■SOCIETY
Man threatens to sue casino
A Taiwanese man who lost US$2 million in Las Vegas is threatening to sue the casino for using feng shui to cause his losing streak, media reported yesterday. The man, surnamed Yuan (袁), alleged that the Venetian dug a 1m² square hole in the wall of the presidential suite he was staying at in April last year and covered it with a black cloth, media reports said, adding that the casino also put two white towels in front of Yuan’s suite and turned on two large fans facing his room. Yuan claimed that his luck turned bad after discovering the arrangements and that he went from winning US$400,000 to losing US$2 million. “We Chinese drape black and white cloths only when there is a death in the family. It is such a taboo for regular people, let alone for gamblers,” Yuan was quoted as saying in the Chinese-language Apply Daily. Yuan filed a complaint against the Venetian after returning to Taiwan and demanded the cancellation of the US$2 million debt to the casino, half of it on credit, the paper said. The casino has promised to refund him US$100,000 in cash and the same amount in chips, the paper said, without explaining why it had agreed to this.
■SOCIETY
Visa applications welcomed
Application for working holidays in Japan will be accepted starting today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. All Republic of China citizens aged between 18 and 30 are welcome to apply for the one-year visa. No knowledge of Japanese is required. This is the first time that Taiwan and Japan have implemented a working holiday deal. A total of 2,000 openings are available and the figure could increase if feedback is positive, the ministry said. For more information visit: www.koryu.or.jp/taipei-tw/ez3_contents.nsf/Top.
■ENVIRONMENT
EPA to host seminar
To strengthen international cooperation on global atmospheric monitoring, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) will host a seminar in Taipei on Tuesday with representatives from the US, Japan, South Korea and other countries. During the Second International Symposium on Atmospheric Observations and Advanced Measuring Techniques in Remote Areas, the EPA will share data collected at the Lulin Atmospheric Background Station (LABS) on Jade Mountain over the past three years. LABS, a background station built as per the UN’s Global Atmosphere Watch specifications, was constructed to monitor air pollutants carried by air currents in Asia. Since air pollutants are not limited to staying where they were generated, the purpose of such monitoring is to forecast pollutant-caused disasters such as acid rain, sand storms and smog.
■SOCIETY
Government eyes casino bill
The government will propose a draft bill to regulate casinos by the end of this year if a referendum on the construction of casino resorts is approved by residents in Penghu County, Minister Without Portfolio Tsai Tsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) said yesterday. The Offshore Islands Development Act (離島建設條例), amended by the legislature early this year, allows construction of casinos on the islands if more than 50 percent of the locals agree to it in a referendum. The Penghu County Government has submitted an application with the Referendum Review Commission of the Executive Yuan to initiate a referendum on the issue, although it has yet to collect a sufficient number of signatures to put it to a popular vote.
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