The $1 chip that keeps Taiwan’s tech devices in working order – The Straits Times Feedzy

 [[“value”:”

In this episode, ST’s Li Xueying chats with ST’s Taiwan correspondent Yip Wai Yee about how these chips became lucky charms for Taiwan appliances.

PHOTO: YIP WAI YEE

Bags of it can be found atop laptops, ATM machines, printers all over the island, even in the offices of engineers in Hsinchu Science Park – home of the island’s semiconductor industry. 

In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying chats with ST’s Taiwan correspondent Yip Wai Yee about how these chips became the go-to lucky charms for Taiwan appliances, and the folk traditions and pseudoscience that continue to thrive in the technologically advanced society.

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:00: Why Kuai Kuai corn chips are so popular in Taiwan

2:05: How they “bestow their magical powers” on appliances

4:28: TSMC, the world’s leading semiconductor company, has its own edition of Kuai Kuai chips

5:47: The propensity for Taiwanese to turn to such folk beliefs

8:29 The wrong use of Kuai Kuai chips was believed to have crashed Taiwan’s tax filing system in May 2017

Read Wai Yee’s article here: https://str.sg/6vYn

Produced by: Li Xueying (xueying@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis and Fa’izah Sani

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month here:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg

Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR 

Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x

Read Yip Wai Yee’s articles: https://str.sg/wFZk 

Read ST’s Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd

Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters

Discover more ST podcast channels:

COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Special edition series:

True Crimes of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i4Y3 

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2

Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn

Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB

Singapore’s War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

“]]