Changhua elderly protection program enrollment soars
By Chang Tsung-chiu and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The number of people enrolled in a Changhua County Government program to reduce the risk of older people getting lost has expanded to 750, a fivefold increase from 150 in the previous year, the county’s Department of Social Affairs said on Saturday.
The surge in enrollments came after officials relaxed eligibility requirements and introduced QR code-bearing cloth tabs as a less obtrusive alternative to radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, the department said.
The county has been trying to find a technical solution to reduce the number of wandering seniors since 2011, when then-county commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) introduced bracelets that bore the name, address and contact information of the wearer.
Fattening up Taiwan: the nation’s childhood obesity problem
Children from lower income and less educated areas are shorter and chubbier than their higher income counterparts
By Michael Turton / Contributing reporter
I’m entering my fourth decade here, but the changes in Taiwan I’ve experienced have largely been so positive that I can find little to be nostalgic about. I don’t miss the private phones that cost one New Taiwan dollar to use, the mad traffic or the constant queue jumping. But I do ponder my students and from time to time, wonder where the skinny ones all went to.