It was chilly and rainy in Pingsi, a mountainous township an hour's drive from downtown Taipei, on Saturday night. But Thai singer TAE managed to squeeze a night out of his tight schedule to sing for those who had gathered there for a special occasion.
The event, called "Light of Peace, City of Hope," was held in commemoration for the victims of the Asian tsunami. Participants wrote their wishes or blessings for those affected by the tragedy on lanterns or paper balloons, and set them aloft.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
TAE was in Taiwan when the tsunami hit nations in Southeast Asia on Dec. 26. His friends called him from Thailand telling him the country was struck by huge waves.
"I thought in my heart: This is impossible. Where did the tsunami come from?' At that time, I was planning to have a vacation in Thailand and go snorkeling. I ended up joining a rescue team on the beach and snorkeling to seek bodies in the sea," TAE told participants at Saturday's event.
TAE, who has often had nightmares after searching for bodies in the sea for a few days, said he still felt the pain of tsunami victims.
"My friends' houses were swept away. When I worked with our rescue team, I saw international rescue teams from South Korea, Taiwan, the US, and other countries. I was moved," he said.
So when TAE received an invitation from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to represent tsunami victims in Thailand by joining the activity in Pingsi, he decided to take a day off from his work because he wanted to say blessings to those suffering from the tragedy.
More than 40 foreign diplomats and their spouses attended the event, which was co-organized by the MOFA and the Taipei County Government at Pingsi Middle School.
Saturday was one of the coldest days of the winter. The temperature dropped to below 8?C. Yet the diplomats, wearing raincoats and holding umbrellas, sat in the rain quietly and watched the night's program for nearly two hours.
"Nearly 300,000 people were killed by the tsunami. More lost their families and were left homeless. It was a disaster in human history," said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Quyang Jui-hsiung (歐陽瑞雄).
Every 20 minutes, 100 or 200 lanterns were set aloft at the same time from the playground of the middle school. Despite the rain, the lanterns, with people's wishes written all over them, rose slowly into the sky.
"It was the first time I have joined Pingsi's heavenly lantern activity. On my way here, I saw from the window of my car hundreds of lanterns floating in the dark skies. They are like stars. Suddenly my heart was filled with warmth and joy," said Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who came to the town to make his wishes as part of the event.
According to the elders of Pingsi, the tradition of setting off heavenly lanterns began during the Ching Dynasty. At that time, bands of outlaws frequently raided villages around Pingsi, forcing local residents to seek refuge in the mountains.
The heavenly lanterns were signals used by the village watchmen to inform the refugees that their houses were safe again. When those hiding in the mountains saw the lanterns in the sky, they knew it was time to go home.
Though the raids ceased long ago, villagers in Pingsi have still preserved the tradition of setting off heavenly lanterns, the elders said. Hsieh, who led the foreign diplomats in setting off their lanterns, said he hoped the countries' political parties can cooperate.
"Cooperation between political parties can bring Taiwan further prosperity," he said before lighting a 5.5m-high heavenly lantern, the largest set aloft that night.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we