Our Readers Are Our Motivation

An article published 36 years ago has stayed in the memories of alumni of Taitung’s Changbin Junior High School. Our April 1984 report “Progress Comes to a Remote Area” was what prompted an inquiry left on the Taiwan Panorama Facebook page by a Mr. Wang: “Can I still find copies of your magazine published in 1983 or 1984?” It turns out that at class reunions over the years they have often talked about that article, written while they were in their first year of junior high school. “At the time our homeroom teacher bought a copy for us all to read, but that was over 30 years ago….” The images of the school and its students recorded in the article represent not only the collective memories of that class, but also an authentic record of education in remote rural areas.

The Yen family, which flourished in the Keelung‡­Ruifang area of northern Taiwan, was one of the few notable clans in the early days to grow prosperous as entrepreneurs. A Ms. Yen has rung several times to thank us for helping her find an article from March 1994, entitled “Yen Yun-nien, Taiwan’s Mining Magnate,” which has enabled her younger relatives to better understand their family history. Beyond being a record of the Yen clan, it contains important historical information as well. She also praised Taiwan Panorama’s bilingual format, which allows family members spread across the world who can’t read Chinese to enjoy the article’s content.

Gratitude and praise from readers is not only heartwarming for our journalists, it also provides the motivation for their continuing efforts in producing one vivid article after another. Taiwan Panorama records the changes in Taiwan over time, and shows the hard work put in by the people of this island. This month’s issue carries on our tradition of in-depth reporting with a cover feature on innovations in Taiwan’s textile industry, as well as articles about friendship exchanges between schools in Taiwan and Japan, a pioneering local business that puts abandoned spaces to good use, and the remarkable work of the Taiwan‡­Asia Exchange Foundation in support of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.

This year we are also reaching out to readers and the public at large with a series of seminars on subjects such as immigrant communities, translation, photography, and charities. As in the past 43 years, in the future we will continue with our mission of recording Taiwan’s diverse cultures and lifestyles, to bring Taiwan’s “warm power” to the world.