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Taiwan Quick Take

■ Culture
Pingsi to host Shaolin center
The country's first Shaolin cultural center and kungfu school is scheduled to be constructed in Taipei County's Pingsi Township (平溪), Tzou Yung-hsiang (鄒永祥), the founder of the Shaolin Development Corp, said at a press conference yesterday. Tzou said the corporation decided to change the site from Taoyuan County's Tasi Township (大溪) to Pingsi as the latter offers 168 hectares of land compared with the former, which has only 2 hectares available. The site is in the mountains north of the Pingsi railway station. With an estimated total investment of NT$5 billion, construction of the center is expected to be completed in 2012. Tzou said that the idea of building the center, the 18th Shaolin ritual place in the 1,512 years of Shaolin kungfu's history, is to fulfill the hope expressed by Shaolin Abbot Shih Yongxin during a 2004 visit to Taiwan. Shih will visit Taiwan again in July to introduce Shaolin kungfu.

■ Health
MOI to fund facility
The Ministry of the Interior announced yesterday it would give the Bethesda Assisted Care Facility in Hualien NT$8.26 million (US$251,000) to help the home for the disabled construct a new facility and provide it with computers, phones and other equipment. Bethesda applied to the Cabinet for government assistance last November after discovering it lacked the funds to build a new assisted-care facility, a ministry press release said. The project is compatible with the ministry's social welfare policy, which seeks to provide assistance to private organizations devoted to taking care of the underprivileged, it said. Bethesda provides assisted-care services to the mentally and physically challenged, according to its Web site. The ministry encouraged similar social welfare organizations to apply to the government for financial assistance.

■ Oil
CPC cuts LPG prices
CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) announced yesterday it will lower the prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to reflect the declining costs of energy, effective midnight tonight. The company said it will cut the price of household LPG by NT$0.3 per kg, or 1.4 percent, to NT$21.11. That will lower the price of a 20kg household gas cylinder by NT$6, CPC said on its Web site. CPC will also reduce the price of LPG for cars by NT$0.3 per liter to NT$16.6, or 1.78 percent, it added.

■ Crime
Fake nun unveiled
Police have arrested a fake Buddhist nun who was suspected of stealing money from temples, a newspaper said yesterday. The woman, surnamed Hsu, started masquerading as a Buddhist nun last September to make it easier to steal, the Chinese-language United Daily News said. Since then, she has stayed at many Buddhist temples in Kaohsiung County and allegedly stolen cash and valuables from the temples. Hsu, 46, had also hitchhiked and made off with valuables from the cars. On Friday, patrol police in Kaohsiung County saw Hsu begging for alms but found her actions suspicious. When they checked her cloth bag, which is part of the Buddhist attire, they found a stack of fake banknotes and a condom. Hsu claimed she was carrying the fake money and the condom for a Buddhist prayer meeting. Under police questioning, Hsu admitted she was the "fake nun" whom police had been hunting.

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