A multihued rice paddy in Pingtung County that was planted so that the rice stalks would resemble Line characters was harvested on Monday, with the rice offered for sale over the Internet to raise money for social welfare services.
The paddy, on the border of Nanzhou (南州) and Donggang (東港) townships, was planted with rice stalks of different hues in a design created by Lin Ching-yuan (林清源), and attracted more than 660,000 visitors over the past three months, Pingtung County Government officials said.
Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) said the event demonstrated the capability of average farmers, adding that the proceeds from the sale of the 4.5 tonnes of rice via the Line Mart platform would fund social welfare subsidies in the county.
Photo: Courtesy of the Pingtung County Government
Line is a Japanese smartphone communications application that was launched in 2011.
Pan and more than 10 county councilors were on hand to watch the harvest, as well as Line Corp’s representative in Taiwan, Liao Wan-ing (廖婉寧).
The field depicted the figures of Line characters — Brown the bear, Coney the rabbit, James and Chief Moon. The figures are to be preserved for the time being, the county government said.
Graduating students from Donggang’s Datan Elementary School harvested the grain that they had helped plant.
The students said they felt a great sense of achievement that they would be able to eat rice that they harvested and that being able to experience part of a farmer’s life had been memorable.
Liao said that Line was glad to allow its products to be used to help those in need, adding that some Line fans continued to ask if Line-themed red bean cakes made from red beans harvested in Pingtung’s Wandan Township (萬丹) were still available.
That promotion has ended.
Jingzaitou Community development association director-general Shih Chien-min (施建民) said more than 100,000 of the red bean cakes had been sold during the promotion, raising NT$850,000.
The money would be used to fund the delivery of meals to elderly residents living alone in the community, Shih said.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS