Kaohsiung rounded off a successful World Games yesterday evening with a carnival-like closing ceremony that brought down the curtain on 10 days of exciting sporting competition.
The ceremony got underway at 7.30pm with spectators creating a sparkling “river of stars,” as the lights were dimmed before the 40,000-strong crowd simultaneously switched on LEDs.
The United Armed Forces Orchestra then entered to perform three marching tunes before the athletes took center stage with a parade.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
As with the opening ceremony, China’s athletes failed to show in line with their announcement earlier this week that they would return home following the end of their competitions.
But nobody in the crowd seemed to care as they were too busy enjoying themselves.
Singer Bobby Chen (陳昇), then entertained the crowd with a couple of numbers before the main show got underway.
The show featured 10 colorful themed dance and visual performances with titles such as “Sound of the Sea,” “Dreams of the Butterfly Fish” and “Kaohsiung in Style” designed to showcase the history, culture, development and maritime roots of the host city.
Then, more than 100 traditional sky lanterns were released into the air to wish the athletes good fortune before International World Games Association president Ron Froehlich and Kaoshiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) addressed the crowd.
Froehlich called the Games the “best ever” before Chen Chu, speaking in Mandarin and Hoklo, said the World Games would “be engraved into the hearts of Kaohsiung residents.”
Chen Chu also paid tribute to the thousands of volunteers who had “helped make the Games such a success,” before calling for Taiwanese to “fight in unity for the dignity of our country.”
She finished off by asking everyone to help make September’s Deaflympics in Taipei a success and “polish the brilliance of Taiwan in the international arena.”
The handover of the World Games flags came next as triple-gold-medal-winning speed roller skater Huang Yu-ting, Chen and Froehlich passed the flag to a representative of the city that will host the next games in four years time, Cali, Colombia.
Chen Chu then announced that the games were closed before local rocker Wu Bai (伍佰) and his band entertained the packed stadium with a medley of his best-known hits.
The evening and the Games then ended as they had begun, with a spectacular display of fireworks.
Earlier in the day, Taiwan’s athletes had added the icing to the cake on a successful final day as they picked up two golds, three silvers and a bronze.
The medals meant that Taiwan finished seventh in the final medal table with eight golds, nine silvers and seven bronze medals.
The 10 days of competition saw more than 4,000 athletes from 105 countries and territories compete for 186 gold medals.
Also See: Taiwanese finish Games with a flourish
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS