Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) thanked Indonesian workers for their contributions to Taiwan and wished them a happy new year during the Id al-Fitr celebrations at the Taipei Grand Mosque yesterday.
The event marked the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as well as the start of the new year in Indonesia.
More than 50,000 Muslims celebrated the end of the month-long Ramadan in mosques in Taipei, Chungli, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Indonesian workers made up the majority of the hundreds of Muslims gathering at the Taipei Grand Mosque to celebrate the new year.
The popular mayor, though not a Muslim himself, donned a jannah cap to greet Indonesian workers and spoke a bit of Indonesian -- drawing cheers from the crowd.
Ma pointed out that there are 36,000 foreign workers in Taipei and among them, 20,000 are Indonesian workers who contribute much to the construction and household assistance of Taipei City.
He also said that if all of them took the same day off, one-quarter of Taipei City would be paralyzed.
Ma also said that foreign workers as well as their local counterparts will benefit from a NT$300 million (US$8.69 million) labor foundation established by the Taipei City Government.
If foreign workers are improperly treated by their employers, Ma said they will be able to hire attorneys through assistance from the foundation.
Ma added that foreign workers should receive the same treatment as local workers.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique