A three-year-old video commissioned by a Ministry of Education research group, If I Knew Boys Could Be Sexually Assaulted As Well (如果早知道,男生也會被性侵), has recently become a hit on the Internet.
The video was posted on the Internet a month ago, triggering a heated discussion among teenagers and inspiring some viewers to post re-edited versions or comic strips about the video.
The video has a click-view rate of 800,000 on YouTube and there is now a Facebook fan page for it, which about 11,000 people have “liked.”
National Academy of Educational Research Secretary-General Kuo Kung-pin (郭工賓) said the video has achieved its purpose if it has become a topic of conversation among young people.
The video tells the story of a teen, A-Wei (阿瑋), who skipped school and was hanging out in an Internet cafe when he met a friend, “A-Chieh” (杰哥).
A-Chieh lures A-Wei to his home, gets him drunk and then rapes him.
A-Wei then seeks help from a social worker, reports the rape to the police and receives psychological counseling.
The aim of the video was to remind teenagers that men can also be victims of rape, Kuo said.
The target audience for the video was junior-high and high-school students, Kuo said.
He said that the academy had considered asking professional actors Jeffery Hsu (許傑輝) or Chang A-wei (張善為) to be in the video, but budget restrictions led them to use the Internet comedian group This Group of People (這群人) instead.
Wu Chia-wei (伍家緯), who played A-Chieh, said that despite the new-found fame he has gained from the video, he does not have the time to do much acting because he has a full-time job with a publishing firm.
However, he said he appreciates the recognition the video has provided and said the audience support has made him work harder.
Wu said he has watched many of Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong’s (黃秋生) movies for inspiration for his acting.
Wu added that he had landed a small role in Jay Chou’s (周杰倫) second movie, The Rooftop (天臺).
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
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The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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