■ POLITICS
Eric Chu moves to Sanchong
Former vice premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) moved into his new residence in Sanchong City (三重), Taipei County, yesterday in preparation for November’s mayoral election, when Taipei County will be upgraded to a special municipality called Sinbei City. He paid courtesy calls on some of his neighbors, including the local borough chief, saying that he would develop Sanchong into “a beautiful waterfront city.” Chu, who is the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for Sinbei, said he would use his new residence as his campaign office. The KMT has pinned its hopes on him after various opinion polls showed that Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), also of the KMT, would likely lose a bid for re-election, leaving Chu as the party’s best choice.
■ MEDICAL
Families give thanks
The families of three organ recipients expressed thanks to the family of a retired Canadian teacher in Tainan City yesterday. Hans Lammens, who lived in Tainan with his wife Sandra Lammens, fell off his bicycle on May 7 and died five days later. Lammens’ wife, an English teacher at National Nanke International Experimental High School, decided to donate his organs, including his heart, kidneys, liver, cornea and sclera. The husband of a kidney recipient, identified only by his family name Liu, presented flowers to her yesterday at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Hospital, where the organ transplant surgery took place on May 13. “Finally, my wife does not need to live in the hospital anymore,” said Liu, whose wife was required to visit the hospital three times a week for kidney dialysis. The Lammens’ family also gave the organ donor’s funeral and burial subsidies to charities.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Ke Hsiang-ting passes away
Award-winning movie actor and founding member of a local trade union for actors, Ke Hsiang-ting (葛香亭), died on Sunday at his Taipei home at the age of 92. His family said his health had deteriorated in recent days and his children were at his bedside when he passed away. Born in China’s Jiangsu Province, Ke joined the military, where he began his acting career serving in the entertainment corps after arriving in Taiwan with the army. His involvement in the entertainment industry spanned six decades. He won a Golden Horse award in 1965 for best leading actor for his role in Beautiful Duckling and again in 1970 for The Evergreen Mountains. In 2005, he received a Golden Horse lifetime achievement award. Besides his work in front of the camera, he also worked to improve the welfare of those in the industry and in 1978 founded the Actor’s Union of the Republic of China.
■ POLITICS
Obesity survey awaited
NCKU announced yesterday that it would release the results of the country’s first university survey of the weights of students at the end of this month. NCKU authorities used the slogan “Check Your Weight, Before Losing It” to promote the survey, which was conducted last month. NCKU surveyed a total of 6,000 of its sophomores and juniors. The survey was aimed at spurring students to check their weight regularly, control their diet and get as much exercise as possible, the university said. NCKU authorities would not, however, take any action to force overweight students to lose weight, it said. Meanwhile, the university has invited nutritionists from NCKU Hospital to advise campus restaurants on how to offer low-fat, high-fiber meals to students.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
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