The September~October issue will be my last as Managing Editor.  It has been both my pleasure and my privilege to be associated with “New Views”, formerly known as “Around Kaohsiung”.  I’ve met wonderful people, explored fascinating places and learned so much about the region.  At this time, I'd like to say "Thanks" for support over the past years: to advertisers for their funding, to writers for their insight, to photographers for their vision, to translators for bringing stories to the local audience, to designers for creating a captivating image, to organizations for sharing information and to readers for their insight.

I am especially grateful to Kaohsiung Ladies Coffee Morning whose city directory gave genesis to the publication, and to Betty Vu-Lee who helped to organize details; to Beth Fowler, Brian Golding, Ida Huang, Andrew Mahon, Tom Miller, Dermo Morris, Keith & Gail Simpson, Mark Sokkappa and Lenny Wei, original steering committee members; to WenTzao Alumni and the Sun Yat Sen America Center for sponsoring the project early on; to Toastmasters International for assisting initial distribution; to Dragon Air for magazine transport to Hong Kong; to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Kaohsiung City Government and Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts for permission to reprint maps; and to New Views Cultural Publications, Ltd. for establishing the current operating base. For the positive encouragement of family and friends and the dedicated help of Maggie Tsai, former co-editor who awakened in me the beauty of southern Taiwan, words fall short in expressing my appreciation.

I trust you will continue to support NEW VIEWS and the efforts of so many that brought the concept to life, and I look forward to further sharing  from within our community and many more "new views" from southern Taiwan.