Thursday 29 May 2008

What is news? 什麼才是新聞?



Former President Chen Shui-bian's daughter, Chen Hsing-yu was all over the news again today. Paparazzi love to follow and provoke her, because she easily loses control and will curse people, shout in high octaves or both. She did both today. I thought she was going to pop a blood vessel in her head today. Whew. Imagine having to listen to this once every hour all day today...

前總統陳水扁的女兒陳幸妤
今天不斷的在電視上出現。
狗仔很愛跟她,惹她,
因為她容易失控,
高分貝的破口大罵。
整天每個小時看這新聞的人,
也好可憐。



Yesterday, gas prices went up again. Today, I went to my boss and asked her, with oil prices on the up and up, shrinking everyone's disposable income and making life very difficult for many, many people, shouldn't the government be doing more than temporarily subsidizing taxis and buses? For example, import taxes on hybrid cars are ridiculously high. A Toyota Prius in the US starts at USD 21.500, but in Taiwan, it starts at USD 38.66. Shouldn't that tax be lowered or abolished so that more people can will cars less dependent on gas and therefore save money? There are no bicycles lanes in the cities. Shouldn't they be effectively made so that people can safely commute via bicycles? The Taipei metro does not allow bicycles on their trains except during weekends in certain stations and in certain trains. Folding bikes are required to be put into carrying bags if they want to be let in the station. Shouldn't these rules be changed so more people will use the metro and their bikes to commute? The Kaohsiung metro just introduced a TWD 5.000 (USD 164) folding bike that can be taken into the station at any time. Shouldn't the same policy be implemented elsewhere, and bicycle purchases be subsidized? Right now, the government is only giving temporary solutions to a long-term problem. I pointed this out to my boss, but she was uninterested.

昨天油價又漲了。
今天我問我上司,
政府是不是該多做點事
讓人民好過些,
不是暫時補貼計程車,客運等?
像是豐田的油電混合車,
進口關稅高得不得了,
美國一台台幣65萬六,
台灣一台118萬。
政府是不是該降稅,
讓多點人買油電混合車,省油錢?
都市裡沒有腳踏車車道,
政府是不是要趕快有效設置
腳踏車車道,讓更多人能夠安全
騎腳踏車通學,通勤?
台北捷運只有假日,部份車站,
部份車廂能帶腳踏車進去,
平日摺疊式腳踏車一定要
裝袋子才能帶進去,
這規定是不是該改變,
讓更多人會用捷運和腳踏車來當
替代交通工具?
高雄捷運剛推出一台五千塊的
摺疊式腳踏車,也開放隨時帶進去。
其他地方,公共交通是不是也該
這樣做,加上補貼或提供便宜腳踏車?
現在政府只治標不治本,
我跟上司說,她沒興趣。



Cancer has been the number one cause of death in Taiwan for the past 27 years. More and more young people are getting cancer. Last week, high school entrance exams were held. We're seeing increasing numbers of kids with cancer and rare diseases at these exams. Before, patients at cancer centers were mostly old people. Now the proportion is changing. National Taiwan University's hospital is opening a pediatric cancer center. These signs are alarming. People in Taiwan are getting sick. The government boasts that more and more cancer patients are getting better because cancer treatment in Taiwan is getting more and more advanced. Why are they only treating the sick and not preventing the healthy from getting sick? Six thousand Taiwanese women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. That's just first diagnosis and breast cancer. Kevin half joked that people don't need to worry about missiles flying into Taiwan, we're going to kill ourselves with cancer and other diseases first. There is a deathly serious problem with preventative medicine policy in Taiwan. I told this to my boss, but she was uninterested.

癌症是27年來台灣十大死因榜首,
現在越來越多年輕人也在得癌症了。
上週末考基測,看到越來越多特考生了,
不是癌症就是罕病。
以前醫院腫瘤科外面排隊是
戴著口罩,臉上充滿皺紋的老人比較多,
現在這比例,戴著毛線帽,
時尚的年輕人越來越重了。
台大兒童醫院即將開幕,
裡頭還有兒童腫瘤科。
這些現象好恐怖。
台灣人生病了。
政府說台灣醫療好厲害,
癌症治療讓更多人活更久,
但是為什麼只故著治療,
然後讓健健康康的人生病呢?
光是乳癌,每年就有六千位女性被診斷。
Kevin半開玩笑說,飛彈不用過來,
台灣人會先生病死光。
我跟上司講預防醫療,
全民健康出了大問題,
但她沒興趣。

Is this not news? Is it not the responsibility of media to keep the government in check? Apparently not. I guess news is Chen Hsing-yu cursing in octaves at reporters, and our responsibility is bringing the former president's first daughter's cursing to the public.

這不是新聞嗎?
媒體責任不是監督政府嗎?
看來不是喔。
看來陳幸妤對著記者抓狂猛罵才是新聞,
把這種畫面不斷的播放給大家看才是媒體責任。

My hydrangeas 我的繡球花



From the veranda.
陽台剪近來的。

Wednesday 28 May 2008

Gas prices raised early 油價提早漲

When Premier Liu Chao-shiuan announced this evening that gas prices would increase by TWD 3,9 midnight, rather than the 2 June date he set before, people all over the country rushed to the gas pump to refill their tank one last time before the raise. Vehicles of all kinds - compact cars to fire engines and buses all packed gas stations, and the ones who had to wait their turn clogged up the surrounding streets. Jenny started reporting live at a gas station as soon as the announcement was made, and after a trip to ETTV where Liu was booked for the 21h00 news program there, I rushed back to the station and started putting Jenny's live footage into reports. Much to the agony of my cameraman this night shift, we cranked out two stories - one on people lining up at the pump and one on people's complaints on increasing gas prices and how Liu pulled a fast one, leaving people only six hours between new prices would take effect and the announcement. What a night for drivers and what a night for reporters.

If you think about it, industrial/public vehicles aside, private vehicles usually take about 60 litres of gasoline. Assuming their car is on E with only two drops left, they would save TWD 234 by lining up and filling up at the station tonight. But usually the tank in private cars are kept at least a quarter to half full, so most people are saving less than TWD 175 (USD 5.64). Hours in line, keeping engines running to save only USD 5.64 doesn't sound like a very efficient thing to do. But then again, Taiwanese people are known to be good businesspeople and love to fuss over pennies. That is one trait I didn't inherit.

Business was good tonight. The topics for my Tourism Bureau stories for June came out today, and I started doing some pre-production work on those. Some research on a health feature I'm working on. More and more young people in Taiwan are getting cancer, can you believe that? Also, I filmed at two locations, made three stories and made/fielded countless phone calls. Mom kept calling about this and that, Auntie Linda and Mijung arrived in Taipei and called a few times and my assigner during the day, of course could not leave me alone. Ah... Tired.

I counted the number of days I was actually not at work this month - three. No wonder I'm so tired. But I am happy and still in decent health.

Tuesday 27 May 2008

The power of positive thinking 正面思考的力量

"Michella, heh heh, what are you doing? Come over here for a second," said the deputy managing director of News, Paul Tsai. THUMP. "This project is for you to execute. Thirty 1,5 minute reports on travel, culture and fun in Taiwan for the Tourism Bureau. It'll require some traveling. All yours. You were the first person that came to mind at the meeting. You're required to do a version in Mandarin and a version in English and this will also be shown on the China Airlines in-flight news and also sent to CNN."

Yay!

I'm also working on finding funding for a series of reports on the historical streets of Taiwan. If it comes through, I'll get to do two seasons (half a year) of two five-minute reports per week on the historical streets of Taiwan. There is an entire business team writing the proposal for me right now. I can't believe it. I normally can't even successfully pitch a daily news story to my assigner and now an entire business team is writing an official proposal for me. When there's money to be made, everyone's attitude sure is different! Keeping my fingers crossed. If this goes through, I won't have to worry about daily news monkey business and just concentrate on executing the projects, which is going around Taiwan and sharing the beautiful things that I see with the audience.

Signs of more good things to come.

Sore jaw muscles 嘴肌酸

On the way to reporting the Morning Musume concert, the driver offered us gum. Not a big gum chewer, I accepted his offer anyway. After the concert began and the bass started going thump thump thump, my jaws went chomp chomp chomp along with it. 15 minutes later, I threw away the gum and went live at the SNG van. The gum really helped wake up my brain! But the next day, my jaw felt a little sore. Today, it's really sore. I've had my share of muscle soreness from tennis, golf, trail running, crew, karate and yoga, but I don't recall ever having jaw muscle soreness! On the upside, hopefully it'll keep me from munching between meals.

從來沒有嘴肌酸痛過。
前天去採訪早安少女組演唱會的路上,
駕駛大哥請吃口香糖,
平常不吃,但還是接受他的好意。
音樂開始後,低音蹦蹦蹦,
我的嘴巴也跟著用力嚼嚼嚼,
沒想到嘴肌昨天開始酸,
今天更酸,好難受!
從小愛運動,網球、高爾夫球、
跑山路、西式划船、空手道、瑜珈,
幾乎什麼肌肉都酸過,
就好像嘴肌沒酸過。
真的好酸喔。。。
至少這樣比較不會一直吃東西。

Monday 26 May 2008

Pictures from LA trip

A peek into my bag before heading to the airport:
Fax copy of e-ticket, two mobile phones & extra batteries, wallet, some US dollars, a lot of Taiwan dollars to buy US dollars, book to read on the plane, make-up pouch, pen, company ID, memo pad.


Pictures Trendy took while I was doing a stand-up.




With my very professional partner that trip.


Local newspapers with the story we were chasing in it.


My hotel room "workstation":
Computer, bottled water, vitamins, cookie (on our biggest day, I only had a big bottle of water, vitamins and a cookie to hold me over), phone, long distance dialing card, mobile phones, business cards, memo pad & pen, bag, big mess.



Dinner at Mi Piace with Trendy and Cindy.


Dinner at Cheesecake Factory with Suzuko sensei and Kenny.


The streets of Pasadena.


A turkey, artichoke, spinach sandwich from Corner Bakery (one of my favorite chains when I was in college).

Powerpuff Girl 飛天小女警



One of our assistants said I look like a Powerpuff Girl in these glasses. Really?

我們有一位工讀生說我戴這副眼鏡像飛天小女警。真的嗎?



(Powerpuff Girls image via Google Images)

Sunday 25 May 2008

Hey, that's me! 那是我ㄟ!





The day we flew to LA, I anchored in the morning and did a segment of China Airlines news. So I saw myself on the plane. It was kind of weird and kind of funny.

飛到LA的那天早上,
我有播新聞,也有播了一節華航新聞,
所以在飛機上看到我自己。
感覺怪怪的,但也蠻好玩的。

More flowers



After returning from LA, I had lunch with Mom the next day. After lunch, we went to the flower market. Ah, heaven! Thanks, Mom!

The first thing I do after getting home from work every night is water the flowers. I still kill orchids, but I think I'm getting better at growing them. The ones that came from Santa Ana were in really bad shape. Even without me watering, the leaves got water-logged and started rotting and falling off. I'm guessing they watered down the middle.






This time at the flower market, I got Cattleya and Oncidium orchids instead of Phalaenopsis orchids. Flowers from the market are so much healthier. Florists, although they're great at arranging flowers, don't seem to care much for the health of flowers.


The purple on this lip is beautiful!



Something to give the bathroom a little warmth.




A yellow Cattleya for the office to make the dreariness a little more bearable.




Dancing ladies.



Trying to be fancy by removing the moss and suspending my giant Phalaenopsis inside a glass vase. Problem: molds easily. I think I'm going to end up killing this one. As long as the core is OK, it'll regrow, supposedly. Hopefully.




Heart shaped guys. So cute.


Fig salad 無花果沙拉


Ada's fig salad with organic tomatoes. The first thing I noticed about these tomatoes was the texture - it was meaty, yet not tough or mushy. The meat was unexpectedly soft and smooth. While it didn't melt in my mouth, biting into it felt like biting into ice cream. Delicious! It also has balsamic vinegar, olive oil used to marinate oven-dried tomatoes and parmigiano. Yum yum yum.

Ada的無花果有機番茄沙拉。
第一個注意到的是番茄的口感,
不是入口即溶,但是咬下去的感覺
好像咬冰淇淋的感覺,
很smooth。
好吃!

Back on the mother ship

One day of rest after returning from LA, and it's back in the battlefield again. Two days in the field, and it was the presidential inauguration. We were standing by at the north entrance from 5h40, and even with three teams covering the entrance, it was still a mess. We had to interview anyone who was anyone and also anyone who wasn't anyone. Business leaders, politicians, entertainers who returned from abroad to attend the event, actors who are on FTV's soap operas, people that President Ma Ying-jeou stayed with on his "long stay" tour... It was easy when the interviewees would stop and say a few words, but when they keep walking, we have to chase or walk backwards in front of them, which usually results in tripping, getting hit in the head by a camera (those things weigh 10 kg), etc. Mama stopped and let us interview her. She had a throat drop in her mouth, and seeing I was there, she took it out and gave it to me. With one hand holding a microphone and the other holding my bag, I didn't know what to do. With other reporters waiting, I guess she decided to just "drop" it. It landed on my hand, slid off onto my jeans and dropped on the ground. Gross... After she left, reporters close to me laughed, reporters not familiar with me thought I was her assistant and reporters with air in their heads said, "don't step on it! We can auction it on eBay!" Aigh.

Seven hours of running around like a headless chicken with a microphone and cameraman, I was completely pooped. After another four hours of standing by back at the office, they finally let us go home.

One night at the hotel with Mama and Oneesan, one day of rest for dying and cutting my hair, a facial and tea with Dominican friends who were ready to disown me for never showing up at gatherings, I'm back at work and on the night shift.

Pulled a supershift yesterday. Stumbled and stumbled and stumbled while anchoring. Agh.

Thursday 15 May 2008

Chasing Jin Jijiu, day four

Jin Jijiu's vanished into thin air, and we've been given the green light to go home!

Today's story that I didn't want to put my face and name to...


扁之友反應 國語

總統陳水扁執政八年,在四天就要卸任了,海外扁友會幹部表示,特別是在巴紐案時畫下句點,實在很遺憾,更是認為藍營趁這時候要讓民進黨在四年後的總統選舉不能翻身。 ##

到了洛杉磯的台灣會館,民進黨美西黨部,就在這裡。辦公室門口旁邊架子上的中文報紙標題寫著:邱義仁、黃志芳、柯承亨辭官下台,海外阿扁之友會幹部鄭錫 堃 ,看得很不是滋味。

[[海外阿扁之友會活動組組長 鄭錫堃:很遺憾,藍營要讓民進黨四年後無法翻身]]

都是陳總統的死忠支持者,鄭錫錕火大抨擊藍軍,但是民進黨美西幹部辦公室主任沈培志,認為民進黨其實本來就不應該繼續金援外交的政策。

[[民進黨美西幹部辦公室主任 沈培志:繼續國民黨的金援外交,政黨輪替有什麼意義]]

[[stand-up 巴紐案爆發已經兩個星期,到現在金祭酒還沒有出面說明,陳總統再四天就要在外交醜聞的狀況下結束八年的執政,尤其是美國洛杉磯的民進黨支持者,感到十分遺憾。民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

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扁之友反應 台語

總統陳水扁執政八年,在四天就要卸任了,海外扁友會幹部表示,特別是在巴紐案時畫下句點,實在很遺憾,更是認為藍營趁這時候要讓民進黨在四年後的總統選舉不能翻身。 ##

這是洛杉磯的台灣會館,民進黨美西黨部,就在這裡。辦公室門口的中文報紙寫:邱義仁、engjihong黃志芳、guaxinghing柯承亨辭職落台,海外扁友會幹部zhengxikun鄭錫 堃 ,看到真不認同。

[[海外阿扁之友會活動組組長 鄭錫堃:很遺憾,藍營要讓民進黨四年後無法翻身]]

都是陳總統的長期支持者,zhengxikun鄭錫堃真生氣,批評藍軍;但是民進黨美西幹部辦公室主任沈培志,認為民進黨其實本來就不應該繼續做gimguan金援外交。

[[民進黨美西幹部辦公室主任 沈培志:繼續國民黨的金援外交,政黨輪替有什麼意義]]

[[stand-up 台語的: 巴紐案爆發已經兩個星期,到現在金祭酒還沒有出面說明,陳總統再四天就要在外交醜聞的狀況下結束八年的執政,尤其是美國洛杉磯的民進黨支持者,感到十分遺憾。民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

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扁之友反應 英語


總統陳水扁執政八年,在四天就要卸任了,海外扁友會幹部表示,特別是在巴紐案時畫下句點,實在很遺憾,更是認為藍營趁這時候要讓民進黨在四年後的總統選舉不能翻身。
##

In four days, Mr Chen Shui-bian will be ending his presidential term, amid the USD 30 million PNG diplomatic scandal. Chen supporters overseas feel especially disappointed that Chen will finish his term under these conditions and believe that the pan-blue camp is using this opportunity to attack the DPP and making sure that the DPP will not have a chance in the 2012 presidential elections.##

到了洛杉磯的台灣會館,民進黨美西黨部,就在這裡。辦公室門口旁邊架子上的中文報紙標題寫著:邱義仁、黃志芳、柯承亨辭官下台,海外阿扁之友會幹部鄭錫 堃 ,看得很不是滋味。

Just outside the DPP office in Los Angeles, a Chinese newspaper reads Chiou I-jen, James Huang and Ko Chen-heng step down. Seeing that headline makes this supporter of President Chen Shui-bian particularly unhappy.

[[海外阿扁之友會活動組組長 鄭錫堃:很遺憾,藍營要讓民進黨四年後無法翻身]]

都是陳總統的死忠支持者,鄭錫錕火大抨擊藍軍,但是民進黨美西幹部辦公室主任沈培志,認為民進黨其實本來就不應該繼續金援外交的政策。

This member of the DPP West Chapter, however, feels that the DPP shouldn’t have followed after the KMT’s dollar diplomacy strategy in the first place.

[[民進黨美西幹部辦公室主任 沈培志:繼續國民黨的金援外交,政黨輪替有什麼意義]]

[[stand-up 英文的:巴紐案爆發已經兩個星期,到現在金祭酒還沒有出面說明,陳總統再四天就要在外交醜聞的狀況下結束八年的執政,尤其是美國洛杉磯的民進黨支持者,感到十分遺憾。民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

Wednesday 14 May 2008

Chasing Jin Jijiu, day three

Jin Jijiu's lawyer, John Chang, hosted a press conference today. He said:
1. Jin gave Wu 10 mn of the money and has the rest right now. He plans to take his share as fees and then giving the rest back to the TW government. The money is in a Singapore bank account (which is frozen at the moment, I read in the news). Jin's lawyer in Taiwan will obtain a statement from the SG bank to prove it, since he has agreed to cooperate with the investigation (so he says in a written statement). He has no idea where Taiwan legislator Qiu Yi got the idea of Jin having a girlfriend in Shanghai and having wired her all the money.
2. PNG officials asked for money, and Jin, Wu and the TW Ministry of Foreign Affairs all have evidence of this. However, Chang did not show us this document at the PC today.
3. PNG officials did meet with Jin and TW officials numerous times in 2006 and 2007 to talk about diplomatic matters.
4. Whereabout of Jin will not be discussed. Media reported that he is in Philadelphia, staying with another white collar criminal also wanted in Taiwan, but the media hasn't found him yet, so no picture, no video, no proof. Jin will not come out of hiding and talk to the media anytime soon.
5. Jin does not want to appear in the media and make a statement right now because he fears it will interfere with the investigation. He may or may not appear in the future. He may do a video conference, or not. However, I think this is hocus pocus the lawyer is making up...
6. Mafia threats on Jin's life don't seem to be real or serious.
7. Jin hasn't requested police protection but he has, because after TVBS aired images of him outside his home, the window of his son's car that was parked outside his was broken soon after. Police are treating it as a terrorist threat.

Chang didn't really say anything new, and the entire time, he kept using "my guess is," "he may or may not," and had a smile/smirk on his face that later became very annoying to look at. It was frustrating. I think he is having a very good time getting up in front of the media and playing games with the media. For all we know, Jin may be one of the world's biggest con artists, and the lawyer that he hired, well, he is just as good at leaving people guessing and leading people to think what they want the to think.

I so naively hoped that we would only have to do one story, but my chief editor said, "I need you to give me two, ganbatte, you can do it." Oh....I thought. Two stories means five videos in all. Mandarin and Taiwanese versions for each, and a combine English version. And five stand-ups. It was agonizing and took a whole nine hours of nonstop work. Throughout, I only had two cookies and a bottle of water... We finished at midnight, which is a record. The night before, it was three in the morning... Although it was tough, it was a good experience. The most trouble I'm having right now with all of this, besides the nature of the reporting, is the time difference and distance between LA and Taipei. Because we're so far away, it takes forever for them to edit my script (sometimes things come up and they put mine aside and come back to it later, saying nonstop, "hang on, just a second") and it takes more time to edit video on our laptop and a good half hour to send the package back to Taipei via Internet, assuming there is no Internet trouble. I also have to keep calling Lanchi to ask how to say certain things in Taiwanese. Sigh. The English, I can handle, but everything else is really, really, really tough. But at least it's tough and not impossible like it was three years ago when I first started working in Taiwan and at FTV.

So now that the PC's over and chances of Jin appearing has shriveled down to the size of a raison, we're really out of things to do. I can't think of any meaningful stories to do, and neither can my chief editor. It looks like we'll be going home Thursday afternoon, arriving Friday evening. Yay. I think I've gained quite a few silver hairs from this experience, but it's a small price to pay for such a special experience. It's also a really strange feeling to be wanting to both go home and stay for more excitement. Too bad there isn't any excitement going on.

This morning, I made a terrible blunder, though. Around 5h30 this morning, we decided that interviewing the president of the Taiwan Center the morning before the PC didn't make sense anymore. We couldn't do an entire story on it, we already did a story on expat reaction the previous day, and the cost of the interview would have been about $100 dollars for the trip out there and back. It didn't make sense, so we cancelled. I got up at 8h30 to call the driver not to come anymore, and called the Taiwan Center to cancel, but they weren't in yet. I don't know when, but I fell asleep while waiting to call again, and didn't wake up until the press attache who arranged the interview called me at 10h12 asking where we were. The interview was at 10h00. After a very lengthy lecture on his side, which included saying how I've put his reputation in jeopardy, and profusely apologizing on my side, I finally got off the phone with him to call the Taiwan Center president to apologize to him too. My mistake. I felt bad, but I felt more tired to think about it anymore and fell asleep again. Then Jen-shiang banged on my door at 14h00 saying "we're late! have to go to the PC now!" I was still in my pajamas, sleeping... The PC was at 15h00 and we originally planned to carpool with Sanli, since we didn't have a car, but since I wasn't ready, we let them go first and I called a taxi. We still made it with plenty of time to spare. Whew. Jet lag and exhaustion are really scary things. Tomorrow morning, Jen-shiang's giving me a morning call just in case.

Speaking of Jen-shiang, I really really appreciate him being such a patient and professional guy. Maybe he's been on trips with other rookies and had to be just as patient, but I'm sure he's never had to go on a trip with someone who needed to do three versions of each story. Adding the technical trouble we had with the equipment and Internet to having to wait for me to finish writing my scripts and translating all of them, I'm sure it was quite frustrating for him, but he was very professional throughout all of it. I'm really lucky. Really, really lucky. Most cameramen aren't like this, and I can't deal with them.

Hopefully our interview with the DPP office here will be so boring that we won't have to file the report. Then Jen-shiang can go shopping with the other reporter and maybe I can go see some of my friends. Have my fingers crossed.

Here are scripts I sent back to Taipei. I left Taipei to transcribe the sound bites and stand-ups.

---------------------------------

張修記者會 國語

儘管金紀玖沒有按照之前承諾出面說明,但他的律師張修今天在美國召開記者會,仍然表示金紀玖願意配合檢調單位偵辦巴紐案。還出示一份聲明稿表示,是因為怕
影響檢調偵辦,因此選擇不對外發言;另外,他還透露已經找好台灣律師,慧會檢調接觸,並且提供部分證據為自己證明清白。##


巴紐案關鍵人物金紀玖的律師張修,在洛杉磯召開記者會,所有台灣、華語媒體的記者通通到齊,該來的都來了,就是先前說會出面的金紀玖沒來,只有一張簡單聲
明稿。 表示因為全案已經在偵辦中,自行對外發言反而會引發更多揣測,增加偵辦困擾,本人將會把證據交給檢察官審視,以證明本人並無洗錢或貪污犯行,請最高檢查署與本人律師聯繫,安排訊問時間、地點、本人將配合,釐清全案。

[[1522 不排除金之後會出面,有可能不會 153000 可能將來會用視訊方式向媒體解釋]]

問題是,之前說會在520前現身,那時檢調早在偵辦了,這個藉口實在說不通。 而且這場記者會之後,張修又說520前後,金紀玖應該不會出面。

[[1502 台灣律師已經在做準備,找地方時間,將提供證據]]

但台灣律師到底是誰,張修也堅持不透露。

這場記者會,張修用了許多”不排除”和“猜測”,

[[stand-up 45分鐘的記者會,記者原本希望得到更多案情和金紀玖的資訊,不過張
修講的看來十分不足。 民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

---------------------------------

張修記者會 台語

金紀玖的律師張修,在洛杉磯開記者會,所有台灣和其他中文媒體的記者通通到位,該來的人都來啊,就是金紀玖沒來。他只有發一張簡單的聲明稿, 表示因為案件已經在偵辦,他如果出來講話,會增加不需要的kunyao困擾,影響辦案。他會把證據交給檢察官,讓檢察官證明他無吃錢也沒洗,請 檢查署與他的律師連絡,安排時間、地點、他會配合調查。

[[1522 不排除金之後會出面,有可能不會 153000 可能將來會用視訊方式向媒體解釋]]

問題是,之前說會在gnojikong520以前出現,但是那陣 檢調早在偵辦了,這個講法看來有問題。 而且這場記者會結束了後,張修又說520前後,金紀玖應該不會出現。

[[1502 台灣律師已經在做準備,找地方時間,將提供證據]]

但是金紀玖在台灣的律師到底是誰,張修都不要講。

這場記者會,張修一直說”bo不排除”和“bo不確定”,

[[stand-up 45分鐘的記者會,記者原本希望得到更多案情和金紀玖的資訊,不過張
修講的看來十分不足。 民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

---------------------------------

張修記者會 併稿 英文 bite, stand-up換英文

Jin Ji-jiu, suspected of embezzling USD 30 million from a diplomatic brokering deal, still remains in hiding. His lawyer, John Chang, however, held a press conference today, announcing that Jin will cooperate with investigators in Taiwan. Chang also said that Jin has indeed transferred USD 10 million to Wu Sicai, and after deducting from it his fees, Jin will return the rest of the money to the Taiwanese government.##

At the press conference held by Jin Ji-iu’s lawyer, John Chang, Jin himself did not appear.

[[ns 人在哪?]]
[[張修 不能問這問題]]

Instead, Jin issued a written statement, stating that he will cooperate with Taiwanese authorities at an arranged time and place, and that he will be proven innocent. But the big question is, where is the money and what has he done with it?

[[1512 一千給吳,其他準備還部份]]

What Chang didn’t explain included how much Jin plans to take, how much the Papua New Guinean government officials’ share was and where that money went, and also, why he was returning part of the money to Taiwanese officials.

[[stand-up 英文的:45分鐘的記者會,記者原本希望得到更多案情和金紀玖的資訊,不過張
修講的看來十分不足。 民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

---------------------------------

人和錢在哪 搭配稿 國語

[[ns 人在哪?]]
[[張修 不能問這問題]]

擔心人身安全,金紀玖不敢親自出面記者會,記者問說金紀玖有沒有向美方要求保護。

[[152900 沒有,但我有。TVBS拍我家]]

因為外界找不到金紀玖,律師張修深怕自己也成了標靶,日夜不安。邱毅日前爆料,三千萬美金轉到金紀玖上海女朋友的帳戶,張修說,沒聽過這回事,還強調三千萬美金確實在金紀玖的帳頭裡,將會透過台灣律師與新加坡銀行索取證明。

[[1512 一千給吳,其他準備還部份]]

儘管巴紐總理日前已經否認沒和台灣談過建交,但張修依舊強調確有其事,金紀玖還是會拿他該拿的錢,才會把其他還給台灣政府。不過,剩下兩千萬美金,他會拿多少,哪一部份屬於巴紐官員的,都沒交代清楚。記者追問,張修回應,案情牽涉國家機密,不便多說。

金紀玖透過律師、聲明稿口口聲聲表示清白,但是放出的消息讓案情仍然疑點重重,如果真的要配合檢調偵辦,是不是先回台灣面對司法才對?

民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導

---------------------------------

人和錢在哪 搭配稿 台語


[[ns 人在哪?]]
[[張修 不能問這問題]]

煩落自己的安全,金紀玖不敢參加記者會。
記者問說金紀玖是不是有向美國要求保護。

[[152900 沒有,但我有。TVBS拍我家]]

因為大家都找無金紀玖,律師張修也驚講變成攻擊的bokbiao目標,感覺真buan不安 。kugei邱毅陣前講,三千萬美金轉去金紀玖上海女朋友的xiao4ho帳戶,張修說,沒聽過這回事,也表示三千萬美金確實在金紀玖的kaozo2,他會透過台灣的律師向新加坡的銀行to討證明。

[[1512 一千給吳,其他準備還部份]]

雖然巴紐總理陣前已經honhjin否認沒和台灣講過建交的帶至,但張修還是強調卻實有這個帶至 ,金紀玖會拿他應該要拿的錢,了後會把其他的部份還給台灣政府。不過,其他的兩千萬美金,他會拿多ze,哪一部份shoyi屬於巴紐官員的,都沒交代清楚。 張修只說,案情kanshiap牽涉國家的bibi祕密,不行講太多。

金紀玖透過律師和聲明稿講他是qingbik清白的,不過他們的講法,也是有真多疑點。 如果真正要配合偵辦,應該要回來台灣才dio對。

民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導

Tuesday 13 May 2008

僑胞金紀玖

(稿頭明哲補)

stand-up:
金紀玖住的洛杉磯是許多華人聚集的地方,
光是台灣人就有20到25萬人,
我們現在來到一個華人商圈,
碰到的台灣人幾乎每一個都在關心巴紐案,
而當地媒體更是每天繼續幅報導巴紐案。

翻開當地報紙,台灣時報、台灣日報、世界日報,
僑胞看到這樣的標題:
”巴紐案 金紀玖遭通緝 時效30年”、
“金紀玖變卦 將不出面”,
版面幾乎僅次於四川大地震。
不過,金紀玖已經確定取消原訂的記者會,
將改由律師張修替他出面說明。

[[張修訪問 金520之前應該不會出來]]

簡單受訪之後,張修也不再對外回應,
金紀玖行蹤 依舊成謎,
但他確實已經變成當地僑界人盡皆知的人物。

[[街訪]]
[[街訪]]
[[街訪]]

巴紐案爆發之前,沒有多少人知道金紀玖是誰,
但是現在 卻在 遭到通緝的情況下,被大家”認識 ”,
僑胞們,真的很感慨。

而巴紐總理透過媒體正式澄清,
根本從來沒有跟台灣談過建交事宜,
這也推翻金紀玖'有辦事才拿錢' 的說法,
讓他徹底從外交掮客淪為國際大騙子!

民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導

--------------------------------
台語版

stand-up (用國語的):
金紀玖住的洛杉磯是許多華人聚集的地方,
光是台灣人就有20到25萬人,
我們現在來到一個華人商圈,
碰到的台灣人幾乎每一個都在關心巴紐案,
而當地媒體更是每天繼續幅報導巴紐案。

來看美國當地好幾份的中文報紙,
diao僑胞看到這款的新聞:
”巴紐案件 金紀玖ai要tongjip通緝 30年”、
“金紀玖bengua變卦 buai不要出來kui開記者會”,
這新聞 強要比sucuan四川大地震 更咖大偏
不過,金紀玖已經確定要tsuxiao取消記者會,
他的lusu律師 diunh張修將要替他說明。

[[張修訪問]]

簡單的說明了後,張修沒擱繼續回應其他的帶至
大家還是不知道金紀玖現在到底在哪裡
但是他變成當地一個真有名的人物

[[街訪]]
[[街訪]]
[[街訪]]

巴紐案件bikkang爆康之前,沒人知道金紀玖是誰,
但是現在 卻 在通緝的狀況之下,被junh人隻影,
diao僑胞實在是真感慨。

但是巴紐總理透過媒體說明,
他根本不曾和台灣講建交的帶至,
這也證明,金紀玖講'有辦帶至才拿錢'是講白tsat,
讓他從外交中人便做大騙子!

民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導

diunh jin siong

--------------------------------
English version

stand-up (用國語的,兩秒後,英語蓋過去):
In Los Angeles, where Jin Ji-jiu is believed to be residing, there is a large community of Taiwanese expatriates, about two hundred- to two hundred and fifty thousand Taiwanese in all. And in this local Chinese mall, almost every Taiwanese we've met has heard of Jin Ji-jiu. Even the local Chinese newspapers have been reporting on the diplomatic scandal nearly every day.

Local newspaper headlines read:
"Warrant issued for Jin Ji-jiu's arrest"
"Jin Ji-jiu does an about-turn, will not attend press conference"
Instead, Jin's lawyer, John Chang will speak for him at the press conference.

Giving only a short statement, Chang would not comment further, and the whereabouts of Jin remains a mystery. However, Jin has gained notoriety among Taiwanese expatriates in the area.

[[街訪]]
[[街訪]]
[[街訪]]

Before news of the diplomatic scandal broke, only a few had ever heard of Jin, but he sure gained plenty of notoriety after the warrant was issued, causing fellow expats to feel no small amount of regret.

In addition, Papua New Guinea Premier Michael Somare earlier issued a statement saying he never spoke to Taiwan about forging diplomatic ties; but this contradicts Jin's story that Papuan officials took money after talks. If what Somare says is true, then Jin's reputation as a diplomacy broker will fall to that of an international scam artist.

Michella Jade Weng, Jang Jen-shiang, Formosa TV, Los Angeles

Chasing Jimmy Chin, day one & day two: making something out of nothing & what a start!

Some people say producing news topics with limited footage is the toughest kind of news to produce, but after one-and-a-half days in Los Angeles searching for Jimmy Chin, I beg to differ. The toughest news I've encountered yet is creating a news story out of nothing. So for the past day-and-a-half, we've done a "Jimmy Chin lives here, but he's not here," a "Jimmy Chin won't attend press conference, lawyer will," and a "Taiwanese expats' regret getting to know fellow expat Chin through media as international scam artist."

Sigh.

FTV's paid to fly a senior cameraman and I all the way to LA, is paying for our hotel, food, car and driver, and although our budget is rather small (we're staying at what Daniel calls a "roach motel"), they want to get as much bang for their buck as possible. So right now, even though there isn't even a shadow of Jimmy Chin and his lawyer isn't someone you can follow home or camp out at his office and ambush him for a statement (I really this part about working here), we still have to come up with stories. That's the company and the managing director's policy. Trouble is, that's not what my direct supervisor thought and didn't tell us that.

We arrived Sunday afternoon, checked in to the motel, drove by Johnny Chin's lawyer, John Chang's office in San Marino to see where it is, and then proceeded on to Jimmy Chin's house in Arcadia. We filmed a little bit and left, because my assigner said that we should take it easy, since we just arrived, and since there is nothing going on anyway.

Then at 21h30 before I even got to open my suitcase, Taipei called and said they want a story for the evening news, which is about 3h00 our time. Our driver had gone home, our Internet didn't work (we use the Internet to send our reports back to the station) and we didn't have enough footage (it was enough, but how can you look at a story with pictures of just exterior shots of someone's house and mailbox?). I begged Cathy (cousin's wife who lives 15 minutes away) to come get us and drive us to her house so we could use her Internet connection. Jen-shiang (cameraman) came up with going back to the house and doing a stand-up (where I stand in front of the camera and say something) and getting pictures of the house at night. While waiting for Cathy to come get us, I quickly wrote the script and voiced it over. She first drove us to Chin's and then we went back to her place to finish editing and to send the video back.

So our story was basically "this is Jimmy Jin's house, and there is no one here. Neighbors say the family took off right before news of the diplomatic scandal broke," and all viewers saw on TV were images of Jimmy Chin's house during the day, images of his house during the night, me pressing the doorbell with no one answering and me in front of the camera "exaggerating" about how we've been there from afternoon until current time, 23h30 and no one's come in or out. The only audience that appreciated or were amused by that story were probably friends or family, saying "hey, Michella's in LA!"

After we finished sending the story, it was 1h30, and Cathy was so exhausted and still needed to write her paper, she first gave me a list of motels that should have a decent Internet connection and then got her mom to drive us back to where we're staying.

That wouldn't have been such a disaster if Taipei told us clearly what they wanted. The problem is, my assigners don't know what the managing director wants. Then when the MD wants something, she goes down hard on the assigners, and the assigners then send us scrambling for our life and job.

To top it off, we haven't had the best luck, and I think Jen-shiang felt it before we left. When we were still at the Taoyuan airport, he already wanted to go home.

After a couple of long and somewhat interesting conversation with a decent looking (but unfortunately married) man, a few hours of sleep, we were in Los Angeles. For some reason, too many flights arrived at the same time, so the line to go through customs was horrendously long - about an hour for me to get through. Mr Charming But Married was in line next to me, so it was not so unenjoyable. But after I got through, I realized that Jen-shiang, who opted for a different line was still way behind. I ended up waiting for him for another hour.

When we finally made it to the arrival lobby two hours after landing, Vicky, our driver that the Joe the senior press attache at the LA TECO found us, picked us up. On the way to the hotel, she told us she was job hunting and won't be able to drive us after Monday. Oh. But her friend will come and help out Wednesday and Thursday, so we only need to find someone for Tuesday and Friday. OK. How nice of her. Still need to find driver for Tuesday and Friday.

Then the give-me-a-story-call at 21h30 happened, and you know the rest of it until 1h30 the next morning.

Day two, when Vicky picked us up, Jen-shiang was in teeth-grinding stomach pain. Then she told us her friend's busy Wednesday so can't drive us that day. So we have no car Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Oh no. Then after dropping us off at John Chang's office, she went to buy Peptol Bismol, hoping that will be enough to hold him over until we find a hospital. Jen-shiang stuck it through the very brief interview, and then immediately felt better afterwards. Then he realized there was something wrong with his equipment - there was noise in the audio track and the camera would turn off by itself for no reason. Oh no. Good thing there were other reporters there and they let us record off their tape.

At Chang's office, I asked the friendly-looking reporter from Sanli where they're staying and how it is over there. She said it was quite nice and the Internet speed decent, and so we decided to move there as well. Whew. Daniel worked so hard to find us hotels that seemed to have up-to-par Internet speed, but when you're out in the wild, it's good to have company! Thank you anyway, Daniel and Cathy. :) Maybe that list will come in handy.

There wasn't much footage, since the story was about John Chang announcing that Jimmy Chin will not appear before the presidential inauguration and that he'll hold a PC and speak for Chin and all the images were of his talking head, him walking back into his office and shots of the building. Everyone else did stand-ups in front of his building, but I didn't think it was too meaningful, because you can't really tell at all that it's his office, and the real issue is about Chin, so after checking in at the new motel, there was a little bit of time and we drove back to Chin's house, did a stand-up there and shot images of a six-day-old community newspaper and a an overnight delivery letter sitting out by the gate, unclaimed and getting dirty and wet. Then on the way back to the motel, we picked up lunch and I wrote between bites of a turkey BLT poppy seed bagel sandwich and then finished and sent the story back to Taipei.

For the evening news, I had hoped to get an interview with Formosa Association for Public Affairs, (a pro-independence association; FTV's viewers are pro-indep) as instructed by my chief editor, but Joe told me that they're not going to issue any statements before the inauguration because "it's a sensitive period." What. OK. No FAPA. Joe kept trying to get others, but no one was available today. Since we had to produce something in any case, I decided that the only other way to come up with a similar story would be to go to a place where there are lots of Taiwanese expats and see if some of them are willing to talk, so we went to a Ranch 99. Vicky had to leave, and lucky for us, Trendy got off work early and before having dinner together, I conned her into driving us to Ranch 99. Hee hee hee. However, since there wasn't much to the story if it were just a few talking heads, I decided to buy some local Chinese newspapers and put those in too. I tied in expats' reaction with local media coverage. Weak but enough to get by.

Jen-shiang still felt a little sick, so after filming the exterior of the Chinese mall and getting shooed away by store managers, we brought him back to the motel. But on the way back, Solon called and said the MD's going to strongly promote our reporting from LA, so in addition to doing stand-ups in every story, we have to make versions of each story in Mandarin, Taiwanese and English, especially if we are to only do one story a day. Oh gosh. Whatever. Too late to make those other stand-ups. It was getting dark and we were already on our way back. So we got back to the motel, Jen-shiang hopped off and Trendy, Cindy, the reporter and her cameraman from Sanli and I all hopped back in Trendy's car and headed for dinner.

During the 30-minute wait at Mi Piace, we got word that TVBS and ETTV were sending reporters to Philadelphia on the last flight out tonight to go look for Chin at his other residence there. Scrambling, we both called Taipei for further instructions, but when we told them that plane tickets alone would be some USD 800 roundtrip, they said forget about it. Haha. Good. Besides, the PC was the next day, and we don't have anyone else in LA like ETTV and TVBS do. So then we had our delicious dinner in peace.

After dinner and a little bit of grocery shopping at Famima, Japan's Family Mart in the US, which is basically a high-end convenience store, we headed back to the motel. After almost cracking my head open trying write the stupid story, my assigner took forever and ever and ever to edit my script. "Wait a second," "give me ten minutes," and "hold on a minute" added up to about an hour and a half. And then when he finished editing, the chief editor said "stop, combine the 1200 and 1800 stories." Oh god. More waiting for him to combine and reedit the story. By the time I finished the Mandarin version done, it was midnight. I asked Solon (assigner) if I can not do the Taiwanese and English since I did two stories today, I could hear the fear in his voice when he said, "well, try to do at least one of the two," so I knew I should really do both. Aigh. As Jen-shiang worked on editing, I called Lanchi the angel to help me figure out the Taiwanese. She was obviously quite busy and outdoors in a very noisy location, but still very patiently helped me through. After finishing the Taiwanese version, then came the English version. It was nearly 2h00, so I quickly wrote, sent it back to Sam to quickly edit and then quickly voiced it over and then called it a day.

All I can say is that I'm so happy I that my cameraman this trip is so experienced, professional and agreeable.

What a day and a half. Just four hours left to sleep.

Good night!

Monday 12 May 2008

金紀玖不在

金紀玖不在

八紐案掮客金紀玖到底在哪裡,民視為您追蹤到美國洛杉磯。記者星期天下午抵達洛杉磯,前往金紀玖的住宅,發現人去樓空。到了晚上,也都沒人回來。鄰居說,金紀玖在八紐案爆發錢幾個禮拜就已經沒來這了。##

金紀玖美國洛杉磯Arcadia的房子,就在這裡。大馬路旁邊,和其他房子一樣整齊排列,但是感覺上人去樓空。

[[按電鈴 再按一次 有沒有電?有沒有人在?]]

按電鈴,沒回應,金紀玖是透過門口的監視器看到記者 而因此選擇不回應,還是真的不在這?鄰居說,金紀玖一家人早在八紐案爆發前幾個禮拜就沒有再回來了。可是記者觀察到前院的花草和水池還都維持得很乾淨,明顯屋子有人照顧。

[[stand-up: 我們從下午守到現在,已經是當地晚上十一點半了 , 金紀玖和家人都沒有出現。原本傳出星期一金紀玖要召開記者會,但是,目前為止媒體都沒有接到任何通知。不過據了解,金紀玖律師張修表示會在兩天內召開記者會,把事情解釋清楚。民視新聞 翁郁容 張振翔 美國洛杉磯報導]]

It’s happening

Things are starting to happen indeed. It’s as if the stardust started picking up, beginning Friday, 2 May. I was assigned to cover a World Vision event, and after several encounters with them, I decided to sponsor a child. TWD 700 (less than USD 30) per month to help a child get fed, educated, clothed, housed, etc, it was meaningful and yet not a financial stretch for me. World Vision will pair a child up with me. I have no idea who/where he/she is yet.

My next assignment was at Taipei City Hall, but two steps from the mayor’s office, I got a call from my assigner. I was to speed to the TVBS studios and get a statement from the incoming Premier on something he’s already commented about before. It was another one of those frustrating and demoralizing assignments, but I could only execute.

After another meaningless scrum with reporters with Mr Liu in the middle, kind of like the rugby ball, he went inside and it was over. But as I was leaving, I spotted Young Ming, the general manager of TVBS walking out of the building. I had wanted to talk to him since March to ask for career advice. I first met Mr Young two years ago when he was the bureau chief of Channel News Asia in Taiwan, when he tried to recruit me to for the Taipei correspondent position. In the end, CNA headquarters rejected me, but it got FTV’s attention. I suppose FTV then decided to give me a chance at other things, since they saw that someone else thought I had enough potential to be a correspondent. At that time, I was on the English news team, but after the recruitment attempt, the managing director of News moved me to Chinese news. I hadn’t seen Mr Young since, but I thanked him for “pointing out” that I was worth something to FTV, and kept in touch throughout. Late last year, I hit a low, and perhaps it was then that I really started to search for what I want to do next. Maybe the search was unconscious, but by March, I knew that it was time to think about something new. I thought, “I have language skills, writing skills, production skills, presenting skills, there’s got to be something else I can do with these.” However, I did not know what. I only knew that it wasn’t news. I wanted to ask Mr Young what he thought, so I emailed him, around the Presidential elections in March, but he didn’t reply, and had also changed his mobile number, so I thought I was out of touch and out of luck.

Then I saw him coming out of TVBS that day and ran over to greet him. Immediately, he pulled out a business card and wrote down his new mobile number and said “call me if you need to talk.” Wow, what a chance meeting! And how wonderful that he remembers me and is willing to talk to me!

When I got back to the office, there was already an email waiting for me, from him. “Call me if you want to talk, this is my number,” he wrote again. I called him and he was free for lunch the next day. Yay!

After my morning anchoring relay Saturday, I met Mr Young for lunch near where he lived. He told me his stories, the programs he used to make, the places he went, what he used to do, what he does now. By this time, William and Corona had already helped me formulate the idea of becoming co-host and producer of lifestyle programs, but I didn’t know anything else beyond that, including where to start or how to start. Mr Young said, “you stepped into local Taiwan media on your first step. For your second, you should step out of local Taiwan media and into international media.” Besides that piece of advice and the lunch, he gave me nothing else. But it was a far clearer direction than any other that I’ve thought or heard, and I am very, very grateful for it.

International media. Lifestyle/culture programming. Then I thought, it would be best if this programming is broadcasted both locally and internationally, because this way I would have more opportunities. In Taiwan, Discovery’s Travel and Living Channel is a good example. “Fun Taiwan,” which produced locally by a local production team, has done so well that it will also be shown region-wide. This is the type of distribution I’m looking for.

I told Mom, Dad, Mama and my “old friends” gang about this new direction, and they all thought it was a good. Corona immediately thought of a friend at CNBC in Singapore and got us connected via email right away on Sunday. I’ve sent them my CV, and noticed that someone at CNBC Singapore browsed through my blog for some 25 minutes at the least. I don’t know if anything will become of this lead, but I think it is a wonderful start.

As Corona and I had dinner at Nonzero on Sunday, Mr Chu was there and invited me to a dinner with his very interesting and “crazy,” he calls them, artist friends Monday. In addition to meeting these incredibly interesting people (among them were famous artists, a gallery director visiting from Shanghai, an architect/interior designer, an author and a ballerina), right before dinner, Sam (my chief editor at English news, but now friend and person who gets all the translation cases offered to me) called and said Fun Taiwan needs a temporary voice over and asked if I was interested. While there was no money, and Janet would redo my voice over when she returns from her promo in Singapore, I said, “yes” in a heartbeat. It was a great chance to get to know the production team and to let them know me. While it doesn’t promise any future jobs or opportunities, I thought this too was also a good start. I don’t have any intentions of competing with Janet, but I have a feeling that in addition to the Taiwanese-American/crew/martial arts/financial or medical professional-turned-hocus-pocus-media background that we share, we both are facing changes. She seems to be turning into the mainstream entertainer path, while I’m turning into the lifestyle programming host/producer path. I think the production team liked me OK, but who knows what will happen. Maybe nothing. But it’s also a start.

World Vision child sponsorship, Young Ming and direction, Corona and CNBC, Mr Chu and artists, Sam and Fun Taiwan, all these leads within just four days. Uncle Terry told me twice about learning to catch signs, and I think this may be one of those signs.

As I was sitting down to write this blog entry Friday (9 May) night at 22h30, just one week after the dust started to pick up, I received a call from my chief editor with a very distressed tone.

Chief: Michella, I need to ask a big, big favor of you. First, do you have a US visa?
Me: Sure thing. Yes, I do have a visa. What’s up?
Chief: Oh, great! When you get back, Solon and I will have to take you to a very fancy dinner.
Me: Get back? Where am I going?
Chief: I need you to fly to Los Angeles to cover the Jimmy Chin (one of two middlemen involved in USD 30 mn Taiwan-Papua New Guinea diplomatic scandal) developments.
Me: Oh wow. Sure thing.
Chief: Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the case, I’m sending Jen-shiang with you, so you just need to help him with communication (meaning translate for him) while you are there. Also, Solon promised to give you a thorough briefing tomorrow, so you don’t need to worry. We will give you all the support that you need. Thank you so much for agreeing to help. (She sounded SO strangely relieved.)
Me: Great. When do we leave?
Chief: Don’t know yet. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Sunday. I’ll call you back. I’m going to arrange tickets right now.
Me: OK. How many days will I be there for?
Chief: No idea. Anywhere from three to ten.
Me: Oh… OK!

About 11 phone calls from the chief, Solon and the news admin manager later, it was near midnight, and I was booked a flight to LAX for 11 May, Sunday. Excited, I couldn’t sleep. I finally passed out at 2h00, then woke up to two alarm clocks going off at 3h00. Time to get ready for anchoring. A dumpling breakfast first.

Oh, I was so tired. But the excitement was still running through my body, so I was alert, but spoke too fast… Between segments, I made phone calls after phone calls to arrange for a car, driver, hotel and information in regards to where Jimmy Chin’s residence is, his lawyer’s contact, etc. Getting a professional car and driver with our budget was impossible, and as the excitement wore out, stress and worry began to settle in. With a tiny budget (USD 150/day for transportation), the only way I thought was to find a college/graduate school student. None of my friends are students anymore, and my friends in LA didn’t know any students who had time on their hands either. Luckily, Huangmin got me in touch the TECRO office in LA, and his friend, the senior press attaché, said he’ll try his best to help us. A lead, but nothing solid. I kept worrying. But worrying aside, I had a crash course on the diplomatic fiasco to attend. But first, lunch. Breakfast was at 3h00, and lunch that day was at 15h00. I was tired, hungry, couldn’t think and could hardly stand.

Yiceng prepared a timeline and all the story versions that the people involved gave, and Solon explained it all to me. In addition, he came up with possible stories to do while I was in LA, waiting for something to happen. I must have been the very bottom of the barrel, because this is a politics and crime assignment, and I’m an education/arts reporter… I think they had no other choice. No wonder the chief was so relieved to hear that I had a visa and was willing to go.

After the briefing, I went to an emergency early Mother’s Day dinner with Mom, Dad and Michael at Nonzero. Originally, we were going to have lunch together on Sunday, but because of the trip, we got together Saturday night instead. I was so fatigued by this time, I could not think or talk straight, and was in terrible spirits. By that time, I still had no car, no driver, no hotel, no idea on what was going to happen once I arrived in LA. I was freaking out. Plus, Mom and Dad were nearly an entire hour late. I needed to find and book a hotel, I needed to do my laundry, I needed to pack my bags, I needed to sleep, and I still needed to anchor starting from 6h00 the next morning. A few bites, lots of encouragement and comforting words from Mom, Dad and Superman (the guy who runs Nonzero), I went home first. By the time I finished everything I could, it was midnight. Three hours later, I was up again and back at the TV station.

Anchoring was not easy this morning. I was barely functioning. My eyes were so dry I could not wear contact lenses and so practically begged the program director to let me go on wearing my least controversial pair of glasses (the red and black ones).

After the 6h00, 8h00 and then recording the China Airlines news, I quickly went home, showered, did last minute packing and headed to the airport with my cameraman.

Now I’m on China Airlines flight 006 to Los Angeles, scheduled to arrive 11 May at 13h20. Approximately six more hours until we land, when my biggest (and maybe the last) news challenge will begin. I should try to get some sleep. Six hours compared to the four added together from the past two nights sounds like such a luxury. Good night for now.

Friday 9 May 2008

Lights, camera, ACTION!

Lights, camera, ACTION!

Without those, Taiwan President-elect Ma Ying-jeou just isn’t the same, say my reporter colleagues. Last week at an arts/culture awards event, Mr Ma was the guest of honor and awards presenter. Naturally, the press was there, not to cover the awards event, but to ask Mr Ma about the USD 29.8 mn foreign affairs scandal going on. On his way out, reporters shouted behind the cordoned area, “President Ma, should President Chen step down and take responsibility for the foreign affairs scandal?”

我的媒體同業說,
沒有媒體在場,準總統馬英九真的不太一樣。
上星期在一個文藝頒獎典禮上,
大家跑去堵馬先生,
問他十億台幣外交醜聞,
陳總統是不是該下台負責?

He smiled, waved his hand and murmured, “I can’t hear what you guys are saying,” and kept walking. Dumb question, but his reply, to the reporters, was even dumber. Some argue that there very little “real reporting” going on in the mainstream media in Taiwan. Whether or not the story is newsworthy, it gets done. Whether or not Mr Ma has anything to do or has a comment about a previous administration’s problems, the story gets done. So when he just kept walking and basically brushed reporters off, it really put them in a bad mood. One of the reporters from TVBS, fuming, said, “we should all just not show up at his appearances for three days in a row the next time he does that. No, better yet, we’ll only have FTV, Sanli and Liberty Times show up, without their cameramen, of course.” (FTV, Sanli and Liberty Times are traditionally pro-independence leaning and Mr Ma is on the other side.)

馬先生笑一笑,手揮一揮說,
”我聽不見你們在說什麼”
然後繼續走去搭車。
記者的問題很笨,
但是對記者來說,
馬先生的回應更笨,
因為不管怎麼樣,
是不是好新聞,還是得做出來。
很生氣,TVBS一個記者就說,
“我們講好,下次他在這樣,
我們三天不要出現在他任何行程。
ㄟ不對,找民視、三立、自由,
但是當然不能帶攝影。”

The reason the TVBS reporter said that is because Mr Ma really isn’t the same without cameramen and photographers present. When Mr Ma was still Taipei City Mayor, I went hiking with him once, on assignment, of course. In between filming, I chatted with the city government cameraman, who documents the mayor on his outings. He said, “you know, he really needs the press. He just lights up when flashes start going off and film starts rolling. He’s a totally different person when the media is present. When he’s among just people, he doesn’t have that glow and energy.”

那TVBS記者會這樣說是因為
馬先生沒有攝影記者在場,
真的不一樣。
當馬準總統還是馬市長的時候,
有一次我帶著攝影和他去爬山,
拍拍拍,休息的時候,
開始跟市政府的攝影聊起天來,
他說”馬英九真的需要媒體,
有閃光燈和攝影機在錄的時候,
他整個人就亮起來,
人完全不一樣,和一般人在一起的時候,
他就沒那光芒、力量。”

Interesting, huh? The line between politics and show biz, especially in Taiwan, is getting blurrier and blurrier.

有趣吧?政治和演藝的界限,
尤其在台灣,真是越來越模糊了。

Thursday 1 May 2008

Foster Farms advert

Foster Farm's advert, spoofing Dove's adverts. These ugly guys sure bring back childhood memories!

美國一家雞農Foster Farms的廣告,
嘲笑多芬廣告。
這些醜到不行的雞布偶真的引起小時候的回憶。
從小就看這些雞的廣告。



(via Swissmiss)

Automatic bicycle parking 自動腳踏車停車

Bike parked and retrieved in 23 seconds in Japan's largest bicycle parking garage!

腳踏車23秒就停好/取出,日本最大腳踏車停車場。



(via Swissmiss)

Jeff Koons

Kind of depressed. I feel like my ideas have just been rained on by negative energy and company politics. Let's have a look at something fun instead. This is Jeff Koons' public art.

心情不好,覺得我的idea
被negative energy和
company politics波了冷水。
來看好玩的吧。
Jeff Koons的公共藝術。






(via Soonlee)