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发帖数: 27535 | 1 http://news.yahoo.com/ties-knicks-lin-peck-taiwan-bookishness-0
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — In achievement-oriented Taiwan, where studying is a
pastime sport among young people, the outdoor complex of basketball courts
near National Taiwan University is normally a pretty lonely place, more used
to hosting raindrops and discarded food wrappers than pivoting feet and
jump shots.
All that is starting to change as the island of 23 million people enters its
fourth week of Linsanity, the worldwide phenomenon following the improbable
success of New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, whose talent has helped
energize one of the least dynamic teams in the NBA and whose parents spent
their formative years in the central Taiwanese county of Changhua.
Though Lin himself was born and raised in the United States, Taiwan is proud
to claim him as its own, seeing in the Harvard graduate's rapid rise from
basketball obscurity to global stardom the same virtues they say propelled
their island from agricultural backwater to high-tech powerhouse: hard work,
devotion to family and modesty.
On a recent weekday afternoon, the NTU basketball complex featured a
spirited one-on-one matchup between Jake Chang and Spencer Wang, two 19-year
-old economics students who share a dream of playing in the NBA, even if
their modest size and less than lightning speed suggest their studies will
lead to a more appropriate career.
"I admit it," said Wang, smiling broadly. "Banking is probably a better bet
for us."
But that doesn't diminish Lin's importance to them or their regard for his
accomplishments on the biggest basketball stage in the world.
"Lin really inspires me to be a better player," said Wang, who hits the NTU
courts 3-4 times a week. "The main thing is he's Asian."
Adds Chang: "How can you not be inspired by Lin? He wasn't very famous, but
he worked hard in the offseason and now he's a star."
Their comments underscore the durability of the "no shortcuts to success"
ethos on Taiwan, a vital cog in the global information technology industry,
where parents of third graders routinely exchange tips on how best to
approach their children's math homework.
But Lin's achievement appears to be promoting an increased appreciation for
the importance of sports in creating well-rounded individuals, even on
bookish Taiwan.
Noting an upsurge in basketball interest — both in watching and playing —
Mayor Eric Chu of the suburban cluster of Xinbei City near Taipei ordered
officials to replenish missing nets at community and school basketball
courts, and to ensure that night lighting at outdoor facilities was working
properly.
"Jeremy Lin's success tells Taiwanese parents that good players can be good
students too," he said.
His message may be getting through. On Tuesday morning 4,000 Xinbei high
school students were allowed time off from classes to see a televised
broadcast of the Knicks game against the New Jersey Nets — a contest the
Knicks lost after Lin fouled out.
"The students pleaded and I agreed to do this on an experimental basis,"
explained principal Wang Chi-kuang, as his charges jumped up and down and
clapped red noisemakers to cheer their hero on.
Another Lin convert is Taiwan President Ma ying-jeou, who invoked the star's
name to underscore the closeness of the island's relations with the United
States, while greeting a visiting congressional delegation on Tuesday
morning.
"We are both democracies, we are both concerned with human rights and peace,
and we both appreciate the basketball skills of Jeremy Lin," Ma said.
That seems to be an understatement. On the day that Ma spoke, all four
Taiwanese morning newspapers ran full color page one photographs of Lin in
action against the Dallas Mavericks, while TV news stations aired endless
commentaries on his exploits.
While American publications have tried to outdo each other with Lin-based
puns, their Taiwanese counterparts refer to him simply as the "Hao" kid, a
play on words that exploits his second Chinese name, which means both "good"
and "heroic." | k***n
发帖数: 11247 | 2 。。。。。怎么了？你看到taiwan和lin两个字一起出现就碍了眼了？？？ |
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