Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday rejected reports that the office instructed the Executive Yuan to find other places for celebrations of the Muslim feast Eid al-Fitr, after the lobby of Taipei Railway Station was packed with Muslim celebrants on Sunday.
Chen’s comments were in response to reports by media outlets, including the Chinese-language United Daily News, critical of the order the office supposedly gave the Executive Yuan on Tuesday. Chen yesterday said the Presidential Office had “no intent to prevent the event from being held in the station’s lobby.”
“It has been our policy to respect the cultural diversity of various communities and we hope that considerations can also be made for public safety,” he said.
Chen said the recent dust explosion at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City on June 27 has highlighted the importance of managing public safety at events that large numbers of people attend.
Thousands of Indonesians gathered at the station on Sunday to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, also known as the Feast of Breaking the Fast, which marked the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
Sunday’s event was among the subjects discussed on Tuesday at a regular platform meeting between officials from the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to exchange views about current affairs, as the turnout of about 60,000 caught the attention of the public, Chen said.
Chen said the office reminded the Executive Yuan of factors to be taken into account in providing a pubic venue for a mass gathering, including its capacity, whether equipment and supplies for public safety are ready for the event and whether there would be a better locale for the event.
“What we are concerned about is public safety at mass gatherings, not the venue for the event,” Chen said.
There should be necessary measures in place to ensure safety regardless of whether the event is to be held in the station’s lobby and the principle should apply to other types of festivals involving large numbers of people, Chen said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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