A Penghu County family that won a free year-long holiday on one of the archipelago’s uninhabited islands on Friday has decided to auction the prize.
The family decided to sell the prize because it was not practical, the father said.
Yeh Sheng-chin (葉生進) said he felt that his two young children would not be able to spend that much time on the island.
The Yeh family decided to sell their rights online, but because of a lack of computer skills, they asked the Penghu County Government for help.
The decision came after four-year-old Yeh Chien-wei (葉千維) won the prize in a lucky draw.
The draw was part of an incentive to get people to spend their NT$3,600 consumer vouchers — distributed to all Taiwanese on Jan. 18 as part of government plans to boost the economy — in Penghu to boost the local area’s economy.
The prize entitled the winner to spend three days and two nights per month for a period of one year on the uninhabited Sianjiaoyu (險礁島) islet, which has become a popular vacation spot after serving as the main setting for the romantic TV drama series The Plain Summer.
The prize also allowed the winner to invite seven other people to join in the vacation, with the package covering ferry services, villa accommodation, meals, waterside activities and cruises to neighboring islands.
Worrying that his children were too young to enjoy such a prize, Yeh Sheng-chin said he and his wife decided to auction the NT$480,000 vacation package.
“I hope somebody who really loves to spend time on the uninhabited islet gets the prize. The money he or she pays can serve as an education fund for my children,” he said.
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