Canadian environmentalist and musician Matthew Lien and Taiwanese English teacher Liu Kuan-yu (劉冠余) tied the knot at a traditional Aboriginal wedding in Hsitou (溪頭), Nantou County, on Saturday.
Despite the cold weather and light rain, the ceremony took place at an outdoor theater at Hsitou Forest Recreation Park.
The wedding started with a traditional Bunun ritual to pray for blessings, followed by Aboriginal songs performed by Bunun students from Xinyi Junior High School in Nantou County.
With the Aboriginal music and the natural scenery as a backdrop, the couple recited their wedding vows, promising to support each other and share their love of Taiwan no matter what difficulties may arise.
Liu and Lien said getting married surrounded by nature, along with the sounds of birds and the students’ singing, was very meaningful for them.
Lien hoped the traditional ritual would bring good fortune to the people of Taiwan.
During the wedding, Lien performed an improvisation on a Native American flute and played the guitar, while singing a song of love to Liu and Mother Nature.
Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) and his wife attended the wedding reception to congratulate the couple.
A spokesperson for the Lemidi Hotel (溪頭米堤飯店), where the reception was held, said that Lien would perform at a charity concert for the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families at Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall in Taipei on Mar. 28 to raise awareness about helping children from economically disadvantaged families.
Lien is an internationally active environmental activist and musician.
Liu did her master’s degree in education in the US.
Liu’s father is a board member of the Chunghwa Post Co and her uncle is Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hong (劉政鴻).
The couple are expecting a child in two months.
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
‘ARBITRARY’ CASE: Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila has maintained his innocence and called the country’s courts an instrument of oppression Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) president Joseph Kabila went on trial in absentia on Friday on charges including treason over alleged support for Rwanda-backed militants, an AFP reporter at the court said. Kabila, who has lived outside the DR Congo for two years, stands accused at a military court of plotting to overthrow the government of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi — a charge that could yield a death sentence. He also faces charges including homicide, torture and rape linked to the anti-government force M23, the charge sheet said. Other charges include “taking part in an insurrection movement,” “crime against the
POINTING FINGERS: The two countries have accused each other of firing first, with Bangkok accusing Phnom Penh of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis yesterday. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported that one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and
POLITICAL PATRIARCHS: Recent clashes between Thailand and Cambodia are driven by an escalating feud between rival political families, analysts say The dispute over Thailand and Cambodia’s contested border, which dates back more than a century to disagreements over colonial-era maps, has broken into conflict before. However, the most recent clashes, which erupted on Thursday, have been fueled by another factor: a bitter feud between two powerful political patriarchs. Cambodian Senate President and former prime minister Hun Sen, 72, and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, were once such close friends that they reportedly called one another brothers. Hun Sen has, over the years, supported Thaksin’s family during their long-running power struggle with Thailand’s military. Thaksin and his sister Yingluck stayed