HOUSING
Hundreds to be demolished
The New Taipei City Government plans to start tearing down 205 illegal rooftop dwellings on Friday in the wake of a fatal fire last month, Public Works Department chief Chu Ti-chih (朱愓之) said. The fire on Nov. 22 killed nine people in a four-story building in Jhonghe District (中和), which had an illegally constructed fifth floor that was partitioned into 13 rooms. The city has been tearing down illegally constructed additions to buildings even before the fire occurred, Illegal Construction Demolition Corps deputy head Chen Chia-hsing (陳嘉興) said. To stop unscrupulous landlords from building illegal structures and partitioning them to make a profit from renting them out, the city had launched a special investigation in 2015, which has so far uncovered 930 structures, of which 725 have been torn down, he said. The demolition corps would start dismantling illegal dwellings even if there are people living in them, Chen said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Actor wins Singapore award
Taiwanese actor Tsai Chen-nan (蔡振南) won the best actor in a leading role award at the 22nd Asian Television Awards in Singapore on Friday last week. Tsai took home the award for his portrayal in the mini-series She’s Family (媽媽不見了) of an old male chauvinist who has diabetes and urinary incontinence, and cannot take care of himself. Tsai’s character must rely on his daughter to take care of him after his wife, played by Yang Kui-mei (楊貴媚), walks out on the family. Yang won the best supporting actress award for her role in the mini-series. In total, Taiwanese collected five awards, including best cinematography for Far and Away (外鄉女), best original screenplay for Life Plan A and B (荼蘼), and best terrestrial channel of the year for Formosa Television.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
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