Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010!

(Photo by F. Kersante)

We have now entered 2010, the last of the "Lost Decade" as it has been termed by the German weekly Der Spiegel. At eRenlai, we also ponder over the failures and the successes of the last ten years, and - despite the disappointment caused by the Copenhagen Summit - we are not so pessimistic. What about you? How would you evaluate the decade? Do not hesitate to share with us your reflections and your stories.

In our editorials section, Chu-Joe Hsia, an architect, explains the contribution of city-dwelling Aborigines to urban development in Taiwan, and Pinti shares a documentary shot during her visit to the Rukai tribe in Southern Taiwan. Also, we welcome a new member in our team -Paul Farrelly from Australia. Paul offers us his interpretation of the movie Avatar by James Cameron. As for myself, I examine the relation between drugs, addiction and literature.

Whilst A/H1N1 flu is still rife in the world, we dedicate this month’s Focus to the colloquium jointly organised with the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) on the best practices for the management of global health outbreaks which was held on November 28 in Taipei. Watch video excerpts and read accounts of the debate led among academics, practitioners and civil servants:
- K.U. Menon exposes the Singapore experience in managing uncertainty in a pandemic.
Saifullah Khan shares his experience of health communication within a big pharmaceutical company.
- Steve Kuo, the Director of Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan, explains the strategies of communication with the Mass Media in order to strike the balance between alert and panic during a pandemic.
- Alain Vandersmissen, from the Directorate General of the External Relations for the European Commission, introduces the roles and limits of communication, in the context of global health crises in the European Union.

Taiwan Colour Code

As we enter the winter season in the Northern hemisphere and we've all come down with viruses, flues and other boo-hoo's, eRenlai is still on full speed and we have our very own cocktail of vitamins to ease you through the freeze. This month's edition has an artistic and contemplative flavour as we introduce you three talented and original musicians. Yaping Wang is a young Taiwanese female composer who tells us how she discovered her vocation, Luo Chao-yun (AKA Pipawoman) likes to merge her experimental music with musicians from all over the world, including Erdem Helvacioglu, a Turkish guitarist and musical engineer with whom she has recently recorded an album in Istanbul. This music, together with Yaping's is provided in the printed edition of Renlai Magazine in Taiwan (email me for more info or to get the CD).

In the editorial section, Benoit Vermander comforts us with his own interpretation of Bodily Pains, before taking on the challenges of the Catholic Church in Taiwan. From Nick's travels in Java he brings you back sun and poetry in a video of Yoyo Jewe on the Progo River. Furthermore, Marcos Gava depicts the murky world of Buenos Aires in the surroundings of the Recoleta cemetery and Adam Materna rants against the absurdities of the world.

Our Focus invites you to a poetic and pictorial exploration of Taiwan through its 'colour code': if you had to express one feeling or one recollection with a colour, which tint would it be? You could stop one moment, close your eyes and think of a landscape or the immediate environment you’re in, what is the first image to appear in your mind? Is it only a picture? Could it be a sound, a smell, a feeling? Here, we would like to offer you a synesthetic experience through associations of colours, sensations and memories, starting for example with Grey and Pink.

We hope that you will enjoy this issue as much as we did preparing it and we wish you an excellent month of November.