Thousands of Muslims, many of whom are workers from Indonesia, yesterday gathered at Taipei Railway Station for Eid al-Fitr, a celebration that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
At 8am, Muslims began filling the lobby of the station, a favorite gathering spot for Southeast Asians in northern Taiwan at weekends.
By 10am, about 15,000 visitors visitors had arrived, with a further 30,000 coming into the station to escape the rain at noon, far surpassing the station’s capacity of 5,000 people, Taipei Railway Station Master Huang Jung-hua (黃榮華) said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“Eid al-Fitr is very important to Muslims, much like Lunar New Year is to us. While we sincerely apologize to passengers for any inconvenience that might have been caused by the unusually high number of visitors to the station today, we also hope that passengers will respect the cultures of different peoples,” he said.
Huang said that since the station was renovated four years ago to include a large central courtyard, Muslim migrant workers have increasingly begun to adopt it as a gathering place during Eid al-Fitr.
“Taipei Railway Station respects this use of the station and hopes all passengers can see the gathering from a positive and friendly perspective. After all, this is a once-in-a-year celebration for these people,” Huang said. “We appreciate the patience of passengers despite the inconvenience they might experience today [Sunday].”
According to Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) officials, in addition to regular staff, 60 employees from the TRA, the Taipei locomotive depot, the Association for the Integration of Migrant Workers and the Taipei Grand Mosque Society, as well as an additional five cleaning staff members, were assigned to ensure the safe and normal operation of the station.
Police officers have also been brought in to assist railway police in maintaining public safety in the area of the station, the officials added.
The arrangements made by the TRA to offer Muslims a space at Taipei Railway Station for the celebration was a positive move, said Agusdin Subiantoro, deputy director of Indonesia’s National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, in Jakarta.
However, he said he hoped that venues could be set up in Taiwan specifically for Indonesian workers to congregate for religious events.
Meanwhile, the Taipei City government also held a one-day event at Expo Park for Indonesian and other Muslims to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. The celebrations included performances by Indonesian singer Siti Badriah and several bands, including Real Play, Marya Isma and the Reggae Rasta Kurawa Band.
Additional reporting by CNA
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS