March 12, 2015 | Prepys' Homepage

The Asian edition of the Shell Eco-marathon hit a new milestone this year, with the number of teams taking part in the distance challenge hitting a fresh high.

A total of 127 student teams from 17 countries across Asia and beyond entered this year’s competition, up from 105 teams from 15 countries in 2014. Four countries – Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, and Bangladesh – took part for the first time.

Another first for this year’s race, held in Manila’s Rizal Park for a second year running: the number of teams that passed stringent technical and safety checks crossed the 100-mark for the first time. Cars from 112 teams were fit for the race.

To win, the contestants had to build a car that could travel the furthest on one litre of fuel, or its equivalent. They also had to design their car according to two broad categories: Prototype, which focuses purely on energy efficiency, and UrbanConcept, which requires the vehicle to resemble those on the roads.

Thailand dominated the competition once again, emerging as the overall winner for the second year running with seven awards in various categories. Five new mileage records were set by teams from Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

However, Philippines was also a force to be reckoned with as teams from the host country bagged top awards, besting other entries in the competition. University of the Philippines’ Team UP and De La Salle University’s DLSU Eco Car Team clinched first place in the UrbanConcept’s battery electric category and Shell FuelSave gasoline category by posting the highest mileage with 40.5 km/kWh and 126.6 km/l respectively.

Technological Institute of the Philippines’ Team TIP Mileage Proto won the Off-Track Award, Shell Helix Tribology, for their diligence in quantifying the effects of lubricants on friction, and use of lubricants with varying viscosity to minimise fuel consumption. Team TIP incorporated a chain drive lubricated with a brush type oil dispenser with an automatic timer that also kept the chain clean and looked at the impact of different materials and used wheel bearings with a plastic retainer to improve energy efficiency.

The Shell Eco-marathon, however, is not just about pushing the limits of technology or fuel efficiency. For many teams in Manila this year, the competition was a huge test of their perseverance.

First-time contestant Team Alfaisal from Saudi Arabia was hit by a delay in the shipment of their vehicle and experienced repeated engine problems. But they did not give up. With help from other teams, they worked around the clock for three days to get their car ready.

Likewise, Team Project Garuda from India did not let their two previous failed attempts to join the Shell Eco-marathon deter them. They pushed ahead despite a series of technical issues with their car this year, and eventually completed one official attempt on the urban track around Manila’s Rizal Park.

In the 20 to 30 minutes that I was in the midst of the teeming crowd in Wuri Railway Station in Taichung, Taiwan last Saturday, I gained insights about the Taiwanese and in way, in their relations with mainland China, more than what I have learned in my readings in the past.

Thousands and thousands of people of all ages – babies, children, elderly, even the handicapped, filled every inch of the train station. Organizers said there were 1.5 million visitors that night, a record attendance.
As I flowed with the crowd, I thought of the stampede in Shanghai last New year’s eve where 36 people died and for some fleeting moments, it was scary.

Wuri Railway Station in Taichung, at about 9 p.m. of Saturday, March 7, 2015. Part of the 1.5 million who came to visit the Lantern Festival.

But the amazing this was, the crowd was moving orderly. There was no pushing or elbowing out of each other. It was discipline at its most awesome.

The crowd was predominantly Chinese. Although the biggest number of tourists in Taiwan come from mainland China, the visitors of the Lantern Festival were mostly Taiwanese, said Vanessa Y.P. Shih, vice minister of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Last Saturday’s Wuri Railway Station scene, made me understand the reason behind the policy of Taiwan limiting the daily number of visitors from mainland China to 5,000 groups and 4,000 individuals.

“We don’t have capacity to welcome everybody all at the same time, “Shih said.

Indeed, unregulated, the People’s Republic of China which has one billion population can easily overwhelm the 23 million people Taiwanese (Republic of China) in their 36,193 square- kilometer island.

Peaceful co-existence between mainland China and Taiwan is being maintained by cross straits agreements between the Beijing and Taipei governments.

It’s unique situation. Both governments agree that there should only be One China. The Beijing government considers Taiwan a renegade province but respects the latter’s “no unification, no independence, and no use of force” policy.

2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival. Photo from mytelf.net.

The Lantern Festival visit was part of the program arranged by the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a group of women journalists from different parts of the world that coincided with International Women’s month.
Taichung City is 168 kilometers from the capital Taipei and 58 minutes by high speed train. (Riding Taiwan’s high speed train, I couldn’t help but think of our MRT and I felt like crying.)

Held on first full-moon night of the lunar year, the 2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival opened last March 3 and will last up to March 15. Every year, a different city of Taiwan hosts the event.

This year’s Lantern festival in Taichung covers 20 hectares. It’s a sprawling visual delight but the main feature is the 23.4 meter high goat-shaped lantern.

An online search on the origin of the Chinese Lantern festival yielded several versions.

2015 Taiwan Lantern Festival2

One version was about the Jade Emperor whose favorite crane flew down to Earth and was subsequently hunted and killed. Furious, the Jade Emperor wanted to punish people of the village with firestorm.

The Emperor’s daughter, however, took pity on the villagers and warned them of her father’s plan.

The villagers thought of ways to protect themselves from the firestorm.

A wise man suggested that they hang red lanterns outside their homes, make bonfires, and light firecrackers for three days. The plan worked because on Revenge day, the Jade Emperor came to burn the village, he saw from afar that it was ablaze and he thought his men had done his order to burn it.

The lantern trick worked and the village was saved. And peace prevailed.

Day: March 12, 2015

Strength to strength

The Lantern festival crowd: showcase of Taiwanese’s admirable discipline