Taiwanese politicians and celebrities have joined in on one of the latest trends making the rounds on social media in which a person films themselves pouring ice water on their head, posts the video online to raise awareness for a paralyzing disease and challenges others to repeat the feat in 24 hours or donate money to the cause.
Sean Lien (連勝文), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate in the Nov. 29 Taipei mayoral race, yesterday posted a clip on Facebook of him dumping ice water over himself in a park in the capital, becoming one of the latest participants in the Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral meme meant to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Those who are challenged must choose between a frigid shower and donating US$100 to fund research into the incurable illness; many often do both.
Photo: CNA
Lien and his main rival in the Taipei race, independent candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), were challenged by appWorks Ventures cofounder Jamie Lin (林之晨), who took the plunge a day earlier.
After his icy shower, Lien challenged Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華).
Ko took the plunge last night and then challenged Broadcasting Corp of China (中廣公司) chairman Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康), Taiwanese comedian Kuo Tzu-chien (郭子乾) and Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖) to do it.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of Sean Lien’s campaign office
Also drenching himself with cold water last night was National Development Council Minister Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), who was also challenged by Lin.
Kuan in turn has challenged newly sworn-in Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍), Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) and National Taiwan University president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池).
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. If often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis.
Liu Yen-chu (劉延鉅), head of the Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association, which treats people with ALS, poured ice water over himself yesterday in Taipei to show his support for the campaign and challenged Japan-based Taiwanese baseball star Yang Dai-kang (陽岱鋼) to participate.
Liu said he chose Yang because the latter had something in common with the US man who turned the Ice Bucket Challenge from a fad into a campaign: Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball player who was diagnosed with the disease in 2012.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching