ENTERTAINMENT
Film to be shown in park
An event inspired by the crying scene in Vive L’Amour (愛情萬歲), a film by Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), is to be held at Daan Park in Taipei on New Year’s Eve to mark the 30th anniversary of the award-winning movie. Tsai’s two-hour drama ends with the main actress, Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚), walking to Daan Park, which was then still under construction, and bursting into tears in the early hours of New Year’s Day after a series of unfortunate events. The scene, which lasts nearly seven minutes, has become an iconic moment for many film enthusiasts. Tsai also won the Gold Lion — the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in Italy — for the film in 1994. The event would begin with a screening of the movie at the park’s outdoor stage at 9:45pm on Dec. 31, followed by a countdown to next year with Tsai, Yang and actor Lee Kang-sheng (李康生), the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) said. It would be free of charge and the movie would have Chinese and English subtitles.
CHIAYI
One dead in site collapse
One person died and four were injured when a 3m-high walkway to a scenic platform collapsed in Chiayi County on Wednesday. They fell when the wooden sightseeing platform they were standing on gave way near Fumei Suspension Bridge in Alishan, the Chiayi County Fire Bureau said. A 76-year-old woman, surnamed Liao (廖), died due to a head injury, while the others are in a stable condition following treatment at hospitals, the fire bureau said. The five people were part of a larger 44-person tour group from Miaoli County, a tour group member said. They had been admiring the picturesque surroundings while standing on the walkway when it “suddenly fractured and collapsed,” the witness said. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident. The tourist site is managed and maintained by Alishan Township.
SOCIETY
Woman dies in detention
Prosecutors are investigating the cause of death of an Indonesian woman at the National Immigration Agency’s (NIA) detention center in Yilan County on Monday. Her roommate found her in bed without vital signs and alerted the detention center’s personnel to seek medical assistance, the NIA said, adding that the woman was rushed to a hospital, but efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. Detainees at the center are primarily migrant workers who have overstayed their visa or people who have lost contact with their employers or other connections. The woman entered the detention center on Oct. 21 and began displaying symptoms such as coughing on Thursday last week. She was taken to see a doctor on the same day, and the center had continued monitoring her condition until Monday.
FOOD
Pizza prices to rise
Pizza Hut on Thursday said that the price of eight of its pizzas are to increase by between NT$5 and NT$40, or an average of 2.5 percent, effective immediately. Global inflation has led to fluctuations in the cost of raw materials, food ingredients, human resources and electricity, it said. Therefore, prices have been adjusted to ensure the high quality of its products and services, it added. Meanwhile, prices for three small pizzas are to decrease by NT$30, or 7.5 percent.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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