SOCIETY
Chemistry exhibit opens
A new permanent exhibition about chemical science was opened to the public yesterday at the National Taiwan Science Education Center in Taipei. The center said the exhibition, titled “Exploring the World of Chemistry,” was aimed at changing the common perception that chemistry is difficult to understand. The exhibition has imported from England a display of objects made from 65 different elements, hoping to help visitors learn about the elements in a more friendly way than memorizing the periodic table, center director Chu Nan-shyan (朱楠賢) said. Information on how to keep beef juicy while cooking, how to make fruit juice without actual fruit, how clothes can by made by petroleum, the size of molecules and other questions related to people’s daily lives can be learned during a visit to the exhibition, the center said.
LABOR
Office workers want new jobs
Up to 82.33 percent of the nation’s office workers want to land a new job before the Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 10 next year, because of the economic slowdown, a recent survey showed. Among those interested in getting a new job, 36.7 percent said they were planning to do it earlier than expected due to the potential instability of their current jobs, according to the poll conducted by 1111 Job Bank. However, 26.07 percent said they were more cautious about making changes in their careers out of concern about the weak labor market. Slow economic growth has led to a diverging trends, with some workers speeding up job-change plans to avoid salary freezes, unpaid leave or even layoffs, while others are delaying similar moves, the online job agency said.
CRIME
Mob boss’ sentence upheld
The Taiwan Supreme Court on Friday upheld the life sentence given to an organized crime boss who ordered an execution-style killing in 2010. Yang Ding-jung (楊定融), was accused of ordering Liao Kuo-hao (廖國豪), who had yet to turn 18 at the time, to kill Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠), someone against whom Yang held a grudge, in broad daylight at Weng’s office in Taichung on May 28, 2010. A friend of Weng surnamed Lai (賴) was also killed in the shooting. The Taichung District Court sentenced Yang to life imprisonment for manslaughter and stripped his civil rights for life. The verdict and sentence were upheld by the Taichung branch of the High Court, which found that Yang instructed Liao to murder Weng and then let Liao shoulder the blame. The Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts. Its ruling is final. The high-profile case drew attention not only because of the execution-style killing in broad daylight, but because it was later discovered that police officers were sitting around relaxing in Weng’s office at the time of the shooting.
TOURISM
Double-entry permits offered
Taipei will offer Chinese tourists double-entry permits to encourage them to take cruises in and out of Taiwan, National Immigration Agency Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) said yesterday. Under the new measure, which will take effect on Tuesday, Chinese tourists may apply for a double-entry permit if they can show tickets for cruises from any port in the country or documents showing a reservations for such trips, Hsieh said. The double-entry permit will allow the tourists to arrive in the country, either by plane or on a cruise ship, and then enter Taiwan again on a cruise ship that leaves and then returns to Taiwan.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
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