Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I am a long-time loyal reader of your magazine who knows that you are always looking for ways to improve. There are a few small points I would like to call to your attention.

Overseas readers (particularly overseas Chinese and students gone abroad for their studies) often have strong feelings about things back in Taiwan. In particular we wonder how we can catch up to the advanced nations in respect to the look of our cities and the state of our environment. If we have the largest foreign reserves of any country in the world, why are our streets so messy? In the future, could Sinorama report on the problems of urban renewal, so that Chinese abroad could have a better understanding of the current situation of our development?

In addition, Sinama's readers include both Chinese and foreigners, and Chinese from both the mainland and Taiwan. Therefore, image is particularly important. Here my request doesn't have to do with editorial content and so I don't know if it's appropriate: Would it be possible to increase the number of advertisements of excellent ROC products, such as Giant bicycles, Acer computers and Pro Kennex tennis rackets? These would increase the magazine's income and lower its costs, and even more importantly they would give readers the impression that the magazine is lively and well-circulated, making it seem less propagandistic in nature. Also, seeing the advertisements of foreign periodicals is interesting, and through them you can indirectly come to an understanding of the level of consumption there. Time and Newsweek, for example, always have appropriate advertisements.

Chinese popular songs are on the rise in Asia, and in Japan you can sometimes hear them on the radio (not on the Voice of Free China's short-wave broadcasts but on Japanese FM radio). And so, for the sake of international appeal, I suggest that you include Japanese and English translations in your column on popular music, so that foreign students of Chinese can also understand.

Sinorama is a magazine that introduces the ROC, and many of its readers are overseas Chinese and students who have gone abroad for their studies. But many foreign students also use it as an advanced text book in Chinese. As it is distributed abroad, it shouldn't project too negative an image of the country. These negative sides may be true, but the magazine shouldn't dwell on them. When making a negative report, writers should go into depth about how to improve the situation. For example, in the article about the hazards of golf courses, besides reporting on the problems they cause, you ought to have provided examples of how Japan, America and European countries have overcome some of these problems. This could have been used in place of some of the lengthy passages describing their problems. Or you could have interviewed experts to get their suggestions. Sometimes Sinorama makes me feel that our country is still quite backward.

The good points of your magazine are there for anyone to see. I have simply provided the above suggestions in the hope that Sinorama can be even better and the nation more advanced--because Sinorama represents the quality of ROC publications abroad. This is because its intimacy attracts many readers.

Lin Chia-hsing Fukuoka, Japan