In modern Taiwan, old-fashioned businesses offering such services as the removal of facial hair or umbrella repairs are disappearing.
But through the works of 22 Taiwanese artists in an exhibition titled "Business from Old Taiwan -- The Artist's View," a glimpse of more than 30 businesses from the nation's old economy could be seen yesterday at the Taipei Story House.
Images of some of the tools, products and services of the businesses that played an important role in the nation's economic development in the 1950s and 1960s -- ranging from pictures of popcorn carts, to old dime stores and shoe shiners -- are displayed on the walls.
Works of art that incorporate the ribs of umbrellas, and paintings of the old businesses also tell the story of a simpler time and an earlier phase of the country's development.
At the opening ceremony for the exhibition, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"When I was a kid, all my school uniforms and sweaters were either made or modified by my mother. Seeing this reminds me of previous times," Ma said yesterday while examining a model of a sewing machine at the exhibition.
Ma also expects the house to continue to tell more old stories in a creative way.
Established three years ago, the Taipei Story House is the former Yuanshan Villa, which was constructed in 1913 by a rich tea merchant from Taipei's Dadaocheng district as a meeting place for high society gentlemen and a recreational spot for members of the owner's family.
The villa was listed by the Taipei City Government as a Class III historical site in 1998 and was remodeled to become the Taipei Story House.
The inaugurator of the house, Chen Kuo-tzu (
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods