Taipeh Highlights – Study Tour Pt II

The following day saw us visiting two other places, the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center Taipeh and the Taiwan headquarters of Visiber, a Malaysian jewellery company which has been listed on the Taiwan stock Exchange.

The Malaysian Taiwan Friendship and Trade Center is quite a large organization.  Its size indicates the importance of its function.  We were briefed on its role in maintaining the cordial symbiotic relationship between Malaysia and Taiwan in view of the fact that Malaysia does not have diplomatic recognition of Taiwan.

This Center focusses on four areas, namely, Socio-politics, Trade, Investment and Tourism. More than ten thousand Malaysian students are currently studying in Taiwan.  The Taiwan government also provides for the costs of medical treatment each year for ten Malaysian children with congenital heart disease at the Taiwan Medical University Hospital.   Malaysia is Taiwan’s eighth largest trading partner with 16.63 billion Ringgit in trade while Taiwan has invested 11.6 billion Ringgit in Malaysia.  Since the year 2000, there have been 900 participants in the MM2H  ( Malaysia My Second Home ) program.  There is also a healthy flow of tourists from Taiwan to Malaysia and vice versa.

Visiber has expanded globally beyond Malaysia and South East Asia to include the Middle East as well. Its beautifully crafted jewellery featuring designs based on numerology, not only emanate a touch of elegance but also bring positive thinking energy to the wearer.  We learned how numbers impact our lives and what we can do to improve our well-being. Our character numbers have great bearing on our personalities and we were each given an analysis of our personal numbers. Numerology is a science that stimulates great interest and combined with the manufacturing of exquisite jewellery  Visiber’s  is a niche that is rapidly capturing the market.

Highlights of Taipeh – Study Tour Pt I

This time it was just a short trip to Taipeh. I went with a women’s organization known as SWEPA or Sabah Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals Association on a social study trip.

On our schedule were official visits to four places to learn more about their set up and roles in relation to Malaysia.

The Vanung University in Taoyuan area was our first stop. It comprises four colleges, namely, the College of Engineering and Electronic Information, College of Management, College of Tourism and Hospitality and the College of Design.  Many Malaysians of Chinese ethnicity are given scholarships annually to further their education at this university. We met a large group of young Malaysian students who had been given this opportunity. This university has received the highest MOE teaching excellence award in the Greater Taoyuan area.

I also presented some of my books to the Dean of the College of Tourism and Hospitality, Dr. Rong-Tsu Wang

We visited the different departments in the College of Tourism and Hospitality and saw first hand the emphasis they placed on practical training. Excellent facilities such as the set up of an actual airlines office and the interior of an airplane cabin ensured that the students would be well-trained and hence highly marketable upon graduation. 

Another instance was the replica of a hotel, complete with a reception foyer, furnished ensuite bedrooms and suites so that hotel management students would be well-qualified to seek careers in the hotel industry.

The second place of interest was the century-old Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry. It is a huge place and school children led by their teachers were seen paying a visit to this bakery. Taiwan has very advanced technology in food manufacturing and the detailed attention paid to the packaging of their products is part of their branding. We also learned that their bakery uses high tech processes to recycle the water they used. Sampling the innumerable varieties of delectable biscuits, pastries and nougat enhanced our experience and we needed no persuasion to bring home boxes of what took our fancy.

Walking in the Park

Now that my golf buddy is away for an extended period of time, my exercise is just walking briskly in a public park not too far from where I live. It is most refreshing when the sky is just lightening and you begin your walk.

It’s a small park and one round for me, is about 1,200 steps. My norm is 3 rounds before I get tired and the sun’s rays are beginning to heat up. This takes between half an hour to 40 minutes.

My buddy is correct. She says walking is boring compared to a round of golf. However, apart from the variety of trees and flowering shrubs, people watching is also interesting.

 Many people come to walk, jog and run. Some come to do tai chi and other forms of exercise such as the cane exercise where a long piece of bamboo of an inch diameter, is wielded through some exercise movements. I tried it out for a couple of sessions but my body was very stiff and I found the exercise too difficult and punitive, trying to twist my torso using the bamboo cane.

The air is fresh so long as you get there early before the crowd, so that you don’t have to breathe in the stale sweat mingled with various kinds of perfume, which to me, with a hyper-sensitive nose, is very unpleasant and choking.

There is also playground equipment for children and you can see many children at play with their grandparents in the evenings. In the mornings ii is deserted as the children are in school while their grandparents are doing tai chi. There is also a pebbled path for people to walk barefoot on to stimulate blood circulation. It's a kind of reflexology.

One also gets to see different kinds of legs, female and hairy male legs as they pound the paths in front of you. The people come in all shapes and sizes, mostly middle-aged but there are some sweet young ladies with well-toned muscles.

Apart from that, the other peeve is that some folks will walk abreast leaving you no room to pass by while you are pacing yourself steadily.  One is forced to slow down and call out “excuse me” so that one can pass through.

Apart from that, it is a pleasant but monotonous morning exercise which does leave one refreshed and ready to take on the tasks of the day.