After the Taipei City Government “encouraged” staffers to promote the Taipei International Flora Expo, civil servants at 12 district offices and household registration offices yesterday started the day by joining the “flora expo dance,” confusing residents who visited their offices.
Civil servants have been practicing the 30-second dance, aimed at promoting the expo, in their offices during lunch hours or after work since last month, with the city’s Department of Civil Affairs asking all district offices to start dancing this month when offices opened and to invite the residents to join in the “fun.”
At the Xinyi District Office at about 8:30am yesterday, dozens of civil servants danced, while several people waiting for service watched.
PHOTO: LIN CHENG-KUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“I don’t know whether it’s a flora expo dance, and I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t affect the office’s efficiency,” a man named Chen Yan-chun (陳言中) said.
One office staffer, who asked not to be named, said she felt embarrassed dancing in front of other people, but as a public servant, she and other workers “had no choice but to cooperate with the city government’s order.”
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said the city government “encouraged” all civil servants to learn the dance, but wouldn’t force anyone to practice it.
Shrugging off concerns about the impact on efficiency, department Commissioner Huang Lu Ching-ju (黃呂錦茹) said workers could use the 30-second dance to boost their energy for the day, while residents who visit the offices could also join in as a form of morning exercise.
Huang said the daily dance time would last until the end of the expo in April. The decision of those who do not want to join the dance would be respected, Huang said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS