That’s correct. I understand they’re experiencing technical difficulties.
Any new news about WWRN? Can we expect it on FM soon? It seemed like it was coming together nicely.
Obviously, I don’t know the details, but it seems unfortunate that parts of the foreign community who were supportive initially seem to be cutting the feet out from underneath the venture. The edits from Maoman (I assume representing Forumosa’s official policy) and Taverncaptain are disconcerting to those of us hoping foreign businesses would help out a worthwhile project. Are we doomed to suffer with ICRT for the long haul?
Hope things all work out!!
[quote=“thebiggestnose”]Any new news about WWRN? Can we expect it on FM soon? It seemed like it was coming together nicely.
Obviously, I don’t know the details, but it seems unfortunate that parts of the foreign community who were supportive initially seem to be cutting the feet out from underneath the venture. The edits from Maoman (I assume representing Forumosa’s official policy) and Taverncaptain are disconcerting to those of us hoping foreign businesses would help out a worthwhile project. Are we doomed to suffer with ICRT for the long haul?
Hope things all work out!![/quote]
Yes, I hope that everyone involved understand that building a business and running a complex operation like radio requires a lot of patience and cooperation. WWRN is a worthy venture and capable of doing great things. I believe the details can be worked out so long as everyone gives a little to let the seedling grow. It needs a team effort. No one can do it alone.
Dear Forumosans,
Most of you know me, some of you may think I am a cunt, some of you actually know me personally and actually have a lot of fun together when we meet.
Facts, I own and run a few profitable business, reside and work in Taiwan for 16 years, have a wife and three children .
What nobody can have against me is that I do pay my bills on time and back my words with action (okay, I might be home a bit later than I advised I would be and sometimes drink one more than I should but that is not really a crime). Put it in simple terms, I am working for what I am worth.
I am carrying this WWRN thing now for some time and think it is about time to tell you guys (as forumosans were among the first as a group to support it, following the ICRT petition), what really happened.
I was approached some months ago by a Chap from South Africa called (not sure if that is his real name but we get to this later) Ryan. He came to me with a proposal to do a live broadcast from the Tavern for the 2005 FA Cup (Soccer for those that are not familiar with the fact that Football is a European game). No problem and we went ahead. The same guy then came to me a few weeks (more months than weeks actually) and told me he secured an FM License. I was busy, just back from a vacation and organising a football tournament with 16 teams in Taipei.
In the meantime, a friend of mine that owns a language school, sub let rooms to Ryan. Class rooms were then converted into a prep. and a broadcasting studio. I went there found it all impressive and within 10 days I coughed up 548’000NT$ :loco: . That was done because I saw the opportunity to do business and make money. I want to be perfectly hounest, I did not give a damn if there was a foreign radio here or not, it was a based on the motivation to make a profit (for the record, John and Anthony had different motivations which were to serve the foreign community).
Around the middle of August after I became part of it, I started to receive all sorts of calls from people that were owned money, were promised jobs with ARCS, etc. etc. I then naturally became very, very suspicous, esp. i was told that there was lot of money in the bank.
When we started to dig, we found out that WWRN had no business license, no license actually what so-ever. No FM frequency, not GIO license, absolutely nothing. All stories we were ever told wer just lies, created by an ill person that should seek treatment.
To cut a long story short, there never was a radio station, there never was anything like it. I have ordered that all equipment (which I paid for) was picked up last Friday. I have informed Anthony of my concerns and informed him that I would delete (edit) previous posts.
I had meetings with several former wwrn DJ’s that were not paid. I secured the equipment which wqas originally worth 400 plus K, will sell it if there is a buyer for it and individuals will be paid first.
I could fill up a couple of mega bites about this whole ordeal. I got fooled, many others were. I kind of have no problem with the fact to write it off, I was an idiot that believed a person suffering of a desease (it is called a pathological liar). I am in no way out to harm Ryan.
I do realise that by associating myself with WWRN, people were missguided that the whole thing was real. I deeply apologyze for this, I was fooled like all of us were.
On a personal note, I am not angry with Ryan as long as he goes and takes treatment, earns some money to pay people back and generates money to look after his family. Would also encourage people that fell for Ryan not to do anything wrong like using violence!Guys please remeber two wrongs do not make one right.
That is it from my side on this subject!
If I have violated any forum rules, or something then i am equally sorry but I was encouraged by many people to inform of the status or better saying the end and i feel a lot better now. 
Cheers!
Michel
It would be good to hear Ryan’s explanations, but for some reason I don’t think he’s going to stick around to offer them.
Well, there is one good thing to come out of this - it’s a project that can be done, as long as it’s not done by someone who is, apparently, full of shit.
not only that, but there is a venue and equipment available…
We should pool together and buy all that.
And make it what it’s supposed to be.
And change the name. “WWRN” has been done too many times.
WFMN
World Formosa Network
[quote=“Booger Digger”]We should pool together and buy all that.
And make it what it’s supposed to be.[/quote]
and then bust this move all day and night.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back I should have said something
I agree completely with the first part of that sentence! It seems that in disputes or disagreements there are usually three sides to the story…each side’s and the truth somewhere in between. Captain Tavern, I am in no way disputing your claims in your post. I’m sorry you got hosed by Ryan, if that’s what indeed happened. Other posts certainly seem to back up what you said, as well. It’d be nice if Ryan, or anyone else from WWRN, would present their side. Silence from them makes it more difficult to disagree with your version of the events. WWRN certainly made use of Forumosa when they wanted to promote themselves. That said, was there any other promotion for WWRN? Obviously I didn’t expect it to be advertised on ICRT but I get both the China Post and the Taipei Times and never heard a peep about it there. Just curious.
It’s a shame that we seemed destined here to live or die with ICRT. Are the chances of seeing a new station really as remote as brianlkennedy suggested? Internet radio has some advantages but it’s nice to have access to local information.
I’m trying to get to the bottom of things and will post all I know early next week.
Brian, it was me (not Ryan) who invited you for an interview as I thought you would be interested in promoting your martial arts book.
John Ross
[quote=“Michel”]Most of you know me, some of you may think I am a c**t, some of you actually know me personally and actually have a lot of fun together when we meet.
Facts, I own and run a few profitable business, reside and work in Taiwan for 16 years, have a wife, three children as well as a girl friend all known to you.
What nobody can have against me is that I do pay my bills on time and back my words with action Cheers!
Michel[/quote]
Good post, I don’t know you well enough to think of you as a c**t. Looking forward to that honour in the future. 
Tavern is a great spot for a drink.
Regarding radio. The only way I could see this working would be to form an agreement/ alliance with an overseas radio station that would be happy to have a foothold in Taiwan. Use all their content and world news.
Hook up with Perth, Australia and you are in the same time zone for instance. Use their call sign as well.
Then, use limited resources to do a daily updated news spot that would be played while say Perth, Australia do their local news. Run local adverts at the same time.
If it is not seemless and some local Perth adverts and news spills over onto the Taiwan airwaves so what.
Then do say a 15/30 minute breakfast program each day and one or two weekend spots.
That could be accomplished without grandiose plans with an idea to future expansion.
Still, the sticking point would be the license and carrying it through.
Just to update you all of the present situation as I know it! Ryan assured all people he owes money to, they would get it last Friday, there were then some difficulties (basically the money never arrived) and he promised all that they would get paid today. Needless to say that nobody that is owed Money got paid by Ryan today either. In the meantime, one of the suppliers of some stuff, confiscated his South African passport (hope it is a real one). Uncle John still has not posted but as he is an excellent writer, I am sure it will be a well documented report. Ryan today sent and SMS to some of the people that were doing DJ and other work, stating he feels threatened and does not want to meet anybody and requested that people he owes money to send their bank details to one of his ever changing and ever increasing number of hotmail addresses, ryan4622@hotmail.com Of what I know the damage done by this ill individual is at least 1.5Million NT$. Sure there is a lot more, sure you guys are surprised to hear that he managed to create a (obviously unpaid) bar bill of 10’734NT$ at the Tavern-Premier in just three days back early August. Would not suprise me if there are lots of pubs sitting on unpaid Ryan Tabs. People without any penny to their name are usually very good in inviting others to drink with them.
I have done a lot of googling on this illness that ryan suffers from (pathological liar), quite serious and not a lot of possibilities to get treatment. If you have got some spare time between work and drinking, hit the net, there are some very entertaining sights hosted by people with the illness.
I’m not sure if this is a real “illness” or not.
Ryan is incredibly lucky that you do think it is, and that you are this compassionate about the whole thing.
I think the most people would want to rip his balls off, and that’s just for starters.
[quote=“Josefus”]I’m not sure if this is a real “illness” or not.
Ryan is incredibly lucky that you do think it is, and that you are this compassionate about the whole thing.
I think the most people would want to rip his balls off, and that’s just for starters.[/quote]
As I keep on telling people, two wrongs do not make a right, Violence is wrong in any case. At the end of the day, he (Ryan) fooled some very intelligent people like Gary, John and that notorious teacher with an even more notorious head band (sure you will never guess who that might be) that all should have seen through the whole scam. Unfortunately he has hurt (financially) some people that cannot afford it but then they should have also be aware they cannot do dj work for money (not even voluntarely) with a visa sponsored by a school or any other business unless they are married to a Taiwanese Citizen or are a Taiwan Citizen. At the end of the day, pretty much all of the people that are going to come out of the whole thing with a bit of a damper on their bank balance spent money and / or wasted time for either greed (in my case), to gain prestige or hope to stay on the island legally and to earn money. Ryan did not fool any mentally challenged people. All people that got fooled should have been smart enough to see through it. Again, violence is the worst action to collect a debt and should not even be a consideration 
. At the end of the day, how do you know if Ryan has balls? He might have been hurt when we was serving as the mayor of timbooktoo (Timbuktu or whatever the correct bloody spelling might be).
My hat is truly off to you for the sensitivity and pragmatism of your posts on this issue Michel.
What happened to the hat? Has Bulaian moved it to another forum?
Sadly, what Michel has written about WWRN and Ryan is true. When Michel first came to me and said that Ryan was a pathological liar I didn’t really believe him. I considered Ryan my friend, I believed in the Radio Station, and what Michel was saying seemed too incredible. In the following weeks I have learnt that the lies that Michel had uncovered were only the tip of the iceberg. As news of WWRN’s collapse has spread, people (“creditors” would be a more accurate description) have come forward with information about older scams; there was a bogus trip to South Africa this summer that left many out of pocket, and then there is the English camp Ryan held at a community center in Mucha last winter vacation. Wherever he has been, he has left a very long trail of broken promises, misused friendships, bullshit and debts.
Ryan has moved out of his house (still owing his landlord 2-3 months rent). If anyone has information on Ryan Diedericks, please send it to me.
I will write a proper post in the future when more details come in.
John Ross
Here’s a picture of Ryan (the guy in the white T-shirt). Stay tuned for some more in the coming days.
Edited: I’ll try to post a picture here later this week.