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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ CRIME

Man sentenced over heroin

A Cambodian court sentenced a Taiwanese man to 22 years in prison for trying to smuggle 0.8kg of heroin out of Cambodia, a court official said yesterday. Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Chhay Kong said he sentenced Lin Ko-chih, 41, on Tuesday. Lin was also handed a fine of 60 million riel (US$15,000). Police arrested Lin in October last year after finding heroin in his clothes when he checked in for a flight to Taiwan at Phnom Penh’s international airport. Nou Chantha, Lin’s lawyer, said the heroin belonged to Lin’s best friend, who had asked him to bring a substance to Taiwan to be used in the production of make-up. The lawyer said he would appeal.



■ ENVIRONMENT

Taichung hikes trash fees

The Taichung City Government’s Environmental Protection Bureau said yesterday that garbage treatment fees in the city would be raised from the start of next year to reflect increased transportation and waste disposal costs. The bureau said garbage fees in the city have been unchanged for seven years, while waste treatment costs have increased by NT$400 per tonne. If treatment fees are not raised, the city could face a garbage crisis, the bureau said. In Taichung City, a household’s garbage treatment fees are calculated based on its monthly water bill. The bureau said the garbage treatment fee for households with running water would be raised by NT$0.9 per cubic meter of water used, while the fee for households without running water would increase by NT$13.5 per month.



■ EDUCATION

US seeks Chinese teachers

The US College Board will send a representative to recruit Chinese-language teaching personnel in Taiwan next month as part of an educational agreement between the two countries, the Ministry of Education said on Tuesday. Recruited teachers will teach Chinese language and culture under the Advanced Placement Program during the 2009-2010 academic year. The program, run by the College Board, offers college-level courses at high schools across the US and Canada. The representative will recruit three to seven Taiwanese teachers with college degrees and teaching licenses who can speak fluent English and who have experience teaching Chinese as a second language, the statement said. They will receive annual salaries ranging from US$30,000 to US$60,000, with Taiwan’s Ministry of Education subsidizing their travel fees, it said. More information and application forms are available on the ministry’s Web site. Enrollment ends on June 27.



■ CULTURE

Puppet troupe to play in US

A troupe from the renowned Liao Wen-ho Puppet Theater (廖文和布袋戲團) is scheduled to perform in two US cities later this month. Tsai Chung-li (蔡仲禮), director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office’s press division, said the troupe would perform three shows at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington on Saturday and Sunday next week and two shows at the Open Stage in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 24. The troupe will perform the Chinese classic Journey to the West as well as its adaptation of The Master Swordsman. The Liao Wen-ho Puppet Theater, established in 1976, combines traditional and modern artistic styles in its performances, which feature multimedia and sound and light effects.


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