An music video dramatizing a group of schoolgirls bullying another girl has sparked an outcry from a Taipei-based girls’ high school, who said its school uniform is used in the film clip.
The music video, for singer Starr Chen’s (陳星翰) single Ego-Holic featuring singer Jolin Tsai (蔡依林), shows a group of school girls beating an obese student. All the girls are shown wearing what the school says are Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls’ High School uniforms.
The Association of Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls’ High School Teachers has demanded an apology from the music video’s producer.
It also called on faculty members, students and alumni to report the offending video on social media for inappropriate and libelous content.
“The honor of an organization does not hinge on its uniform. I guarantee that there is absolutely no chance that your respected school’s reputation could be harmed by a single piece of visual media,” Chen said yesterday on Facebook.
The production team said it hopes people pay more attention to the message against bullying, rather than references to a specific school, Chen said.
A new version of the video that blurs the school’s name on the characters’ uniforms is to be released to replace the original, Chen said.
“Bullying is not good, but it was very common at my school and in my class. My intention is to raise public awareness about the things that are happening around us and to make people value themselves and love themselves. No defamation or malice was intended toward the school and I am sorry that my former classmates felt hurt or offended,” Video director Hsieh Yu-en (謝宇恩) said on Facebook.
However, in an official statement issued yesterday, the school said it has a 119-year history of promoting excellence and leadership for Taiwanese women and that the video’s portrayal of violence and bullying on its campus is slanderous and inappropriate.
Zhongshan Girls’ High School is a place of education and the staff are vigilant about bullying, the school said, adding that excessive violence has “negative effects on society.”
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS