director of the Service Center and Shelter for migrant workers, Mr. Lennon, Ying-Dah, Wong likened the situations of some home based workers as being close to slave like, with some having absolutely no days off in a year. He also said that migrant workers are sometimes forced to stay in a terrible job, sometimes in abusive situations, because the brokerage firms will send them home if they complain.

Migrant workers have recently seen a pay increase under the new labor laws but domestic workers weren’t afforded this opportunity since they are not covered by under the labor laws currently. The minimum wage for a home-based worker is about NT$ 17,000 which is much less than the minimum wage other recieve, which set to be raising to NT$ 22,000 a month and 140 an hour from 2018. This is why domestic workers feel they have to start their own union to fight for their rights as workers and human beings.

The ongoing mock referendum on workers rights was also being held at the meeting. The participants at the meeting were able to cast their ballots after showing a valid ARC, visa or Taiwanese ID card.

The three questions on the ballot focus on if migrant caregivers should be protected by the Labor Standards Act. If foreign workers should be able to change their employers freely. Also, if the government should get rid of the private employment brokerage system and instead have a direct government to government hiring scheme.

Below are the some pictures from the first board meeting of NHW:

October 30, 2017 0

Police Chase Finished in a Car Crash

Taiwanese Police continues their crackdown on local racketeers and drugs which are recently rife on the island. These guidelines often lead to increased police activity on Taiwan’s streets. Police officers are equipped now with smaller than ever breathalyzers and there are plenty of police checkpoints at night making sure that nighttime drivers don’t DUI.

Early on Saturday morning, October 28^th, 2017 one of our correspondents happened to ride his motorbike on ShuHong first road, in New Taipei City close to Luzhou. Upon stopping on a traffic light he heard sirens approaching from behind, a quick look back revealed two police cars chasing a white Mazda minivan. The three vehicles, two in pursuit and one trying to getaway, entered the intersection of ShuHong first and ShuHong sixth roads on the red light going northbound at exactly forty five minutes past midnight. A few second later the police car nearer suspect’s vehicle successfully made the driver of white Mazda lose control after ramming vehicle’s rear bumper. Suspect’s car skidded to the right and hit road barriers violently. Both police cars rammed the car to prevent passengers from running out, the driver still decided to dash from the officers, who fired a warning shot but that didn’t stop the driver.

Two other passengers, a man and a woman who remained inside the vehicle and cooperated with the police. The driver had to be retrieved by the officers and brought back to the vehicle where he underwent quick, violent and loud interrogation. When this started to happen our correspondent was asked to leave.

October 29, 2017 0

Tattoo Hero Busted for DUI Released Immediately Without Bail (無保請回)

The man that made national news yesterday got caught last night by a random police patrol. After a quick investigation it turned that the man was under the influence of alcohol. Breathalyzer test revealed that he had more than a couple as it showed 0.82 mg/l. The acceptable level breath alcohol content in Taiwan is 0.25 mg/L.

He got taken to the police station where he apparently got very loud and belligerent. The man was put into a cell where he got extremely boisterous and distressed. He even tried to destroy cell’s toilet seat cover. Because of a rather “action-packed” previous day he quickly ran out of energy and decided to get some shut-eye. After a few necessary procedures police officers decided to release him without bail. In a normal situation this wouldn’t have happened but taken men’s “high recognizability” officers decided to make an exception.