A Taipei elementary school principal accused of frequenting hostess bars and dance halls with an education inspector were punished with demerits yesterday.
Lo Jung-chih (羅榮枝), principal of the Yueng Chwuen Primary School (永春國小), and an education inspector with the city's Bureau of Education (教育局), Chiang Jen-chun (姜仁俊), both received one major demerit for frequenting hostess bars and dance halls.
Preliminary investigations into accusations that Lo illegally colluded with school construction contractors has not turned up any incriminating evidence.
The city, however, said that it will let the primary school principals' evaluation committee decide whether Lo is still fit for his post.
Chiang also received one minor demerit for sexually harassing a mother and was banned from conducting campus inspections.
David Lee (
"Our principle is that we don't try to shelter or dodge those who make mistakes. We believe most of our teachers and principals are good people, but you cannot deny that there are some black sheep in the flock," Lee said.
On July 6, a mother personally handed Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Reacting to the complaint, the education bureau immediately questioned Chiang. The bureau decided later that day to ban Chiang from conducting campus inspections after he confessed to the allegation. Chiang filed a request for early retirement on July 11.
The controversy over Chiang's conduct continued on July 20 when New Party Taipei City councilors, Chung Hsiao-ping (鐘小平) and Chin Li-fang (秦儷舫), held a press conference to accuse Chiang of frequenting hostess bars with Lo.
They also accused Lo of illegally colluding with school construction contractors and allowing them to pay for their expenses at the hostess bars.
On July 21, the two councilors further claimed that Lo visited hostess bars over 100 times a year.
In response, Lo held a press conference later that day to deny the allegations. He said that he did not have an affair with a hostess nor did he give her his bankbook for safekeeping. He also denied that he had been taken to hostess bars by businessmen.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary