Taichung businesses and officials have expressed the need for government regulations on karaoke booths that have popped up in the commercial district surrounding Taichung First Senior High School.
Today’s consumers have diverse needs, said Lin Yu-lan (林幽蘭), the director of planning at Pacific Department Store’s Fengyuan (豐原) Mall, which in May installed a karaoke booth.
If people want to relieve stress after school or work, all they need to do is close the doors of the booth — which is 1 ping (3.3m2) and fits a maximum of four people — to shut themselves away from the world, she said.
Photo: Chang Hsuan-che, Taipei Times
“Inside a small space, they can enjoy the thrill of singing on stage,” she added.
Karaoke booths became popular in Japan several years ago, said a karaoke booth owner also surnamed Lin (林), who has set up four karaoke booths in the city’s North District (北區) commercial area.
China and Southeast Asian nations then caught onto the trend, before Taiwan last year began seeing karaoke booths emerge, they said.
A karaoke booth costs between NT$200,000 and NT$300,000, while users are charged NT$30 to NT$50 per song, they added.
One karaoke booth generates about NT$30,000 to NT$80,000 in revenue per month, they said.
They had wanted to expand the operation to the commercial district surrounding Fengchia Night Market (逢甲夜市) in Situn District (西屯), they said, but the booth was classified as an audiovisual and singing service and fined.
They said they hope that the government can find an appropriate way to regulate karaoke booths to allow the emerging industry to grow.
The Taichung City Government plans to regulate karaoke booths in the same way it would a regular karaoke business, Taichung City councilors Chang Yao-chung (張耀中) and Cheng Kung-chin (鄭功進) said.
According to the regulations, audiovisual and singing services cannot operate within 200m of a school, the councilors said, adding that the karaoke booths in the commercial district near Taichung First Senior High School are clearly contravening the regulations.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS