An extended family in Tainan County with 30 people registered under one household received NT$108,000 (US$3,200) in shopping vouchers yesterday.
The family, surnamed Wu (吳), from Chiangchun Township (將軍) had one representative pick up the big stack of vouchers the government is handing out to every citizen in the country to stimulate consumption and shore up the slumping retail sector.
The Wu family is actually entitled to receive vouchers worth NT$158,400 if the vouchers destined for the family’s 14 other members registered in separate households are included, head of the family Wu Chun-hui (吳俊輝) said.
PHOTO: WANG HAN-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
Wu said the family would obtain two more sets of the vouchers, worth NT$7,200, when two newborn babies arrive next month.
In related news, renowned Chinese brush painting artist Chang Chieh (張杰), who is famous for his paintings of lotus flowers, was just one of many who caught voucher fever, offering his paintings at a deep discount to give more people a chance to own one of his works.
Chang decided to sell 30cm-by-30cm lotus paintings that would usually fetch NT$30,000 for NT$3,600 yesterday, and over 110 people made reservations to take Chang up on his offer.
The 88-year-old artist composed new paintings on the spot at a Taipei art studio for the people lined up to meet him and watch him at his craft.
A man surnamed Hsiao (蕭) said he felt lucky to be the first buyer of one of Chang’s 30cm-by-30cm lotus works at a price barely more than 10 percent of what it would normally cost.
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