Spring has arrived, and the mosque has had a makeover. Sharp-eyed people may have noticed that the domes on the prayer hall of Taipei’s Grand Mosque have quietly changed from green to gold. A spokesperson for the mosque explained that the prayer hall domes were originally covered with copper, which turned green after more than a decade of corrosion, but before the Lunar New Year they were repainted and became golden domes once more.
A city resident surnamed Huang said that although she passes the mosque every day when she picks her child up from school, she has never raised her head to take a close look at the changing street scenery. When asked about the change in the mosque domes’ color, she said with a laugh that it was a good thing, because a change in the cityscape meant a change of mood. Another resident surnamed Chen said that she goes to the nearby Daan Park at least twice a week for exercise, but had not noticed the mosque’s color change, and did not even know that the mosque domes used to be green.
Taipei’s Grand Mosque has a long history. During the 1950s, Taiwan was actively cultivating its diplomatic relations with Arab and Islamic countries, so, to accommodate the needs of visiting officials from Arab lands, then-president of the Chinese Muslim Association Pai Chung-hsi and foreign affairs minister George Yeh proposed building a large mosque in Islamic style. Finally Taiwan, Iran, and Jordan jointly raised funds and in 1958 appointed architect Yang Cho-cheng to design and build the mosque, which was completed in 1960, so that it has been standing in Taipei for more than 50 years.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Julian Clegg)
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者朱沛雄
春天來了,清真寺也換新裝!眼尖民眾發現,台北清真寺的大殿圓頂,由綠色悄悄換成金色的「光明頂」。對此,台北清真寺解釋,大殿圓頂最早是以金屬銅打造,歷經十餘年的鏽蝕才變成綠色,年前進行塗漆作業將「金頂」還原。
黃姓市民說,每天接小孩放學都會經過清真寺,但從未抬頭仔細看街景變化,問及寺頂「變色」,笑說那樣也很好,改變市容也換心情。陳姓市民則說,每週至少兩天在附近的大安森林公園運動,對清真寺變色真的無感,甚至不知道寺頂原本是什麼顏色。
台北清真寺歷史悠久,一九五○年代末,我國積極拓展與阿拉伯伊斯蘭國家邦交,為因應阿拉伯國家官員來訪,當時中國回教協會理事長白崇禧與我國外交部長葉公超,提議興建具有伊斯蘭教色彩的大型清真寺,最後我國與伊朗、約旦和沙烏地阿拉伯共同籌募,委託建築師楊卓成於一九五八年設計興建、一九六○年竣工,坐落台北已五十餘年。
(自由時報記者何世昌、蕭婷方)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110