On Jianguo Rd Sec 2 in Minsyong Township, Chiayi County there is a statue of late president Chiang Kai-shek, which was placed inside the main doorway of a recycling depot after having been reclaimed. Because the statue reaches over 3 meters tall, the head reaches above the top of the door in an eye-catching manner and so has playfully been named as the “door god.” An employee of the recycling depot surnamed Wang says some children don’t know who Chiang is and mistakenly thought it was a statue of Sun Yat-sen. It has turned into a signpost for the recycling depot, says Wang.
A year ago, the depot purchased wooden building materials from a demolition contractor which had demolished a disused village for military dependents in Yunlin County’s Huwei Township. It was then that Wang discovered the abandoned statue of Chiang made from fiberglass, although the paintwork was already peeling off badly. However, Wang decided there was a value to a commemorative statue of Chiang, since he was the first president of Taiwan. Wang therefore agreed with the contractor to purchase the whole lot together. After giving the statue a fresh coat of paint, it looked like new again.
Wang says she was worried the statue would be blown over during the recent typhoon that ravaged Taiwan, so used ropes to tie it down.
Photo: Yu Hsueh-lan, Taipei Times
照片：自由時報記者余雪蘭
The statue appears somewhat out of place, surrounded by piles of assorted recycled materials and seems a world apart from Chiang’s powerful image while in power. Wang says a passerby walked in to inquire whether they could purchase Chiang, offering NT$30,000, but she hopes to be able to sell the statue for an even higher price.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
嘉義縣民雄鄉建國路二段有一家資源回收場回收一尊蔣介石雕像後擺在大門內，因高達三公尺，高出門牆一顆頭，相當醒目，被戲稱是「門神」。回收場業者王姓婦人說，有些小朋友不認識蔣介石，誤以為是孫中山，現已成為回收場的地標。
王女說，一年多前從雲林縣虎尾一處已遷移的眷村向承包拆除工程的包商收購拆下來的建築木料時，發現被醒目的蔣介石像，材質為玻璃纖維，已嚴重落漆，但她覺得蔣氏是台灣第一位總統，其紀念像應有價值，經包商同意一併收購。重新上漆後看起來像新的一樣。
日前颱風來襲，王女怕蔣介石像被吹倒，還用繩子栓住，周邊堆置各種回收物，場景看起來很突兀，與過去蔣家執政的威風模樣有天壤之別。王女表示，有民眾路過看到雕像，進來詢問可否讓售，開價三萬多元，但她希望賣到更好的價格。
（自由時報記者余雪蘭）
A: Hey, the world’s major dictionaries just unveiled their words of the year for 2025. B: Yup, the Cambridge Dictionary chose the word “parasocial,” which refers to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they don’t really know. A: One-sided parasocial relationships with celebrities, influencers and even AI chatbots have clearly become more common. B: The Oxford Dictionary picked “rage bait” — online content designed to elicit anger by being frustrating, provocative or offensive in order to increase traffic to Web sites or social media accounts. A: The Collins Dictionary picked “vibe coding.” Let’s
A: Apart from the world’s major dictionaries, the online Dictionary.com actually picked “67” as its word of the year. B: What does “67” even mean? A: Even the dictionary wasn’t exactly sure about its meaning. The slang term’s origin might be traced to US rapper Skrilla’s song Doot Doot (67). Aren’t Taiwanese media outlets choosing the Mandarin word for 2025? B: Yeah and after hearing the song Good-for-Nothing, adapted from some catchphrases of Legislator Wang Shih-chien, I’m going to vote for the character “tsung” (hasty) from the lyrics. A: Hopefully, in the new year, we’ll be calm as the
Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) is a strange and serious illness affecting sea stars, or starfish. This disease causes sea stars to develop painful lesions, lose their arms, and eventually turn into a gooey, melted mess. Since it was first observed in 2013, millions of sea stars along the Pacific coast of North America have died from this __1__. Although viruses were once considered a possible cause, researchers now believe that environmental stressors and microorganisms are primarily __2__ for sea star wasting disease. One of the main environmental triggers appears to be warmer ocean water. When the water heats
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang The loss of sea stars significantly impacts the ocean ecosystem. Sea stars are important __6__ that help control populations of mussels and sea urchins. Among them, the sunflower star is one of the largest and fastest sea stars and is adept at preying on sea urchins. Without sea stars, sea urchins can __7__ in numbers and devastate kelp forests. These forests are essential __8__ for many marine animals and also help capture carbon from the atmosphere, which is vital in the fight against climate change. The mystery behind SSWD is still __9__, but it is clear that
RSS