On September 27th to 29th, Fo Guang Shan Compassion Foundation visited Guanglin Village of Libian County in Pingtung Province to hold "Inspection of Daily Necessity Need of Victims of August 8th Flood" and "Relief Case Interview" to understand what daily necessities were urgently needed by villagers after the flood.  At the same time, "Collection of Second Hand Household Appliance and Furniture for Linbian County" were initiated.  On October 1st, the first batch of goods were transported to Guanglin Village to distribute house by house.  Approximately seventy eight second hand furniture of TV, student desk, electric bottle, electric fan, and bedplate were given to forty families, according to investigation in advance.  The first batch of second hand furniture were sent out before Mid Autumn Festival to wish the convenience in living of villagers and celebrate the festival with the family in peace.  Fo Guang Shan Compassion The concept of The Speaker is to find the best teenage public speakers and nurture the top ones into all round great debaters. It’s the usual talent show set up; a panel of judges, qualifying rounds, weekly eliminations, tears, joy, etc. It’s the formula of the noughties. The first week consisted of X Factor type auditions where teenagers from around the UK were given one minute each to talk about a subject of their choosing.

Unlike X Factor most turned out to be very good and weren’t selected for the purposes of light entertainment by cruelly poking fun at the deluded souls – if you enjoy such things you can tune over to ITV1 for the new series of Britain’s Got Talent. Plus the judging panel of comedienne Jo Brand, former basketball player now professional speaker John Amaechi and stage director Jeremy Stockwell is far easier to tolerate than Cowell and his cronies.

Read more at Suite101: TV Review – The Speaker (BBC Two): A Talent Show giving Teenagers a Chance to be Heard