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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by