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New tests end with fight

At least one fight broke out yesterday among Taipei students sitting for their Basic Competency Tests -- the compulsory exam junior high school students must take before entering high school.

In addition, police yesterday were keeping an eye out for further possible eruptions of violence, which had been expected after the exam concluded.

According to local media reports, students from an unidentified junior high school confronted a student from Hsin-yi Junior School (信義國中) during the examination's break period yesterday.

The students were taking the test at Song Shan Senior High School (松山高中).

After fighting at a nearby park, the Hsin-yi student returned to Song Shan with minor injuries to continue taking his exam.

According to Lee Cheng-tsuen (李澄圳), principal at Hsin-yi, junior high school students by and large have no deep hatred for one another, but are set off by the smallest perceived slight.

"They might be irritated by just a glance from other students," Lee said.

"Such anger is resolved by punches or talk off campus, just like the case today."

Lee said there was no further fighting among the students until after the exam.

Police said they were not aware of any fighting yesterday, as no complaint had been filed.

Chong Ming-chun (鍾明樟), principal of Song Shan Senior High School, said some junior high teenagers have "turfs," and that the neighborhood surrounding his school seemed to be divided among three junior high schools, including Hsin-yi.

"Once these students of different turfs meet each other, minor incidents are inevitable," Chong said.

In related news, police in the Sungshan area of Taipei were on high alert after receiving information from parents and school officials that two groups of students were planning to rumble.

According to school officials and parents, the students were planning to meet for a showdown after taking their exams, so as not to damage their performance in the test and harm their ability to gain entry to a good high school.

Chen Kuo-an (陳國恩), chief of the police precinct in the area, said police were well prepared to prevent the student rumble.

"We videotaped suspicious students in large groups at Internet cafes and tea houses in the neighborhood to let them know we were monitoring any illegal activities," he said.

"By this afternoon, no student fights had taken place."

Chen said junior high school students tend to fight after exams end because "they feel less restrained," he said.

The police chief said that officers rarely encounter large-scale fights as were anticipated yesterday.

However, Chen said, it's "very easy for students to congregate for fights nowadays because of mobile phones."

Chen said that while he believed yesterday's case did not involve juvenile gangsters, there have been fights in the area that have involved "young gangsters."

Chen said that some gangs recruit junior high school drop-outs who have been given up on by their families, and then ask the youngsters to return to school to persuade more of their peers to join them.
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