TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2008 • TIMES

community compass P A G E 4

co m m co mu es. nity@taipeitim Surf ’s up as waves gain in popularity HAZY, CRAZY DAYS: Gone are the days when a handful of people on the beach would be a ‘busy day.’ But as surfing gains in popularity, some are concerned about safety American storyteller Michael Lockett gestures while relating a story at a press conference last Wednesday promoting By Jenny W. Hsu two storytelling evenings at Howard In- Staff Reporter ternational House in Taipei this Friday Clad in a black bikini with shin- and Saturday night. PHOTO: CNA ing water beads trickling down her light caramel skin, the American girl with the sun-kissed hair stuck out like a sore thumb on the beach. Storytelling master But as soon as she picked up her board and paddled out to sea, Jennie Miller of Texas looked like to share his talent she was in her element, as did the hundred other surfers at Jialeshui at English festival (佳樂水), Kenting. “It was love at first surf,” said By Jenny W. Hsu Miller, describing her first encoun- Staff Reporter ter with the increasingly popular Parents and teachers can bring sport in . children to see a master story- “I have wanted to learn to surf teller in action this weekend. for a long time and when I saw the Award-winning storyteller Mi- opportunity, I grabbed it,” said the chael Lockett of Normal, Illinois, Tamkang University MBA student is in Taiwan for “Grandpa Mike’s at last month’s Third Annual Kent- Summer Story Festival” at the in- ing Cup International Open Surf vitation of publishing companies Contest. and is also conducting workshops Miller, who had never surfed be- for English teachers on using the fore she came to Taiwan two years art of storytelling in classes. ago, was among the handful of for- With his white, straw hat and eigners who in recent years have hearty smile, Michael Lockett, says discovered the thrills and spills the secret to unleashing the “inner Taiwan’s waves have to offer. child” in most people is getting Taiwan may be considered a them involved in the storytelling tropical island, but contrary to the Canadian Terry Meysen, who lives in Hengchun, Pingtung County, surfs in an undisclosed location — the old-time surfers want to keep it to themselves — in��������������������� southern Taiwan ��in �A������������������ugust of last year. Photo courtesy of Mike Heard process. Indeed, not many peo- typical image of Pacific islanders, ple can lead a room full of adults Taiwanese are not known as water touted the waves here as “world expensive,” he said. “etiquette” among surfers. around the globe. I have seen some — including two US officials — in sports enthusiasts. class,” albeit quite inconsistent. Neil Narbonne, another fan of “It is rare to find a lifeguard You must be small skirmishes that were calmed making monkey sounds in a mat- In fact, many adults born in the “Seventeen years ago, there Taiwan’s waves and who grew up on beaches, and even if you see once the non-local apologized. Af- ter of minutes as Lockett did last 1950s can hardly swim without the were maybe two or three Ameri- both in Taiwan and the US, attrib- one, they are often not properly physically,“ mentally and ter all, this is still Taiwan and the Wednesday on the top floor of the aid of a floating device. can surfers. Six people sharing the uted the growing popularity to the equipped,” Parrish said, recounting ‘face’ issue still exists,” he said. Taipei World Trade Center Inter- Seeking to explain the paradox, beach was considered a crowded fashion industry. how he and MacDonald rescued emotionally balanced so All the talk about the possible national Trade Building. Soochow University political sci- day,” he said. “Clothing manufacturers made two or three unskilled surfers in perils of surfing Taiwan seem to “Storytellers can take [their ence professor Luo Chih-cheng (羅 “Now there are too many peo- a big push into Taiwan, some are recent months. you can be focused and be lost on younger surfers like audience] to another time and 致政) said older generations had ple,” he said. pure surfing brands [OP, RipCurl, A surfer should be able to swim Narbonne, however, who says another place,” Lockett says. been raised to dread the ocean Hawaiian Duggar Par- O’Neill, Stussy, Billabong] at least 1km������������������������ without touching the centered. that surfing in Taiwan is “perfectly The lifelong educator has because the Chinese Nationalist rish, 49, said he relished while others are just out- ocean floor before he can hit the safe.” been telling stories all his life and Party (KMT) regime had deployed the good old days when door manufacturers that waves, he said. — Michael Cosby,” a surfer Typhoons make the sand shift believes strongly in the power of barbed wire and gigantic cement he started surfing in Tai- also include a surf line “But most importantly, you from Seattle frequently, he said, but even then, storytelling to teach children and blocks along the shores to turn the wan 11 years ago. [Reef, etc] tied together must learn to first understand and it remains very smooth and the stimulate their imagination. beaches into military bases during “There was hardly with the media promoting respect the ocean,” Parrish said water covers the rocks. Storytelling can help children the Martial Law era. anyone here,” he said. surfing as a cool sport, as Surfing is also about maintain- surfing “code of ethics.” “Over the past few years the learn to read faster, broaden People were not taught to swim, “Back then, there were well as a general liberal- ing an inner balance of peace and Surfing etiquette, among other Coast Guard has been actively is- their vocabulary and maintain he said, while recreational beaches only a few local boys. The surf- izing of the youth as can be seen at learning how to coexist with Mother things, is knowing when to leave suing warnings and tickets to those a higher retention rate of what were only open to a select few. ing scene in Taiwan has definitely local night spots,” he said. Nature, said Michael Cosby, a sexa- a wave alone, especially if another who defy warnings to surf during they’ve learned, Lockett says. By no means a major destina- changed.” Moreover, girls today are more genarian surfer from Seattle. surfer is already riding it, he said. typhoons after the government has Lockett will perform again tion on the world’s surfing radar Looking “cool,” Parrish said, is willing to wear bikinis and both “The surfers must be in har- The lack of surfing etiquette can issued official typhoon warnings,” on Friday and Saturday from screen, Taiwan has nevertheless the main reason behind the sudden boys and girls are more willing to mony with the waves, the wind, the sometimes be the source of friction he said. 7:30pm to 9pm at the Howard been gaining in popularity among boom. try action sports, he said. board and most of all with yourself between locals and foreign surfers, Her eyes firmly glued on the International House on Xinsheng locals and expatriates. “It’s the surfing lifestyle that is For some seasoned surfers, [sic]. You must be physically, men- Narboone said. ocean, Miller said she does not S Road, Section 3. Comparing the waves in Taiwan attracting the young people. The however, Taiwan is still off their tally and emotionally balanced so “The locals feel there’s a need worry about safety because the For more information, visit with those in Hong Kong, Indone- surfing equipment industry in - Tai recommended list because of the you can be focused and centered,” to protect their local turf. This sport is more exciting without the www.cet-taiwan.com/story2008. sia, Australia and the UK, Neil Mac- wan is also pumping up the excite- dangers of surfing — mainly the he said. tends not to be a problem if you lifeguards. All stories will be told in Eng- Donald, a 52-year-old Englishman ment. And most all, surfing is fun, result of poor supervision, under- For MacDonald, the danger remain courteous and adhere to “Hey, it’s more fun to live on the lish, except for animals sounds, and long-term resident of Kenting, relatively easy to learn and not that qualified swimmers and lack of arises when people violate the surfing etiquette, which is the same edge, right?” she said. of course. Pigeon post Being the change we want to see in the world MAKING EVERYBODY’S EYES GREEN: Robin Winkler vironment, in addition to produc- Nigerian ‘fraud ring’ busted envisions a greener world that starts with opening our ing research and translations of Five Nigerians — four men and a woman — were important works in a variety of eyes to the problems around us, then making changes related fields. Winkler Partners, detained in Taipei and counties on Thursday CRIME meanwhile, donates 3 percent of and Friday last week for allegedly swindling money By Meggie Lu tells us and then trying to apply its earnings to environmental and from would-be investors, City police said Staff Reporter that information in the context of a social organizations. on Friday. Police tracked down the five suspects, who included It’s a hot, summer morning at the modern law office,” he says. Winkler and WaH are also work- one naturalized Taiwanese, after receiving information from a office of Winkler Partners in Taipei. We take the stairs from the 12th ing on a long list of projects. They Filipino who said she was the wife of a Taiwanese man swindled At the reception desk the air condi- floor to the ground floor — with are opposed to the Central Taiwan by a foreign fraud ring. Police then detained the Nigerian woman tioning is barely on and a floor fan Winkler turning off the staircase Science Park and WaH is in the mid- and learned that she had overstayed her tourist visa after entering churns on low. A few meters away lights along the way — and catch dle of biodiversity research to com- the country last year. Police allege the woman set up a dummy is a bicycle and helmet. Staff walk the subway to a meeting of the Tai- bat a Yunlin County decision to flood company, pretending to deal in second-hand cars, to defraud in- around busily in casual clothes and pei Bar Association’s environmen- Youcing Valley (幽情谷) to alleviate a vestors. The Filipino told police she had been defrauded of some house slippers. tal group, where attorneys discuss water shortage in the area. Robin Winkler (文魯彬) — long- environmental issues from a legal Does the work ever pay off? Yes, NT$500,000 (US$15,900) by the Nigerian woman and that she had time environmentalist, lawyer and standpoint. Winkler says. The organization’s ef- only recently learned that the Nigerian belonged to a fraud ring. former Environmental Impact As- Along the way, Winkler takes Law firm founder and environmentalist Robin Winkler stands in the terrace garden out- forts have, for example, led Taipei Police also allege that the ring illegally shipped used cars back to sessment (EIA) committee member out a towel and hands it to the side his 12th floor office in Taipei last month. PHOTO: Meggie Lu, County to fine a construction com- their home country. — emerges in a T-shirt and shorts, owner of a baked-yam stall, who pany that began building a road his feet bare, and says: “Let me give wraps up eight yams for his lunch conscious parents and his ravenous The state of the environment in between Wulai (烏來) and Sansia (三 you a tour around the office.” and possibly dinner. appetite for books cemented that Taiwan has been sliding downhill, 峽) before its EIA had been passed. opens foreigner service center The office is divided into Both Winkler Partners passion. Winkler said. But the green movement is more Kaohsiung City’s Bureau of Social Affairs opened its two sections: one for Win- and WaH were founded Born to parents who loved the “It’s becoming an environmental than just seeking a balance in our kler Partners, a legal office by Winkler in 1993, but great outdoors and enjoyed the work disaster,” he said. “One of the prime use of the environment, Winkler eighth foreign spouse service center earlier this month opening that serves “Fortune-500 his involvement in Tai- of Rachel Carson — a renowned US indicators is that we are consuming says: Society has a lot to learn. to offer more help to foreign husbands and wives in type clients,” and the other wan started long before nature writer and biologist whose like Americans ... We are a super- “The greening process include[s] their daily lives. The new service center is located at for Wild at Heart Legal De- that. Winkler first set foot works in the 1950s were pivotal power when it comes to waste and paying colleagues as much as we a children’s day care center in Cianjhen (前鎮). In addition fense Association (WaH), a in Taiwan in 1977, when to the environmentalist movement overconsumption.” can afford, being completely open to serving as locations for social gatherings, the centers offer cul- group that offers legal as- he came to learn Chinese. — Winkler said that more than a Winkler strives for simplicity about firm finances and providing tural courses, professional training and free counseling on family sistance in cases involving devel- Twenty-six years later he traded decade ago, he began going through and zero negative impact, seeking opportunities to develop or move relationships. The municipal authorities encourage foreign spouses opment projects that threaten the in his US citizenship to become a mounds of books that seemed “to to reduce and eventually eliminate to different positions within the of- to use the service centers to explore their own relationships and habitats of wildlife and people. naturalized Taiwanese. confirm a lot of things I’d observed, all purchases of new materials fice,” he said. build a wider network of friends. As of the end of last month, there In his 12th floor office on Chong- Asked what inspired his dedica- but wasn’t able to articulate.” and equipment for himself and his In the right environment, most were a total of 11,693 Chinese spouses and 7,645 husbands and qing S Road, Winkler opens a glass tion to environmental issues, Win- The Continuum Concept by office. people can do some very interest- door and reveals a rooftop garden kler rebutted the notion that he Jean Liedloff, Beyond Civilization “I haven’t used an air conditioner ing and outstanding things, he says wives from other foreign countries living in Kaohsiung, the city’s complete with shrubs, herbs, a vine first became passionate about na- by Daniel Quinn and The Ecology for years in my home; I’m trying to — and that in turn benefits the statistics showed. trellis, an outdoor compost toilet ture after surviving cancer almost of Commerce by Paul Hawken never buy anything new again and I organization as a whole.  STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA and three metal barrels that col- five years ago. were especially insightful, Winkler don’t own a car,” he said. Above all, Winkler says, people lect rainwater to flush some of the “We see the world based on our said. Outside of his daily work at the need to learn to “really see” their toilets inside the office. experience,” he said. “I had the “There are things that most peo- office, Winkler gives lectures at surroundings. In addition to protecting the envi- good fortune to spend a lot of time ple would be upset with if they no- schools, meets with individuals and “You ask me why I care about If you have suggestions for events, INTERVIEWS OR ronment, Winkler is a strong advocate the first six years of my life on a ticed — like locking dogs in wired groups interested in his message the environment so much, but I’m TOPICS you would like to see covered on thIS page, of “greening” our offices, something farm” in Wisconsin. cages, slapping children around or and publishes books on environ- surprised whenever I talk to people please send your ideas to [email protected] he calls “reverse engineering.” Those years were the foundation having road lamps turned on in day- mental protection. outside the environmental field,” he “The process of office greening for his love of nature, he said. His light ... The problem is that, people WaH also promotes education said. “Why isn’t [the issue of the en- consists of observing what nature upbringing by very environmentally just don’t,” he said. and public discussion on the en- vironment] obvious to everyone?”