The Taipei City Government is to hold an event today to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) expected to hand out “red envelopes” to participants to symbolize good fortune.
The event — to take place at the Taipei Travel Plaza near the Taipei Railway Station — is to feature a wide array of activities to celebrate the end of Ramadan, when families get together to pray and eat fine food, the city’s Department of Information and Tourism said.
The event will feature music by Indonesian performers, including Fitri Carlina, Septi Vhanesa, Relix Band, Sucy Suryati, Fresh Morning and X-series, in addition to attractions such as interactive games, a halal market, a free international calling service and photography booths, the department said.
Ko is t to hand out 500 “red envelopes” with money inside to lucky participants.
However, the envelopes are to actually be green, as the color represents the celebration of life and health in the Muslim world, department Commissioner Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) said
Giving money is a practice that is similar between Eid al-Fitr and Lunar New Year in the Chinese-speaking community, just like the celebration of family reunions, the department said.
In addition to helping build Taipei’s reputation as a Muslim-friendly city, the event will hopefully also highlight the city’s cherished value of cultural diversity, it added.
The Ministry of Labor has encouraged employers to allow their Muslim workers to observe Eid al-Fitr.
It is crucial that employers respect the religious beliefs of their foreign workers to create a more harmonious relationship between labor and management, the ministry said earlier this week.
The nation is home to about 252,000 Indonesian workers, 85 percent of whom are Muslims, ministry data show.
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
RSS