Some say cities are like people--they must have personalities all their own if they are to flaunt their distinctive spirit and charms. Examples abound--Paris is a beautiful woman, London a reserved gentleman, Beijing a proud and regal prince. Hong Kong is a bustling small businessman earning a living in his own little niche. Taipei is a warm, affable woman from humble beginnings. Kaohsiung is rough and ready.

Also like people, cities have memories and dreams, points of pride and wounds. Their personalities are usually diverse, evolving, and unpredictable. But sometimes an earth-shattering event, a great leader, or even a literary work can cause a particular image of a city to become fixed in the public's mind.

This month's cover story, "A New Tale of Two Cities," explores this idea. I was ashamed to discover how fuzzy my notions of Taipei and Kaohsiung were. Both cities lack anything like the tragic Rape of Nanjing or the Berlin Wall to make visitors ponder the past. Neither city is decadently glitzy, nor hosts anything like a world-renowned Carnival. Neither has the ancient ruins of a Xi'an or Rome, nor a flaw so glaring as the horrible traffic and racial conflicts for which Los Angeles is notorious. Neither has served as the backdrop for a major world event, produced a world-renowned historic figure, or given rise to a globe-spanning cultural movement.

Of course, framing things in this way isn't entirely fair. Our capital, Taipei, has been through upheavals and transformations--administered by the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong, the Qing court, the Japanese, the Nationalist government, and finally ourselves--that are second to none. The virtual disappearance from today's Taipei of the types of characters Kenneth Pai depicted in his 1970 short-story collection Taipei People provides one example of just how rapid and dramatic the changes have been.

Even supposing history hasn't chosen us, we can still make history. Home of the world's tallest building, Taipei has the additional distinction of being capital of the first Chinese society to directly elect its president. It was also the site of the fervent-yet-orderly protests against the president by the million-strong "Red-Shirt Army." Liberal values and contagious humanism have allowed Taipei to grow from humble beginnings into a major metropolis. Our cover story marks just the beginning of our examination of Taipei's past and future.

This issue also focuses on the rise of the NEETs (those Not in Employment, Education, or Training). We have seen rapid growth in the number of adult children who continue to live with their parents rather than make their own way in the world. In recent months, the several parents I've personally heard speak of giving their children an ultimatum have thrown the anxieties and frustrations of parenting into sharp relief.

Sadly, there is as yet no systematic research in Taiwan on how to identify those at high risk of becoming NEETs. For example, are children who are close to their families at higher risk? Is there a correlation to the family's wealth and social status? To the child's physical strength or lack of it? To educational attainments? To personality (perfectionist or indolent)? To course of study? To gender? To position in the family? Or even to "artistic inclinations"?

At the very least, parents' attitudes and educational attainments play a crucial role in fostering children's willingness to leave the parental nest and stand on their own two feet. This month we also happen to feature a set of articles on an issue at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum from the NEET phenomenon--the Mormon mission in Taiwan. Imagine young people under 20 years of age who don't yet know anything about life being tossed into a distant foreign land to proselytize for two years. What a marvelous means of fostering independence, boldness, good judgment and willpower! No wonder there are so many Mormon entrepreneurs.

This issue will soon go to press, and then the long, drizzly Lunar New Year's holiday will be upon us. With traveling abroad costing so much and leaving the city involving such awful traffic snarls, perhaps we should stay at home and make a little time for ourselves to reflect quietly on the year just passed and plan for the year ahead. I wish you all a wonderful holiday and a peaceful and fulfilling New Year.