Another "explicit" admirer of Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) made himself public yesterday, this time via a large sign saying "I love you" placed alongside the highway near Changhua in central Taiwan.
The admirer, Tony Chen, who is an English teacher at a cram school, said the move was absolutely not a momentary impulse, adding that he has planned it for a long time as a gift to Lu for the upcoming Valentine's Day.
The billboard shows a photo Chen took with Lu and the words: "Vice President Lu Shiu-lian, I Love You. Confession from Famous English Teacher Tony Chen. Happy Valentine's Day!"
The "I love you" sign will stand for one year at cost of NT$1.028 million, including location rent, fees to have the sign made, the electricity bill and building costs, according to Chen.
Chen denied putting up the highway sign to gain personal publicity, saying that "I don't need to publicize myself as I'm already a popular cram school English teacher, a well known writer and a scholar with two master's degrees from the United States who has more than 100 lecture chairs a year."
He stressed that the sign is only an expression of his admiration for the vice president, whom he said he has long been attracted to for her "compassion for people, congeniality, courage, political perceptiveness and global vision."
Noting that a roadside sign is the "most direct" way of showing his love for Lu, Chen said that he wants the entire country to see his expression of love and that he hopes the vice president will give him a kind response.
If possible, Chen said, he would be pleased to help the vice president to fulfill one of her wishes of seeing the English level of the people of Taiwan further upgraded.
Some people have expressed concern that the sign might be viewed as illegal and therefore removed. Chen responded by arguing that if that is the case, all the billboards along the Sun Yat-sen Freeway should also be removed.
A previous admirer of Lu, a man who runs a Taipei debt collection agency tried to take 999 roses to her at the Presidential Office last year.
Tung Nien-tai (董念台) tried to bring Lu the roses to court her, but the move caused a commotion in front of the Presidential Office and Tung and his roses were barred by police from entering the premises.
The flowers were not acknowledged by Lu's office and Lu did not respond to Tung's courtship.
Citigroup Inc plans to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia, and the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The bank would instead operate its consumer-banking franchise in both regions from four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London, it said yesterday in a statement. The move is part of an ongoing review of the company’s strategy by chief executive officer Jane Fraser, who took over last month. “This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth-management business offers through these important hubs,” Fraser said. Citigroup is to exit its consumer
‘IMPORTANT PARTNER’: The new guidelines aim to encourage US engagement with Taiwan, which reflects a deepening relationship, the US Department of State said The US Department of State on Friday issued new guidelines governing US officials’ interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts, a move welcomed by Taipei as turning a new page in bilateral relations. Shortly before leaving office, then-US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Jan. 9 announced the cancelation of previous contact guidelines, which he said were “self-imposed restrictions” that attempted to appease the Chinese Communist Party regime in Beijing. However, the status of the guidelines has been unclear since US President Joe Biden entered the White House. Asked about the issue during a legislative session on Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu
CONFIDENTIAL: The trip had not been made public until just before ex-senator Chris Dodd, and ex-state department officials Richard Armitage and James Steinberg arrived The government yesterday welcomed an “unofficial” delegation sent by US President Joe Biden, while another delegation led by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry was headed to Shanghai. Biden’s first delegation to Taiwan is made up of former US senator Chris Dodd, and former US deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg. They are to stay in Taiwan until tomorrow. Their arrival, on a chartered flight, had been kept confidential until media reported the visit yesterday morning, after which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a short notice that they were expected to arrive at 2:40pm. The flight landed at
‘IDEAL FIT’: A report on Sunday said that the Canadian government threatened to pull its support and funding from the HFX if the award was given to the president The government would respect the decision of the organizer of the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service on whether it plans to award a prize to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The statement was issued after US Web site Politico reported a day earlier that the Canadian government had warned the Halifax International Security Forum (HFX) not to give the award to Tsai for fear of provoking Beijing. “The ministry believes that if the Halifax International Security Forum confers the prize upon President Tsai, it would be an affirmation and honor for both
RSS