■Society
Family lives in pigsty
A poverty-stricken family of eight has been discovered living in a deserted pigsty in central Taiwan which they have inhabited for the past 25 years, it was reported yesterday. The family, living in Huwei in central Yunlin county, was recently located by a social work group promoting welfare for the physically handicapped. Chang Shih-lai and his wife have raised six children by doing odd jobs, it said, adding the handicapped father had problems finding steady work to support the family. Chang said that shabby living conditions did not affect the education of their children or their academic performance. Most of the kids were honor students who had often been awarded scholarships. "The problem is we have to borrow money when the time comes for tuition payments," the father said.
■ Crime
Thai officials seize cars
Thai customs officials said yesterday they had seized 48 more luxury stolen cars shipped from Taiwan, bringing to 74 the total found at an eastern port ready for shipment to neighboring countries. "The 48 stolen cars were found in 14 containers from three Chinese cargo vessels," the official from Lam Chabang deep seaport, 150km southeast of Bangkok, said. The stolen cars were luxury models from European and Japanese manufacturers, hidden behind cardboard boxes and falsely declared as furniture. Customs Department director-general Chaovalit Sethametheekul said earlier this week that officials became suspicious after finding another consignment of vehicles which had broken windows and damaged steering wheel columns. He said the cars were stolen from Taiwan and brought to Thailand for repairs before being shipped to third countries.
■ Crime
Big wig tax evader jailed
The son of former president of the Judicial Yuan Huang Shao-ku (黃少谷) yesterday turned himself into the Ministry of Justice's Taipei Administrative Enforcement Department and was immediately detained in Shihlin Detention House. Huang Jen-chung (黃任中), who was well-known in particular for his success in speculating on the stock market, became wanted by law enforcement officers since Wednesday night, after the Shihlin District Court granted an arrest warrant against him because of his NT$1.4 billion debts to the National Tax Administration, which have accumulated since 1995. Huang's whereabouts remained unknown since Wednesday night until approximately 6pm yesterday, when he suddenly showed up at the department. "It's time for me to take care of my problems," he said.
■ Aboriginal Affairs
Writers win awards
Three Aborigines were awarded yesterday at the Fourth Aboriginal Reporting Literature Award Ceremony. Sponsored by the Council of Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Taipei City Government's Council of aboriginal Affairs and Shanhai Culture magazine, the awards were established to encourage Aborigines to engage in creative writing. "We are glad to see that, among the entries submitted, a variety of topics were explored with regard to aboriginal issues," said Pasuya Poitsono, one of the judges in the competition and the deputy chairman of the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous People. "It demonstrated that the issues Aboriginal writers care about are quite varied." However, due to limited budgets, essays, poems and short stories were not among the categories awarded this year.
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