A local version of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s giant yellow duck has upset the artist, who has threatened to cut short the public display of his giant Rubber Duck installation in Keelung.
The local version, called the Dream Duck (夢想鴨), was produced by Yusheng Co and is the same size as Hofman’s creation, but has different facial features.
The company is renting No. 3 and No. 4 East Wharf from the Keelung Harbor Bureau to exhibit the “Dream Duck” for the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays.
Yusheng general manager Sun Yi-jen (孫逸人) said the Dream Duck cost more than NT$2 million (US$ 66,500) to construct.
“It is our own design, and we hope it will bring hope, happiness and love to the public,” he said.
After the news was reported, Keelung Harbor Bureau general manager Tsai Ting-yi (蔡丁義) said he would try to deter Yusheng from going ahead with the plan, adding that “business operations must be approved by the port authority. If problems exist, the approval will not be granted.”
Keelung City Council Speaker Huang Chin-tai (黃景泰) said an official notice was sent to Yusheng on Sunday, requesting it to stop its plan.
“Hofman was very insistent, saying that if local merchants produce their own giant inflatable duck, he would terminate his duck’s public display before the agreed period, ” Huang said.
“Hofman also spoke to the port authority and government officials, saying the ‘unreasonable conduct’ by local merchants must be stopped. Hofman said that if his giant Rubber Duck ends its display, any giant inflatable duck made by local merchants would be meaningless,” Huang added.
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
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS