Australian musicians last week said they had scored a victory against Qantas after a Facebook campaign helped persuade the airline to scrap a ban on carrying instruments as cabin luggage.
Jazz saxophonist Jamie Oehlers started the online protest when Qantas introduced a policy requiring all musical instruments except violins and violas to be checked in and stored in the cargo hold.
“After travelling with them for 20 years, I was made to check my saxophone in for the first time a few weeks ago, causing US$1,200 worth of damage,” Oehlers wrote, laun-ching the Facebook campaign last month.
PHOTO: EPA 照片:歐新社
“I want to get a boycott of Qantas by musicians in place until they reverse this ridiculous policy.”
More than 8,700 people joined the group, including members of the country’s symphony orchestras, posting stories and pictures of instruments that had been damaged in the cargo hold.
Qantas confirmed it had reversed the policy from Dec. 24.
“In this situation we were able to listen to our customers and we were able to provide a change in our policy,” a Qantas spokeswoman told AFP.
She said Qantas was aware of the Facebook group and had spoken to Oehlers, but the policy change followed a wide range of “feedback received directly by our customer care team.”
Oehlers, about to depart for a gig in New York, said it was a victory for the Australian musical community, an “inspiring group of people”.
“I’m sure we’ll be crossing paths or bumping into each other at the airports with our instruments on our shoulders,” he wrote on the Facebook site.
The new policy allows small musical instruments as carry-on baggage, provided they are no longer than 81cm, higher than 30cm or more than 19cm deep.
(AFP)
在臉書上成立一個社團,協助說服澳洲航空取消以隨身行李攜帶樂器上機的禁令後,澳洲一位樂師上週表示,他們對澳航的行動獲得勝利。
爵士樂薩克斯風手傑米‧俄勒在澳航規定所有樂器,除了小提琴與中提琴以外,都得登記並以貨倉運載後,率先在網路上發起這個活動。
俄勒上個月在網路上發起這個社團後寫道,「在搭乘澳航二十年後,我數個星期前首次登記我的薩克斯風託運行李,造成高達一千二百美元的損失。」
「我希望舉辦個樂師抵制澳航活動,直到它們取消這個可笑的政策。」
超過八千七百個人加入這個活動的粉絲,包括澳洲各個交響樂團成員,他們在活動網頁上傳樂器因託運而損毀的文章與照片。
澳航於十二月二十四日宣布已經取消該規定。
一位澳航女性發言人告訴法新社,「在這種情況下,我們能夠傾聽顧客,並且改變公司政策。」
她表示澳航知道臉書上的這個社團,並也曾與俄勒談話,但政策的改變是基於「我們公司顧客服務部門的直接反應」。
即將出發前往紐約表演爵士樂的俄勒表示,這項改變對於澳洲音樂界這「一群啟發人心的人」是個勝利
他於臉書上寫道,「我相信我們應該會在機場背著樂器相見或擦肩而過。」
新政策允許小型樂器以隨身行李上機,只要它們長度、高度,與深度分別不超過八十一公分、三十公分,與十九公分。
(法新社/翻譯:吳岱璟)
A: The hit Korean drama “Queen of Tears” is so popular. B: What’s it about? A: The story depicts the marriage between a man and the daughter of an extremely rich family. B: What a lucky man he is. A: Well, not necessarily. The leading actor Kim Soo-hyun even cries 40 times in the series, showing that life with the superrich isn’t so easy. A: 熱門韓劇《淚之女王》最近好紅。 B: 劇情是什麼呢? A: 是一個男人和富家千金的婚姻故事唷。 B: 哇他還真幸運! A: 不見得吧,男主角金秀賢在劇中就哭了多達40次,可見豪門生活也不容易。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Runbing, a delicacy with a rich history in worship customs, is made from a thin, crepe-like wrapper used to wrap a cooked filling into a roll. Runbing in some regions is sometimes referred to as a spring roll, but it is important to note that it is not fried like traditional spring rolls with crispy brown exteriors. The runbing wrapper is made by spreading a thin layer of high-gluten flour batter evenly onto a hot pan. The resulting white wrapper is soft and flexible. 潤餅的歷史悠久,長久以來人們會在祭拜時享用,是用薄薄的麵皮包裹煮熟的餡料。有的地方習慣將潤餅稱作春捲,但和傳統炸得外皮金黃酥脆的春捲不同,潤餅不須油炸即可食用。潤餅皮的作法是將高筋麵糰在熱鍋上均勻塗薄薄一層,外皮呈白色,柔軟有韌度。 high-gluten flour (n. phr.) 高筋麵粉 flexible (adj.)
A: I’ve heard that the final episode of K-drama “Queen of Tears” also broke the record. B: With a high rating of 27.3 percent, the show replaced “Crash Landing on You” to become tvN’s most-watched drama. A: Is it the most-watched drama of all time? B: It’s at No. 3, only behind JTBC’s “The World of the Married” at No. 1 and “Reborn Rich” at No. 2. A: Let’s watch it over the weekend. A: 聽說《淚之女王》大結局還打破收視紀錄。 B: 該劇最高收視率27.3%,超越《愛的迫降》,成為tvN電視台新霸主! A: 它是歷年收視率最高的韓劇嗎? B: 它是第3名唷,冠亞軍則是JTBC的《夫婦的世界》、《財閥家的小兒子》。 A: 我們週末就來追劇吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
When the world’s top gas traders met late last month at a canal-side hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam, the atmosphere was business-as-usual: coffee, croissants and wrangling over deals for the upcoming winter. Then came news of a leak at Europe’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, located above the Arctic Circle in Norway. The problem — discovered during a planned test of the facility’s safety systems — was quickly repaired, but not before it caused a momentary spike in the price of natural gas. Back in the Netherlands, it served as an uncomfortable reminder of the power of a single