President Chain Store Corp’s 7-Eleven convenience store chain opened its first store on Orchid Island (蘭嶼, also known as Lanyu) yesterday, after overcoming criticism from civic groups that the outlet would hurt the island’s indigenous culture.
The store opened its doors to business at 7am, with workers greeting customers using the Aboriginal Tao language spoken on the island, which lies about 80km off Taiwan proper’s southeastern coast.
Tao boys wearing traditional thongs danced during the opening ceremony. Open-chan, the dog-like mascot of 7-Eleven in Taiwan, was erected in front of the store — also dressed in a traditional Tao thong.
Photo: CNA
Addressing the opening ceremony, Lanyu Township (蘭嶼) Mayor Chiang To-li (江多利) said he was very thankful for the arrival of 7-Eleven, which he said would provide residents with many convenient services, such as fee and tax collection. Chiang also expressed the hope that the store would introduce an ATM soon, because there is only one such machine on the island.
The opening of the store was delayed earlier this year after it came under fire from civic groups and some locals, who said that it would bring about harmful changes to the local culture and way of life by promoting a materialistic mentality.
They urged President Chain Store Corp to reconsider its decision, but the company proceeded with its plan.
To celebrate the opening, a health station was set up inside the store to provide free blood pressure checks and liver disease screening for residents.
The online book retailer books.com.tw also donated 500 new books to teenagers on Orchid Island.
According to President Chain Store Corp, the Orchid Island store is the 52nd opened by the chain on outlying islands.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS