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.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
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