Stray dog in a bookstore

This stray dog in Taipei County knows how to beat the summer heat! Sneak into a crowded, air-conditioned bookstore! The Taiwanese seem kind to strays letting them roam free. Or might it be better for the Taiwanese to exhibit tough love to the strays, coral them up and prevent them from starving and getting mangy?

Taiwan's tiny trash tins

Taiwan is one of the most crowded places on earth and yet the garbage bins are about 1/3rd the size of those found in places like Hong Kong or North America. Why? One would think the Taiwanese - who love their island - would learn from overseas and expand the size of cans? Does not seem to match with Taiwan's excellent (world-class) recycling program.

When Americans live abroad for an extended period of time, we learn very quickly how much more expensive pharmaceuticals are in the US as compared to the rest of the world. For example, a good American friend of mine suffers from acid reflux and was prescribed Nexium by his American doctor (when he was visiting the States recently).

He assumed the price of Nexium in Taiwan would be much cheaper. The price difference was amazing. In the US, he bought Nexium for about US$300 for 30 capsules. (He, like a lot of Americans living abroad, has no health insurance in the US and the US has no national system like Taiwan does). In Taiwan, he is able to buy the EXACT SAME capsules for NT$1,040 (US$32 or so).

In the US, he needs a Rx to buy. In Taiwan, Nexium is over-the-counter.

When my friend related this story to me, we waxed poetic about medical tourism -- if one lived in the US, one literally might have to fly back to Taiwan to see the doctor and purchase medicines.

Something is wrong with the US medical system... Very wrong.... And, the Economist Intelligence Unit was "spot on" when it rated Taiwan's medical care system as the world's 2nd best in 2000.

China's Brown Cloud of Death invading Taiwan

With a chest cold (obtained in Nanjing, China), certainly not fun to head back to the relatively clean air environment of Taiwan only to be followed by China's brown cloud o' air pollution.

David blogs quite elegantly about the bout of Mainland particulates hitting the island with the cold spell.

I blogged quite extensively about China's air quality and did analysis comparing the Pearl River Delta's air pollution index with that of the US -- the point being "so so" air in the PRD seems to be equivalent to "extremely hazardous" air in the USA.

Taiwan's stray dog problem

台湾 = 世界性科技 + 第三世界的环境 ---> 野狗问题

Taiwan is a leader in the world economy producing some of the best and most innovative hardware. However, the social infrastructure in Taiwan is sometimes shockingly lacking. For example, I have been working in and visiting Taiwan since 1991. In those 15 years, nothing has been done to address the problem of stray dogs. Throughout the tightly backed island, one sees stray dogs -- some healthy -- some mangy and diseased -- walking around, disturbing traffic and generally being a public health problem. One would think that an island could easily address a stray dog problem given its confined space. I feel Taiwan's stray dog problem (and their excrement) speaks volumes about how "free" Taiwan is in terms of having very poor enforcement of law -- good for business but bad for society?