■ LEGISLATION
Vote on amendments looms
Legislators yesterday scheduled a vote on the Executive Yuan's request that the legislature reconsider recent amendments to the Farmers' Association Law (農會法) and the Fishermen's Association Law (漁會法) next Tuesday. The amendments cancel the three-term limits for the secretaries-general of the associations, lower requirements for the renewal of their posts, and stipulate that association staffers standing trial are not to be relieved of their jobs until a final verdict is delivered. Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), who said the two amendments would pave the way for the return of "black gold politics," is expected to brief the legislature on the rationale for the request on Monday. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), People First Party and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union caucuses said yesterday they would work together to vote down the request.
■ HEALTH
Hospitals join e-program
Ten major hospitals officially joined forces yesterday to transform patients' medical records into a digital format that can be easily shared between hospitals. The new system, called the Taiwan Electronic Medical Record Template, has been in the works since 2004. Participating hospitals include the Tri-Service General Hospital, Wanfang Hospital, Mackay Memorial Hospital and the Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The Department of Health said it expects more medical institutions to join the program, giving patients better access to their medical history.
■ DIPLOMACY
Ma gears up for trip
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit India and Singapore starting next Monday and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will endeavor to ensure he is treated courteously while passing through customs in the two countries. Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Donald Lee (李傳通) said yesterday that John Feng (馮寄台), a member of Ma's staff and a former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, would take charge of all the details regarding Ma's trip and that the ministry would only provide assistance if necessary. Ma will arrive in India next Monday, where he is to meet Indian officials and businessmen. Ma will then fly to Singapore on June 13 and is scheduled to return to Taipei on June 15.
■ CRIME
Scooter used by killer found
Head of the Sindian (新店) branch of the Taipei County Police Department Chang Yu-chin (張裕錦) said yesterday that police had found the scooter used by by the individual who shot Taipei County councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九). The scooter was found yesterday morning by patrolling police officers next to Qingfeng Park (清峰公園) on Xinhai Road (辛亥路) in Taipei City. After examination, police found that the scooter had been stolen on May 23. The license plate on the scooter had only been reported missing last Monday. The owner told the police he had not noticed his license plate was missing for two weeks. Heavy rain prior to the discovery of the scooter erased important clues that may have been found on the scooter. Police, however, said they had been able to lift a partial fingerprint from the vehicle.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching