Playing the lilting and melodious notes on their ocarinas, a total of 11,551 Kaohsiung citizens last Saturday successfully set a new Guinness World Record. With Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (
"This is the moment that shows the determination of Kaohsiung City and the consolidation of Kaohsiung citizens," Hsieh said on Saturday, when signing the certificate of the new Guinness World Record.
PHOTO: HUANG SHOU-CHI, TAIPEI TIMES
With colorful confetti flying through the air, the participants celebrated their accomplishment after the event's sponsor announced that 11,551 ocarinas players arranged in the shape of Taiwan set a new Guinness World Record by playing two songs for seven consecutive minutes without stopping.
Most of the ocarinas players were elementary schools and junior high school students, but a number of disabled people also joined in the event. Hsieh, who promoted and popularized this small instrument in southern Taiwan, took part in the activity with his wife Yu Fang-chih (
"This year is Kaohsiung City's 80th birthday. I think this new record could be the best gift to the citizens and I anticipate that we could establish more records, which will help thrust Kaohsiung City onto the world stage," Hsieh said.
In fact, Hsieh is not only good at orchestrating record-setting ensembles, he also excels in coordinating people of different groups and political parties. With his diplomatic and flexible character, Hsieh facilitated a series of municipal construction and revamping works which surprised visitors to the city and also make the locals proud.
In the last five years, visible improvements have been made to Kaohsiung City, including the cleanup of the notorious Ai River and the Chienchen River, the beginning of construction of an MRT system and sports stadium, the purification of local tap water and the construction of a Wireless Internet infrastructure.
With a belief in the importance of giving Kaohsiung City its own identity, Hsieh launched a clean-up campaign for the Ai River and turned it into a popular scenic spot for tourists. The river will now become an art and cultural activities area that is modeled after the Seine River in Paris. People will soon be able to take boat rides on the Ai River, stroll along the bank or have an afternoon tea or coffee at a nearby shop.
"It's amazing how much Kaohsiung City has been made over since Hsieh took over as mayor. Whenever my friends visit Kaohsiung, I would take them to the Ai River or Kaohsiung Art Museum or the No. 10 Dock to enjoy the nice atmosphere that Kaohsiung City has," said 27-year-old Cheng Su-ling (
"Many Kaohsiung residents told me that they now have more places to spend their holiday and leisure time," Cheng said. "I think that Hsieh has made Kaohsiung an `ocean city' and turned it into a city that is gradually catching up with other major international cities."
"Sometimes I relax at the Ocean Park in front of Chungshan University and gaze at the Chichin Harbor. The scene always reminds me of Manhattan," she said.
Hsieh has successfully transformed Kaohsiung City from its "lower harbor" reputation into a progressive city that compares to Taipei City in some ways, Cheng added.
Meanwhile, as the young generation is also enjoying the city's revival and progress, older people show their satisfaction with Hsieh's performance with their votes come election time.
The result of the legislative elections a week and a half ago indicated that nine out of 10 candidates nominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) were elected -- largely because of Hsieh's endorsements. One of those elected to the legislature, Kuan Pi-ling (
The pan-green camp's victory in Kaohsiung City was predictable, given the turnout at the massive DPP-organized march on Dec. 9 to commemorate the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979. The event attracted at least 50,000 people. One participant, a 58-year-old drug-store owner surnamed Wang, joined in the march and said he would vote for the DPP in the legislative elections because "Hsieh made Kaohsiung residents feel it is an honor to live in Kaohsiung."
"I recognize what Hsieh has done for Kaohsiung City," Wang said.
Apart from politics, Hsieh also aimed to give Kaohsiung residents a wide variety of culture and art. When Kuan served as the Cultural Affairs bureau chief, she extended cultural facilities and art programs and turned many historical sites into museums or libraries, which gradually wiped out Kaohsiung's reputation as a cultural desert.
Wong Ching-ting (
"I wish it could hold onto its true colors, and not just replicate Taipei City," Wong said of Kao-hsiung's development.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with