SOCIETY
Ramadan tolerance urged
The Taipei City Government urged employers to show more tolerance and respect for Muslim workers during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of dawn-to-dusk fasting that begins today. Taipei is home to more than 40,000 migrant workers, of which 74 percent are Indonesian nationals, who are mostly Muslims, Taipei Department of Labor Commissioner Lai Hsiang-lin (賴香伶) said. During the period, Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink during daytime, but still need to work, which could be difficult, Lai said. She urged employers to respect the various religious beliefs of foreign workers to develop harmonious labor relations. To mark the end of Ramadan, the city is to hold a Eid al-Fitr celebration at the Taipei Travel Plaza near Taipei Railway Station on June 25, the Taipei Foreign and Disabled Labor Office said.
CUSTOMS
Undeclared cash seized
A Japanese man carrying more than US$88,000 worth of undeclared US dollar, Japanese yen and Singapore dollar bills had 88 percent of the cash he was carrying confiscated by customs officers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Saturday last week. The man, who was about to board a flight to Japan, was found to be carrying US$16,400, ¥4.3 million (US$38,460) and S$46,890 (US$33,865) in a suitcase, according to a news release from the Ministry of Finance’s Customs Administration on Monday. The officers allowed the man to leave with US$10,000, but confiscated the rest. Customs officers said passengers carrying cash or traveler’s checks in excess of US$10,000 are required to make a declaration when they pass through border control posts at airports or ports.
TAXES
Duty-free rules to change
The Ministry of Finance plans to lower the duty-free threshold for goods imported via mail to NT$2,000 from the current NT$3,000, probably starting in September. The measure is aimed at providing a fair playing field for domestic online shopping companies to compete with their overseas rivals, as well as to broaden the tax base, the ministry said. An implementation date has not yet been settled, as regulations on the clearance of imported and exported postal parcels need to be revised, it added. Meanwhile, people who frequently import goods via mail are to have to pay customs duties starting on July 1. Frequent mail is defined as mail sent more than six times to the same person or the same address in half a year. A duty is to be levied on goods mailed from the seventh time onward, with the calendar year divided into two periods: from Jan. 1 to June 30, and from July 1 to Dec. 31.
TOURISM
Taipei 101 tops attractions
The Taipei 101 skyscraper was named as the top landmark in the nation for the third consecutive year on a list published by US travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor. The “Top 10 Landmarks — Taiwan” list was released on Tuesday as part of the company’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards, which ranks the world’s best destinations, attractions, hotels, restaurants and airlines based on the quality and quantity of user reviews gathered over a 12-month period. Taipei 101 topped the list, followed by Longshan Temple and the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei; Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum and Main Public Library in Kaohsiung; The Dome of Light stained glass ceiling at the Kaohsiung MRT System’s Formosa Boulevard Station; Baoan Temple in Taipei; Anping Tree House in Tainan; the Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei; and Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung.
TRANSPORTATION
Airport expansion to begin
A project to build a third terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to get off the ground today and is scheduled to be completed in 2020, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said yesterday. The new terminal is expected to service up to 45 million passengers per year, more than the combined capacity of Terminals 1 and 2 at 35 million, the firm said, adding that work on the next phase of the NT$74.6 billion (US$2.48 billion) project is to start before March next year. Terminal 3 is to have 21 departure gates and be ready for full service a year after construction is scheduled to be completed, the company said. The design contract was awarded to British architectural firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, which has designed a wave-like ceiling to reflect the flow of passengers, the airport operator said.
TRANSPORTATION
Thousands use K-Bike
More than 12,000 people have used Kinmen County’s K-Bike public rental bicycle system since its launch on April 16, officials said. People can use a K-Bike free of charge for the first four hours, paying NT$10 for every 30 minutes thereafter up to a maximum of NT$150 per day, a discounted rate that is to continue until the end of August, they said. There are 29 pickup and drop-off points around the county, with 500 bicycles in service, officials said. Users can pay the rental fee with a credit card, Taipei’s EasyCard, Kaohsiung’s I-Pass or a China Union Pay card, which is issued by a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation and held by most Chinese tourists.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese