People are living longer in Taipei - 77.01 years for women and 72.12 for men as of 1978.
These figures represented gains of 0.35 of a year for women and 0.40 of a year for men compared with 1977.
Last year's birth rate was up slightly to 20.56 per 1,000 per sons. The death rate was down from 3.78 to 3.69. Malignant neoplasms headed the list of killers, followed in order by vascular lesions affecting the central nervous system, accidents, heart attacks, hypertension, pneumonia, cirrhosis of the liver, bronchitis and suicide.
Taiwan had 7,546 medical practitioners, including 196 women and 33 foreigners, in 1978. The figure represented a gain of 225.
Of the foreigners, 12 are American, 5 Italians, 4 Norwegians, 3 British, 2 each from Finland and the Philippines and 1 each from Holland, Australia, Malaysia, Canada and Sweden.
Within four years, every city and county will have an up-to date provincial hospital, according to a rural health program drafted by the National Health Administration. The Central Government will help local governments raise NT$1,178,670,000 for the program, which got under way July 1.
Highlights of the program:
- Taiwan will be divided into six geographical zones, with medical institutions, hospitals and public health centers. The existing 347 public health centers, 218 public health stations, 6 county hospitals plus the projected 296 public health stations and touring medical units will be systematically linked.
- A provincial hospital will be built in Fengyuan with branches in Taichung County, Puli in Nantou County and Szuhai in Yunlin County. Rural health centers will be rebuilt or remodeled and medical care stations set up in remote areas.
- More medical personnel will be recruited, trained and assigned. The Provincial Government plans to train 70 mountain aborigine and 40 plains aborigine doctors, 10 island doctors and 79 nurses. The Yangming Medical School will establish a fund for training medical students. NHA will renovate the medical examination sys tem by giving students who have failed a second chance through internships under qualified doctors. The internships will count as part of the medical exam.
Welfare law for aged goes to legislature
The Executive Yuan (Cabinet) asked the Legislative Yuan to scrutinize the draft of the Old People's Welfare Law to stabilize the life of the aged.
According to traditional ethics, families should care for their older members, the Executive Yuan said.
The environment and medicare have raised the life expectancy of the elderly and increased their numbers.
But changes in the social structure have made it more difficult for families to care for the elderly and increased the role of government.
The draft law defines old people as those over 70. Legislators may reduce this to 65.
The Cabinet said that problems of the aged stem from changes in daily life, health and spiritual needs. The law provides for the elderly who are not cared for by children.
Welfare centers would include clubs, service centers, medicare centers and recovery centers. Special housing would be constructed and maintained.
Job opportunities would be provided and social activities sponsored.
Physical examinations and medicare services would be assured.
Chin Han and Lin Fen.-chiao, award winners in He Never Gave up. (File photo)
Lin Feng-chiao wins top actress award
Lin Feng-ehiao of Taipei won the outstanding actress award for her performance in the film "He Never Gave Up" at the 25th Asian Film Festival in Singapore.
The outstanding actor award went to Ti Lung of Hongkong for his performance in "Avenging Eagles." Fu Sheng, also of Hong kong, was awarded the "highest achievement" award for acting in the same film.
Hu Hui-ehung of Taipei won the most promising new actress award. Huang Hung won the child acting award.
Taipei received nine awards in the four-day festival, followed by Hongkong at 6, Tokyo and Jakarta 4 each, Sydney and Singapore 3 each, Bangkok, Seoul and Kuala Lumpur 2 each, and Manila, Wellington and Bombay one each. The 16-member Republic of China delegation was led by Ming Chi, Cinema and Drama Association president.
Members of the Chinese delegation gave a series of performances for overseas Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
The next Asian Film Festival will be held in Indonesia.
College admissions establish record
College enrollments will reach a record 29.25 per cent this year with 27,704 admissions out of 89,697 candidates, the Minister of Education announced. This is 857 more than last year.
The adjustment was made after revaluation of the population increase, job placement situation and future needs of the country.
Following is the number of examinees and admissions in each category of the joint college entrance examination: Science and technology – 11,355 places for 29,463 examinees, an enrollment rate of 38.78 per cent.
Humanities - 5,078 out of 25,292, a rate of 20.07 per cent. Agriculture and medicine 4,663 out of 14,015, a rate of 33.27 per cent.
Business and law - 6,608 out of 25,927, a rate of 29.25 per cent.
53,000 sit for joint high school exam
Braving hot weather and high humidity, over 53,000 students took the joint high school entrance examinations.
The first day's testing was in Chinese literature, poetry and prose, English and natural science. Math and the social sciences were tested the second day.
Parents accompanied most children. As usual, there were sizable numbers - 461 boys and 236 girls - who didn't show up.
Frantic searches were conducted by students who had misplaced or lost their admission cards. They could not be admitted without them.
Although these exams lack the pressure of the earlier college exams, they are taxing. During breaks, students nervously con versed with parents or gulped the drinks brought for them.
Of the 53,000, only about a third will enter high school. The rest will try again next year or go to vocational school.
Tourists will exceed 1.3 million this year
Tourist arrivals numbered 671,823 from January through June this year, the Tourism Bureau reported. The arrivals showed an increase of 46,359 or 7.4 per cent compared with the first six months of 1978.
There were 571,127 foreigners, an increase of 37,242 or 7 per cent, and 100,696 overseas Chinese, an increase of 9,117 or 10 per cent.
The bureau expects 690,000 tourists to visit Taiwan in the second half of 1979, bringing the year's volume to 1,360,000.
Mainland students are freedom targets
Foreign Minister Y.S. Tsiang has urged Chinese students and scholars overseas to convince students from the mainland to carry home seeds of freedom, democracy, rule by law and human rights.
The minister asked Chinese residing abroad to take the initiative in contacting compatriots from the other side of the Taiwan Straits.
"Influence them so they will know the concepts of freedom, democracy, rule by law and human rights and later spread these throughout the mainland," Tsiang said.
He does not consider it necessary to incite defection. ''That would serve nothing but the purpose of creating news," he said.
"What is most important is to have them take back ideas of liberty, democracy and human rights learned from association with you."
He suggested personal interaction, friendship and attachments as means of transplanting such thoughts and creating anti-communist insurgents.
'American Mother' of Navy is now 84
Mrs. Margaret Muser, "American Mother to the Chinese Navy ," celebrated her 84th birthday at Kaohsiung recently. She was joined by the friends who love her and the friends she loves best.
Mrs. Muser, then Miss Deabler, was born near Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1895, the daughter of a railroad telegrapher. She moved to upper New York State and entered Syracuse University in 1915.
Her ambition was to become an actress, but that was not be. In 1922, she became a nurse and joined a small medical team going from Syracuse University to Chung-king in Szechwan Province of north central China.
After the mission, Miss DeabIer returned to the States and later married and had two children. She was widowed after three and a half years and moved to San Diego to raise her children and rebuild her life.
Mrs. Muser entered San Diego State College and through its international House met students from many countries. One of these was Wu Wen-I, now a major general. From 1959 to 1969, the word of her friendship spread. Young Chinese officers sent to the Amphibious Base in San Diego to study usually turned up in Mother Muser's kitchen. After much prompting from her adopted sons, Mrs. Muser finally joined them on October 5, 1969. She was met at Taipei airport by 135 of the boys she had "mothered,"
Although 84, she had no thoughts of retirement. She began teaching English to young officers. More than 1,500 have studied with her in the last decade.
Margaret Deabler Muser 'lives at the Tso Ying Hostel in Kaohsiung. Every year her Navy sons honor her with a birthday party.
Film import quota unchanged for 1980
The Government Information Office announced its 1980 quota for imported foreign films.
The 275 foreign-made movies admitted to the country will represent no change from 1979.
However, 10 will go to new private companies which have produced outstanding Chinese language films. An extra quota of 5 will be added to the 35 to which the Chinese mm industry is entitled.
The 15 additional imports will come out of the U.S. film distributors' share, cutting' it from 110 to 95. Chinese importers of American and European movies will keep their quota of 110.
The remainder will be divided between importers of movies from Southeast Asia (15) and organizations engaged in cultural exchange (5)
Match between an American (kicking) and Australian in taekwondo. (File photo)
Korea and U.S. win taekwondo titles
South Korea collected seven gold medals and one silver and captured the men's championship in the World Invitational Taekwondo Tournament in Taipei.
With one gold, one silver and three bronze medals, West Germany finished second. Mexico had one gold and one silver, the Republic of China one gold and four bronze and the United States four silver and two bronze medals.
The United States won the women's title with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The ROC won three gold, three silver and four bronze, and Hongkong had two bronze. In the men's heavyweight final, West German Dirk Jung overpowered American Tom Seaburne.
Low Fang Lian of South Korea beat Scott Rohr of the United States in the light heavy bout.
Korea's Philip Choo downed West Germany's Richard Schulz for a gold in the middleweight division. Victor Goh of Korea outscored Hans Brughans of the Netherlands and won the light middleweight title.
Korean Kim Keum Sun out lasted Dutchman Ruben Thijs in the welterweight division. In the lightweight final, Kim Jung Kuk of Korea downed American Gregory Fears.
South Korean Kim Young Hoon took the featherweight gold, defeating Mexico's Raynoldo Salazar.
Pablo Arizmendi of Mexico won the bantamweight final, downing Korea's Park Ki Sung. Among the flyweights, Taiwan's Hsu Chien-bsi beat Italy's Dicos tanzo Geremia.
At the fin weight, Lee Jin Woo of Korea defeated American Korea Lee Tae Sung for a gold.
In the women's heavyweight final, American Lynnette Love subdued her ROC rival, Hou Fu ying. In the light middleweight class, Tu Kuei-hua of the ROC defeated Melinda Aynes of the United States.
Tsai Yu-yien of the ROC cap tured the women's fin weight title by beating Korea's Lim Sin Ja. Taiwan's Chen Ching-yun beat Korean Kim Ji Yeon in the light weight group. Marcia Haoo of the United States downed the ROC's Chen Li-hua in the middleweight class.
American Sunny Graff out pointed Chiu Pi Yue of the ROC in the bantam fmal, while Ayoka Brown of the U.S. defeated the ROC's Tsao Hsiao-mei in the featherweight division. Countries represented were the United States, Australia, Aus tria, France, West Germany, Hongkong, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Netherlands, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey and the Republic of China.
Taipei has its first big automobile show
Taiwan's first big automobile show was held at the Rong Shing Garden in Taipei.
Sponsored by newspapers, the show was one of many measures to stimulate car sales despite the rise in oil prices. Twenty-eight dealers and importers took part in the show, which displayed both domestic and foreign cars.
Also on display were such accessories as auto air-conditioners and stereo equipment.
Electric cars made by National Tsinghua University were on display.
The standard of living has improved to a point where cars are in great demand.
The five car makers in Taiwan cannot produce enough cars.
Some are imported from the United States and Europe.
As of today, there are about 265 million sedans and 70 million station wagons, buses and trucks in the world. In other words, there is a car for every 12 persons, said Raymond C.F. Chen, president of the Ford Lio Ho Motor Company.
In Taiwan, there is a car for every 40 persons. By 1987, the ratio will be 1 to 11.
About 150,000 cars will be produced in the ROC this year, up 25 per cent over last year. Restrictions on imports have stimulated development of the domes tic industry, Chen said. About NT$3.3 billion has been invested in the production of Taiwan cars and NT$2.3 billion will be added next year.
Chen said he was optimistic about the auto parts industry. Manufacturers in the ROC have earned USS40 million in export sales of parts.
GIO chief James Soong accepts Hung Jui-ling's gift to President Chiang. (File photo)
Miner-artist gives painting to President
Miner-artist Hung Jui-ling presented a painting to President Chiang Ching-kuo.
Now a professor at the National Taiwan Academy of Arts, Hung chose a work entitled 'The Sketching of Akuenpo."
President Chiang visited Hung's exhibition at the Spring Art Gallery.
In response to the President's concern about miners and their families, Hung donated NT$200,000 and 12 paintings for miners' welfare. The paintings, worth NT$500,000, were turned over to Lin Chang-jung, president of the Association of Taiwan Mining Industries.
The Japanese-educated artist painted as he worked in coal mines.
Fund will encourage writing, translation
The National Literature and Arts Fund Administration will increase contributions, activities and scholarships to encourage writing, translating and publication of literary works.
An NT$10 million fund will be set aside during fiscal 1980 to finance writers' visits to offshore islands, rural areas, mountain country and major construction projects.
Original materials will be collected for novels and non-fiction.
Contemporary novels and other works will be translated into English, Japanese and Spanish.
Literary and other cultural activities will be sponsored in rural areas. Literary discussions and seminars will be included.
Chinese Communist materials will be provided to enable writers to understand the enemy's propaganda.
Anti-Communist literary works will be encouraged.
Widow-widower year expedites marriages
Because of the superstitious belief that this is the Year of Kuluan (Widow or Widower), some 20,000 couples married last year, the Taiwan Family Planning Center said.
These couples feared that husband or wife might die early and hastened their marriages. This could create a baby boom this year or next, the Center remarked.
Scholars and the mass media attacked the superstition as groundless. That didn't help cut population growth, though. The number of marriages this year is about average. Center statistics show that 90 per cent of couples have a baby in the first year of marriage.