Recently, there have been several incidents involving exterior tiles falling off buildings and injuring passers-by.
One such incident occurred last week in Taipei, when a piece of concrete debris fell from a building on Linsen N Road (林森北路), penetrated a safety net and struck the roof of a car that was waiting at a red light. The car’s roof was dented and a child sitting in the back seat was injured. This incident clearly illustrates that installing safety nets as a temporary measure is not enough to guarantee safety.
December to March is Taiwan’s “tile injury season.” Dramatic temperature fluctuations cause the tiles on exterior walls to peel off and fall. If such an incident does not make a spectacular scene or cause enough damage or injury, the media would not even report it. Local government safety warnings are useless.
This issue has long been a part of daily life in Taiwanese society. The reason it continues to happen and no improvements are made lies in a lack of systematic thinking — many illogical blind spots exist at the common sense level, and none have ever been taken seriously or resolved.
Exterior tiles are prone to falling, so why not follow other countries and prohibit the installation of tiles on exterior walls above a certain height? Once a building’s exterior tiles begin to fall, that entire wall — or even the entire exterior — should not be trusted. It is also common to see buildings with sections of their exterior walls covered in tiles of different colors, indicating that new tiles were installed after the previous ones fell off. Is continuously replacing individual tiles not a complete waste of time?
Furthermore, many apartment buildings adopt such an illogical approach due to a lack of funds or a desire to save money. The Condominium Administration Act (公寓大廈管理條例) was promulgated nearly 30 years ago. Why does the public still lack the necessary thinking and concrete actions to adequately address these issues?
We know that the government is aware of these circumstances — why, then, has there not been action to improve the situation?
The answer is simple — it is because no one is in charge. There is no systematic thinking if officials are not held accountable. To effectively resolve this threat to public safety, it is an absolute must that public officials be designated responsible should another accident occur. Otherwise, the public would be forced to continue living in fear of being struck by falling tiles.
Zou Ho-le is a cofounder of the Condominium Administration 2.0 movement.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
There are moments in history when America has turned its back on its principles and withdrawn from past commitments in service of higher goals. For example, US-Soviet Cold War competition compelled America to make a range of deals with unsavory and undemocratic figures across Latin America and Africa in service of geostrategic aims. The United States overlooked mass atrocities against the Bengali population in modern-day Bangladesh in the early 1970s in service of its tilt toward Pakistan, a relationship the Nixon administration deemed critical to its larger aims in developing relations with China. Then, of course, America switched diplomatic recognition
The international women’s soccer match between Taiwan and New Zealand at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, scheduled for Tuesday last week, was canceled at the last minute amid safety concerns over poor field conditions raised by the visiting team. The Football Ferns, as New Zealand’s women’s soccer team are known, had arrived in Taiwan one week earlier to prepare and soon raised their concerns. Efforts were made to improve the field, but the replacement patches of grass could not grow fast enough. The Football Ferns canceled the closed-door training match and then days later, the main event against Team Taiwan. The safety
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
Former minister of culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has long wielded influence through the power of words. Her articles once served as a moral compass for a society in transition. However, as her April 1 guest article in the New York Times, “The Clock Is Ticking for Taiwan,” makes all too clear, even celebrated prose can mislead when romanticism clouds political judgement. Lung crafts a narrative that is less an analysis of Taiwan’s geopolitical reality than an exercise in wistful nostalgia. As political scientists and international relations academics, we believe it is crucial to correct the misconceptions embedded in her article,