1.媒体来源:
BBC
2.记者署名:
Hope NGO
3.完整新闻标题:
The 'good luck' snack that makes Taiwan's technology behave
让台湾科技乖乖听话的好运零嘴
4.完整新闻内文:
In Taiwan, coconut-flavoured corn crisps are seen as good-luck charms that
ensure high-tech machines co-operate. But why?
Crisps have a sacred role in office culture. They are the perfect mid-morning
pick-me-up, the moreish side to a light sandwich lunch, or the fuel that
keeps us going when meetings run past mealtimes.
But in Taiwan, one particular brand of crisps does more than keep hunger
pangs at bay. Many of the island’s machines – from cash machines to radio
transmission towers – seem to rely on the presence of green bags of puffy,
coconut-flavoured corn crisps to stay in tip-top condition.
People see these crisps as amulets – or good luck charms – that, if used
properly, will ensure that technology behaves well and doesn’t break down.
They place bags of this humble snack, known as ‘Kuai Kuai’, on or around
vital machines in many of the island’s laboratories, banks and even
hospitals to ensure the machines continue to do their jobs.
But how did this savoury product end up assuming near-mythical protective
properties and, in a technologically advanced society that supplies most of
the world’s semiconductors, why exactly do people buy into it?
‘Be good’
No one is entirely sure exactly when or how the green bags of Kuai Kuai
crisps became seen as symbolic tech whisperers whose mere presence could keep
electronics in line. The Kuai Kuai company was established in 1968 by Liao
Jing Gang and his son Spencer, a team who needed to find a way to keep their
main business, a pharmaceutical importing and manufacturing company, busy
during slow periods, so they began making snacks and confectionery.
“Kuai Kuai were specifically created to be sold to children. Back then,
there was nothing like that on the market,” says Irene Liao, who is Spencer’
s daughter and the firm’s current general manager. But that all changed when
the crisps, whose name means ‘behave’ or ‘be good’ in both Mandarin and
Taiwanese, caught the eye of a graduate student.
The student was in IT, his story spread by word-of-mouth and the Kuai Kuai
legend was born
“It apparently all started with this graduate student who was working on his
thesis and his computer kept crashing. So, he had the idea that his device
might have needed a talisman,” she says.
Lucky charms still play a significant role in Taiwanese society regardless of
industry, so it is understandable that the student felt he needed one. And
there would have been logic behind using a green bag of Kuai Kuai crisps; the
name was right (‘be good’) and there is a general assumption that green is
synonymous with ‘go’, as it would be on a traffic light – so the student
put the bag on his computer. “Next thing he knew, the computer was working
normally, and he was able to get his thesis done in time,” Liao says.
But even Liao says she had to track down the story of Kuai Kuai’s
metamorphosis from children’s snack to technology-tamer online, because she
had only heard it third hand. As far as she knows, the student was in IT, his
story spread by word-of-mouth and the Kuai Kuai legend was born.
The company says it hasn’t promoted the tech-protecting properties of its
product. “The story grew and developed organically, [which means] different
people from different industries are able to put their own interpretation
into how they think the bags ought to be used,” says Liao. A case in point
– as well as being used on cash machines, office servers and copying
machines, bags of Kuai Kuai are also being used in hospitals across Taiwan to
keep critical machines like ventilators going.
They can be found at radio transmission sites, too. Lionel Leng, an engineer
who has worked at International Community Radio Taipei off and on since the
1990s, doesn’t remember when the practice began, let alone who started it.
But he says he started using the crisps because he’d seen other people in
his profession do it. “I saw what they did with the bags, and then I’d ask
the other engineers what they were, and they would say, ‘oh those are Kuai
Kuai’, which means ‘listen to me’ or ‘obey’, so the machines would do
that.”
Obey the rules
Although Kuai Kuai’s role in the tech workspace evolved organically, the
crisps’ use is governed by a set of hard-and-fast rules. Kuai Kuai bags may
come in three colours – the other two are yellow for five-spice and red for
chocolate – but everyone knows that only the green bags can be used on
machines. “Both yellow and red are colours that signal caution and alarm,”
explains Leng.
The bags also cannot be used as amulets beyond their expiration date, so Leng
says they are usually swapped twice a year – once during the start of the
Lunar New Year, which normally takes place around February, and again during
the Ghost Festival in July. And lest you think you can get away with
displaying empty bags of Kuai-Kuai, those in the tech world say the snack
shouldn’t be consumed, otherwise you technically void its protective
warranty.
And it’s not just the tech sphere that relies on these good-luck charms;
Irene Liao says bags of Kuai Kuai make their way overseas when performing
artists go offshore and they need to make sure their equipment is protected.
While Peter Hsu, who has an advanced degree in photonics technologies, was
working on his post-graduate degree at university, he said bags of Kuai Kuai
could be found in the laboratories. “I really don’t know if people buy this
[the idea that the bags keep tech from breaking down], but everyone does it
because it doesn’t hurt,” he says.
The power of ambiguity
Kuai Kuai can even be found at Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s premier research
institute. Ting Jen-Chieh, a research fellow who specialises in social
psychology, confirms that the institute’s technicians have been laying out
bags of Kuai Kuai since 2002. To discourage rodents, the Kuai Kuai bags are
themselves protected by being kept in their boxes.
We believe there is plenty of ambiguity between what is believable and what
isn’t – Ting Jen-Chieh
Ting, who is attached to the Institute of Ethnology, believes the use of Kuai
Kuai reflects several trends: that the practice was something that everyone
wanted to try, that it was not viewed as illogical because everyone else was
doing it, and that it was a ritual that everyone undertook because there was
a genuine fear that without the bags, machines might actually break down. “
Some people may believe it, some may not, but we believe there is plenty of
ambiguity between what is believable and what isn’t, which is why it
continues to be done,” he says.
Irene Liao is grateful that her father and grandfather’s legacy is so keenly
appreciated by Taiwan’s workforce, especially since belief in the crisps’
power as a tech whisperer has helped the brand endure. “This is the only
place in the world where a snack brand can become a cultural phenomenon. I
cannot see that happening anywhere else,” she says.
And even though she believes that only a small portion of the crisps that are
purchased are actually consumed, she is not tempted to skimp on the quality
of the ingredients used to make Kuai Kuai because, as she puts it: “They’re
meant to be eaten.”
5.完整新闻连结 (或短网址):
https://bbc.in/3gqaqrN
6.备注:
台湾人的小秘密被发现惹？>///<
全文好长 _(:3”∠)_
只翻标题＋摘要重点应该可以...吧？
基本上很详细地报导了机器上放乖乖的历史由来、
哪些场合会有人放乖乖来祈求机器正常运作、
也有提到乖乖三种颜色包装各自所代表不同的含义。
注：准备PO文前发现报橘也有报导这篇，
不想看英文的乡民也可以直接看
https://bit.ly/3tmDhAK

乖乖要进军国际了ㄇ

没有翻译会被水桶ㄅ

可悲

BBC应该是智障无误

发烧妹插耳温枪AirPods，脑袋烧光盘

民智未开

ptt废文终于传到英国了

五香很好吃

fortune cookie

五香最好吃 最不喜欢吃椰子的

台湾人的科技秘密被发现了XD

不要不信邪，我公司前课长把主机房乖乖丢了隔天一直当机

惨了 Intel会学起来

好吃

惨了 台积的商业机密还是外流了 明天跌停招待

理组都这么迷信？

干 knowhow被偷走了

国中生都知道不相干

这么多公司重要机器放乖乖一定有它的道理

这是台GG良率屌打美韩的主因..谁泄密的?这是叛国罪啊

国家机密外泄

台湾科技业最大的秘密被报导了

完了

国安危机

没好报了

国安危机

我还看过业务放一堆乖乖的

干 难怪台积今天暴跌 秘密都被知道啦

糟了，被中国人与韩国人发现了

长荣机鼻放乖乖有被泄漏吗

乖乖被人拿走了？

各行业营业机密公家机关也放很多

椰子 五香 都好ㄘ

要买绿色的

机密欸

动摇国本

惨了 台湾最大的机密被发现了

银行服务器都有放

五楼纯真子

国安机密

一堆人骂妈祖迷信 结果自己研究室主机上都放乖乖XDD

国家机密曝光，科技股全出，乖乖公司欧印！

糟了 乖乖要乳滑了

乖乖有上市上柜吗现在欧印来得及吗

外电要附简单翻译，水桶见

工程师什么都得是绿绿的才行

机械神教：机魂喜欢吃乖乖

可以纳入英文试题

良率高的秘密

巧克力口味的也好吃

乖乖会变中资还是美资吗 美国人来台湾是不是要求乖乖去美国设厂？

之前当网管 真的很迷没了就坏

医院机器上面的已经过期5年不知道过期的有没有差

完蛋了明天跌停

有差 过期了要赶快换掉

还是觉得牛奶花生最好吃 可惜没了

八卦是 乖乖已被重划公司买下 和三粒海派关系密切

不要报给三星知道！

三星和英特尔会不会偷学这个秘诀啊

上次机台上的乖乖被吃了 后来一直出状况 我是觉得凑巧

机器的守护神乖乖应该建庙祭祀

台积电有特制联名款乖乖，才那么厉害

干，谁泄漏国家机密！低调低调

当然要换掉啊，要不然乖乖销路不好停产了怎么办

我们同事放了台南市府城延平郡王祠郑成功客制化零嘴忘了哪家，五个字“一定要成功”，已经两年了，呵呵

小祕密被发现了

连这个也在报...是台湾外国记者变多了吗

三地开发 练台生 林昆海 钱柜烧死人 董事长不道歉

泄漏国家机密

干他妈没救 信这个比宫庙+9还可悲 理组肥宅果然才是最该死的垃圾

台湾半导体产业机密被泄露了

完了，被发现了...

台积电跳电 要把乖乖放哪才有保佑? 台积还是台电

椰子才是经典 好吃好吃

国家机密

不会啊 这新闻很可爱

intel:难怪！！！

难怪TSM大跌

就是有乖乖良率才这么高，嘘，别告诉对面的

搞不好又是公关宣传公司 之前公司做大厂代工的也没放

秘密被发现了

也是有上市上柜的公司 都讲6S跟良率

这几天好像一直有人发文说拜妈祖是迷信欸

英国报导无误

其实有信仰是好事，有时候浪费脑容量担心还不如拜一下让自

机密外泄

己能安心0.0..但如果这个信仰对你的生活没帮助还有害处那就是邪教了

理组真迷信

国家机密外泄，让歪果人发现我们机器耐操的小秘密以前外国工程师看到机器上面有乖乖还一脸黑人问号

泄密，国安危机==

国安危机。最大机密被破解

这也能写那么长 哈哈

又没影响别人 不要搞个开机前还要放鞭炮就好

哈哈

这么长的英文只翻标题居然没人嘘

真的很灵验

理工人都信这个的话，那妈祖大显神威也不要笑人家了

国安危机XDD

干政府还不赶快立法禁止乖乖出口！！

温馨提醒 不要放错颜色

居然可以写这么长一篇

国家机密外泄

最高机密可以这样透露的吗

五楼纯真子在干嘛啦XD

乖乖股价要超越台积，变成护国神山了，会不会全世界都来抢购啊

真 隐藏版护国神山被发现了

惨了 intel三星要跟进了

理组迷信起来比宗教人士还可怕，亲身经历

真的很闲 这种东西也能掰一整篇

Kuai kuai^^

国家机密外流了

丢脸丢到外国了 只问鬼神

吸引力法则？

technological advanced country~台湾被国际看见了

进不了这些企业的文组仔在笑人迷信可悲

干 泄密！

台积电的秘密被发现了

最好这些人在社会上有出息一点啊

这跟迷信没什么关系 啊就真的有用...

科技秘密被发现了