By next year, the Taipei City Government will have integrated Romanization of its "index doorplates" on 24 major streets and replaced the numbering street system with the Romanization of street names.
The "index doorplates" are the A3-sized doorplates, which come in various colors, displayed in front of buildings at a 30m interval on 353 roads and streets wider than 12m to help drivers and passengers identify address more easily.
The "index doorplate" system was established in 1999. Today, 8,574 doorplates are displayed throughout the city.
While the transliteration of Chinese road names already appears on most doorplates, the index doorplates on 24 major streets -- including Zhongxiao E Road, Renai Road and Civic Boulevard -- were given Roman serial numbers.
The city government adopted a numbering system on 24 major streets in 2000 under then-Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九 to help foreigners memorize and identify roads by adding English names on street signs.
Heping E and W roads, for example, were called 1st Blvd, while Xinyi Road became 2nd Blvd.
Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Huang Hsiang-chun (黃向群 criticized the Taipei City's Civil Affairs Department on Monday over the baffling doorplate Romanization systems and urged the department to review the Romanization of index doorplates.
An English index doorplate on second section of Bade Road, Huang said, read "Sec 2 Bade Rd." On the fourth section of the road, however, the doorplate became "6th Blvd."
Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦如), commissioner of the department, acknowledged yesterday that the incoherent Romanizations were confusing. He promised to use Romanization on the 24 major streets by next year.
The department will also add 4,451 index doorplates on 24 major streets, as residents have reacted positively to the system, he said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese