A 21-year-old woman on Wednesday night committed suicide by jumping off a bridge at Bitan (碧潭) scenic spot in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Sindian District (新店), reportedly after failing to find a stable job for three consecutive years.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that at about 10pm on Wednesday, Lin Chih-han (林芷涵) left her handbag with the guards near the bridge, saying she would be right back, before jumping off the bridge.
Lin’s parents are divorced and she lived with her sisters, brother and her mother in their grandmother’s house in Taipei, the report said.
Although Lin’s mother has a job, Lin’s grandmother gathers recyclables to supplement the family’s income. Lin reportedly did not want her grandmother to have to work.
Lin had worked part-time since junior-high school and gave all her earnings to her grandmother, the report said, adding that she did not apply for college after graduating from high school in 2010, a decision that might have been based on the family’s financial situation.
Lin eventually found a job at a small company after a long search, the report said, adding that she quit the job earlier this year due to irregular work hours and pay and was unemployed until June, when she was contracted by a biotech company to sell health products she bought from the company.
Lin left the company in August and was unemployed until late last month, when she was hired as a waitress at a hot-pot restaurant, where she worked for two days, on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30, before quitting, the report said.
The owner of the restaurant was quoted as saying that Lin was hard-working and did not seem out of sorts in the company of her colleagues.
He said that Lin had mentioned in passing that she might commit suicide, but he had thought she was joking.
Both Lin’s grandmother and mother were quoted by the Apple Daily as saying that Lin was the epitome of filial piety, adding that they considered taking her to the doctor for counseling because she was emotionally unstable after recently breaking up with her boyfriend.
Commenting on the case, Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Sun You-lien (孫友聯) said the base salary of NT$22,000 (US$750) usually offered to young people made them feel they were achieving less, but working more hours, adding that such working conditions may lead to a sense of disappointment and despair.
Data from the Directorate-General of Budget Accounting and Statistics showed that the unemployment rate between January and October averaged 4.19 percent.
However, 9.4 percent of people under the age of 29 were unemployed, or about 224,000 people, and 13.71 percent of people between the ages of 20 and 24 were unemployed, or about 106,000 people.
Yang Tsung-tsai (楊聰財) at the Geng Sin Psychiatric Clinic in New Taipei City said young people should at least have three friends or family members with whom they feel comfortable talking about personal issues when they are going through hard times at work or are feeling down.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS