Several artists conveyed their opposition to nuclear power and the Miramar Resort Hotel in Taitung’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) during the 24th Golden Melody Awards ceremony on Saturday night.
Several celebrities expressed their views through the outfits they wore on the red carpet at the Taipei Arena.
Veteran hip-hop artists and social activists Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) wore customized black-and-white suits printed with the message “What is happiness? Zero nuclear power,” as well as anti-nuclear stickers on their face.
Photo: CNA
Post-rock band Sorry Youth (拍謝少年) walked the red carpet while holding an anti-nuclear flag.
A group led by Aboriginal musician Dakanow (達卡鬧) arrived holding a towel that read: “Tear down the Miramar Resort Hotel,” which was made by civic groups that have long been fighting the controversial construction plan and used in many social movements against the project.
“We make music that is like social activism, we must act like warriors, becoming braver in each battle,” Hakka musicians Liu Shao-hsi (劉劭希) and Lo Sirong (羅思容) said as they presented the award for best Hakka musician.
While receiving the Best Instrumental Album Award, Baby C (鍾興民) also showed his opposition to nuclear power by saying: “I am a human being, I am against nuclear power.”
Best Aboriginal Singer Award winner Sangpuy (盧皆興) asked other nominees to join him on stage with hand-held signs bearing messages such as “Protect the eastern coastline,” “Against nuclear power and nuclear waste” and “Refuse illegal development.”
The musicians’ declarations on these issues received mixed responses from the audience, with some saying they did not appreciate political messages at an entertainment event, while others praised the musicians for caring about public issues.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra