This week we walk you through why Taiwan’s affordable housing project is a prime cause for alleged corruption charges, the ugly side of Taiwan’s paper recycling, controversy with Brazil’s World Cup and a shocking truth about lies in the glitzy world of big-money philanthropy.

  • The arrest of Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄), the chairman of one of Taiwan’s leading land developers, the Farglory group, in the case of an affordable housing project in Taoyuan (八德合宜住宅) has led the public to question other major public housing projects the company is involved…
  • In Taiwan, it is quite common to see trash collectors pulling carts stacked high with paper. Used cardboard boxes, old diaries, and posters are picked up by these often indigent people in a very old form of recycling. Turns out, it is also a very exploitative form of recycling, where the collectors are barely scraping by while paper manufacturers are reaping in the profits from collusion with the government…
  • This week, the World Cup will officially kick off in Brazil. However, the world’s biggest soccer event is not welcomed by everyone in the South American country…
  • Somaly Mam, a Cambodian anti-sex trafficking activist, has resigned from her post as CEO of the Somaly Mam Foundation due to allegations of fraud and misrepresentation of conditions of the sex trade in Southeast Asia, as well as facts from her own life…

(Feature photo of Taoyuan Airport Metro Line under construction, by Carpkazu on Wikicommons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

A well informed citizenry is the foundation of our modern society. Every week, our news team brings you the most important stories on current affairs, diplomacy, business and human rights, in Asia and around the globe. Not only can we be well informed, but better informed, about the relationship between our lives, our communities, and the common world.
The Debrief