Taiwan Quick Take

■ Culture
Hakka festival to open
The "Elegant Meinung" festival opens on Oct. 26 with a ceremony in front of Meinung's old township office, including performances and parades staged by local Hakka groups. The festival will be held until Nov. 16, and will close with a second ceremony at the Meinung Hakka Historic Museum. Various exhibitions, films and cuisine fairs will also be staged. Free bus tours of Meinung and surrounds will also be available Saturday and Sunday during this period. A bicycle tour also starts at 3pm on Nov. 9 and a Hakka rock'n'roll show starts at 3pm on Nov. 15. The museum will also hold several Hakka-related performances and exhibitions. For further details visit the Kaohsiung County Bureau of Cultural Affairs Web site (http://163.29.243.4/web/eng/en11_01.asp#30).

■ Crime
Murders rise slightly
The number of murders in Taiwan rose slightly last year, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, with arguments still the leading catalyst for homicide. The Cabinet agency said 1,156 people were murdered last year, up 84 from the previous year. It said arguments were behind 36 percent of the killings, followed by revenge (15.2 percent) and impulse (12.3 percent). Eight percent of the convicted murderers were teenagers, 1.1 percentage point higher than the previous year. Of the victims, 23 percent were women. According to the survey, more than 33 percent of the murders were committed between 7pm and midnight, nearly 17 percent between midnight and 3am and about 15 percent between noon and 5pm.

■ Business
Singapore company sued
A company in Singapore is being sued for illegally selling copies of the hit TV drama Meteor Garden II. Spin Video was accused of hawking illegal VCDs of the show starring the popular boy band F4, taped off the air in Taiwan, The Straits Times said. The sole licensee of the program in Singapore, Alliance Entertainment Singapore, alleged in court on Monday that Spin Video offered hundreds of VCDs of the show even after a court injunction was obtained in January ordering it to stop selling them. The plaintiff's lawyer said police raids netted more than 800 sets of VCDs. Spin Video denied any copyright infringement. The firm said it imported genuine products from a Malaysian company with the knowledge of the copyright owners and exclusive licensee. One of the companies suing Spin Video is Speedy Video distributors, which has a license from Taiwanese distributor, Catalyst Logic, to distribute the film in Malaysia and Singapore.

■ Sport
Fans protest ticket system
Two baseball fans yesterday said ticket sales for the Chinese Professional Baseball League's 2003 Taiwan Series had been interfered with by privileged baseball fans. Scores of fans were left ticketless despite having waited more than 30 hours for the box office to open on Saturday. Accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Chi-fang (蔡啟芳), the two fans accused the teams and authorities of colluding with prominent businesspeople in hiding tickets to give to their cronies, to the detriment of less-well-connected spectators. Tsai condemned the bad management of the ticketing office and the influence of the businesspeople.