■CONTESTS
‘Young Diplomats’ opens
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has begun accepting applications for the annual “Young Diplomats” competition, which sends outstanding senior high school students overseas to broaden their international perspectives, a ministry official said yesterday. The competition, which attracts participants from more than 140 school teams every year, seeks to improve students’ English skills and increase their interest in international affairs. Each senior high and vocational school can recommend a four-member team to enter the first round of the competition, which includes talent and English speaking contests. A total of 18 teams will enter the final round in December, where talent shows, impromptu English speaking contests and a quiz testing contestants’ knowledge of international affairs and diplomatic etiquette, will be held. The top 10 teams will receive certificates of merit and cash prizes, while the top three teams will be dispatched abroad on diplomatic missions during the winter and summer vacations, the official said.
■TRANSPORT
KRTC welcomes bikes
The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) will allow passengers to take their bikes on board trains during a trial starting on Sept. 20, the company said yesterday. In a press release, KRTC said that any non-powered bicycles less than 120cm high, 180cm long and 70cm in wide would be allowed on and off trains at designated stations on the north-south Red Line between 10am and 4pm on weekdays and between 6am and 1pm and 8pm and 11pm on holidays. The designated stations include Siaogang (小港), Caoya (草衙), Cianjhen Senior High School, Shihjia (獅甲), Houyi (後驛), Aozihdi (凹仔底), Ecological District, World Games, Nanzih Export Processing Zone, Houjing (後勁), Metropolitan Park, Ciaotou Sugar Refinery and Ciaotou (橋頭). Passengers traveling with a bicycle will be charged NT$100 per ride, the company said, adding that the trial period would last three months.
■SOCIETY
Lottery winner donates
A lottery winner donated NT$9.6 million (US$302,000) to underprivileged families during a ceremony at the Taipei County Government office yesterday. The money was presented on the donor’s behalf by Taipei Lottery chairman Shan Jui-chiang (尚瑞強) to Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋). Shan said lottery winners are usually willing to donate part of their winnings to charity. “Most first-prize winners are happy to do something for society and this is why the company often asks them if they would be willing to donate to charity,” Shan said, adding that the winner was a civil servant in the Taipei County Government. It is estimated that 110,000 underprivileged families in the county will benefit from the donor’s generosity, Shan said.
■ACTIVITIES
Barbecue at crematorium
The Taoyuan County Funeral Service Industry Association said that anyone interested in a free barbecue on Mid-Autumn Festival should head for the funeral home in Jhongli (中壢). Last year, the association organized a barbecue for more than 1,000 people at the funeral home, while all six cremation furnaces were working. Because of the smell emanating from the furnaces, very few people, aside from employees and their families, took part in the activity. This year, the furnaces will be closed in the afternoon during the barbecue, the association said. The barbecue will take place between 4pm and 10pm on Friday.
■HEALTH AND SAFETY
Labels for food containers
The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection has revised its regulations for reusable plastic food containers, requiring all such containers to carry labels showing whether they are microwave-safe or can withstand boiling water. The new regulations do not cover disposable plastic food containers meant for one-time use. According to the revised regulations, in addition to having a “microwave-safe” label, all microwavable food containers must also come with a description in Chinese informing consumers that they should not place such a container directly over a fire. Bureau officials said that many office workers prefer to use plastic containers as their lunch boxes because they are light and easy to carry. They said, however, that if a container not meant for microwaving is used improperly, it could cause harmful chemicals to seep into the food.
■ENVIRONMENT
Barbecuers beware
Kaohsiung City’s Public Works Bureau’s maintenance department said yesterday that it would dispatch two patrolmen to each of the city’s parks on the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival to check for violations of park laws. The patrolmen will especially be on the lookout for people barbecuing within the parks’ boundaries during the festival, which falls on Sunday this year, the office said. Roasting meat outdoors has become a tradition during the Mid-Autumn Festival. According to the office’s tallies, there are a total of 331 parks and public green spaces in the city, each of which will be patrolled on the holiday. Officials said that anyone caught holding barbecues within the parks’ boundaries will be fined up to NT$3,000.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
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