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Taiwan News Quick Take

■LABOR

Bureaucrats get 110 days off

Government employees will have a total of 110 days off next year, the Executive Yuan’s Central Personnel Administration said yesterday as it unveiled next year’s work schedule for civil servants. Holiday periods of three or more days will include the Lunar New Year break between Jan. 24 and Feb. 1 and the Dragon Boat Festival from May 28 and May 31. The work schedule only applies to government employees, the administration said. If a folk holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, the Friday or Monday of that week will be given as a holiday so that employees can enjoy a long weekend. However, employees will be required to make up the extra day off by working the Saturday in the week before or following the holiday weekend, the administration said. The adjustments will not apply to memorial holidays such as the Founding Day of the Republic of China, 228 Peace Memorial Day and Double Ten National Day.



■SOCIETY

Red House invites ‘ghosts’

To celebrate ghost month, the arts market in front of the Red House Theater in Ximending is inviting the public to put on “ghostly” makeup and clothes and join various activities from today to Sunday. More than 20 booths will hand out free ghost masks and other creative products during the event starting at 2pm today. Visitors are encouraged to dress up “as ghostly as possible,” and could receive vouchers worth up to NT$2,000 for the best costumes, according to the Art and Lifestyle Association of Taiwan. The event will also feature an exhibition of gods often worshiped during ghost month, including Chiye (七爺, Seventh Lord) Baye (八爺, Eighth Lord) and Zhong Kui (鍾馗).



■POLITICS

Chiu sentenced for slander

The Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) to 25 days in jail or a fine of NT$22,500 for calling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) “ugly.” Kuan and former DPP legislators had accused Chiu of fabricating allegations against other politicians at the Legislature on Nov. 18, 2005. In response, Chiu said to Kuan: “You are an ugly woman, even by the kindest standards.” Kuan responded by filing the slander suit against Chiu, who now has 10 days to appeal. While Chiu was in China yesterday and could not be reached for comment, Kuang said in a statement: “This is a victory for all my fellow women. It is also a warning to chauvinists.”



■CULTURE

Festival to end with samba

This year’s Luodong Fringe Festival, sponsored by Ilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東), will culminate tomorrow with a street parade of 20 floats and teams of samba dancers, along with 61 performance teams from Taiwan and abroad. Township chief Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢) told reporters on Thursday that the samba dancers and foreign performers from Brazil, Mexico, the US and Thailand would join teams from Taipei, Keelung, Nantou, Taitung and Ilan County in the two-hour parade starting at 4pm. The festival, now in its seventh year, is modeled on Scotland’s Edinburgh International Festival and France’s Avignon Dramatic Art Festival. The annual event features modern dance and music performances, a national street dance competition, performances by rock bands and elementary-school orchestras and children’s films from the US, the UK, France, Germany Italy, Spain, China, India, Thailand and Taiwan.


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