■ Defense
Shipbuilder bids for vessels
The state-run China Shipbuilding Corp (CSBC) will actively bid for the contract to build 29 new generation missile speed boats for the Republic of China Navy, CSBC sources said yesterday. Although the navy has not finalized the procurement plan, the CSBC and several domestic shipbuilding companies have prepared to bid for the contract worth about NT$10 billion (US$322.58 million). CSBC Chairman Han Pi-hsiang (韓碧祥) said that his company is more than capable of building these new generation missile boats and delivering them on time. The first prototype of the new generation missile boat, designed and constructed by the Navy Shipbuilding Plant in Kaohsiung two years ago, has been commissioned into service. Han said that given the CSBC's experience in building first generation missile speed boats -- including the 50-tonne Seagull-class missile boat -- for the navy, his company is the most suitable candidate for the contract. The missile boats are expected to greatly enhance the ROC Navy's deterrence capability.
■ Society
Suicide center to be set up
As the number of Taiwanese people suffering depression exceeds 700,000, Minister of Health Hou Sheng-mou (侯勝茂) pledged yesterday to establish a national suicide prevention center in six months. In a legislative question-and-answer session, Hou was invited to report the government's efforts to prevent suicide. The Department of Health (DOH), said Hou, has set aside a NT$40 million for the establishment of the suicide prevention center. The DOH formed the plan for a suicide prevention center several years ago, but the project has been repeatedly delayed. Legislators questioned whether Hou would be able to keep his promise. Suicide became one of the top-10 causes of death in Taiwan in 1997. Official statistics showed that about 3,900 people commit suicide in Taiwan every year and that one fourth of females have suffered from depression at some point in their lives.
■ Society
Trash generation falls
Each resident of the country yielded an average 0.709kg of garbage per day last year, the lowest amount ever recorded, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) officials said yesterday. The amount represents a fall from a record high of 1.143kg in 1997, with the daily per-capita level dropping every year since then to 0.97kg in 2000 and 0.752kg in 2003, EPA statistics show. Thanks to private-sector cooperation and the government's recycling policy, a total of 1.55 million tonnes of recycled material was collected around Taiwan last year, EPA officials said, noting that the amount of overall garbage also fell to 5.86 million tonnes last year from the 6.16 million metric tons recorded for 2003.
■ Culture
Taiwanese art on display
Artifacts housed in the National Taiwan Museum are to be put on display at the Czech National Museum, the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) said yesterday. CCA Chairman Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony for the exhibition in the first half of next month. The exhibition, titled "A Thousand Faces of Formosa -- The Nature and Tradition of Taiwan," is part of an exchange project between the CCA and its Czech counterpart. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is expected to send a message to the exhibition, in which he will laud it as a "model for cultural exchanges between national museums."
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its