Taiwan is indeed numba wan.
In the wake of the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Japan, a disaster relief fund organized by Taiwanese citizens has rapidly accumulated over 1.18 billion Yen in donations within a span of five days.
The entirety of these donations will be allocated towards supporting and facilitating reconstruction efforts in the areas affected, the pledged donation amounts to over 8.1 million USD, and to think that it took only five days to reach this amount. This is truly staggering.
On January 4, Taiwanese officials declared their intention to contribute 60 million Yen (~410,000 USD) to the Japanese government. Concurrently, they revealed the establishment of a dedicated account to receive donations from Taiwanese citizens.
Convenience stores and post offices in Taiwan quickly set up systems within a few hours, enabling the acceptance of donations from citizens starting at midnight on the 5th of January for those affected in Japan.
The Taiwanese donation collection will remain open until the 19th at the Bank of Taiwan, the Central Bank of Taiwan, Chunghwa Post, and various convenience stores, so chances are likely that the amount will only increase further.
Previously, the parent company of eroge developer, YuzuSoft, donated 1 Million Japanese Yen to the Red Cross Society for those affected by the January 1st earthquake, it’s even more remarkable to see individuals band together outside of Japan in their time of need.
I for one just genuinely hope that this is an rare instance where donations are actually genuine and simply aren’t a means of gutless corporations siphoning money from the general populous which is all too common, taking advantage of their generosity amidst a time of panic following a natural disaster.
