Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday announced a major reshuffle of department chiefs as he prepares for the start of his second term on Tuesday next week.
A resignation ceremony was held at Taipei City Hall yesterday morning, with all department heads in attendance and Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi (鄧家基) representing them to hand in the resignation name list to Ko.
Two of the three deputy mayors — Charles Lin (林欽榮) and Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) — are among those who are leaving their posts.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
After thanking the department heads, Ko said that when he assumed the post four years ago, he promised that city government workers would not have to serve any political party or ideology, nor the mayor; they only have to serve the public.
He is happy that his administrative team was not involved in graft scandals, which is a big change compared with previous administrations, because civil servants can finally perform their duties according to the law, make the most of their professional skills and be innovative, Ko said.
Stressing the importance of an open government and public participation, Ko said: “Openness and transparency are political ideals that this city government have gradually realized.”
He thanked the department heads for their efforts and said he hoped that they would bring the new political culture to their new positions.
Civil servants ranked grade 10 and above in the city government have all been promoted through a selection mechanism that includes voting by peers, so they no longer needed to “pull strings” to earn credit and could focus on their performance, Ko said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
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