The Leofoo Village Theme Park (六福村主題遊樂園) in Hsinchu County yesterday apologized for any misunderstanding caused by its discount policy for the 228 Memorial Day weekend, following criticism that its commercialization of the event was disrespectful to victims of the tragedy.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, against the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) authoritarian regime and the resulting brutal crackdown that left tens of thousands dead and led to nearly four decades of martial law.
In 1997, Feb. 28 was designated a national holiday.
SCreen grab by Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
To mark the holiday this year, the theme park announced that it was offering a discount from today to Monday: People with two 2’s and one 8 in their national identification number, or whose Chinese zodiac sign is the Monkey, would be able to buy tickets for the price of NT$228.
The discount is to apply for the duration of the long weekend, the park said.
The Soochow University student association yesterday criticized the policy and said the theme park should not seek to make gains at the expense of the victims, adding that the theme park should issue a public apology.
The association said it was canceling all previously agreed public-relations activities with the park.
Saying the public had misunderstood its policy, park officials said Leofoo Village had no intention of “celebrating” the event, but that it respected the student association’s opinions on the matter.
They said that while the park held some events with several departments at the university last year, there are no planned events this year.
The theme park also adjusted its discount policy to include people who has the numbers 227, 228, and 229 in their national identification numbers. The discount for people whose zodiac sign is the Monkey remains unchanged, it said.
“Our marketing division will take this incident as a lesson and will be more careful in the future,” the park said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS