■ Education
Corporal punishment banned
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to the Education Basic Law (教育基本法) on Tuesday, banning any form of corporal punishment in schools and making Taiwan the 109th country in the world to protect students with formal legislation. The Humanistic Education Foundation -- the prime mover behind the legislation -- welcomed the news after lawmakers passed the amendment following a third reading. According to a spokesman for the foundation, the amended law will benefit the nation's 5.3 million students. He said that all students are entitled to the right not to be subjected to physical punishment, be they in public or private kindergartens, elementary schools, high schools, colleges or any other educational institutions.
■ Politics
Shaw changes hospitals
The wife of Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) was moved to a hospital in Taichung yesterday due to her improved condition. After spending 26 days at Chi Mei Medical Center in Tainan County, Shaw Hsiao-ling (邵曉鈴) was transported to China Medical University Hospital in Taichung. Before her departure, Hu thanked Chi Mei Medical Center for accomplishing a "mission impossible" and gave the hospital superintendent, who was also a high-school classmate, Chan Chi-shean (詹啟賢), a big hug. Hu told reporters that an expert who had helped built dinosaur models for the movie Jurassic Park had offered to help make an artificial arm for his wife, to replace her amputated left arm. "I hope it does not turn out to be a dinosaur's arm," Hu said jokingly, drawing laughter from reporters.
■ Transport
MOTC to rule on `accident'
Vice Minister of Transportation and Communications Ho Nuan-hsuen (何煖軒) said yesterday that the transportation ministry would decide tomorrow whether an incident that occurred last Tuesday in Tsoying (左營) could be defined as an "accident." Last month, the ministry's inspectors committee required that the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp must turn in an accident-free record for at least a month before they could be issued an operational permit. However, two accidents have already occurred since the announcement. Last Tuesday, one of the points on railway tracks was found to be split open for reasons unknown. Ho said at the legislature's Transportation Committee that the ministry would defer to the judgment of the inspectors committee. Inspectors would also determine whether test runs should start from scratch, he added.
■ Education
Test results released
The Ministry of Education released the results of its first test to certify Chinese language instructors yesterday. Last month, some 2,000 aspiring Chinese teachers took the examination, which consists of five sections to evaluate examinees' grasp of Mandarin, as well as pedagogical skills, local media said. The ministry announced in a press release yesterday that just 72 examinees had passed all five sections. The ministry will confer three-year teaching certificates to the 72 successful examinees later this month, allowing them to market themselves as officially accredited Chinese language instructors, the release said, adding that certified teachers will need to renew their accreditation every three years.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
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