SOCIETY
Mandarin course returns
A free Mandarin language program for migrant workers, offered jointly by a Catholic church in Taoyuan, the Taoyuan City Government and National Taiwan Sport University, would resume this month after being suspended for two years, the church said yesterday. The program, comprising six Mandarin and four extracurricular classes, is to begin on Sunday at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in the city’s Lujhu District (蘆竹) and would be held every Sunday from 1pm to 5pm over the next 10 weeks, the church said. The extracurricular classes are expected to include cooking and baking, but participants would choose what they want do, said Sister Cecilia Santiago, the church’s community and spiritual leader. Participants would receive free books and snacks, and those who complete the course would be awarded a certificate and NT$300, Santiago said. The program was launched in 2018 but was suspended in 2020 and last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Santiago said. Those who wish to enroll can call 0906-502-010 or (03) 321-2421, she said.
TRANSPORTATION
Nanfangao Bridge delayed
The opening of Yilan County’s new Nanfangao Bridge has been delayed to December due to a structural flaw, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The flaw, caused by concrete being incorrectly poured into a section of the bridge’s framework on May 27, caused a cantilever truss to subside and misalign, Wang said. Given the difficulty of removing the defective segment from above the waterway, the bridge’s opening has been pushed back by three months from Sept. 18 to Dec. 18, he said. The Directorate-General of Highways, which Taiwan International Ports Corp commissioned to lead the project, said that construction of the 796.53m replacement bridge started on July 16, 2020, and is expected to cost NT$860 million (US$28.84 million). The original bridge collapsed in October 2019, killing six people. A Taiwan Transportation Safety Board investigation found that corrosion in parts of the original bridge and superficial maintenance where proper repairs should have been done were to blame for the collapse.
SOCIETY
Talent contest deadline soon
Taoyuan’s Department of Labor yesterday reminded migrant workers wishing to compete in the city’s Foreign Workers Talent Contest to sign up before Friday next week. Registration for the event opened on June 27, and city labor official Tsai Jui-min (蔡瑞民) encouraged migrant workers either living or working in Taoyuan to sign up for a chance to win vouchers worth up to NT$20,000. The contest’s preliminary round would be held on July 31, and about 15 singers and 15 dance groups would be selected to advance to the semi-finals on Aug. 28, he said. Based on their performance in the semi-finals, about six singers and six dance groups would go to the finals on Sept. 25 at the Taoyuan Women’s Center, he said. Vouchers worth NT$1,500 to NT$20,000 would be up for grabs in the contest’s dance category, with NT$1,500 to NT$7,000 in vouchers on offer to those in the singing category. The department also welcomed the public to attend and cheer for their favorite competitors on the day of the finals, where raffle prizes and other promotional gifts are to be given out. Dance group YKK Pinoy Frontliners Troop and singer Lovely Oliver Loriaga won the last edition of the talent contest in 2020.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
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
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
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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