The Islamic spirit of standing in awe of the supreme God, upholding peace and justice, helping the weak and the poor, promoting social stability, being content with what one is and working hard is what Taiwan needs most at present, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday.
Chen urged Muslims in Taiwan to introduce the doctrine and spirit of Islam to their compatriots to enhance exchanges between the Islamic community and various other sectors of society.
The president made the remarks during a meeting with a Taiwanese Muslim delegation which recently concluded an annual pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Chen said that this is the fourth consecutive year that he has met the returning Muslim pilgrims and said that through the meeting, he hopes to express the government's concern for the development of Islam to promote religious harmony.
Chen said that the government always pays great attention to religious development and encourages all religions in Taiwan to communicate with one another to promote mutual tolerance and respect and to serve as a driving force for stability, peace and prosperity.
Although there are only 50,000 to 60,000 Muslims in Taiwan, the minority religion is respected and enjoys full protection under the country's laws, he said.
With more than 2.5 million Muslims from over 170 countries making the pilgrimage to Mecca this year, and after hundreds of people were killed in a tragic stampede, it is fortunate that all the pilgrims from Taiwan returned home safe and sound, he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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