Five individuals and organizations are to receive Presidential Cultural Awards this year, the General Association of Chinese Culture said on Wednesday.
The awards were created in 2001 during the tenure of then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to recognize individuals and groups that have made special contributions to Taiwan and represent “Taiwanese values.”
The awards are given in five categories: arts and culture, humanitarian dedication, creativity and innovation, public advocacy and community building.
Ju Ming (朱銘), winner of the Arts and Culture Award, is a sculptor who rose to fame in the 1970s and established an outdoor sculpture museum in New Taipei City in 1999.
Over the past 20 years, he has won numerous international awards, including the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2007.
The Taiwan Mennonite New Dawn Institution, winner of the Humanitarian Dedication Award, was established by Canadian pastor Otto Dirks in 1977 as a special education center.
It has over the years evolved into a system encompassing many forms of humanitarian services, including assistance for disabled and underprivileged people.
Luxury Logico, winner of the Creativity and Innovation Award, was created by four contemporary artists born in the 1980s — Chen Chih-chien (陳志建), Lin Llunc (林昆穎), Chang Keng-hau (張耿豪) and Chang Geng-hwa (張耿華) — whose works are inspired by the natural environment.
Fang He-sheng (方荷生), winner of the Community Building Award, is a chief of Taipei’s Zhongqing Borough (忠勤), where many underprivileged people live.
He has organized projects to take care for older people, educate young people and feed the hungry.
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights, winner of the Public Advocacy Award, was established in 1984 to assist political prisoners and fight for the removal of martial law, but has evolved into an organization that seeks to improve and protect human rights.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to present the trophies at an award ceremony on Oct. 18.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it