SOCIETY
Taipei fireworks previewed
The government and the operator of Taipei 101 yesterday announced the theme and released a preview video of the upcoming Taipei 101 New Year’s fireworks show. Chia Yeong-chieh (賈永婕), chairwoman of Taipei Financial Center Corp, which owns and operates Taipei 101, posted the 75-second video simulation of the fireworks display on Facebook. The government owns a large stake in the firm through publicly owned companies. The Ministry of Finance said the themes of this year’s more than five minute fireworks display are “Team Taiwan” and “Champion,” in recognition of Taiwan’s triumph last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 tournament. The ministry added that Taipei 101 experienced steady revenue growth this year, driven by an increase in younger shoppers, and sales of luxury goods and jewelry, as well as rebounding numbers of international tourists.
SOCIETY
Lanterns to feature baseball
The upcoming Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taoyuan is to incorporate elements of baseball to celebrate the nation’s historic victory at the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament last month, the Tourism Administration announced on Saturday. The designs are to reflect the joy and pride of Taiwan’s triumph, while highlighting baseball’s status as the national sport, Tourism Administration Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said. The main lantern, Infinite Paradise, would be showcased during the Feb. 12 to Feb. 23 festival held near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT’s A18 station, he said. A separate event venue would be set up at the A19 station, with the two areas together featuring more than 300 installations, he added. Separately, the Taipei City Government yesterday announced that it would distribute 100,000 small lanterns during the Taipei Lantern Festival, which is to be held from Feb. 2 to Feb. 16.
FOOD SAFETY
Better egg tracing mulled
National food chains might be required to use washed eggs carrying traceability codes from next year to make it easier to identify their source and farming practices, the Office of Food Safety announced on Saturday. The policy would likely cover establishments such as breakfast shops and bakeries, office director Hsu Fu (許輔) said, adding that details of the plan are still being discussed. Since 2022, Taiwan has mandated that washed eggs supplied to schools, the military, convenience stores, supermarkets, wholesale retailers and e-commerce platforms carry traceability codes. The two-line codes indicate where the egg was laid, the packaging date and the farm’s location.
TRANSPORTATION
HSR expects record journeys
The number of journeys taken on Taiwan’s high-speed rail (HSR) network this year is set to exceed the all-time high recorded last year, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said yesterday. The number of journeys reached 71.1 million last month, exceeding the about 66.4 million rides for the same 11-month period last year, it said. In terms of the average daily ridership, 224,000 journeys were recorded in November, an increase of 7 percent compared with the 209,000 journeys in November last year. Apart from a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, annual ridership has grown steadily from about 15.6 million in 2007 to 73.1 million last year, the company said. This year also saw the highest monthly ridership since the network began operations 17 years ago, with nearly 6.8 million trips taken in March.
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
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
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
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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