In an attempt to increase voter turnout, the Taipei City Wanhua District Office has come up with an advertisement nominally for seeking marriage, which includes government employees who are helping with the election and who are also handsome bachelors and pretty bachelorettes in hopes of attracting more voters and finding potential spouses. “None of us are married. Would you like to get acquainted? You will have the perfect opportunity on election day on Jan. 14.”
There are pictures of 11 civil servants who are helping with election matters printed on the promotional flyers the Wanhua District Office has made to encourage voter turnout. The Chinese characters for “seeking marriage” in very large print actually give people the impression that it is an advertisement for a matchmaking club. People’s reactions have been split between those that think it is creative and those who say it is a misuse of feminine charm.
Wanhua District head Chou Te-wei said, “Our colleagues don’t have time to find boyfriends and girlfriends because they’re so busy working every day in their civil service capacity, so I have a huge responsibility.” Chou laughingly said that if this can bring better luck to his co-workers in finding spouses, he would happily serve as grand matchmaker. Election event employees are not the only ones exerting all the effort. Chou has also made life-size cardboard cutouts of himself as part of the promotional events for the election, and has placed them outside MRT station exits as well as the Red House in the Ximen area to keep reminding people to use their precious votes on Jan. 14.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY KYLE JEFFCOAT)
Photo: Chiu Shao-wen, Taipei Times
照片: 自由時報記者邱紹雯翻攝
台北市萬華區公所催票出奇招,推出「徵婚啟事」廣告,以公所未婚的俊男、美女選務人員為號召,希望吸引民眾來投票、找姻緣。「我們都未婚,想認識我們嗎?一月十四日投票日,給您一個最好的機會。」
萬華區公所今年宣導踴躍投票的文宣品,放上十一名未婚選務人員的照片,斗大的「徵婚」字眼,讓人一度誤以為是婚友社的廣告;民眾的反應也很兩極,有人認為創意十足,也有人直呼「未免太犧牲色相」。
「同仁每天為公務繁忙,沒時間交男女朋友,我也要負很大責任。」萬華區長周德威笑稱,若能藉此替同仁們促成好姻緣更是好事一樁,他也樂於當「大媒人」。不只選務人員 「潦落去(台語)」,周德威也製作與自己同比例大小的人形立牌,配合宣傳活動放置在捷運出入口或西門紅樓外,隨時提醒路過民眾,十四日出門投下寶貴一票。
(自由時報記者邱紹雯)
Photo: EPA
照片:歐新社
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of
對話 Dialogue 清清:時間過得真快,又是中秋節了! Qīngqing: Shíjiān guò de zhēn kuài, yòu shì Zhōngqiū jié le! 華華:俗話說得好:「一年容易又中秋」,就是這個意思。而且還有一句:「年怕中秋月怕半,星期就怕禮拜三。」每到中秋,新年就又不遠了。 Huáhua: Súhuà shuō de hǎo: “Yì nián róngyì yòu Zhōngqiū”, jiùshì zhèige yìsi. Érqiě háiyǒu yí jù: “Nián pà Zhōngqiū yuè pà bàn, xīngqí jiù pà lǐbài sān.” Měi dào Zhōngqiū, xīnnián jiù yòu bù yuǎn le. 清清:我是不怕禮拜三啦!眼看著週末就要到了,高興都來不及。只是過年又要老一歲了,這倒真是令人害怕。 Qīngqing: Wǒ shì búpà lǐbài sān la! Yǎnkànzhe zhōumò jiù yào dàole, gāoxìng dōu láibùjí. Zhǐshì guònián yòu yào lǎo yí suì le, zhè dào zhēnshì lìng rén hàipà. 華華:怕也沒用,該來的總會來的。看看嫦娥得有多老了,還不是代代相傳,直到今天我們還在「慶祝」她奔月去了呢! Huáhua: Pà yě méiyòng, gāi lái de zǒng huì lái de. Kànkan Cháng’é děi yǒu duō lǎo le, hái búshì dàidài xiāngchuán, zhídào jīntiān