■ Society
Tu red-faced after boo-boo
Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) has become a laughing stock by accidentally sending a wrongly-worded funeral scroll to the family of a late professor. In the Chinese-style funeral scroll, instead of yin rong wan zai (音容宛在) or "his voice and appearance seem to be still with us," the script reads yin rong yuan zai (音容苑在) or "his voice and appearance are garden," cable news network TVBS said. The Chinese words wan (宛) and yuan (苑) look similar with "yuan" having two crosses on top of the character "wan." An embarrassed Tu apologized to the family, saying the scroll was not written by him, but by a security guard working for the education ministry. More embarrassing is the fact that the guard already wrote 100 copies of such scrolls and a number of them have already been sent out, TVBS said.
■ Crime
Taiwanese man in drug bust
A 26-year-old Taiwanese man has been arrested for attempting to smuggle more than 33,000 ecstasy pills into Indonesia, a customs official said yesterday. Customs officials at Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta international airport arrested a man surnamed Pao on Friday after finding the drugs disguised as gift boxes in his luggage upon arriving from Taiwan, customs official Siswo Murwono told reporters. Police estimated the drugs to be worth one billion rupiah (US$108,000) and said Pao had admitted working as a courier for a Taiwan-based international drug syndicate. Under Indonesia's tough narcotics law, Pao could be sentenced to death if found guilty in court. Indonesia has increasingly become a transit route and market for drug traffickers despite the threat of the death penalty.
■ Society
Black history marked in film
A mini-film festival will be held today and next Sunday by the Descendants of African People (DAP) to celebrate Black History Month. In the US, the month of February is observed as Black History Month, which celebrates the accomplishments of blacks in history. The festival will include showings of the hit comedy series In Living Color and the films Ray and Ali. The films will run from 6pm-10pm at BLISS at 148 Xinyi Road, Section 4. The entry fee is NT$200, which includes refreshments. The DAP is a social organization for the black community. It holds monthly activities to educate the Taiwanese community about black culture and provide a sense of community for those of African descent living in Taiwan.
■ Arts
Museum recruits volunteers
The National Taiwan Museum in Taipei City has decided to recruit volunteers for its cultural affairs, museum officials said yesterday. People who want to volunteer should be at least 18 years old and should be able to offer service for at least eight hours per month for one year. People skilled in providing online services, offering first aid or videotaping are preferred, they said. The duties of the museum volunteers will include screening films, answering visitors' questions and watching over the museum's exhibits. A ceremony at the museum will take place every year for outstanding volunteers, who will then be recommended to the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs for selection as national outstanding volunteers, they said. Those interested in volunteering can send their resume to the National Taiwan Museum before March 10 or visit the museum's Web site at www.ntm.gov.tw for more information.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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