Taiwan Quick Take

■ Society
Centenarians on the increase
Taiwan has 656 centenarians, with the oldest woman aged 119 and the oldest man aged 108, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of the Interior and released yesterday. Their average age is 101.8. Last year, Taiwan had 638 centenarians, according to the statistics. The interior ministry will hold gala activities in honor of the centenarians on Senior Citizen's Day, which falls on Oct. 4 this year.

■ Health
DOH launches calcium drive
The Department of Health is to establish a committee to encourage citizens to take sufficient calcium, a health official said yesterday. He said that on average, Taiwan people get only 500mg of calcium per day, approximately 50 percent of the recommended daily intake. Calcium is important for bone health. The committee will run a program to drive home the importance of calcium and offer advice to help the public make sure they get enough of the mineral.

■ Transport
Railway a boon for travelers
The Taiwan High Speed Railway will greatly reduce the travel time between major cities and thus facilitate the formation of big commuter belts in western Taiwan, the Bureau of Taiwan High Speed Rail said yesterday. The Bureau said that once the high speed railway begins commercial operation in October 2005, it will take only 45 minutes to commute between Taipei and Taichung in central Taiwan, and less than 60 minutes to travel between Taichung and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The high speed railway will form the backbone of a mass rapid transportation network in western Taiwan, the bureau said.

■ People
Chu Mei-feng heads to school
Former politician Chu Mei-feng (璩美鳳), disgraced after she was filmed having sex with a married man, has applied to study for a PhD in industrial economics at China's prestigious Fudan University (復旦大學), state media said yesterday. Fudan University officials said in an interview with an evening newspaper in China that Chu's notorious reputation will not affect a decision on whether she will be accepted. "As long as she meets the requirements of Fudan University, we have no reason to refuse her," a university official was quoted by the newspaper as saying. Chu, known as Ju Meifeng in China, took a college entrance examination and is awaiting the results, which will not be released until the end of September, to see if she gets in, the report said.

■ Events
Film festival announced
The second Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival will be held in Taipei from Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, the chairwoman of the film festival announced. Hu Tai-li (胡台麗) said that the festival received more than 200 overseas films and nearly 100 local works this year, with 11 Taiwan films and 17 foreign works being selected for screening at a theater in downtown Taipei during the festival. In addition to films from Taiwan, films from China, France, the US, Australia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Montenegro, Sweden, Finland, the UK and Japan will be screened during the festival. The theme of this year's festival is "Migration Story" which aims to focus on various experiences in migration, Hu said.