Joining the worldwide celebration of the 200 anniversary of Hans Christian Anderson's birthday, about 140 Taipei children were transformed yesterday into little mermaids, ugly ducklings and other fairy-tale characters in honor of the famous Danish writer and his immortal stories.
The Hsin Yi Foundation, an organization that helps the poor and gives scholarships to promote early childhood education, held an"Anderson Fairy Tales Characters' Dress Up Party" yesterday morning in front of the Eslite flagship bookstore in Taipei that drew hundreds of children and their parents.
Among those attending the party was Yu Fang-chih (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"Fairy tales play an important role in a child's life. Like many of the parents here, I used to tell stories to my daughters every day when she was little. With more local fairy tale writers now in Taiwan, I think modern children are very luck to have more diverse storybooks to choose from," Yu said.
The director of the Danish Trade Organization's Taipei Office, Flemming Aggergaard, shared his favorite Anderson fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling with the children in the party.
"It is a story that says that it is not the outside, but the inside counts," Aggregaard said.
Lauding the event for providing a link between children in Taiwan and Danish literature, Aggreggard said it was a great privilege to participate in a party that celebrated an outstanding writer from his country.
"I am glad to see that the effects of Anderson's fairy tales have traveled so far. Anderson was an extraordinary figure whose ideas spread to every corner of the world ? I hope the interest of Anderson's works will attract friends in Taiwan to visit Denmark," he said.
Hsin Yi Foundation executive director Chang Sing-ju (
"The world has become a much more complicated place with diverse information for our children today. Anderson's works provide positive philosophies and I believe our children can benefit much more by reading his fairy tales, compared to watching TV or browsing online" Chang said.
Siew Yu-jay (
According to her mother, Siew loves reading storybooks and listening to bedside stories.
"I think this is a positive and meaningful event to show children's creativity and encourage their interest in reading," said Siew's mother, who wished not to be named.
Six-year-old Siew Fan-ju (
"In addition to reading storybooks, my daughter's school also encourages students to draw the stories they've read or listened, which is another wonderful way to cultivate children's reading ability and creativity," said Tsai Yi-ching (
Hans Christian Anderson was born on April 2, 1805 in Copenhagen. Many of his fairy tales depict characters who gain happiness in life after suffering and conflicts.
Among his most well-known tales are The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Princess and the Pea, The Nightingale and The Steadfast Tin Soldier.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS