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  1.  By Sarah Liu, YAIC Weekly 
    February 11, 2013
    www.eslite.com
    www.pagesandpages.com.au

    "Can long distance romance work?" "I fell in love with my best friend. Should I tell her my feeling?" "Does my Mr. Right really exist?" "How could best collectively slack off, form a cartel and drag the examination marking standard down?" "How to crush the student cartel?" "Should I go to a university or get a real job?" "Which career should I choose?" "I don't have enough time!" "Should I study harder in order to get a better grade?" "Should I rely on the rankings?" "My socks don't match. What can I do?" "I use the same password on the Internet and I'm worrying that the hackers might find out!"



    www.positivemoney.org

    These questions were asked by the readers of the dear economist column and undercover economist column on Financial Times . The economist, Tim Harvord would answered the questions calmly without hesitating and frankly with his forthright language. He loves to employ economic models, quote statistical data and sometimes just reason them through logic. These all make his advice reliable and full of his personal charm. This book is consists of 150 problems, giving us the most realistic and entertaining economics that in the same time we can also learn so much from.

    timharvord.com


    "Can long distance romance work?" My friend asked me this question before. Unfortunately, at that time, I couldn't give her any useful advice. And now, before I can share Tim's advice with her, their relationship had already ended, proving that distance romance can't work. However, to those who hope to maintain a distance romance, they will like to know that the Alchain-Allen Theorem says that the Australians drink more high-level Californian wine than the Californians and it's because only expensive wine worth spending this transportation cost.

    johnwentparkland.blogspot.com


    "How could best collectively slack off, form a cartel(the behavior of collusion) and drag the examination marking standard down?" The question was asked by a student from "Cantorbridge College," who was learning economics and, like all of the students, wanted to study less but still get good grade. Tim, instead of rebuking him with moral standard like most of the teachers or elders, he gave him advice like these: give out cheap beers, take others' notes and bully the hard-working students. They might sound frightening, but viewing them as an utterly rational economist, these advice totally make sense.
    An economics professor saw the former article on the newspaper and thought that the letter must had come from his student. He then asked Tim if he had a plan to crush his students' cartel. Though Tim gave the professor some useful solutions, he ended this article with a really harsh comment: If you, an economics teacher can't use your intelligence to crush your students' cartel, then your students can't learn from you anyway. Wow, this economist is really out of the ordinary!
    The most fun part of reading this book is the various questions asked by all kinds of people. You can find yourselves having problems resembling to theirs and will learn the practical solutions. As for me, I'm going to get rid of all my single socks and buy dozens of identical pairs. Hope you'll get your answers here and make good choices in your lifetime.


    Reference:
    Dear Undercover Economist written by Tim Harford

    Posted by YAIC weekly at 7:17 PM | 0 comments | |


  2. By Amity Hsieh, YAIC Weekly
    March 11, 2013
                                    
                                                                                                 

    When we were little and about the age of 5, some of us might already get sick of the Disney movie “Pinocchio” - a movie once dramatically and drastically turned

     rapgenius.com
    a puppet into a real boy. 




















     cartoon-excellence.com 
    And, truth be told, we all seem to be familiar with the story line, realizing the blue fairy will eventually grant Pinocchio his request. 



    But the blue fairy is often busy nowadays.

    She forgets to listen to some of the children’s wishes…even when they sing,


    “When you wish upon a star           Makes no difference who you are
    Anything your heart desires      Will come to you”


    far away from the places we often see miracles. 

    Children in Meghalaya
    en.wikipedia.org
    Children in Meghalaya, India are little miners, digging coal in unbearable darkness where hope is not easily ignited. They managed to feed their family by laboring over $37 to $74 a week with tears and sweat. 

    www.thejakartaglobe.com
    The issue of child labor is heated and widely discussed. “It’s our implementation that’s the problem.” said Vandhana Kandhari, a child protection specialist at UNICEF. (Sources from the NY times)


    Corruption often involves in cases like this, and exploitation of labor along with trafficking is no longer rare among these children. Some of them are forced to work, while others choose to do so in order to save their family. 




    A Research Study in 2004 Conducted by Impulse reveals several facts based on the issue of child labor in Shilong, Meghalaya. Major findings are collected as below. 





    www.thejakartaglobe.com

    The majority of child laborers are between 11 and 14 years of age. Seventy-one percent of the children self-reported as being literate. Only 24 percent of those interviewed reported coming from rural families. The majority (52.82 percent) of children earn between Rs. 10-50 per day. Half of the children were satisfied with their current position, but the other half were not.

    Health problems identified include cough, tuberculosis, skin diseases, anaemia, physical growth retardation, and other deficiencies. A large majority (89 percent) have an addictive habit such as chewing betel nuts, smoking, dendrite sniffing, and consuming alcohol.

    The large majority (94 percent) reported they had never been arrested.






    United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

    www.ghananewsagency.org
    United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is guided under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its’ mission is to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. 
    (UNICEF)
    Apparently, the child labor in Meghalaya violates the convention.Yet, the profit always keeps a business going. Laws can even find themselves lost in the intersection where money and human rights meet. 




    Children in Uganda

     A bit further down to Uganda, where children are suffering from a threat of a malicious rebel army, and the government soldiers. 


    en.wikipedia.org


    Children were forced to separate from their beloved ones and left places where their ancestors had settled and lived for generations when the rebel appeared. Many were killed and the rest was awaiting help as well as salvation from their government.


    When the government soldiers arrived, the sun seemed to be brighter again. However, the sun disappointed the Ugandan at last and burned them to death.

    It still puzzles the Ugandan that the government soldiers would harm, rape, and kill them for the sake of money, only because the soldier are not well-paid by the government. 


    Children in Meghalaya lose their right to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation. And children in Uganda sacrifice their right to survival.



    Are we, or are we not, protecting these children?

    www.cbtrust.org.uk



    UNICEF now in 2013 supports the right of every child by registering their birth

    Registering a child’s birth is a focal step towards safeguarding a child’s protection by establishing an official identity, a recognized name and a nationality. 

    (IMDB)
    UNICEF is now working with governments and partners worldwide to register children’s birth, with the further aim of protecting children from child labor, forcible conscription, child marriage, trafficking and facing trial as an adult.

    Anthony Lake, the executive director of UNICEF put,
    “We must count every child because every child counts.”



    We are hoping the new policies and resolutions within a nation or globally may gradually bear fruit. 

    www.thejakartaglobe.com

    And let the darkest hour be just before the dawn


    May the children’s hands are in ours,

    “Little puppet made of pine, awake. The gift of life is thine.”



    To learn more about the issue, please visit

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/asia/in-india-missing-school-to-work-in-the-mine.html

    http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
    http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_30160.html
    http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58010.html
    http://www.impulseasia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54






    Posted by YAIC weekly at 5:16 PM | 0 comments | |

  3. Taiwan Lantern Festival

    Monday, March 04, 2013


    By Jim Liu, YAIC Weekly
    March 4, 2013

    During the Taiwan Lantern Festival, we can see many lanterns in the sky. As a Chinese people, we cannot miss this big event. Therefore, let me introduce Taiwan Lantern Festival for you.

    This year the Taiwan Lantern Festival is held by Hsinchu County Government.

    There are five zones in this area which show their features, including：

    1. Soaring Snake Zone
    2. Hsinchu Opto Technology Lantern Zone
    3. Animated Art Zone
    4. Local Culture Zone
    5. Charming Hsinchu Zone

    Soaring Snake

    The theme of this year's Taiwan Lantern Festival will emphasize on innovation and breakthrough based on strong winds, high speeds and the future, connecting images of high speed and future style for the connection of the Taiwan High Speed Rail Hsinchu Station to the Taiwna lantern Festival. The master lantern in the main lantern zone show will be showed in conncert with beautiful lighting effects and bamboo structures to incorporate concepts of sustainable environment protection.


    Hsinchu Opto Technology Lantern Zone

    What is most admired in Hsinch County is the intimacy of the land and the people, and the love and protection of the homeland. Thus the sporlight of the Lnatern Festival of Hsinchu County shows not just tech industries but also awareness of the importance of environmental protection. It tells that we have to try our best to protect our environment.


    Animated Art Zone

    During the Taiwan Lantern Festival, the animated art zone will be the place taht grabs both adults and attention. In fact, the Hsinchu County Government has adopted the concept of the Neiwan scenic area, and used a combination of cartoon and local features in a lively animation and cartoon zone.


    Local Culture Zone

    Hakka immigrant in the early days settled on the ridges and plains of Hsinchu County, making the county a major Hakka area for more than a hundred years. Today its residents are mostly Hakka, and they live in harmony with other races. There are also a large number of aboringinal tribes in the remote mountains of Hsinchu County. Therefore, during the 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival Hsinchu County has constructed a unique zone to make us know more about local cultures in Hsinchu.


    Charming Hsinchu Zone

    Hsinchu County Government cling to a vision of marching to the world. Thus, it has made use of all the resources of Hsinchu County while the essence of the county is condensed so that you can know about the entire county at the lantern festival. As the case stands, the four respective areas, friendly city lantern area, natural exploration hall, street browsing and giant lantern area, and the 13 townships landscape boulevard are designed in order to make visitors fall in love with the charms of Hsinchu County.

    Want to know more about Taiwan Lantern Festival?

    You can surf this website：

    http://2013taiwanlantern.net/tw/index.php

    References:

    http://2013taiwanlantern.net/tw/index.php

    Posted by YAIC weekly at 1:53 PM | 0 comments | |