An article from our June 2020 domestic edition entitled “A Welcoming Land for Muslim Tourists—Building a Muslim-Friendly Environment” was quickly picked up on by Taiwan’s representative offices in the Middle East. They had it translated and reprinted in Arabic, and publicized it widely on social media, on their official websites, and through traditional media in their host countries. It is proving very useful for raising awareness in Arab nations and the wider Muslim world of Taiwan’s efforts to create a Muslim-friendly tourism environment.
Our book Taiwan in the Mind’s Eye, published early this year, has also been used by representative offices in many countries, including Austria, New Zealand, Poland, and Belize, to help boost Taiwan’s overall visibility and international image. Meanwhile, the reach of the bilingual posts on Taiwan Panorama’s Facebook page for the first half of 2020 showed an increase of over 1.63 million users compared to the same period in 2019, and the number of followers has surpassed 10,000.
Taiwan Panorama articles selected this year for use in school textbooks include “I Yam What I Yam,” “Dream Weaver—Yuma Taru’s Weaving Renaissance,” “Compassion in Africa: Raymond Soong, Taiwan’s First Doctor Without Borders,” “Youth Take on Big Roles in Taiwanese Opera,” and “Ko Hung-tu: Painting Life.” They will be studied in history, Chinese, and foreign language classes. There is even a graduate student at Chang Jung Christian University who is researching Taiwan Panorama articles about indigenous peoples. Taiwan Panorama continues to send out positive energy from Taiwan.
For a glimpse of the energy and vitality of young people in Taiwan, don’t miss the articles in this month’s cover story. High schoolers are portraying their own lives through school publications that they write and produce themselves. University students have worked with consultancy Kooidea to found the sales channel “UnivProd,” using creativity to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. Taiwanese society is supporting young people’s education through a kaleidoscope of scholarships. And by volunteering overseas, young people are finding personal growth while making selfless contributions to others’ wellbeing. These stories reveal the immense vitality of Taiwan’s younger generation.
Extending the subject of youth, we also bring you in-depth reports on former students of the after-school centers of the Boyo Foundation, the rise of esports, the social enterprise Rock YeNai, Lua Ing-hua’s efforts to keep Taiwanese Hokkien alive, and the challenges overcome by some youthful rice farmers, as well as an interview with Lan Tsu-wei, chairman of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute. Taiwan Panorama can be your starting point for an in-depth exploration of Taiwan, and a window for the world to understand Taiwan.
