Tsao Shou-min (
The bureau, by rashly declaring the ban, failed to meet the motto of Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's
Many bus riders are in the habit of eating their breakfast during their morning commute. In an effort to change this habit, the bureau has run educational commercials on TV and in movie theaters. But efforts to "persuade" the public have failed because of the lack of regulations and fines. That is why the bureau proposed the ban.
As far as the management of the bus companies are concerned, food and drinks brought on by passengers are the main sources of garbage and grime in the buses. A ban would get rid of potential trash, facilitate vehicle management and lower garbage disposal expenses.
However, while there may be a link between passengers eating and drinking on buses and the spillage of food and drinks on bus seats and floors, the one does not necessarily lead to the other.
Whoever is guilty of spilling food or drink is liable for punishment from the Bureau of Environmental Protection
Though eating and drinking on a bus might look disgraceful in the eyes of some people, it remains a personal right until the Legislative Yuan enacts a law banning the practice.
Until that time, the government has no right to enforce such a ban.
The next big question is who should be in charge of enforcing such a ban if it were to become law.
The MRT's ban on food and drinks is enforced by the MRT own staff and police force. Many passengers are accustomed to eating and drinking while riding and bus drivers will not be in a position to enforce such ban or even report cases. Besides dirty looks and negative comments from other passengers, there has to be someone responsible.
The question of who that will be still awaits a decision and regulations from the Transportation Bureau. Until then the garbage problem on buses can not be properly resolved.
Lin Shu-hui is a reporter at the Taipei City desk of the Liberty Times.
We are used to hearing that whenever something happens, it means Taiwan is about to fall to China. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) cannot change the color of his socks without China experts claiming it means an invasion is imminent. So, it is no surprise that what happened in Venezuela over the weekend triggered the knee-jerk reaction of saying that Taiwan is next. That is not an opinion on whether US President Donald Trump was right to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro the way he did or if it is good for Venezuela and the world. There are other, more qualified
The immediate response in Taiwan to the extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the US over the weekend was to say that it was an example of violence by a major power against a smaller nation and that, as such, it gave Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) carte blanche to invade Taiwan. That assessment is vastly oversimplistic and, on more sober reflection, likely incorrect. Generally speaking, there are three basic interpretations from commentators in Taiwan. The first is that the US is no longer interested in what is happening beyond its own backyard, and no longer preoccupied with regions in other
Jan. 1 marks a decade since China repealed its one-child policy. Just 10 days before, Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), who long oversaw the often-brutal enforcement of China’s family-planning rules, died at the age of 96, having never been held accountable for her actions. Obituaries praised Peng for being “reform-minded,” even though, in practice, she only perpetuated an utterly inhumane policy, whose consequences have barely begun to materialize. It was Vice Premier Chen Muhua (陳慕華) who first proposed the one-child policy in 1979, with the endorsement of China’s then-top leaders, Chen Yun (陳雲) and Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), as a means of avoiding the
As technological change sweeps across the world, the focus of education has undergone an inevitable shift toward artificial intelligence (AI) and digital learning. However, the HundrED Global Collection 2026 report has a message that Taiwanese society and education policymakers would do well to reflect on. In the age of AI, the scarcest resource in education is not advanced computing power, but people; and the most urgent global educational crisis is not technological backwardness, but teacher well-being and retention. Covering 52 countries, the report from HundrED, a Finnish nonprofit that reviews and compiles innovative solutions in education from around the world, highlights a
RSS