The Taipei City Government is working with Taiwan Adventist Hospital to increase the number of Muslim-friendly hospitals as part of its efforts to make the nation’s capital a more Muslim-friendly city, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday.
Taiwan Adventist Hospital is one of 17 hospitals and clinics in Taipei participating in the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s action plan for the internationalization of medical services, but it is the first to be officially certified as Muslim-friendly, said Chi Yu-chiu (紀玉秋), a health department section chief.
Last year’s edition of Global Muslim Travel Index, an annual report produced by MasterCard and CrescentRating, a Singapore-based consultancy specializing in Muslim travelers, ranked Taiwan fifth on the list of Muslim-friendly, non-Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member tourist destinations.
A survey conducted by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism found that more than 90 percent of foreign visitors to Taiwan in the past four years visited Taipei, and the numbers of visitors increased each year, the health department said.
Between 2104 and last year, about 8,000 people from Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Middle Eastern nations sought medical treatment in Taipei, and the majority of them were Muslims, Chi said.
Data from the Taiwan External Trade Development Council’s Taiwan Halal Center suggest there are about 300,000 Muslims living in Taiwan, Taipei Department of Health Commissioner Huang Shier-chieg (黃世傑) said.
Medical services should be provided to all people, regardless of nationality, ethnic background or religion, so the health department has been working with the private sector to create a more Muslim-friendly medical environment in the city, he said.
Taiwan Adventist Hospital president Huang Hui-ting (黃暉庭) said in November last year that it received Majelis Ulama Indonesia Halal certification from Indonesia’s main Islamic organization, showing that food, drugs and cosmetic products provided by the hospital are halal.
It received a good grade in implementing the Halal Assurance System standards, he said.
Its health examination center has a Muslim prayer room equipped with prayer rugs, copies of the Koran and washing facilities, while more than 200 Halal-certified dishes and snacks are available, he said.
The process for obtaining the halal certification was quite complicated, so the hospital sent personnel for outside training and established a specialized halal assurance team, he said.
It is willing to help other hospitals create Muslim-friendly environments and show them how to apply for halal certification, he added.
At an Eid-al-Fitr event at the Taipei Grand Mosque in July 2016, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) promised to make Taipei a “Muslim-friendly” city.
As part of that effort, the city government has held events to mark key Islamic holidays, promoted halal-certified restaurants and is introducing washing facilities for Muslims at the city’s mass rapid transit system stations, officials said.
More information about the city’s medical tourism efforts can be found on the health department’s dedicated Web site www.taipeimedicaltourism.org/, officials said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting